ARC Review: Stay with Me by J. Lynn

I have been a fan of J. Lynn's since I first read about Cam and his cookies in Wait for You, so I absolutely couldn't wait to read her newest installment in the Wait for You series. That being said, this one didn't feel the same to me, and while I liked it I didn't love it. Before going into Stay with Me, I knew that it was Calla's story. I had thought that this was Calla and Brandon's story though, so I will admit I was shocked when it ended up being about Calla and Jax. While I loved Jax, I just had a hard time getting past the shock of him not being Brandon.

Calla has grown used to supporting herself and being independent after her past. She lost everything after a tragedy occurred, with her father leaving and her mother turning to drugs. When Calla discovers that her mother stole her tuition money and savings as well as opened up a ton of credit cards in her name, she returns home looking for help and answers. She gets a job working at the bar her mother owns. There she meets the sexy bartender Jax, and they quickly hit it off. Calla doesn't understand how he can possibly be interested in her though, and does everything she can to push him away. Jax is determined to show her that his feelings are real though, and he will do whatever it takes to get her to take a chance on him. But when secrets are revealed and things get dangerous for Calla, can they possibly find a way to make things safe for her in order to have a chance at anything together?

I liked Jax and I thought that he was good for Calla. He liked her for who she was and not her outside appearance. He was sweet and protective of her, and I loved that he never gave up on her. I will say that I didn't like how he handled things with Aimee at all. I thought that while he didn't encourage her actions, he also didn't do much to make things clear to her either. Then when Calla told him how it made her feel, he pretty much said that it was Calla's fault for getting upset because she wasn't experienced with having relationships. As much as I liked him that bothered me. Calla was strong and had been through a lot, but I did feel that she acted immaturely at times. She was young and it really showed throughout this story. I feel like these two had chemistry between them and you could tell that they liked each other a lot. But I didn't really feel the connection between them like I did with the previous couples in this series. I also felt like I personally wasn't able to connect with them like I had with the others.

This book didn't hold my interest like the other stories in this series did, and I think part of that was due to the plot of this one. We hardly saw the characters that we have come to know and love, and most of this story was dealing with new and different characters, as well as more suspense due to the drugs and Calla's mother. I just wasn't focused on this book like I normally am, and I found this one easy to put down and walk away from unlike J. Lynn's other stories. I'm not sure if it was just me, or if this one was just too different and removed from the rest of this series but I just couldn't get into this one the same as I usually do. I also think that since I expected this one to be about Brandon and Calla that I was just already started off feeling as though this book wasn't what I was expecting or hoping for. I love J. Lynn's writing style and her stories, but this one wasn't my favorite of hers.

**ARC Provided by Publisher**

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | B&N | Book Depository |