Monday, December 16, 2013

Mini Reviews: Wait for You + Trust in Me

WAIT FOR YOU
Wait for You #1
Jennifer Armentrout/J. Lynn
Contemporary New Adult
384 Pages
William Morrow Paperbacks
Available Now
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Amazon)
Some things are worth waiting for . . .

Traveling thousands of miles from home to enter college is the only way nineteen-year-old Avery Morgansten can escape what happened at that fateful Halloween party five years ago—an event that forever changed her life. What she never planned on was capturing the attention of the one guy who could shatter the precarious future she's building for herself.

Some things are worth experiencing . . .

Cameron Hamilton is six feet, three inches of swoon-worthy hotness, com-plete with a pair of striking blue eyes and a remarkable ability to make Avery want things she believed had been irrevocably stolen from her. Getting involved with him is dangerous. Yet ignoring the simmering tension that sparks between them—and brings out a side of her she never knew existed—is impossible.

Some things shouldn't be kept quiet . . .

But when Avery starts receiving threatening e-mails and phone calls, she's forced to face a past she wants to keep buried and acknowledge that someone is refusing to allow her to let go of that night when everything changed. If the devastating truth comes out, will she resurface with one less scar? And will Cam be there to help her?

And some things are worth fighting for . . . 

MY THOUGHTS
Wait for You is pure pleasure; a read not unusual in its setup but sweetly sinful in its delivery, giving us a romance gloriously slow to develop and fraught with tension thanks to a number of weighty unspoken secrets. Avery is absolutely adorable in her wariness and her quiet reserve–markers of a painful past discerned through just enough hints to have us filling in the traumatizing blanks–her awkwardness with Cam throughout endearing her to us more and more with each chapter we’re in her head. She’s the first to admit she’s a runner when it comes to emotional challenges, and while this tendency is frustrating at times (something she freely admits to herself and us as readers), the brief flashes of life before she came to West Virginia are enough to have us tempted to stick our heads in the sand right alongside her, hoping the threat of emotional discovery simply goes away just as much as we wish for her to simply step up and face it.

Cam is a true highlight of this story, his initial introduction raising our eyebrows in question at his apparent overconfidence and abundance of self-love, but we quickly see that his self-congratulatory statements are all in jest, meant to goad Avery into responding to him even if that response is laughably insulting in nature. He's infinitely patient with Avery, there for her simply as a friend for much of the book before he oh-so carefully tries to steer them into trickier waters. When Avery’s past gets the better of her, he takes an understandable step back to give her space, but he never retreats entirely and he thankfully doesn’t play any jealousy games with her to get her to see what she’s missing. He lets realization come to her on her own terms, and we can’t help but want to hug him for his maturity and his unwavering understanding of Avery even when she doesn’t understand herself.

Flirty and beautifully romantic but with no shortage of dark undertones, Wait For You is one destined for the re-read shelf.

Rating: 4/5


TRUST IN ME
Wait for You #1.5
Jennifer Armentrout/J. Lynn
Contemporary New Adult
William Morrow Paperbacks
Available Now
Source: e-ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
It’s Wait for You as you’ve never seen it. Trust in Me lets you in on Cam’s side of the #1 New York Times Bestselling story.

Cameron Hamilton is used to getting what he wants, especially when it comes to women. But when Avery Morgansten comes crashing into his life – literally – he finally meets the one person who can resist his soulful baby blues. But Cam’s not ready to give up. He can’t get the feisty and intriguing girl out of his head.

Avery has secrets, secrets that keep her from admitting the feelings Cam knows she has for him. Will persistence (and some delicious homemade cookies) help him break down her barriers and gain her trust? Or will he be shut out of Avery's life, losing his first real shot at the kind of love that lasts forever?


MY THOUGHTS
Trust in Me gives us Cam’s insight into his sometimes-difficult-but-ultimately-hugely-rewarding relationship with Avery, a treat for Cam lovers everywhere who always wondered what was going on behind the charmingly self-aggrandizing statements. The beginning is a bit tedious simply due to the fact that the main draw in the very beginning of Wait for You was the outrageousness of the things that came out of his mouth as he tried to woo her with varying degrees of seriousness, but the anticipation of “what will he say next” is absent in this story because we already know the answer given the dialogue is obviously unchanged. The things we're really interested in knowing come later, our curiosity lying almost completely in how the small clues about what happened to Avery in the past affect him, and in that regard, this novella does not disappoint.

The highlight though is the fleeting glimpse of Jase’s life Cam’s perspective gives us, our knowledge of him perhaps a single step above zero after spending our time in Avery’s head first, and there are clearly innumerable facets to him that never registered with us until now. With his and Tess’s story next on the horizon, Trust in Me builds the anticipation beautifully until we’re practically salivating in the end, desperate to see how these two will fit together, and extraordinarily curious to see how Cam will handle one of his best friends making a play for his sister.

Rating: 3.5/5

 

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30 comments:

  1. I really really liked Wait For You! I'm not sure I need Trust In You to be honest. I'm a little tired of reading the same story just from a different POV.
    But then I liked how it builds up to the next book...

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    1. I did too! I can't wait for Be With Me:) I liked getting Cam's POV in some parts, but the beginning was a bit heavy on the repetition. I loved learning a little bit about Jase though!

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  2. Really silly blah blah writing as Lynn...well your name is still there and bigger

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  3. I've grown tired of Armentrout's writing style after reading around five or six books by her and combined with my distaste of New Adult, I don't think these books are for me. I'm glad you enjoyed them, though, Jenny - great reviews!

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    1. Probably not the books for you then Keertana! :)

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  4. I just...don't know. Like Danny, I'm getting a little tired of the same story but different POV. Why can't the authors just do like most romance novelists and include both POVs in the same book? Is it a financial choice? An artistic choice? I'm curious.

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    1. I wouldn't have minded Wait for You to have alternating POVs:) I did like getting Cam's POV, I'm just not sure it needed to be a whole separate book. I love him so much though:)

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  5. I enjoyed Wait for You more than Trust in Me too, but I think some of that might have been down to knowing exactly what was going to happen. I'm still unsure about whether or not I like the idea of the same story being told from a different point of view. Lovely reviews though, Jenny! I hope you like Be With Me when you read it. :)

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    1. I can't wait for Be With Me Sam! I'm always a fan of the sister/brother's best friend romantic setup, and I'm sure Cam's going to have a fit with Tess and Jase:)

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  6. I still need to try one of her adult books, I keep telling myself I will and then I don't. It sounds like you enjoyed both of these Jenny.

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    1. I very much did Ali! I'm an all-around fan of her books, so I'll definitely be reading anything she wants to write:)

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  7. Not sure if these reads are for me, but I definitely do know who would really enjoy them. I'll pass the info along to them. Thanks for the recommendations, Jenny. I'm really glad you enjoyed the books. :)

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  8. I didn't like Wait for You as much as everyone else did because it had such an overused plot line, but I did enjoy the banter between the characters. I was wary of Cam's overconfidence as well, but he eventually grew on me over the course of the story. I haven't read Trust in Me, but I don't want to either. I'm not a fan of the same story being written in another POV. It just seems unnecessary to me. I did read Be with Me, which I thouroughly enjoyed.
    Lovely reviews, Jenny! I'm glad you liked these. :)

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    1. Ooo glad to hear you loved Be with Me, I'm so excited for that one Nick! I'm already a fan of both Jase and Tess, so I think they're book is going to work well for me!

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  9. I have yet to read Trust In Me. I need to get on it and read it. Great reviews as always Jenny :)

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  10. I haven't read either of these, and I'm not sure there for me, but I'm glad to see they worked well for you overall. Wait for You definitely sounds like the stronger of the two though, so if I ever come across some desire to read NA, I'll give it a go! Lovely reviews, Jenny!

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    1. NA isn't really your thing I know, but I really enjoyed Wait for You. Yes, it has a familiar setup, but I think she writes great characters, and they always overshadow any other flaws I might find:)

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  11. I have to admit that I don't really remember the details of Cam and Avery's story, which is probably why I should read Cam's novella. I'll likely enjoy it even more that way.
    I just finished Tess and Jase's story last night, and while it wasn't nearly as intense, it was exactly what one would expect from a JLA book.
    As always, gorgeous reviews, Jenny!

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  12. I do admit I just love her characters but have been a bit leery of reading her NA contemps. Don't know why other than I usually have been leery. So glad that these are good and so I'm going to try to get over myself and read them! :) I'm not surprised her novella isn't as good as it seems that I don't like her novellas as much. Still, sounds like a good enough read.

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  13. Hmm, I am not overly anxious to dive into her NA contemps, I keep reading such varied reviews. I am glad they worked overall , but I am not convinced that I need to drop my pile and read immediately!

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  14. I don't remember Wait for You that well, so I really want to read Trust in Me so I can get back into this world before the next book. I'm sort of bummed to hear that it just rehashes many of the same conversations, but somehow I'm still super excited about it! Great reviews Jenny, glad you're a Cam fan too! :-)

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  15. I have book one and cannot wait to read it, I may skip the novellas on this one though. Wonderful minis my friend.

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  16. I am absolutely salivating at your review. I love the way you describe Cam! I love book boys like that! If only they had always been like that there probably would be a lot less stories to tell, lol! He sounds perfect. Can't wait to read this one! Such a great review!!

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  17. I haven't tried this author's paranormal offerings, but I've been intrigued by this contemporary. Cam sounds like he's fun!

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  18. I typically avoid NA but JLA just writes such swoon-worthy romances that I may have to give Wait For You a try. I'll pass on Trust in Me simply because it might be a bit too repetitive for me.

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  19. Agreed on Cam being the highlight of this. I didn't really care for Avey and she was too much like Katy from the Lux series so.. yeah. I'm actually more intrigued by the relationship of Tess and Jase. Also, I haven't read Trust in Me yet, but I agree on what you said about the element of surprise. These other POV stories rarely manage to suprise us. I think that Jen writes awesome male POVs, but some books just need to be in one POV and as I've gathered, getting Trust in Me isn't really supposed to be a priority of mine thanks to all my blogging friends' reviews. I'm glad that you liked both of these and I hope that you'll enjoy Tess and Jase :)

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  20. I haven't read any of her adult books yet, but I do like her characters quite often. These are books I would definitely consider reading, but I don't feel a strong urge to rush out and get them just yet either.

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  21. While I enjoyed Wait For You, I didn't think it offered a whole lot to the NA, Trauma Victim Plot genre. Avery got on my nerves a tad, but I did really love Cam. Still, I haven't felt compelled to pick up the companion. Goodness, I'm sorry I'm so negative this evening. I love your reviews and I'm always happy when you connect to the stories you're reading.

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