Wait for You (Wait for You, #1)

by J. Lynn and Jennifer L. Armentrout

[Angie]

Wait For You took me on a journey of emotions. I started out excited, then I was wary, then I was uncomfortable, and finally I was relieved. Sexual assault plots make me nervous as heck, but the author took a slightly different route, and it's one that I think really worked. Avery has decided to move from Texas to West Virginia for college in order to escape all of the people from her old life. She's been tormented by classmates, and her family turned their back on her, and all she wants is a fresh start. She settles into her new apartment, makes a couple of friends, and plows into her sexy neighbor on her way to class. From then on, the two are pretty inseparable, but just as friends. Avery has never been in a relationship before, and she's scared that memories from that night five years ago will ruin it for her.

Wait For You had me wary in the beginning once hints that Avery was raped started surfacing. Not just because these plots make me extremely uncomfortable, and not even because I hate seeing it used as a plot device to encourage a romance (which this didn't!). It was that I could relate to Avery way too much. The author didn't make her totally broken, with her assault hanging over everything she does. But it does clearly affect the way she socializes, and it hit way too close for me. That's not necessarily a bad thing, since it just means this was a really spot on portrayal of a girl dealing with it. I really felt like this was the story of Avery's healing process, and not some cheap ploy to have angsty drama with her hot new boyfriend. In fact, there really wasn't a big drama. Yes, Avery and Cam do take a time out, but he was always there for her when she was ready to finally let him in.

I really don't have much to say about Wait For You other than that, since that was what stuck out the most to me. I did enjoy the romance quite a bit, especially since the book spans a year. There's no instalove, and the lovers become friends and get to know each other over several months. There was a minor suspense subplot happening, and I do mean minor. It felt out of place among everything else that was happening, even though it did get connected eventually. In the end, I wish more authors had handled this subject as sensitively rather than for entertainment value as I've seen it too often.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.