(With You #1)
By R. J. Sable
Published: July 2nd 2013
Jamie-Lea Carter has been living under the thumb of her older brothers for eighteen years. Having finally moved out to start her new life as a university student she tries to faithfully follow the strictly ordered life they've lain out for her. These rules haven't been an issue for her before because she knows she owes them everything. More than any sibling can ever owe.She dutifully follows these rules until she meets Jason Reed and the biggest one becomes a problem. No boyfriends. Torn between her loyalty to her brothers and the sizzling attraction to the intriguing ladies' man, Jamie-Lea finds herself on dangerous standings with her overbearing and somewhat aggressive brothers.Jason Reed isn't intimidated by the Carters. He knows what he wants the moment he sees it and nothing is going to come between him and the girl he never expected to fall for.With the odds stacked against them, where will this forbidden romance take them?
I picked this book up for one reason: abused heroine. Generally in stories that feature an abused heroine, they become strong and fight for what's right and usually there's a love interest that protects and helps her through it all. If this was the case I never got far enough in the story to see that happen. I read the first ten chapters (basically 20% of the book). I can usually tell if I like the story by chapter five, but I thought "What the heck, I'll continue anyway". I was so wrong.
So many little things got me so riled up over the unfairness of it all. This girl (Jaime-Lae AKA Jelly) was so "grateful" of her brothers, who were all a-holes, for taking care of her after both her mom and dad died. When I say "taking care" I mean picking her up from school, buying her food and clothes and generally caring if she's alive or dead. In my opinion, the brothers did what they were obligated to do by law, may I add. Every abusive act (1. they hit her after she did something they didn't approve of -going dancing, having a guy kiss her-; 2. they constantly told her what to do and threatened her if she didn't agree to it; 3. they acted like they owned her) suffered by Jelly was because they "loved her" (Jelly's words not mine). According to Jelly they "protected" her, when in reality they just abused, laughed and degraded her. I hate it so much when I hear someone has been abused. I can't stand someone who just stands there and takes it. Ask for help, get the police involved. Just do something, don't just take it like you deserve it because you don't. NO ONE does.
I can not even begin to describe her brothers. I don't remember one single name because of how pissed off I became because of their actions. I think there were 6 and they were 24- 30 year old men, who apparently get off on abusing their little sister. They stole her food if one of them wanted more, they obligated her to stay skinny or they would "take her over their lap". I can't even imagine why a big brother would do this to his flesh and blood. They told her various times in the book," You know we only want the best for you, Jellybean". The best for WHO I ask? Not even a dog deserves that kind of life style.
Then Jason appears. He seems like an all round nice guy. He genuinely cares about her and her well being. He's nice and thoughtful. He's really the perfect guy. I never got to see what he does to help her through all the abuse, but I guarantee you that he did something. What made him even more likable was that he didn't start a relationship with her the first day they met. They became friends, joined the same clubs on campus, they had mutual friends and actually GOT TO KNOW each other before anything started to happen, unlike most books I read it wasn't love-at-first-sight. He's the only thing that I truly liked in this book.
P.S. How this book an average of 4 stars on Goodreads and Amazon is beyond me.
*They weren't possible for this book.
My Rating:
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