Book: Stay With Me by Nikki Sloane
Reviewed by Booksbystarlightandshadows
Rating: 3/5
The prologue hooked me straight away and it burned away at the back of mind the whole time as the story unfolded; its the best cold open I have heard for a while. Laurel wakes up on hanging from a balcony with no memory of how she got there, nor of the fiancé who finds her. The narrative then jumps back and runs through how Laurel ended up here and it definitely kept me guessing. There was a twist towards the end that genuinely surprised me and I thought I had worked it all out!
There is a lot of really good action scenes (and Laurel is no innocent bystander - the laptop smash was definitely a highlight), kidnapping, and big trust no one vibes throughout. I'm a huge June deBorahae fan and I really enjoyed her performance as Laurel. There was a lot to play with as Laurel goes through it in this book; I liked how she didn't come equipped with crazy survival skills but instead was just a woman who wanted her own life back and was willing to fight for it. I did struggle with the insta love as it had been days at this point but its a high pressure situation so I'm just going with it!
I enjoyed the book but it didn't quite hit the four star mark for me. This is partially due to a couple of plot points I hoped we'd circle back to as they happened off page; I'd have loved more development about poor Bill, what made Frey decide to keep Laurel, and the whole mole thing which was brushed over almost as an aside. I also didn't quite connect with the MMC; the performance felt very even and almost closed off which made if hard for me to believe Jason was passionate enough to break the rules for a girl he just met. It's not a bad performance, it just didn't engage me quite as much. Shawn, however, was amazing; I was feeling a bit of a lull at that point and he arrived at just the right time! I am invested in him already and can't wait to read his book.
My interpretation of the star system;
3 stars - I enjoyed it; would read the author again
4 stars - I really liked it; I am invested and definitely want more from this author/series
5 stars - I loved it; I engaged with this book completely until I finished it and it is one I will re-read