As Long As You Love Me
By Ann Aguirre
#2 in the 2B Trilogy
Publication Date: September 30, 2014
Publication Date: September 30, 2014
Genre: New Adult/Contemporary Romance
Summary
Most people dream about getting out of Sharon,
Nebraska, but after three years away, Lauren Barrett is coming home. There are
the justifications she gives to everyone else—missing her family, losing her
college scholarship. And then there’s the reason Lauren can’t admit to anyone:
Rob Conrad, her best friend’s older brother.
Football prowess and jaw-dropping good looks made Rob a star in high school. Out in the real world, his job and his relationships are going nowhere. He can’t pinpoint exactly what’s missing until Lauren comes back to town, bringing old feelings and new dreams with her. But he’s the guy that women love and leave—not the one who makes them think of forever.
Though she’s terrified of opening up, Lauren’s ready to take that chance. Because the only thing more important than figuring out where you truly belong is finding the person you were meant to be with.
Football prowess and jaw-dropping good looks made Rob a star in high school. Out in the real world, his job and his relationships are going nowhere. He can’t pinpoint exactly what’s missing until Lauren comes back to town, bringing old feelings and new dreams with her. But he’s the guy that women love and leave—not the one who makes them think of forever.
Though she’s terrified of opening up, Lauren’s ready to take that chance. Because the only thing more important than figuring out where you truly belong is finding the person you were meant to be with.
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Read the First Chapter HERE!
Review
This books is AMAZING!!
Ann Aguirre had me completely hooked by the first page.
Lauren and Rob quickly became favorite characters for me. The best part about
them? They were real.
Often in romance novels, one or more of the main characters
have superficial flaws. No one is perfect and therefore neither can their
characters be. Then there is the other extreme, characters so flawed that the
reader has a hard time finding redemption for them at the end of the book.
Lauren and Rob felt like the couple next door. The ones who dealt with everyday
issues on the outside, just like me. However, through the book, I was given a
glimpse into their private struggles and the certain knowledge that again, like
me, they faced fears and trials that would seem simple or trivial to others
around them.
Lauren is the ultimate computer nerd. She would spend
her life alone in her room, coding and gaming, if the world would let her. Yet,
she has spent years cultivating an image of the partying H.S student, and then
coed. To the world around her, she is carefree, the life of the party, and
happy to be where she is. But, it’s all a façade. In reality, she I slowly
breaking under the strain of being someone she is not. She loathes crowds, to
the point of panic attacks, has trust/daddy issues, and hates being away from
home. Eventually, Lauren drops out of school and returns to her comfort zone. I
just need to stop here for one moment and also commend Ms. Aguirre on the way
she handled the “dating” situation with Lauren’s mom. It was so refreshing to
read a book where none of the book’s “conflict” is stemmed from daughter/mom’s
boyfriend tension. Anyway, Lauren eventually reconnects with her best friend’s
brother, Rob, whom she has been crushing on since she was a middle schooler.
Rob is gorgeous. In H.S. he was the superstar football
that every girl wanted to date. He was labeled a stereotypical sexy but empty-headed,
jock. He is forever being talked down to, and never even given a chance to
prove himself. Now, don’t get me wrong, Rob isn’t a braniac. However, he is
smart in the ways that truly count, and if people would give him a chance, he
would most likely rise above their expectations. He is viewed as a gorgeous
shell. Man candy. This is where Ms. Aguirre took a rare turn in the character.
So often in books, the jock, no matter how smart or unintelligent, is cocky,
revered, and floats through life on his looks and star status. However, Rob has
been so underestimated and so devalued, that he has lost all confidence in
himself. He has accepted that he will never really make anything of himself,
and that he will never get his HEA because he is the “for now” guy, not the “forever”
guy.
When these two collide, they find solace in each other.
Lauren sees the greatness in Rob and she desperately wants him to see himself
through her eyes and show the world that they are wrong about him. Rob sees the
comfort and understanding that Lauren needs, someone who will not ask her to
step beyond her boundaries, and accepts her as she is.
They begin to find that beautiful love story that we
all look for in a romance. There is steamy passion, humor and wit, character
growth, and so much more that kept me riveted to the pages. But, in order for
the characters to be real, the world does not send them happily off into the
sunset. Rob and Lauren eventually realize that while they are a safe haven for
each other, they are also the emergency brake that keeps their lives from
moving forward. They need to break free and find their own way in order to walk
the paths of their future together. The thing is, they don’t just up and decide
its “all good” one day. They have to get help and go through a healing process.
This is what makes this book so REAL.
This story was just beautiful. I am a sappy romantic
and there were definitely parts where the author had me melting into a gooey
puddle. Rob has enough confidence to bring some Alpha to the relationship and
it is hot! Then on the other end of the spectrum, she had me tearing up at the
pain from the inevitable choices that they are forced to make.
This book is so far past 5 stars, it’s headed for
another galaxy. I can’t wait for the next book in the series!
giveaway
Other Books in the 2B Trilogy:
About Ann Aguirre:
Ann Aguirre is a New York
Times & USA Today bestselling author and RITA winner with a
degree in English Literature; before she began writing full time, she was a
clown, a clerk, a voice actress, and a savior of stray kittens, not necessarily
in that order. She grew up in a yellow house across from a cornfield, but now
she lives in sunny Mexico with her husband, children, and various
pets. Ann likes books, emo music, action movies, and she writes all
kinds of genre fiction for adults and teens, published with Harlequin,
Macmillan, and Penguin, among others.
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