Jenn's Book Jems

I’ve found that I go up and down with Christina Lee and this series, but overall, it is a very steady series. Promise Me This is the fourth in the Between Breaths series and the couple in the spotlight here are Nate and Jessie. Nate is a love ‘em and leave ‘em type. He doesn’t do relationships and he’s built quite the reputation, but he doesn’t care. As long as he doesn’t get too attached he can’t hurt anyone and if he never hurts anyone, he’ll never become his father. So when he realizes he has certain feelings for his friend Jessie, he pushes them down as deep as they can go.

Jessie knows Nate’s reputation. They’ve been friends for a while and she’s seen him go through women. It’s never bothered her before, not until she walks in one Nate and another girl. The power she sees in Nate at that moment sparks something inside of her, but it’s something she knows she can never act on.

Lee touches on some serious topics here including abuse. I liked watching Nate as he learned how to separate his desires from his fears. He grew up in a household where women weren’t respected and although he doesn’t share the same beliefs as his father and brother, the dominance that comes out of him in the bedroom frightened him. Jessie was the first girl who didn’t shy away from his control and actually helped him balance out his emotions.

I also really liked Nate and Jessie’s friendship. This wasn’t a book about instalove relationship that most books are fond of. The two here have known each other and already have a baseline of comfort and trust. When their friendship escalates, it’s believable. When they have the thoughts of how a relationship could hurt their friendship, it’s realistic. They both are careful and overthink everything.

What I wasn’t a huge fan of was Nate’s constant “I’m a horrible person” “I’m not worthy” and all of the other ways he put himself down. He spent a majority of the book running from everything on his mind. And honestly, I find it a little hard to believe that a college guy didn’t realize that guys had feelings of dominance in the bedroom and that there are girls who like it. While his fears were real, his naivety wasn’t.

Overall, it was a very easy and quick read. Not my favorite of the series, but not my least favorite either.

I received an e-copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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