Book Review – More Than This by Jay McLean

“It’s the fucking hardest thing to do, to be around the person you love, with everything you have, and not be able to love them.”

Buy MORE THAN THIS (Kindle)

More Than This was a very sweet and sometimes heartbreaking book about love, loss, healing and friendship. It was laced with some sadness following a horrific tragedy but the feeling of the book was more focused on healing, rebuilding and finding happiness again.

I loved the hero and the core group of characters and will be looking forward to the next in the series. This one however reads a complete standalone with a happy ending 🙂

So, about the book…

Mikayla’s life fell apart the night her boyfriend of four years cheated on her. On the same night, she met Jake. Having witnessed the whole debacle and seen how deeply she was hurting, Jake felt innately protective of her and invited her to come join him and his friends. Something about him just felt ‘right’ and she trusted him enough to accept. His friends welcomed and acceptd her and for a few hours, she was able to feel happy again.

Everything was beginning to pick up until they returned home and her entire world was shattered by a senseless tragedy that wiped away everything she loved in life in one horrific moment.

But she wasn’t alone. Jake took her in and this boy who she’d known for less than a day became her pillar of support and source of comfort.

“I fell asleep in Jake’s arms, sheltered from all the bad and evil in the world.”

It was so heartwarming to see how supportive and kind Jake’s family was to her. Not to mention the fact that there was definitely more between Mikayla and Jake. You could feel it, and they knew it but given the tragedy, their feelings were put on on hold while she healed. There were no labels, nothing official, but their hearts bonded. Jake was there for her every step of the way and their romance developed very slowly and naturally.

“She’s just, more than anyone else. We haven’t slept together, we haven’t even kissed, and she’s just … more.”

Here they were, at 18 years old, facing a horrible tragedy and yet also falling in love. They really held back on acting on on their feelings for a while and I understood that. Jake was giving her time to grieve and Mikayla needed to to just heal and also felt like she had to stand on her own before she could fully allow herself to fall in love. I understood where she was coming from but this aspect did lead to some frustration later on in the story.

I really have to say that Jake was just amazing. I loved him! Between his slight accent and deep voice (which I so wish I could hear) mixed in with both his naturally protective vibe and his sweet gentlemanly side too, he was just some kind of perfect. He loved her, was patient, kind, thoughtful, understanding… everything about him made him very easy to swoon over 🙂

“I saw more than a few guys checking her out. I couldn’t help putting my arm around her, and bringing her into me. Because it’s the stone age and I’m a caveman.”

I liked Mikayla. She was a bookworm too and I mean, she knew who Josh Bennett was, okay? *grins* I did really like her but I had a little harder time fully connecting with her as the book progressed because of they way she kept Jake at bay for so long. I will say though, that her feelings and reasons were all fully explained in the end so I could definitely see her side of the story. And apart from that one thing, I really liked her as a character and loved her and Jake together.

“Do not settle for anything less than the Jake Andrews of the world. Because they exist, and not just in fairytales.”

The supporting characters in this book are wonderful! I loved them! Jake’s friends were just awesome! Their group dynamic was so much fun to read about and I felt instantly connected to them. I loved how easily they accepted Mikayla into their group as well with no questions. And some of the couples were just adorable. Check out this quote about one of the guys, it makes me want to read a whole book about him:

“He’s not the hearts and flowers kind of guy, but he’s the heart and soul kind, and fuck if every girl would rather that than the flowers.”

And this book officially has some of the coolest book parents of all time. I really loved seeing parents depicted this way in a book because, not to say that it’s the norm, but many books have rather troubled parental relations and seeing a family that was a genuine unit who loved each other, and were understanding and supportive was a welcome change.

We’re told the story in alternating POV’s and so we do get the complete picture here. It was a very easy book to read and the pages flew by quickly. I found the story jumped around a little bit more than I’d like but there were no slow points and that the story line was constantly moving forward.

For some reason, I really expected this book to be heavy and intense and, don’t get me wrong, there were certainly places of sadness but it also had a lot of lighter, funny moments that shone though.

While I loved that in the beginning nothing was rushed, I did feel like they (well, Mikayla) held back for a little longer than I’d have wanted. I just felt bad for Jake – he was just crazily, head over heels falling for this girl who kept holding a huge part of herself back.

“It’s the fucking hardest thing to do, to be around the person you love, with everything you have, and not be able to love them.”

That being said, there was never any doubt in my mind or their hearts that they were meant to be.

“It’s just you. It’s only ever been just you. It will always only ever be just you.”

One little tiny thing that bothered me was that I felt like despite the fact that they were in high school, some of the slang was a little over used – like ‘legit’. But it’s a small complaint.

The story was addictive in the sense of I really could have easily read it in one sitting had my time allowed for it. It kind of rode the line between YA and NA. There were some very steamy scenes but no actual descriptive sex.

I wanted a little ‘more’ some places and a little ‘less’ in others but I still really enjoyed the story, really loved Jake and Mikayla as a couple and am glad I read it.

The next book will be about Jake’s best friend and so while I’m sure we may see these characters in it, this book fully reads as a standalone with a happy ending (complete with an epilogue too!) so if you like the sound of this one, you’re safe to start it whenever you wish 🙂