Review: Fire in You by J. Lynn

Book: Fire in You
Author: J. Lynn (Jennifer L. Armentrout)
Series: Wait for You #6 (final)
Genre: NA romance 
Pages: 390
Release: November 28th, 2016

From the # 1 New York Times and International bestselling author, Jennifer L. Armentrout writing as J.Lynn, comes a richly moving story about heartbreak and guilt, second chances and hope. Full of familiar, fan-favorite characters and no two people more deserving of a happy ending, Fire In You will burn bright beyond the last page…

Jillian Lima’s whole world was destroyed in a span of a few hours. The same night her childhood love, Brock ‘the Beast’ Mitchell, broke her heart, her life was irrevocably altered by the hand of a stranger with a gun. It takes six years to slowly glue together the shattered pieces of her life, but Jillian is finally ready to stop existing in a past full of pain and regret. She takes a job at her father’s martial arts Academy and she’s going out on her first date since a failed relationship that was more yuck than yum. Jillian is determined to start living.

She just never expected Brock to be a part of her life again. But he’s firmly back in her life before she knows it, and not only is he older, he’s impossibly more handsome, more teasing and more everything. And when he sees Jillian, he’s no longer capable of thinking of her as the little girl who was his shadow growing up or the daughter of the man who gave him a second chance at life. He sees the woman who’d always been there for him, the one person who believed in him no matter what.

Brock knows she’s the one he should’ve made his, and what begins as a tentative friendship quickly turns to red-hot chemistry that sparks a flame that burns brighter than lust. Falling for Brock again risks more than her heart, because when the past sorrow-filled and guilt-ridden past resurfaces, and a web of lies threatens to rip them apart, the fallout could lay waste to everything they’ve fought to build together, and destroy the dreams of those they care most about.

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It has been a very long time since I've read NA. Okay, well, given that it's been a very long time since I've read anything at all, jumping back into it by reading NA romance definitely was an interesting experience.

This book is set roughly 5 years since the last book, and follows Jillian Lima and Brock Mitchell, two characters we only briefly glimpsed in Forever With You. A catastrophic event had set Jillian fleeing the town and life we knew her in, and, fast-forward to numerous years later, she's finally returned to begin working at her father's martial arts academy again. Jillian is extremely optimistic, finally able to move on in her life to pursue a career in her father's academy that she's always wanted, except she finds Brock Mitchell there as well...who happens to be one of the major reasons why she left the town in the first place following her traumatic experience. And he seems determined to do everything he can to make it up to Jillian what he wasn't able to do back then.

So, Jillian. She was an alright protagonist; though I related to her extreme love of books (don't we all?) I didn't find anything particularly interesting or unique about her personality. I was hoping her grappling with the battle to figure out the difference between settling and actually loving would help distinguish her personality, but she never really underwent any development in that regard. It didn't really play as big of a role as a conflict instigator as I would have liked, and thus didn't really feel like there was much personal growth for her.

Now, interesting topic of Brock. Perhaps this is just me having finally dug myself out of a academically-induced socialist mindset, but normally I am a sucker for cocky and arrogant book characters. But I found Brock's blunt and straightforward ways just...creepy. Especially at the beginning, where he was telling Jillian what her plans were for Wednesday night (hello...who are you to tell her what she's going to be doing?) Argh, so aggravating. Though I did quasi-warm up to him, I never really jumped on the wagon for him.

Given that this is a Jennifer L. Armentrout book, it lacked absolutely nothing in the romance department. It was definitely a steamy read, and had hilarious modern-day contexts. We also got to catch up with some of the old characters from the first few books (They! Are! All! Married! And! In! Their! Adult! Lives!), which I definitely enjoyed. 

The story itself felt oddly anti-climative to me in comparison to the other books in this series. I kept waiting for something big to happen near the end, and though it did have a final moment, there wasn't much of a buildup nor did it really have much space for the falling action before the book came to an abrupt end. However, the climax was an interesting one, portraying the characters in a light I didn't really see coming. Jillian's backstory was definitely something you don't hear every day!

All in all, though I did enjoy this book, it was medicare at best for me. The characters seemed to be lacking substance, and the plot wasn't as exciting as the other books. That now being said, I'm definitely craving something fantasy with a kickass heroine right now, so that's what I'll probably end up reading next! Off I go!