Review:
More Than This by Jay McLean
I purchased Kindle Unlimited because I was spending WAY too much money on books. (Side note: is that even possible?)
Anyway, a Kindle Unlimited membership is $9.99 a month and coming from a girl who used to spend way more than $9.99 on books every month, I’d say it’s definitely worth it.
Anyway, a Kindle Unlimited membership is $9.99 a month and coming from a girl who used to spend way more than $9.99 on books every month, I’d say it’s definitely worth it.
Though I’ve had the membership for a few months, and I’ve avidly read books for years and years, I finally found the book (or series, in this case) that made me want to write a review. I wanted to find the author and tell her exactly what I thought of her book. I wanted to tell her how it made me cry and how I drove my boyfriend insane because I’d gasp every two minutes, then give him a quick synopsis of the two minutes I had read, rinse, then repeat.
Kindle Unlimited is kind of a hit and miss. You can either find a great book that has you in tears or you can find some strange book where a girl’s teacher brings her a cucumber and well… never mind. More Than This by Jay McLean is in every way, shape, and form the former.
Kindle Unlimited is kind of a hit and miss. You can either find a great book that has you in tears or you can find some strange book where a girl’s teacher brings her a cucumber and well… never mind. More Than This by Jay McLean is in every way, shape, and form the former.
More Than This is book one in the More Than series.
When Mikayla imagined her prom night, she envisioned a fairy-tale evening full of romance. So when betrayal and tragedy come in quick succession, Mikayla is completely destroyed. Suddenly, everything she loved and everyone she relied on are tragically, irrevocably gone.
Jake, a handsome boy she just met, happens to witness her loss. With no one to turn to, Mikayla is forced to depend on this near stranger and his family, and he in turn is determined to take care of her. But Mikayla-thrust into adulthood with no one to guide her-is desperate to contain her grief and hide what she considers to be her weakness. Mikayla and Jake both want more, but despite their growing closeness and intense chemistry, she tries to keep her distance and protect her heart. As he does everything in his power to win her trust, Mikayla must choose between remaining alone and safe or letting love in.
***** SPOILERS AHEAD*****
I have no idea where to begin with this book. This book RIPPED my heart into tiny microscopic pieces. Our main characters are Mikayla (called Kayla by her family, Micky by her friends) and Jake.
Within the first few pages, you meet Mikayla’s perfect, loving family, herasshole amazing boyfriend of four years, James, and her whore best friend, Megan.
While eating a pre-prom dinner, a guy named Logan (more on this magnificent man in my next review) pours beer down Mikayla’s dress in an attempt to talk to her. Jake and Logan are best friends and Jake tells him to cool it. (It’s also worth mentioning that Jake has an Australian accent which obviously makes everything he says 1,938,457 times sexier. It’s a scientifically proven fact.)
Long story short, James (totally amazing beau) and Megan (bestest best friend ever) have actually been hooking up for the last two years and oops, they just hooked up in the bathroom while Mikayla is on her way to clean up the beer.
Switching to Jakey’s POV, he is leaving the bathroom after attempting to salvage his beer-stained shirt (thanks Logan. No seriously, thank you). He witnesses Mikayla’s heartbreaking as she fights with James and Megan in the hall. Jake comforts Mikayla and she ends up going his prom with him and his lovely group of friends. (Logan, Lucy, Cameron, Dylan, and Heidi)
This marks the beautiful loving beginning of a happy fairy tale ending.
Laugh out loud, JUST KIDDING.
Within the first few pages, you meet Mikayla’s perfect, loving family, her
While eating a pre-prom dinner, a guy named Logan (more on this magnificent man in my next review) pours beer down Mikayla’s dress in an attempt to talk to her. Jake and Logan are best friends and Jake tells him to cool it. (It’s also worth mentioning that Jake has an Australian accent which obviously makes everything he says 1,938,457 times sexier. It’s a scientifically proven fact.)
Long story short, James (totally amazing beau) and Megan (bestest best friend ever) have actually been hooking up for the last two years and oops, they just hooked up in the bathroom while Mikayla is on her way to clean up the beer.
Switching to Jakey’s POV, he is leaving the bathroom after attempting to salvage his beer-stained shirt (thanks Logan. No seriously, thank you). He witnesses Mikayla’s heartbreaking as she fights with James and Megan in the hall. Jake comforts Mikayla and she ends up going his prom with him and his lovely group of friends. (Logan, Lucy, Cameron, Dylan, and Heidi)
This marks the beautiful loving beginning of a happy fairy tale ending.
Laugh out loud, JUST KIDDING.
After having a great time with this group of strangers and trashing James’ truck, everyone gets dropped off and Jake stays with a pretty drunk Mikayla to make sure she gets home safe (aw). After some cute kisses between the two, it seems like the rest of this story is going to be the cutest thing since a basket of kittens.
Except, no.
The limo can’t get further down the street because of ambulances and police cars.
Why?
The limo can’t get further down the street because of ambulances and police cars.
Why?
Mikayla’s family was murdered.
You read that correctly.
You read that correctly.
The setup for this story was fantastic, though slightly unrealistic. I understand Kayla totally not wanting to go to her own prom, but getting in a limo with six strangers and drinking with them doesn’t seem that bright either.
Her family getting murdered also seemed so random, but it does tie into the story well. A few other things that bugged me about this book was the timeframe in which Kayla and Jake seem to trust each other and not want to leave each other’s sides. I get he was there for two extremely life-altering events and he was her rock throughout it, but they were still strangers. I also hated how insanely jealous Jake was. Sometimes it was cute, but other times I wanted to smack him. I should also note that when they fought, they did it in front of everyone. That annoyed me, get a room you guys.
Overall though, I’ll gladly look passed those blips because they created the characters and made them who they were. Obviously, those things were a good idea on Jay McLean’s part because it made her characters stick in my brain and tons of other people’s too.
It became my favorite book (until I read the next book in the series).
Her family getting murdered also seemed so random, but it does tie into the story well. A few other things that bugged me about this book was the timeframe in which Kayla and Jake seem to trust each other and not want to leave each other’s sides. I get he was there for two extremely life-altering events and he was her rock throughout it, but they were still strangers. I also hated how insanely jealous Jake was. Sometimes it was cute, but other times I wanted to smack him. I should also note that when they fought, they did it in front of everyone. That annoyed me, get a room you guys.
Overall though, I’ll gladly look passed those blips because they created the characters and made them who they were. Obviously, those things were a good idea on Jay McLean’s part because it made her characters stick in my brain and tons of other people’s too.
It became my favorite book (until I read the next book in the series).
I finished this book in one sitting because I literally couldn’t get enough of these two. I’d recommend it to anyone who loves romance/new adult as much as me.
Rating?
Rating?
Four out of five stars.
XOXO
Kaysee Castor
No copyright intended. Use of the material in this book is for an honest review only. I do not own anything here except my opinion.
