Review: "Waiting On Forever" by Ashley Wilcox

So I received an arc for "Waiting On Forever" from Ashley Wilcox for an open, honest review. So here goes.

“Waiting on Forever” is based on the story of  college students Leah Bennett and Matt Jacobs. Two very different people from two very different worlds.  Leah is a loner. She doesn’t really have friends and her life revolves around study and work. No partying, no booze and definitely no boyfriends. Yup that’s her in  a nutshell. Matt Jacobs is the polar opposite: he’s a college jock, plays on the football team and lives in a frat house where life is all about having a good time!!!!

When they meet for the first time, there seems to be an immediate connection between them, one that Matt seems to want to explore but one that Leah wants to run from:

We come from two different sides of the social ladder. Where Matt is Mr Popular football player,

I’m the artsy nerd who would be stared and pointed at walking into a jock house party. I can

picture it now, the music stopping and all eyes on me as I arrive.

She sees herself as different and she knows she doesn’t fit in. This doesn’t bother Matt in the least and he’s like a dog with a bone. He’s relentless and before we know it, they are spending more and more time together (as friends of course!!!! Lol)

Within an hour, Matt and I have gone from being online friends, to having classes

together three times a week, to now being study partners. My head is in overdrive

and my heart is close to exploding, but I need to get a hold on myself.

The more time they spend together, the closer they become but Leah is still insistent there will be nothing more than friendship between them, after all, boys like Matt don’t go for girls like her:

Matt and I can never be a couple and our relationship can never be more than friends. He’s a popular jock that goes for popular girls and he is totally out of my league.

 Well how wrong can one girl be because Matt has Leah in his sights and he is not giving up. Before we know it, they have become a couple (Leah is completely oblivious to this fact until someone sheds some light and tells her). lol

Although Leah was a nerd and a loner, I loved the fact that she wasn't a push over. She was able to stand up for herself when people tried to belittle her and even got into a fight over it!!!!

Sorry, sweetheart. I may be nerdy and quiet, but I don't let stupid people walk over me.

Yup, feisty when she needed to be. She wasn't portrayed as clean cut either and some of the personal dialogue we saw from her definitely incorporated a few choice words:

Holy fucking mother Theresa? Did he did not just say that me

bowling a perfect game is a turn on!

Hilarious!!! Thank you Ashley Wilcox for not making her a stereotypical nerd!!!      

However one aspect of Leah’s character dis leave me feeling conflicted was her urgency to move their physical relationship forward. I knew Leah's experience with the male population was limited (well actually none existent), but she seemed so keen to progress the sexual side of things. Losing her virginity didn’t seem like something her character would want to do in a hurry yet time and time again, she tried to rush it, even trying to push Matt into it. For me it just didn’t fit.

In terms of Matt, I was a little torn with his character. Overall he was cute, at times even adorable and I found myself saying things like “OMG that is sooo sweet”. Don’t get me wrong, I loved all the gestures he made to ensure Leah was happy, comfortable, safe and protected. However, sometimes, I just felt he went a little overboard with the “cheese”:

“I wish I could carry you around in my pocket all day so I don’t have to see

that frown when I leave”.

See, maybe just a little too much at times.

Although the book was mainly written from Leah’s perspective, it was lovely to see Matt’s point of view in the prologue and epilogue and my heart did swell a little when I read where their lives had taken them five years into the future.

Despite the book being quite short, it was still well written and on the whole it flowed well. If you’re looking for a simple love story with no major complications, then this book is for you. This is a sweet story about “first love” that does have a couple of surprises but you won’t get a cliff hanger and there are no major twists or turns that will leave your heart shattered in a million pieces. An enjoyable read overall.

I rated this book 3 Hearts.