Waiting on Forever (The Forever Series #2) by Ashley Wilcox

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Waiting on Forever

(The Forever Series #2)
By:  Ashley Wilcox
Published:  April 8, 2013
Source:  Author (AToMR)



GR's Summary:

(Spin-off of Planning on Forever)

College.

Parties, sororities and getting drunk.

Oh, yeah. And learning. 

This may be true for most college students, but not for Leah Bennett. College life for her includes studying, working, and excelling in school. When it comes to the social ladder, Leah is at the bottom. Popular girls, hot guys and star athletes are of no importance to her, except for one.

Matthew Jacobs.

Matt is the starting wide receiver at SUNY Cortland, the most wanted guy on campus and Leah’s best friend. Although Leah’s feelings toward Matt run deeper than just a friendship, it is something she would never let be seen because the odds of someone like Matthew Jacobs going for someone like Leah Bennett are slim to none. 

When Matt starts showing an interest in Leah that goes beyond friendship, she is dumbfounded and doesn’t believe it is possible – until one weekend that changes everything.

Will Matt and Leah’s popularity status get in the way of having a chance at a real relationship?

Or does status mean nothing when it comes to true love?

Waiting on Forever by Ashley Wilcox was a fairly short and fast-paced New Adult Contemporary Romance Novel.  The prologue, and epilogue were told from the male lead character, Matt Jacob's point of view, and the rest of the story was told from the female lead character's point of view, Leah Bennett.  This story was about how Leah, and Matt met, and fell in love their freshman year of college.  Leah was a photography major.  She was very introverted, nerdy, awkward, and naive for her age.  She was still a virgin, and didn't really know too much about sex.  As a character, Leah irritated me through the first part of the story.  She came off as too judgmental, stuck-up, and stereotyped groups of people.  She had a bit of an attitude, and was sarcastic.  Leah automatically assumed that if you played football you were a dumb jock, if you wee in a sorority, you were a brainless, stuck up slut, etc.  Needless to say, I instantly disliked Leah.  She judged her room mate, Matt, his friends, and it really annoyed me how she thought about and acted with them.  I felt like she had an attitude problem, was judgemental, and ignorant. 


I loved Matt instantly, and thought that he was too good for Leah!  He was extremely sweet, caring, compassionate, friendly, and an all-around great guy.  He was a star player, and had earned a scholarship to play football at his college.  He was majoring in physical education, and lived in a house with his football team.  Leah and Matt meet one another on their first day of college during orientation.  Leah was taking picture's, because she loved photography, and Matt noticed her.  He loved how petite she was, thought she was beautiful, had a great body, but hid herself behind her glasses and clothing.  He introduced himself to Leah, and even though she was attracted to Matt, she automatically assumed he's a dumb, womanizing jock.  She is a bit rude to him, and Matt is intrigued because he is used to woman falling all over him.  Matt likes how Leah is more of a challenge, and he becomes interested in her.  After orientation, Matt requests Leah to be his facebook friend, they start talking over the internet and become fast friends.  Leah realizes that Matt is a great guy, but figures he would never go for a nerdy, plain girl like her.  Before you know it, Matt transfers into her upper division French class, (just to be around her) and they start spending more time, and falling for each other.  However, these two end up facing challenges that they will have to overcome if they want to be together.


I enjoyed the story plot.  It was fast paced, fun, light hearted, and a feel good story.  This book kept my attention from the very beginning to the very end.  There were a few surprises along the way.  My favorite aspect of this story were how Leah, and Matt interacted with one another.  They were good for each other, and Leah made a lot of character growth.  She became more likable, easy going, fun, and not so socially awkward.  She grew on me, and I felt myself liking her more and more, as she changed and became a more open-minded, friendly, and easygoing character.  Matt was my favorite character in the story.  He brought the story to life, and made me smile whenever he came onto the page.  


I feel like the characters could have been better developed.  We don't find out much about Matt until the end of the story, and I would have like to have learned more about the main characters.  I think the story would have benefitted more from the alternating perspectives of Leah and Matt.  We only got to be in Matt's head at the very beginning, and the very end of the story, and I enjoyed when the story was told from his perspective much more than when it was told from Leah's perspective.  I loved how Matt was not the typical cliche football player.  He was the opposite of the partying, womanizing, jock-stereotype.  Matt was a hard worker, dedicated to school, sexually inexperienced, and a thoughtful, monogamous, dedicated boyfriend.  The secondary characters were fun, but none of them really stood out to me, other than, Summer, who was Matt's best friend, Cole's girlfriend.  Summer was carefree, did, and said whatever she was thinking, was so sweet, and welcomed Leah with open arms.  Summer and Leah immediately became good friends, and Summer was the kind of person that I could see everyone liking.  The beginning and middle of the story were well developed, and left me satisfied, but the end felt really rushed, and I would have enjoyed if the ending had been more developed, and lengthier.

I give Waiting on Forever 3 fun, fast-paced, easygoing read Stars!  If you are looking for a love story that isn't filled with angst, drama, and deep issues, Waiting on Forever is a good candidate.  It's a nice, fun, light read, that you can get through it in a short period of time.  The main character, Leah, may irritate you at the beginning of the story, like she did me, but she grows and becomes more likable as the story develops.  I think the characters needed more development, but the story was still really good.   

"It drives me crazy that this man can freak the hell out of me one minute then make my heart skip a beat the next.  I think it's safe to say that Matt brings out every emotion in me, some better than others."  (eARC, Pg. 121)

"His smile melts me to the core and I decide that I need to start capturing these moments on film.  I need to capture the look he gives me every morning when he wakes up, the way he looks at me before kissing me goodbye, the pleased and proud smile he wears after making my body unravel below him-I need to capture it all.."  (eARC, Pg. 122)

"I've always known that Matt wasn't like the others, that he was different.  He has a heart.  He has a soul.  And he has every quality that I ever dreamed that my somebody would have.  He has captured my heart, he has won my soul and there's nothing that will ever change that."  (eARC, Pg. 146)

"I never believed in love at first sight.  I have always thought that the people who say you'll just know when you find the person you want to spend the rest of your life with were nothing but crazy hopeless romantics.  But damn if it isn't all true."  (eARC, Pg. 164)

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Hi all!  My name is Ashley Wilcox. I live in Upstate New York where I have been blessed with a wonderful husband and two beautiful little boys.

I’m a hopeless romantic! I love reading books that make my heart swell and stomach flutter. Sappy, I know, but like I said, I’m a sucker for a good love story. I’ve written two books, Planning on Forever and Summer Rush. Both novels are filled with steamy new adult romance, with a happily ever after.

Writing hasn’t always been a passion of mine. It wasn’t until I picked up the first book in the Fifty Shades of Grey series that I discovered my love for reading. From there I quickly became a bookaholic; reading book after book. Within no time, I had stories forming in my head begging to get out. After talking to fellow readers and authors, and doing a little research, I opened my laptop and started typing; Planning on Forever was born.

Writing has become more than just a passion- it’s a way for my imagination to run wild; bringing characters in my head to life that would otherwise be forgotten. Free therapy, if you ask me!

I hope you enjoy my books as much as I enjoy writing them!

For more information on these books or to find out what I’m currently working on, click on the books tab.

~Read to love, and love to read~

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