Review: When We Fall by Marquita Valentine (Take the Fall #2)
When We Fall is the second novel in the Take the Fall series from author Marquita Valentine and it takes place soon after the events in the first novel and is about Jase Simmons and Piper Ross. Piper was only fourteen when she first met Jase but he was the first person other than Rowan, her best friend and Jase's younger sister, who truly noticed her. He paid attention, not because he had to but because he chose to, and even though he was three years older and would probably never see her as anything more than another little sister or his kid sister's best friend, Piper was irrevocably in love with Jase. When he was sent to prison, Piper made it a point to send Jase care packages, letting him know that he was never forgotten. After seven years, Jase is finally released on parole, and while it's clear that Piper is all grown up and his feelings for her are quickly shifting from brotherly to something far less platonic, Jase knows that an ex-con like him doesn't belong with someone like her. Piper, however, intends to prove him wrong.
Piper has spent her life being made to feel as if she wasn't good enough--not for her father to spend time with or for her mother to see her as worthy. The only ones to accept her for who she is are Rowan and Jase. Whenever Jase is around, though, Piper can't help but be nervous and it doesn't help that he's a bit of a manwhore once he's out of prison, making up for lost time with the female population of their small town. Though she may not be any closer to pursuing anything with Jase, Piper has moved out of her parents' place and is trying to lead a more independent life on her terms. When Rowan begins to live her happily-ever-after via her rekindled love story with Seth O'Connor, Piper takes her chances and not only asks Jase if she can rent a room in his house but if she can apply for a job in the tattoo shop he owns with his friend, Emmett Dunning. With Piper being in much closer quarters, Jase finds it far more difficult to avoid his growing attraction and intense feelings for the girl who has never failed to capture his attention.
I really liked both Jase and Piper. They were the quintessential bad boy and good girl who fall in love with one another with the whole falling-for-the-best-friend's-sibling theme going on. Jase isn't the one who inspires Piper to spread her wings--she was already in the process of doing that even before they embarked on a relationship--but he is the one who continues to encourage her and provides her with the support that she needs so as not to fall back on her old insecurities, no thanks to her overly controlling parents. Speaking of her parents, I would have wanted a bit more of an explanation as to why Piper's relationship with her father did change when it did. Also, the sudden shift in her mother's attitude wasn't entirely believable, especially since her mother was quite a cold-hearted bitch in each of the interactions she had with Piper in the book. While I did like Jase and Piper a tad more than I did Seth and Rowan, I enjoyed the latter's story a bit more than I did the former's, which makes When We Fall a four-star read. ♥
Date Read: 26 April 2016
Learn more about Marquita Valentine.
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