As Long As You Love Me by Ann Aguirre

source: Free review copy via AmazonVine
As Long As You Love Me
author: Ann Aguirre
genre: new adult romance
pages: 347
published: 2014
first line: It would be hard to argue with anyone who called me a failure.
rated: 3 out of 5 hearts

Blurb:
Most people dream about getting out of Sharon, Nebraska, but after three years away, Lauren Barrett is coming home. She has her reasons—missing her family, losing her college scholarship. But then there’s the reason Lauren can’t admit to anyone: Rob Conrad, her best friend’s older brother.

Football prowess and jaw-dropping good looks made Rob a star in high school. Out in the real world, his job and his relationships are going nowhere. He’s the guy who women love and leave, not the one who makes them think of forever—until Lauren comes back to town, bringing old feelings and new dreams with her.

Because the only thing more important than figuring out where you truly belong is finding the person you were meant to be with.

My thoughts:
As Long As You Love Me is second in a three book series, but can be read as a stand alone.
Lauren comes back home to Sharon, Nebraska after flunking out of college. She was unhappy being away and wants to try and take some online courses instead. While home again, Lauren meets up with her best friend’s brother, Rob and the two begin to spend alot of time together. She has always had a thing for Rob but he has always treated her like a baby sister.

Rob is your all around nice guy but he has self-esteem issues. He feels like he is eye candy material not marriage material and he tends to sell himself short. He has a girlfriend, who is not right for him and even though he finds himself attracted to Lauren, he refuses to cheat on the girlfriend.

Lauren offers to help him get Rob’s furniture business going by setting him up online and whatnot and soon enough the business takes off. Sometimes, you have to be careful what you wish for. I’ll leave it at that.

Rob was sweet and I knew he and Lauren would get together in the end. I definitely enjoyed the tension between the two.

His eyes were like twilight, dark and full of shadows.
p.212

One thing though, I did not like that Rob was so low on self-esteem. I don’t know but something about that started to grate on me after a while. On the other hand however, his character was really sweet. He is a thoughtful hero and always putting others first, especially Lauren.

Another thing I liked was how Lauren’s character developed. She has anxiety issues and as the story flows she struggles with this. It affects her in many ways and as the story progresses she is determined to get a handle on it.

The story mainly centers around Rob and Lauren getting together with a few speed bumps along the way. There is a supporting cast of characters like friends Avery and Nadia, and the storyline flowed smoothly.
Lauren and Rob have personal issues to get through and I enjoyed the way things wrapped up. I liked that they each did things on their own as far as self-improvement, before ending up together.

I recommend As Long As You Love Me if you enjoy new adult romance with flawed characters who will win you over. This was an enjoyable read.

Also, I like the cover! Isn’t it cute?

As Long As You Love Me has a playlist at the end of the book. This is one of the songs…This Isn’t Everything You Are by Snow Patrol which I think suits it perfectly.

Disclaimer: This review is my honest opinion. I did not receive any kind of compensation for reading and reviewing this book. I am under no obligation to write a positive review. I received my free review copy of As Long As You Love Me by Ann Aguirre via Amazon Vine.