Cover Image: Stay with Me

Stay with Me

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Member Reviews

Olivia Daniels and her mom left the small town she grew up in when she turned 18. She never looked back and never returned. Fourteen years later, her father dies and leaves half the airport to her. When she returns home to sell the airport, she finds 13 year old Jax all grown up and looking hot.

Jackson “Jax” Morgan has learned some hard life lessons. He lost his parents when he was 10 and came to live with his grandpa. He gravitated toward the airport and discovered his passion – flying planes. He marries young and takes off for the Air Force. When his wife decides she doesn’t want to be a mom to their two week old daughter, Jax comes home and becomes a single dad. His ex leaves for parts unknown after signing her rights away. The airport and his daughter are his life and there’s no way he’s selling it.

Piper, Jax’s daughter, who is supposed to be only 4, comes across much older.

For supposedly being such a shark in her career, Olivia is wimpy and spineless outside it.

So much repetition. If I heard one more time how Olivia’s dad was like a father to Jax---omg! Such a big deal is made of the fact Jax is 5 years younger than Olivia. It is brought up multiple times. So what?! He’s dealt with a lot in his 27 years and has come out ahead, stronger, mature and with a complete understanding of who he is and what he wants for his life. Age is just a number, life experience accounts for so much more.

Multiple times the next 2 couples are made very obvious. We are also given small glimpses into the back stories of Olivia’s two best friends, Melanie and Jade. I did enjoy the interactions between these three women. They are snarky with each other, laugh together frequently, supportive and call each other out when needed/necessary. Jax and his cousins/best friends, Tanner and Cash have the same kind of relationship.

The ending is completely abrupt and comes too quickly and easily and then it’s over. It needed more. I needed more. Hopefully subsequent books will continue to follow these two as well as the next pairing. Not my favorite from this author but I am interested in reading about the next two couples.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher.

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Small town feel good, heart warming and emotionally engaging romance filled with family, friends, laughter and love.

Olivia Daniels left Haven behind and never intended to look back, then her father leaves her as part owner of the local Airport and she is determined to unload it quickly. Jackson Morgan practically grew up in Haven’s airport and has no intention of ever letting it go. Tempers flare, sparks fly, lines are drawn (and crossed) and it all makes for an exciting and highly entertaining adventure.

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I really liked the book. It was nice, feel good, Home coming kind of a book.

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I have enjoyed the previous Haven, Ga books by Jules Bennett and am glad to see this spin off series. Some characters from previous books show up, but very much peripherally, and this is a completely new series. Jackson is a pilot and was given half ownership of the very small rundown airport when Olivia’s father passed. She has been living in Atlanta having left Haven at eighteen. She comes back to Haven, ostensibly to sell the house, and airport and brings two friends with her to help pack up the house. Jackson has no desire to sell his half to Olivia so she can sell the whole thing. Emotions become involved, and a cute 4 year old toddler (Jackson’s daughter) ratchets up those emotions. An HEA is foregone, but the journey there is a mess. Enjoyable characters, and looking forward to reading more about some of the secondary ones. My only niggle with this book was that after all that Olivia fought the relationship and was determined to go back to Atlanta, the ending felt very rushed.

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Stay With Me by Jules Bennett
Return to Haven #1

Olivia Daniels has gone home to liquidate her deceased father’s home and business then brush the dust of town off her shoes and head back to the big city. Little does she know that her plans will be thwarted by Jackson “Jax” Morgan. The two, as expected, eventually develop a romance BUT with her desire to return to the big city and his desire to stay right where he is there is not much chance of them having a HEA together…not in real life…but perhaps in a romance like this.

I have to say that I did not think much of Olivia. She seemed cold and more into herself and her career than much of anything else. I had trouble believing that an 18 year old girl would so totally believe what her mother told her and turn her back on her father as she did. In her mid-thirties she came across more like a spoiled teenager than a career woman but eventually she did warm up a bit…I guess I just had trouble seeing her with Jackson and still am not sure how their happily ever after would work long term.

I am curious to find out what will happen with her friends and who might be in the rest of the series but hope the characters will have more in common than Olivia and Jackson.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington-Zebra for the ARC – This is my honest review.

2-3 Stars

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Jules Bennett is a contemporary romance author whose previous work I have enjoyed immensely. In Stay with Me, the reader is given two complete opposites who must work together, resolve differing goals and somehow both be pleased with the results. It is not the Monroe Brothers but it is a lighthearted approach to a serious business situation.

Olivia Daniels has lost her dad, want to sell the business, small-town airport, while her father’s partner refuses. This is not a romance made in heaven. While Jackson is by no means going to sell out, he is pretty clear about chasing after Olivia. The book is one of push and pull between these two. It ends rather quickly with a happy-for-now. I want to see how that works out in the future. Stay With Me is the first book in the new Return to Haven series. Hopefully, the next book in the series will give glimpses of Jackson and Olivia.

.

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4 - "Fly with me... You won't regret it." Stars!

I was really pleased to see that Jules Bennett, was continuing writing about the town Haven, and its occupants with the Return to Haven series. She built up a really great backdrop with the Monroe family previously, and it was good to meet a whole new set of characters in Stay With Me and if this book is anything to go by we are looking at another great series to sink our teeth into.

"This is more than an airport-it’s a legacy…"

Jax Morgan and Olivia Daniels know each other of old, although 16 years have passed, and where he was the young boy that used to hang around Haven Airport with Olivia’s father, with an unrequited crush on her as a teen, but as a gangly, geeky boy she never returned his affections. Then her mother ups and leaves with Olivia in tow, and it takes her father’s death to get her back to town.

She wouldn’t let anyone pull her back in. not Jackson, not the memory of her late father.

A lot has happened in the intervening years, something which for me wasn’t looked at in depth enough in regards to Olivia’s issues with her father. Although her communication with Jax as the book progressed, shed a little light on the reasons for her pretty much cutting her father off when she left with her mother, for me I didn’t feel I got a clear explanation of it due to a lack of any prolonged conversation about it throughout the story (maybe a few of the journal entries from her father would have helped with this…).

"We’re partners in this…"

That-said the chemistry between her and Jax more than made up for it, and his cheeky charm, dirty-mouth and single father adorableness more than delivered in relation to my Hero requirements. Olivia is a bit of a runner, something that does in general rub me up the wrong way but I found with the addition of her friends Melanie and Jade, who weren’t shy of calling her out on her shit, and the budding relationship that develops between her and Jax’s young daughter Piper, I could forgive her a little for her behavior.

"I’m not flying with you…"

"...Of course you are. It’s the only place I can guarantee you’ll listen. We’ll keep our clothes on, and you won’t storm out…"

Add in Jax’s cousins and best friends, Gym Owner; Cash, and Town Law Enforcement Tanner, and you know the author has got at least another two more books in the works for this revisit to Haven, Georgia, for her readers to look forward to.

"Neither of us wanted this… But here we are and I’m not sorry. I won’t let you be sorry either."

Nothing, massively new or unusual about the plot, but it was engagingly written, the Jules set up the secondary characters with great depth, the tropes used between the H/h (minus the situation with Olivia’s father) were all explored really well. I really like her delivery style in regards to the story-line, there is nothing flashy or overdone, and you kind of get absorbed into its telling with the characters the further along you read.

"I love it when you talk dirty… but we don’t have time for that."

Mel’s up next in Be with Me after the sparks that flew in this one between them, it’s no surprise that Tanner is the guy who gives her a run for her money. Hurry up October, I cannot wait to Return to Haven again.

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Stay with Me is about Olivia Daniels & Jackson Morgan. Olivia's parents divorced & after the divorce, she moved out of town with her mother, rarely coming back to visit her dad. Now, her father has died & left his airport split between Olivia & Jackson. Olivia wants to sell it quick & get out of town. She doesn't count on Jackson being stubborn!

Jackson does not want to sell.He likes the airport the way it is. It supports him & allows him to spend time with his daughter. He's determined to make Olivia slow down & remember how much she used to enjoy the airport & flying. He knows there's no way she'll stay but he can continue running the airport like he has.

I enjoyed this story. It reminds us that the story we are spoon feed isn't always the entire story & we need to find the truth before it cost us. In this case, it cost Olivia time with her dad. The similarities between Olivia & Jackson's daughter make the reader realize how she grew up & makes the character reflect on her childhood. The support from Olivia's friends gives an added dimension to the story. Overall, this was a pleasant romance that I enjoyed reading.

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This is the first book by this author for me and I was made up with this amazing story. It was such a pleasure to read and I could not stop reading if I tried with this book. It is such a sweet and wonderful story that I feel in love with all the characters in this book. Loved the storyline and the romance in this book too. Just one fantastic book to read and I will be looking up more books by this author in the future. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to everyone

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Olivia Daniels and Jackson Morgan have a past from when they were kids. They have a connection through her dad and the family airport business. Olivia left home at 18 with her mother when her parents divorced with the idea that her dad didn't think they were important. She never looked back and now he's passed away and she's back in Haven to settle his estate. She's going to sell her childhood home and her half of the airport she inherited. Unfortunately the man who owns the other half doesn't want to sell. Watching these two go around and around was sweet and entertaining. Both can't seem to help falling for each other and throw in Jackson's 4 year old daughter and it only sweetens the deal. Jackson's two cousins Cash and Tanner are in the mix always helping out and Olivia's two girlfriends Jade and Melanie have her back and clash with the cousins for several laughs. Hopefully a preview of sorts for books to come. Jules Bennett writes a interesting mix of drama and laughs while we watch two people fall in love.



Find out more about Jules Bennett and this series here www.Julesbennett.com

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Having read and enjoyed the previous Haven series, I was excited to see that Jules Bennett had decided to return to Haven for her newest series. I will admit it took me a while to warm up to Olivia, she was a bit prickly. However, I'm glad I stuck with the story as I really ended up liking Olivia and Jax together. There were a few funny scenes and it was impossible not to like Jax's daughter, Piper as she played the little matchmaker. Looking forward to more in this series. Note that while this series is a spin-off from the original Haven series, it totally stands on it's own.

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Olivia and Jackson have very different ideas about how the airport in Haven should be maintained, how much they want to do with it, and how interested they are in keeping it in their lives.

Which wouldn't usually be an issue. Unfortunately for them, they each own 50% of it, and they are going to have to figure out a way to get along and work out their issues with one another to figure out how to deal with the airport.

I enjoyed this title. I liked their connection. I liked that there was a genuine enjoyment of one another, and a genuine like of the other person (although they both tried to hide and fight against that) and I liked that Jax respected Olivia and the career she thought she wanted, enough to never belittle her for choosing it and not her hometown and the life they could share there.

I enjoy Jules Bennet's stories as they are always full of characters you like, and want to get to know better. This was no different. I liked the main characters, and I also liked the ones you meet as secondary characters and it is clear that those characters will be getting their own books in the series.

The only issue I had was that the child is 4, but seemed a lot older for her age and I was not totally sure I believed everything she said, and the way she handled situations. But, that said, it was not enough of an issue for me to be unable to enjoy the story.

I enjoyed Jax and Olivia and I am looking forward to the next in the series.

I recommend this title.

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Loved it
This is my first book by Jules Bennett.

What I liked:
The writing style
The characters
Piper
Part of a series: Return to Haven
Standalone
HEA

I look forward to reading the other books in this series.

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Stay With Me by Jules Bennett is an excellent contemporary romance. Ms. Bennett has delivered a well-written book and furnished it with fantastic, lovable characters. Olivia returns to her hometown to ready her father's house for sale and talk the co-owner of her airport into selling. Jax, the other owner of the airport has no intention of selling. His plans are to keep the airport in operation and raise his daughter. Jax and Olivia's story is packed with drama, humor and sizzle. I enjoyed reading Stay With Me and look forward to reading more from Jules Bennett in the future. Stay With Me is book 1 of the Return to Haven Series but can be read as a standalone. This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Unfortunately this book didn't work out for me--largely down to me failing to form a connection with the characters--so on this occasion I won't be posting a review publicly. As such no ratings will be negatively affected. Simply a case of it's-not-you-it's-me so definitely worth checking out for yourself.

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Get in, get it done, get out. That's the plan when Olivia Daniels returns to Haven, GA to deal with her father's estate. Too bad the pain in the neck Jackson "Jax" Morgan isn't going along with the plan. Part of the estate is the small airport that they now co-owned and can't agree on what they should do with. Jax has been running everything for a while now so why should things change? Olivia just wants to be rid of it and get back to her life in the city. Will these two ever be able to agree? Then there is the annoying little issue of the crazy wild attraction between them. They need to figure out how to come to an agreement and keep their hands off each other.

This is a fantastic book and one I think everyone will enjoy. It's very well written and these characters are fun with all their snark. I highly recommend this one.

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I received a free ARC  of Stay With Me by Jules Bennett for my honest reveiw. I have only read one other series by Jules and I was excited for a new one. I started reading and could not put it down. I needed to see what happened next. This story takes place in the small town of Haven, Georgia. Olivia Daniels left Haven as soon as she turned 18 and never came back until her father dies. 


She has been trying to get a big promotion at work and doing everything she can to get it. Then her father dies and she needs to come back to Haven. She has become part-owner in her fathers airport that he loved. Olivia wants nothing to do with the airport its a complication she doesn't need. She wants to buy the other owners share sell the land and leave town.


Her friends come to help her get everything settled. She needs all the help she can get once she meets her new partner.


Jackson Morgan grew up in the airport and looked up to Olivia's father. Jackson loves flying and he is not willing to give up the airport. Coming to a comprise will be hard when they each want different things, especially with sparks flying between them. Love wasn't something either of them counted on but will they be able to come to an agreement?


I loved this story I would give it five stars. I would reccomend anyone who likes romance to check this out. I really got invested in the characters and couldn't wait to see how things turned out. There were funny parts, steamy parts, romance family and friends. Please check out this great book you wont be disappointed. I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

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Jules Bennett has done it again. She has started a new series with compelling characters that will be sure to delight her fans. I love the way Jules Bennett tells her stories. I always pick up her books and am never disappointed. She has a knack for writing about characters that we can all love and relate to. In this newest series, Ms. Bennett takes us to Haven, Georgia.
Olivia Daniels fled Haven when she was eighteen with her mother and never looked back. Now that her father has died and left her his estate to deal with, Olivia returns home to a life she never wanted. Her father ran the local small airport and he has left half of it to her. Olivia plans to sell the airport, her father’s house and return to Atlanta as soon as possible. What she doesn’t expect is to find the other owner of the airport so compelling or the overwhelming memories that begin as soon as she returns.
Jackson Morgan’s life hasn’t turned out quite as he expected. He is now the half owner of an airport and raising his daughter on his own. Jax plans to make the most of it and hopes that Olivia will go along with his plans to keep the airport open. He is shocked that she wants to sell. Jax has to convince her to give the airport, Haven and him a chance since he knows how much she loved flying.
These two partners are at odds and have to figure out a way to make everything work while dealing with their attraction to each other. Jax has information about Olivia’s father that will change how she views her father and her past. Olivia has to figure out where her heart really is—in Atlanta with the promotion she has been working for or in Haven with all of its memories. Watching them figure it out is a lot of fun.
I am excited to see where Ms. Bennett goes with the rest of the series. We get glimpses of the romances she has brewing for future books in this one. There will definitely be some interesting stories.

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Jackson has no problems getting handsy, "in an instant, Jackson— or whatever he wanted to be called— snaked an arm around her waist and caught her . . . his hand landing on her *** ." Jax has manners even though they have a double meaning, "...I’m a Southern gentleman, Livie. I’ll make sure you’re properly taken care of.” Jax has a one track mind, "He jerked her leg higher as he started to nuzzle her neck. “so go ahead and discuss. I promise, you have my undivided attention.” She swatted him." I liked this book, and I can't wait to see what the other books in this series holds.

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City meets small town romance

This is the the first book in a new series by Jules Bennett. Unfortunately I never really got invested in the main characters Olivia (Livie) and Jax. I thought while there were some good plot ideas things didn't flow as well as they could. I did find the secondary characters interesting and am looking forward to seeing what the author has in store for the reader in the next 2 books.
I received an advance reader copy from Netgalley.

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