I’ll Always Be With You by Monica Murphy

Posted May 18, 2023 in review Tags: 4 stars, opposites attract

I’ll Always Be With You by Monica Murphy

Series: Lancaster Prep #4
Genres: New Adult
Source: ARC
Also by this author: Never Tear Us Apart

Weston Fontaine is the hottest senior at Lancaster Prep.
And he knows it.
He’s gorgeous. Confident. Smart.
Too smart.
Everyone loves him. He could have any girl on campus, except for one.
Me.
I’m a Lancaster, meaning I’m basically untouchable–or so I thought. It’s my family who owns this God forsaken private school that I don’t want to attend. But according to my parents, I have to endure my senior year at Lancaster Prep before I can return to what I love the most: ballet.
West doesn’t make my time here easy. He’s arrogant. Crude. Insufferable. He torments me in the worst way, to the point that I can’t stand him. Yet he’s the only boy I’ve ever let touch me…
You see, West and I? We share a secret. On a hot summer night in Paris, we hooked up. And I never do that. Ever. I revealed parts of myself to him I’ve never shown anyone else. He’s seen me at my most vulnerable. I told him my secrets. And he told me his. In Paris, he was sexy. Protective. Even dare I say…sweet.
Now he’s the villain in my story, yet I can’t help but chase after that feeling only West can give me. Despite our hatred for each other, we somehow burn brighter when we’re together. So what happens when you helplessly fall for the one person you know is bad for you?
If you’re like me, you go ahead and fall for him anyway.

I’ll Always Be With You brings the teenage angst HARD. So much angst. So much. Carolina is forced to return to her parents in the US after they find out she has not been on her best behavior in Europe while touring as a prima ballerina. She is furious. She is even more furious to run into her hook up, West.

They have a lack of communication when they first reconnect. They both assume information about the other and it is unfavorable so they start off at war. If they just had a conversation, it would have probably been cleared up pretty quick, but they are teenagers, so it was “assume the worst”.

Carolina is a fascinating character. As a psychologist, she has several markers for a personality disorder. She lacks empathy in many situations, doesn’t feel emotions deeply, and doesn’t really have any attachments to people in her life. She has led an unconventional life-leaving home young and becoming a dancer in London. West on the other hand is a pretty typical high school boy. His dad is expecting him to run the family business, but West isn’t really interested. These two have little in common and I think that is why it works.

Yes, the teenage angst is high, but it only irritated me a few times. I just love the Lancaster Prep stories. Honestly, it’s like catnip.