Steph Nuss - Cherished by You

 Title: Cherished by You (Love in the City #4)

Author: Steph Nuss

Release Date: Oct 7, 2015

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“Move in with me,” he said. 

Being cherished is how Tessa Wilder always imagined falling in love. But for years, she’s always gone for the wrong guys. Now that she’s fallen for one of the good ones, she fears rejection.

“I can’t,” she replied.

Justin Jameson quit looking for a woman after being used so many times for his brains. A bit of an introvert and completely oblivious to women’s advances, he can’t even see that his friend cherishes everything about him.

When Tessa needs a place to stay, Justin’s the first to offer her a room. Hearts are opened; feelings are ventured. They’ll finally know what it’s like to be cherished in the city until one moment threatens the relationship they’ve built.

“I can’t lose you.”

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“I can’t believe you agreed to live with a woman,” Cash said, sitting down on the couch in my living room with a beer in his hand.

It was Saturday afternoon, and most of the gang was over at my place, waiting for Tessa and her brother to arrive so we could help move all of her stuff in. Maverick and Harper were at home with their baby girl, Seghen, and Paige had a work function with a client.

I really couldn’t believe it either. I’d never had a roommate before who wasn’t some sort of family member, but I knew I didn’t want Tessa living in some dilapidated hole in Grand Concourse again. Just hearing her talk about growing up there pissed me off.

“Living with a woman isn’t so bad,” Carter stated proudly, with his arm slung over Elly’s shoulder. “They make the place smell good. They’re nice to look at.”

“They cook,” Fletcher added, rubbing Bayler’s thigh. They weren’t living together yet, but they stayed together enough that he enjoyed the benefits of Bayler’s excellent cooking skills.

“Not all of them cook,” Carter retorted, nodding his head toward his wife.

“Hey!” Elly exclaimed, smacking him in the stomach. “I’m cooking your baby right now.”

The room filled with laughter as I paced over to the window and looked down at the sidewalk. I was nervous because I wasn’t sure whether or not Tessa would like living with me. I’d had the place cleaned twice this week in anticipation of her arrival.

“But Tessa loves cooking,” Elly continued, smiling up at me. “You can finally stop eating out every night.”

I scoffed, glancing over my shoulder at her. “I don’t eat out every night.”

Bayler laughed. “All you have in your fridge are takeout boxes and condiments.”

“And beer!” Carter said, clinking his bottle with Fletcher’s.

“Ladies,” Fletcher stated, shaking his head at the women. “Jameson has the necessities. Lay off him.”

“Tessa is going to freak when she sees the fridge,” Elly said, laughing along with Bayler.

I turned to face the gang as anxiety tumbled in my stomach. “What do you mean? Why would she freak out?”

“Because Tessa enjoys cooking,” Bayler explained.

“Yeah,” Elly said, nodding. “She’s used to having a stocked kitchen, especially since she’s cooked for her and her brother most of her life.”

Now I felt bad about not going grocery shopping. The truth was, I did order takeout often, only because it was easier than attempting to cook a meal. I’d grown up with either a maid cooking for me or my grandma, but no matter how many times Janice Jameson tried to teach me how to cook, the meal never turned out the way she made it.  

“You guys can go grocery shopping later,” Cash said, running through the television channels. “That way she can pick out whatever the hell she wants.”

“Maybe she’ll even teach you how to cook,” Elly teased, nudging my arm.

“Yeah,” Bayler continued, pointing her beer bottle at me. “Every guy should know how to cook. Women love a home-cooked meal they don’t have to make themselves.”

“I’m not trying to find a woman,” I stated, furrowing my brows.

The gang laughed at my candid response, despite the fact that it was true. I’d practically given up on finding a good woman during my college years. The girls I seemed to attract back then only wanted my help passing a class. The only date I’d been on since was a few years ago when my grandma set me up with her neighbor, Elly. The chemistry wasn’t there, so we became friends instead, which was perfectly fine with me. She was still in love with Carter, and I’d been a loner most of my life. When Carter moved back to New York, he and Elly started dating, and I gained another friend. Our group of friends continued to grow after that with the addition of Carter’s sisters, Harper and Bayler, falling for two of our own, Maverick and Fletcher.

“I call bullshit, Justin,” Bayler exclaimed, rolling her eyes. She leaned into Fletcher’s side and rested her feet up on the coffee table.

The laughter quickly died down at her blunt retort.

“Excuse me?” I asked, deflecting my surprise.

“All men are predisposed to think with their penises,” she explained, entertaining everyone with her words. “I don’t care how much of a genius you are; you’re still a man, which means that brain of yours down south is focused on sex just like every other man’s.”

Laughter grew louder around me as I stared her down, the smile spreading wide across my face. We got a kick out of giving each other a hard time, and I enjoyed dishing it out just as much as everyone else. Leaning down next to her ear, I said, “No, Bayler, what I meant was, I don’t have to try to find a woman.”

She nearly spit out her beer as she smacked me on the arm and laughed. “See! Just like every other guy! I knew you had a dick in there somewhere, Jameson.”

“Is this the part where I tell you I know how to use it, too?” I asked sarcastically, laughing along with her.

A knock on the door sounded before she could reply, so I walked over to answer it. Opening the door, I found Tessa and a younger guy standing behind her, with three suitcases resting at their sides and a duffle bag slung across his body. She wore an old pair of ripped jeans and a hoodie. Her long brown hair was knotted on top of her head, but it was her light blue-gray eyes smiling back at me that caught my attention the most.

“Hey,” I said, grabbing one of the rollers. “Come on in.”

“Thanks,” she said, crossing the threshold into my apartment.

Review:

4 out of 5 stars Kindle Copy for Review

Tessa Wilder did not have an idyllic childhood.  She learned early to take care of herself and her younger brother living with a drug addicted mother and step father.  She keeps a secret which brings her nightmare at times despite therapy.

When her younger brother wants to move out and live with his friend, she finds herself looking for her own place and giving up her rent control apartment to her brother and friend.  But she soon realizes that finding a place is more expensive than she can manage but then her boss husband friend offers his spare bedroom in his condo for free.

An offer she cannot refuse but she has a crush on him and finds herself having sexual dreams about him at night.  Tessa feels he is too good for her as she has her disastrous relationships with bad guys.

Justin Jameson is weary of women who have used him for his brains.  Quiet and a bit aloof who grew up with parents that were too busy for him.   He is an introvert who does not see that Tessa is interested in him.

Things heat up when she moves in as they find themselves handling being in the same space.  Eventually, they find themselves together but when something happens that could change their lives forever.  Can they admit their feelings before it is too late?  This is a nice love story.

The Love in the City series is about a group of friends looking for love in New York City. Each book is about a different couple, so they can be read as standalones. The stories are told from both the female and male point of views, and they all end in happily ever afters, no cliffhangers here! Finally, all the book covers are different colors to represent a certain awareness or cause that is referenced in each book. Grab the first book in the series, Wanted By You, for FREE today!

Wanted by You | Fantasized by You | Pleasured by You

Steph Nuss was born and raised in rural Kansas, where she currently resides with her black Labrador son named Gunner. She grew up with a passion for reading and writing. When she’s not immersed into the land of fiction, she enjoys listening to music that came before her time, watching movies and reruns of her favorite shows, and hanging out with her family and friends. She also has a bachelor’s degree in psychology that she’ll never use…unless she’s profiling her characters of course.

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