Imagine you were 28 years old, alone, and broke…
Left by the man you loved for 10 years – the man you thought would be your husband in the end.
You were confused and lost…
How would you reclaim your life? How would you build your life from scratch?
Just Want You Here explores love, rejection, friendship, passion, second chances, identity, and growth through the story of Aria Bishop, who was on the cusp of a stable future with Morgan, her fiancee, when everything fell apart. Left at the crossroads, she braved herself to move forward but unknowingly took an uncertain path that brought her to places she never thought she would be. She found a new love, a new friend, and new opportunities, but each was laden with deception, betrayal, and pain. Did she push herself deeply into the quagmire? Would she be able to save herself before it was too late? One thing is certain – her journey will leave you questioning the true cost of love and redemption.
Just Want You Here is a debut novel by Meridith Turits, a writer and editor from Connecticut with expertise in business, economics, sports, literature, and more. She leads the features team at Front Office Sports as an editorial director and a former editor of business features at BBC.com. Turits graduated magna cum laude at Tufts University and attended the Yale Writers’ Workshop for Fiction.
Book Description
An intimate and deeply moving coming-of-age novel about second chances and the inextricable bonds between lovers and friends.
The only love Ari has known is Morgan. Engaged and planning a life with him in New York, Ari is shocked when Morgan sits her down one rainy afternoon and tells her their decade-long relationship is over. They’ve been over for a long time now, he says—and Ari knows he’s right.
Twenty-eight years old and suddenly alone, Ari throws herself into a new job in Boston, as assistant to a tech CEO. Wells is British, twelve years her senior, a devoted husband and father. He’s also captivated by Ari, in a way neither of them can explain. Ignoring every warning signal from friends and their own instincts, they dive into a fiery affair, which becomes more dangerous as Ari finds herself intricately tangled with his wife, Leah.
Nothing can prepare Ari for the choices she must make as she tries to uncover what’s right for herself, and for the people she can’t let go. As a new path opens—a journey of lies and the twisted calculus of protecting them—Ari’s second chance at happiness forces her to consider who she really is. Can you love someone without dragging them under? What does it take to start over again?
Source: Goodreads
Discussion Questions
- How had Ari and Morgan’s relationship become ordinary over time, and what did that say about where they stood?
- Why had he asked if she hated him? How had she responded?
- What had made Ari feel ready to leave for Boston?
- How had Ari turned into someone she never thought she would be?
- Why had Ari felt guilty every day?
- What did Ari realize about her father’s choices?
- Describe Wells and his impact on Ari’s life.
- What had helped Ari believe she could move forward?
- How had Ari defined herself in the past?
- What had Ari learned about herself over the last two years?
What I Loved The Most
- The book made me care about the main character, Ari, and it felt like I knew her very well and that she was somebody close to me. Because of what happened to her at the beginning of the story, she wasn’t able to think things through that’s why she got into a convoluted situation. Her actions bothered me. I understand her pain and struggles but she was hurting people. And it was just a matter of time. I couldn’t stop turning the page because I was deeply invested in seeing how the people involved would react after the truth was revealed. My heart went out to Ari. I wanted her to be happy, but she needed to wake up and face the truth. I was so glad that one of the most important people in her life finally made her snap out of it. This book devastated me. I had to give myself a day or two to recover from all the emotional turmoil it put me through.
- Meredith Turits is a great writer. The wording is never boring—just the right mix of easy language and a few drops of new, difficult words. As a reader, I love well-written sentences and unfamiliar words that give me a dopamine rush. So many quotes stuck with me, and a few are shared above. They capture that tender feeling of being human—we can be fragile and lost, yet with a strong determination to do what is right, we can also be strong and fulfilled.
- The pacing of the story is dynamic. It goes with the mood of the scene. For instance, when Ari got into a situation that happened so fast, the pacing of that part was quick. The parts that included a lot of retrospection were slow enough to understand the scene or the character more and to let the emotions sink in.
What I Loved The Least
- The multiple POVs weren’t confusing, but there were blank chapters that left me wondering if they were intentional or just an unedited part of the ARC. While the story still felt complete, I wished there had been more insight into Morgan’s character—I wanted to understand him better.
- There was just one line with an awkward word choice that I couldn’t forget. I think choosing the word “lungs” to describe Wells in a scene where he and Ari are intimate was deliberate to foreshadow a major event later on in the story but it felt a bit unnatural.
Summing-Up
⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Feeling lost can sometimes make us vulnerable, cloud our minds, and impair our willpower to do the right thing. When we are in a wrong situation, we don’t see it as such because of the fleeting happiness we feel. But when we realize that it is destroying us, we begin to fight our way to save ourselves. The question is are we going to get out without losing ourselves?
Meredith Turit’s debut novel, Just Want You Here, is a story about second chances and growth but it’s more of a cautionary tale about playing with forbidden, passionate love. Ari, a 28-year-old woman who was pretty and talented became alone and lost after her boyfriend of 10 years broke up with her. Keeping her head above water, she moved to another city and got hired as an executive assistant to Wells, the CEO of a tech company. But things soon began to turn dark as Ari got involved with Wells, a married man with a son. The happiness and passion they felt were spiked with the pain they caused themselves, their family, and their friends.
This book left me devastated for two days after reading it. It felt like the main character was my sister or a best friend whom I cared for and rooted for, only to watch her make mistakes that destroyed her in the end. In life, it hurts when you see someone you love fall apart. The same pain that this story made me feel. I know Ari is a fictional character but the book developed this parasocial connection with her that triggered a heavy emotional response. This just showed how immersive Turit’s storytelling is.
I like that the pacing of the story is dynamic and matches the tone of the scene. For example, the relationship between Ari and Wells happened so fast that it felt like a match catching fire - instant and intense. But when it came to the characters’ thoughts and retrospection, the pacing slowed down, just enough to understand their revelations and let the emotions sink in. This rhythm makes the Just Want You Here raw and real pulling you into Ari’s highs and lows, making you live through every moment alongside her.
If you love emotional love stories that break your heart and piece it back together, this book is for you. Thank you, Meredith Turits, Little A, and NetGalley for the ARC.
Further Information
Book Information:
Just Want You Here by Meredith Turits
Will be published on March 11, 2025, by Little A
298 pages (eBook)
Find it here:
Goodreads