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emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
This book was fun, but needed another pass or two by an editor. Some of the content seemed to be placeholders for the author to come back and add more and other parts seemed to be sentences that were changed but both versions were kept so they would repeat names 3 times in one sentence or start a thought that was clearly edited out. There were also parts that went into a lot of detail about a specific experience as if it was important and would come up again later and then it didn’t.
I was given a free copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. I wish so badly I could give this book a better review.
I seriously started out thoroughly enjoying this book so much.
BUT BUT BUT... Then came THE CLIMAX, and it was seriously painful to read. The author's words flowed to comfortably and freely until this. I was like who the heck wrote this portion of the book?? It was rough.
Let's review everything before this... I love how it flowed in a way that I could easily visualize and even hear the accents of our rugged Irishmen and caramel sweet heroine. Emotions running, every nerve turned on. It was going great. Plenty of drama and love/hate moments. Easy to read. Flowed well. Goo character development... THEN
Everything FINALLY comes to a head... the scene we were all building up to... the moment when Ayanna has the coming to Jesus and it is so full of awkward analogies and random synonyms and descriptions that left me like WTH? It felt like it was written by a completely different person. It made me want to completely skip the main event because it was super hard to read through.
Honestly, after that, it was hard for me to find the same momentum as before. I found my self disconnected send no longer invested. I skimmed quite a bit and rushed to the end.
There is so much potential though. If I could give one word of advice... You are good. Stick to what feels comfortable. Sometimes less is more and wording needs to be natural to you.
I seriously started out thoroughly enjoying this book so much.
BUT BUT BUT... Then came THE CLIMAX, and it was seriously painful to read. The author's words flowed to comfortably and freely until this. I was like who the heck wrote this portion of the book?? It was rough.
Let's review everything before this... I love how it flowed in a way that I could easily visualize and even hear the accents of our rugged Irishmen and caramel sweet heroine. Emotions running, every nerve turned on. It was going great. Plenty of drama and love/hate moments. Easy to read. Flowed well. Goo character development... THEN
Everything FINALLY comes to a head... the scene we were all building up to... the moment when Ayanna has the coming to Jesus and it is so full of awkward analogies and random synonyms and descriptions that left me like WTH? It felt like it was written by a completely different person. It made me want to completely skip the main event because it was super hard to read through.
Honestly, after that, it was hard for me to find the same momentum as before. I found my self disconnected send no longer invested. I skimmed quite a bit and rushed to the end.
There is so much potential though. If I could give one word of advice... You are good. Stick to what feels comfortable. Sometimes less is more and wording needs to be natural to you.
Thank you to JN Welsh and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.
Let me be completely honest - I did not vibe with the writing throughout most of this book. I struggled with wanting to DNF for roughly 15%. The writing is very wordy; I like descriptions but I don’t need to know absolutely everything. I think that I would have connected more with Ayanna if the story was told through first person POV and I could have been more in her head. Thankfully, the story did pick up when we finally met the love interests, Eoghan and Shane.
This book is said to be a love triangle but overall, I think one character is more developed and an obvious choice but perhaps that’s just me. I also wish that this story actually took place entirely in Ireland and not in the US - it would have been fun to learn more about Ireland.
What I absolutely loved about this book was that it was a slow burn and the angst was on point. I was desperate for these characters to interact - their chemistry felt real and I was hooked. I also loved that Ayanna was such a passionate and ambitious woman; she really cared about her job and helping others.
Overall, if you enjoy a sports romance with somewhat of a love triangle and a strong female lead then you should pick up this book. I will definitely be trying another book by JN Welsh!
Let me be completely honest - I did not vibe with the writing throughout most of this book. I struggled with wanting to DNF for roughly 15%. The writing is very wordy; I like descriptions but I don’t need to know absolutely everything. I think that I would have connected more with Ayanna if the story was told through first person POV and I could have been more in her head. Thankfully, the story did pick up when we finally met the love interests, Eoghan and Shane.
This book is said to be a love triangle but overall, I think one character is more developed and an obvious choice but perhaps that’s just me. I also wish that this story actually took place entirely in Ireland and not in the US - it would have been fun to learn more about Ireland.
What I absolutely loved about this book was that it was a slow burn and the angst was on point. I was desperate for these characters to interact - their chemistry felt real and I was hooked. I also loved that Ayanna was such a passionate and ambitious woman; she really cared about her job and helping others.
Overall, if you enjoy a sports romance with somewhat of a love triangle and a strong female lead then you should pick up this book. I will definitely be trying another book by JN Welsh!
I enjoyed the premise of this book but found the writing itself to be a little overly descriptive. I expected to rush through this in 1-2 settings and instead found myself putting it down after a few pages. I did, however, really love Ayanna's character. She is strong and intelligent and devoted to her work. Shane was cute and I enjoyed the chemistry between him and Ayanna.
Thank you to netgalley for this advanced copy!
Thank you to netgalley for this advanced copy!
Thank you to Montlake, Netgalley and JN Welsh for this copy of Open Play. I downloaded the read this book in one day. It's due to be published in February 2022.
Ayanna Crawford is a physical therapist, who is giving a speech at a conference in the UK. She plans a girls trip with a friend prior to the conference, and when her friend can't go, she travels by herself. Whilst in Ireland she meets man-child Eoghan O’Farrell on a night out at the pub and organises to meet him the following day. Unbeknownst to Ayanna he's a member of the Irish National Soccer (Football) team, and she's to meet him at an international game. Her 'contact' at the game is Eoghan's mate Shane MacCallum, who feels an instant affiliation for Ayanna but he and Eoghan have a friend pact not to date the same woman. Following the game Ayanna continues on her date with Eoghan, then leaves for her conference, thinking she will never see the pair again.
At the conference she's astounded to encounter Shane in his professional role with the Dublin Football Team, and following the conference Ayanna is hired as the private physical therapist for an injured soccer star - Eoghan in New York. Eoghan has suffered a potential career ending injury and needs every bit of Ayanna's expertise, as well as the support from his friend Shane, in order to ensure he's back on the park. What follows is a love triangle of sorts between the three, with loyalties between the men tested, and Ayanna's heart strings taking a battering.
This book is a great portrayal of a strong female main character. Ayanna is an intelligent, focused woman of colour who is fiercely aware of her professional responsibilities. The book looks at mateship, responsibility, familial ties and relationships. It's about equality and partnership in romantic relationships. It's a little slow to get started at the beginning, building up Ayanna as a professional and her achievements, but you feel the initial physical connection with Eoghan and then moreso with Shane, at a deeper level. I loved the depiction of spoiled Eoghan, as well as the cameos by Eoghan and Shane's parents, Ayanna's sister, and Ayanna's friend who has some fantastic dialogue especially relating to Shane who happens to be a "ginger". (reverse stereotyping of the Irish male here perhaps ?)
I struggled with believing Ayanna as a physical therapist knew little about soccer, and felt given her expertise she would likely have at least some background in many sports (give she's a world renowned expert in the field). A small point but it seemed at odds with her profession and appearing to have no clue about the sport, needing Shane to explain the rules.
3.5 stars for me, and I look forward to reading more of JN Welsh's work.
Ayanna Crawford is a physical therapist, who is giving a speech at a conference in the UK. She plans a girls trip with a friend prior to the conference, and when her friend can't go, she travels by herself. Whilst in Ireland she meets man-child Eoghan O’Farrell on a night out at the pub and organises to meet him the following day. Unbeknownst to Ayanna he's a member of the Irish National Soccer (Football) team, and she's to meet him at an international game. Her 'contact' at the game is Eoghan's mate Shane MacCallum, who feels an instant affiliation for Ayanna but he and Eoghan have a friend pact not to date the same woman. Following the game Ayanna continues on her date with Eoghan, then leaves for her conference, thinking she will never see the pair again.
At the conference she's astounded to encounter Shane in his professional role with the Dublin Football Team, and following the conference Ayanna is hired as the private physical therapist for an injured soccer star - Eoghan in New York. Eoghan has suffered a potential career ending injury and needs every bit of Ayanna's expertise, as well as the support from his friend Shane, in order to ensure he's back on the park. What follows is a love triangle of sorts between the three, with loyalties between the men tested, and Ayanna's heart strings taking a battering.
This book is a great portrayal of a strong female main character. Ayanna is an intelligent, focused woman of colour who is fiercely aware of her professional responsibilities. The book looks at mateship, responsibility, familial ties and relationships. It's about equality and partnership in romantic relationships. It's a little slow to get started at the beginning, building up Ayanna as a professional and her achievements, but you feel the initial physical connection with Eoghan and then moreso with Shane, at a deeper level. I loved the depiction of spoiled Eoghan, as well as the cameos by Eoghan and Shane's parents, Ayanna's sister, and Ayanna's friend who has some fantastic dialogue especially relating to Shane who happens to be a "ginger". (reverse stereotyping of the Irish male here perhaps ?)
I struggled with believing Ayanna as a physical therapist knew little about soccer, and felt given her expertise she would likely have at least some background in many sports (give she's a world renowned expert in the field). A small point but it seemed at odds with her profession and appearing to have no clue about the sport, needing Shane to explain the rules.
3.5 stars for me, and I look forward to reading more of JN Welsh's work.
Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for the ARC of Open Play for an honest review. I was intrigued by the synopsis and it certainly delivered. I found the love triangle fun and frustrating. The Ayanna and Shane were well developed characters. I felt that Eoghan was not as well developed and it was harder to understand his motivations. That may have been the point as he came off as shallow. The dialogue was fun and realistic. I found some of the plot points to be redundant or inconsistent in their repeat/revisit. I would definitely recommend this book for an exciting, heartfelt read.
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
NetGalley
Open Play – J N Welsh
Montlake Publishing
I received an ARC of this eBook for free, I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Ayanna, young, professional, top of her field as a world renown sports therapist and a WOC.
I loved the strong female vibe and the sisterhood between Ayanna (Yaya) and Charlotte.
So, love interests:
Eoghan
Shane
A brief holiday in Dublin and an even briefer conference in Liverpool Ayanna returns home to New York.
A professional opportunity arises, how will Ayanna cope with handling her professional and personal relationships?
I have to say I loved the character development and the characters themselves. I also loved how some of the speech is written in the vernacular of the character along with colloquialisms and slang terms – it made me smile.
Overall – I thoroughly enjoyed this story and would love to read more from this author.
5 stars
Open Play – J N Welsh
Montlake Publishing
I received an ARC of this eBook for free, I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Ayanna, young, professional, top of her field as a world renown sports therapist and a WOC.
I loved the strong female vibe and the sisterhood between Ayanna (Yaya) and Charlotte.
So, love interests:
Eoghan
Shane
A brief holiday in Dublin and an even briefer conference in Liverpool Ayanna returns home to New York.
A professional opportunity arises, how will Ayanna cope with handling her professional and personal relationships?
I have to say I loved the character development and the characters themselves. I also loved how some of the speech is written in the vernacular of the character along with colloquialisms and slang terms – it made me smile.
Overall – I thoroughly enjoyed this story and would love to read more from this author.
5 stars