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emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Death of parent
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a really sweet rivals-to-lovers romance with really strong disability rep and a lot of heart. I had a few issues with some elements but overall I really liked it.
Willa is a student athlete and her ability to play - and to someday get attention from a professional soccer recruiter - is dependent on her grades staying strong, so it’s a problem that she’s struggling with her Business Math class. She needs notes for the classes she misses because of her games, but rather than help her out, her professor refers her to her classmate, Ryder Bergman, for help. The problem? The first few times Willa tries to talk to Ryder, he straight up ignores her. Willa may be someone who avoids confrontation, but she’s got a fiery temper and she’s not good at hiding it. And even though it turns out Ryder had a good reason for ignoring her - he’s deaf, and though he wears hearing aids, they aren’t perfect, so he didn’t actually hear her speaking - he’s not above antagonizing her even once they do figure out how to communicate. But their professor pushes them into working on a semester-long project together, so Willa and Ryder are forced to figure out how to get along. Over time, their relationship shifts from animosity to a teasing sort of friendship and an undeniable sexual attraction emerges. Willa would be happy to pursue a frenemies-with-benefits relationship with her “asshole lumberjack”, but she isn’t interested in anything serious and Ryder doesn’t want casual. It seems they are at an impasse - but when Willa faces a family tragedy, Ryder is the one who stands by her, and it becomes impossible to deny their feelings for each other.
There was so much that was good about this book. I liked Ryder and Willa a lot, though neither of them was perfect. Willa was definitely short tempered and had trust issues, but as you got to know her background, you understood why and sympathized with her. The only thing I didn’t like about her character was how much emphasis was put on her tendency to talk to herself out loud - how often, and how loudly, it happened without her noticing just didn’t seem believable. Ryder was also great. He was a bit of a stereotype of a big, muscular, outdoorsy guy, but the book was self-aware about it, so that was fine. I occasionally found the emphasis on Ryder’s masculinity a little weird, but that’s personal taste, not a real criticism of the book. Willa and Ryder had strong character arcs, both individually as they dealt with the personal issues that were keeping them from pursuing relationships, and as a couple. They had great, sexy chemistry together.
The disability rep in this book was really great. Ryder became deaf as an adult and at the time we meet him, he’s still learning to adjust to being disabled and the life he lost because of it. Liese clearly knows what she’s talking about when it comes to late-acquired deafness and the use of hearing aids; even when he chooses to get the best hearing aids he can, Ryder’s hearing is never perfect, and in some way using his aids creates additional challenges. She also deals with the emotional trauma that Ryder experienced as a result of becoming disabled as an adult in a very realistic way, focusing on his loss and need to adjust without turning his disability into a tragedy. I especially liked that though Ryder had many people in his life (the Bergmans are one of those enormous, overly close families that you get in a series romance) to support him, they didn’t always do the right thing. Ryder’s family sometimes got too pushy, or didn’t understand what he was going through; in particular, I liked the handling of the twist withthe professor who pushed him and Willa together being his well-intentioned but boundary-pushing brother-in-law. Aiden meant well when he tried to force Ryder out of his lonely comfort zone by hooking him up with Willa, but he overstepped and he eventually acknowledges that and apologizes. The only thing that bugged me a little with the disability rep is that coming to terms with his deafness was Ryder’s major character arc, the equivalent to Willa dealing with her mother’s death , but once he started to adjust, the emotional impact of that felt a bit muted. The relationship with Willa clearly had a huge impact on Ryder’s decision to stop being in denial and start dealing with his disability, but it wasn’t really acknowledged in the text, and once he started using better hearing aids and speaking, he was just suddenly fine. It felt like, because Ryder was such a masculine character, the narrative didn’t want to make him that vulnerable and that was annoying. But it was a minor quibble.
My one big issue with the book was a situation that came up towards the end.Willa’s mother is dying of cancer throughout the book, and about midway through it becomes clear that Ryder’s father is her oncologist and close friend, though neither Willa or Ryder are aware of the connection. Then Ryder does find out - but before he can talk to her about it, a series of roadblocks pop up and get in the way, and the situation spins out of control when Ryder learns that Willa’s mother will be going into hospice and living in his parents’ house for the last weeks of her life, and he can’t tell Willa about the connection because, seriously, they can’t find time to meet up. It’s such a contrived series of events that I kept waiting for the book to tell us that Ryder really didn’t want to talk to Willa about this issue for some reason and was making excuses, but no… just food poisoning and conflicting schedules getting in the way of him telling her that her mother is going to die in his childhood home. Even though the fight that happens between them because of it felt contrived, I still was on Willa’s side, because it was such a seriously weird thing to do. And even weirder that both their parents, who did know, didn’t tell her either! This whole conflict ended up feeling really unnecessary to the story and I could have skipped over it.
Willa is a student athlete and her ability to play - and to someday get attention from a professional soccer recruiter - is dependent on her grades staying strong, so it’s a problem that she’s struggling with her Business Math class. She needs notes for the classes she misses because of her games, but rather than help her out, her professor refers her to her classmate, Ryder Bergman, for help. The problem? The first few times Willa tries to talk to Ryder, he straight up ignores her. Willa may be someone who avoids confrontation, but she’s got a fiery temper and she’s not good at hiding it. And even though it turns out Ryder had a good reason for ignoring her - he’s deaf, and though he wears hearing aids, they aren’t perfect, so he didn’t actually hear her speaking - he’s not above antagonizing her even once they do figure out how to communicate. But their professor pushes them into working on a semester-long project together, so Willa and Ryder are forced to figure out how to get along. Over time, their relationship shifts from animosity to a teasing sort of friendship and an undeniable sexual attraction emerges. Willa would be happy to pursue a frenemies-with-benefits relationship with her “asshole lumberjack”, but she isn’t interested in anything serious and Ryder doesn’t want casual. It seems they are at an impasse - but when Willa faces a family tragedy, Ryder is the one who stands by her, and it becomes impossible to deny their feelings for each other.
There was so much that was good about this book. I liked Ryder and Willa a lot, though neither of them was perfect. Willa was definitely short tempered and had trust issues, but as you got to know her background, you understood why and sympathized with her. The only thing I didn’t like about her character was how much emphasis was put on her tendency to talk to herself out loud - how often, and how loudly, it happened without her noticing just didn’t seem believable. Ryder was also great. He was a bit of a stereotype of a big, muscular, outdoorsy guy, but the book was self-aware about it, so that was fine. I occasionally found the emphasis on Ryder’s masculinity a little weird, but that’s personal taste, not a real criticism of the book. Willa and Ryder had strong character arcs, both individually as they dealt with the personal issues that were keeping them from pursuing relationships, and as a couple. They had great, sexy chemistry together.
The disability rep in this book was really great. Ryder became deaf as an adult and at the time we meet him, he’s still learning to adjust to being disabled and the life he lost because of it. Liese clearly knows what she’s talking about when it comes to late-acquired deafness and the use of hearing aids; even when he chooses to get the best hearing aids he can, Ryder’s hearing is never perfect, and in some way using his aids creates additional challenges. She also deals with the emotional trauma that Ryder experienced as a result of becoming disabled as an adult in a very realistic way, focusing on his loss and need to adjust without turning his disability into a tragedy. I especially liked that though Ryder had many people in his life (the Bergmans are one of those enormous, overly close families that you get in a series romance) to support him, they didn’t always do the right thing. Ryder’s family sometimes got too pushy, or didn’t understand what he was going through; in particular, I liked the handling of the twist with
My one big issue with the book was a situation that came up towards the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Death of parent
Minor: Ableism
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Abandonment
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Cute story! Just overall might not be for me. Was a bit too slow moving and felt repetitive with how Willa behaved. Loved how openly emotional she was with her mom and how the author portrayed her grief! Those emotional aspects, our lovable side characters, and being in Ryders head are really what saved me from DNFing. I just didn’t vibe with Willa most of the time and also didn’t enjoy how juvenile her and Ryder acted towards each other. They’re a couple that I wouldn’t expect their HEA to be lasting.
Loved the diversity with Ryders hearing loss and how he worked through his emotions regarding that happening later in life. Would’ve liked to see him adapt more with learning ASL on screen, feel like the author focused more on getting his hearing or some semblance of it back instead of embracing ASL.
I do appreciate the growth Willa and Ryder make towards the end! It just felt like we rushed through that after all the build up though.
Loved the diversity with Ryders hearing loss and how he worked through his emotions regarding that happening later in life. Would’ve liked to see him adapt more with learning ASL on screen, feel like the author focused more on getting his hearing or some semblance of it back instead of embracing ASL.
I do appreciate the growth Willa and Ryder make towards the end! It just felt like we rushed through that after all the build up though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, Medical content, Abandonment
Minor: Ableism
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol
lighthearted
sad
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness
Moderate: Death of parent
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent