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wordsbychiara 's review for:
Shutout
by Avery Keelan
I have really mixed feelings about this book.
Overall, I definitely enjoyed it. Sera is the sister of my babe Chase (male lead of the first book in the series, Offside). At the start of the book, girlie is moving into Chase's apartment that he shares with two of his friends for college. What she doesn't know is that one of her new roommates is "Hades", the guy she met in a nightclub and with whom she's had a mindblowing one night stand.
Sera and Tyler are both incredible leads, and I was as invested in both of their individual storylines as I was in their romance. Tyler is a goalie with dreams of making it to the pro levels after college, and he's struggling to find a balance between his ambitions and his personal life. Sera's situation is a little more complex. She's trying to find her place in the world, but she's also juggling her mother's cancer treatments while also getting some concerning health news of her own. In all of this, the relationship between Tyler and Sera is a lifeline for both of them. It doesn't take long for them to rekindle an understanding once they meet again, even though it doesn't immediately turn into a spice fest.
My first "issue" however isn't about what is on the page, but what isn't. Much of Sera and Tyler's earlier interactions revolve around the one night stand--a night so passionate neither of them can stop thinking about it. And yet...we never see it. Not even in a little flashback. This gave me the feeling that the chemistry and tension between Tyler and Sera was more "told" than shown, and it took me a while to buy into their relationship. I did end up loving them by the end, but I would have loved to see at least glimpses of their first meeting given the impact it has on them both.
Another thing I wasn't completely a fan of was the resolution. While the romance ends in a deserved happily ever after, there is one other storyline that didn't resolve with the happy ending I was expecting, and my mood soured quite a bit because of it. I listened to the audiobook, and thankfully there were some bonus chapters (which I believe can normally be found on the author's website) that washed some of that bitterness away.
Spice: 3 (explicit, on page scenes)
Overall, I definitely enjoyed it. Sera is the sister of my babe Chase (male lead of the first book in the series, Offside). At the start of the book, girlie is moving into Chase's apartment that he shares with two of his friends for college. What she doesn't know is that one of her new roommates is "Hades", the guy she met in a nightclub and with whom she's had a mindblowing one night stand.
Sera and Tyler are both incredible leads, and I was as invested in both of their individual storylines as I was in their romance. Tyler is a goalie with dreams of making it to the pro levels after college, and he's struggling to find a balance between his ambitions and his personal life. Sera's situation is a little more complex. She's trying to find her place in the world, but she's also juggling her mother's cancer treatments while also getting some concerning health news of her own. In all of this, the relationship between Tyler and Sera is a lifeline for both of them. It doesn't take long for them to rekindle an understanding once they meet again, even though it doesn't immediately turn into a spice fest.
My first "issue" however isn't about what is on the page, but what isn't. Much of Sera and Tyler's earlier interactions revolve around the one night stand--a night so passionate neither of them can stop thinking about it. And yet...we never see it. Not even in a little flashback. This gave me the feeling that the chemistry and tension between Tyler and Sera was more "told" than shown, and it took me a while to buy into their relationship. I did end up loving them by the end, but I would have loved to see at least glimpses of their first meeting given the impact it has on them both.
Another thing I wasn't completely a fan of was the resolution. While the romance ends in a deserved happily ever after, there is one other storyline that didn't resolve with the happy ending I was expecting, and my mood soured quite a bit because of it. I listened to the audiobook, and thankfully there were some bonus chapters (which I believe can normally be found on the author's website) that washed some of that bitterness away.
Spice: 3 (explicit, on page scenes)