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A review by lubo_lovestoread
Offside Play by Lyssa Lemire
lighthearted
slow-paced
2.5
I didn’t like it.
At first, it seemed like the perfect grumpy/sunshine fake-dating romance, but it got boring so fast—I’m honestly so disappointed.
There were zero stakes. Summer’s ex-boyfriend Sean, the whole reason they start faking the relationship (to keep him from trying to win her back), just disappears! No tension, no drama, no close calls where their ruse could be exposed. Then, out of nowhere, Sean reappears, is briefly mean, gets mildly threatened, and vanishes again.
Hudson has a big game—he wins. Summer has a big music contest—she wins. Even when they have a “bad day,” they recover super quickly and forgive each other almost instantly. When Hudson tries to create some distance between them a couple of times, Summer patiently waits for him to process (which is sweet but also painfully boring).
The spicy scenes didn’t do it for me, though I’m not entirely sure why. One thing I do know: I never want to read the phrase “mushroom head” again in my life.
I kept expecting Hudson’s dad to be a real obstacle—maybe threatening Hudson’s finances or delivering an explicitly abusive moment, emotionally or physically—but nope. They resolve everything with a single phrase, and the story wraps up with a Hallmark-style ending.
And let’s talk about Hudson. He’s not even that grumpy—he’s just shy!
Everything about the book felt underdeveloped and shallow. That could’ve been fine if it were fun or engaging, but it wasn’t. Summer barely had any struggles. Her biggest “obstacle” was Sean (who, again, disappeared almost immediately) and one bad day where she played a wrong note on the violin. ONE. BAD. DAY.
Anyway, I think my journey with this author starts and ends here.
At first, it seemed like the perfect grumpy/sunshine fake-dating romance, but it got boring so fast—I’m honestly so disappointed.
There were zero stakes. Summer’s ex-boyfriend Sean, the whole reason they start faking the relationship (to keep him from trying to win her back), just disappears! No tension, no drama, no close calls where their ruse could be exposed. Then, out of nowhere, Sean reappears, is briefly mean, gets mildly threatened, and vanishes again.
Hudson has a big game—he wins. Summer has a big music contest—she wins. Even when they have a “bad day,” they recover super quickly and forgive each other almost instantly. When Hudson tries to create some distance between them a couple of times, Summer patiently waits for him to process (which is sweet but also painfully boring).
The spicy scenes didn’t do it for me, though I’m not entirely sure why. One thing I do know: I never want to read the phrase “mushroom head” again in my life.
I kept expecting Hudson’s dad to be a real obstacle—maybe threatening Hudson’s finances or delivering an explicitly abusive moment, emotionally or physically—but nope. They resolve everything with a single phrase, and the story wraps up with a Hallmark-style ending.
And let’s talk about Hudson. He’s not even that grumpy—he’s just shy!
Everything about the book felt underdeveloped and shallow. That could’ve been fine if it were fun or engaging, but it wasn’t. Summer barely had any struggles. Her biggest “obstacle” was Sean (who, again, disappeared almost immediately) and one bad day where she played a wrong note on the violin. ONE. BAD. DAY.
Anyway, I think my journey with this author starts and ends here.