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A review by iowagirlreads
Seal the Deal by Hailey Rodger
Did not finish book. Stopped at 75%.
I really tried you guys! I skimmed from 65-75% and finally decided to move on.
I've seen a lot about of people who enjoyed this which is great and as a debut author I want to be supportive. The cover is what drew me in along with the tropes and I think there a glimmers of potential here.
My personal lived experience with an ex narcissist husband much like Alex and someone who ultimately abandoned his children I had some issues that I just couldn't get past with the plot being realistic enough that I get behind it.
As someone who went through a similar situation in that my ex husband who I originally shared care with post divorce decided he no longer wanted his kids I found this so hard to believe. I don't think many single moms would be this quick to allow a man into their children's lives this deeply even if they did have a history.
This was also not a second chance romance in my opinion. They may have had feelings for each other at one point in their lives but they were still only friends and teenagers. It's also been 12 years and while we are told often that Jake has been thinking about her all that time, we never hear the same about her feelings so I wouldn't call this a second chance, but rather a reconnection and it really didn't feel like she had been pining after him all that time.
This all factors in to the instalove aspect of this book. He's clearly all in basically from their first meeting, we get that on repeat....over and over, it's very repetitive. She is less all in at first and rightfully so but also doesn't really put up much of a guard in the end. I also found his "you're mine" moments to be over the top and almost possessive - and I can get behind a possessive man but not this quickly and I felt like she wasn't given much of a choice.
We got very little hockey in this hockey romance and I know she's setting up the next book with two of the side characters, but I felt like we needed to see more of the team aspect because the Thanksgiving scene was great and we meet all these people and I just wanted more of that!
I've seen a lot about of people who enjoyed this which is great and as a debut author I want to be supportive. The cover is what drew me in along with the tropes and I think there a glimmers of potential here.
My personal lived experience with an ex narcissist husband much like Alex and someone who ultimately abandoned his children I had some issues that I just couldn't get past with the plot being realistic enough that I get behind it.
As someone who went through a similar situation in that my ex husband who I originally shared care with post divorce decided he no longer wanted his kids I found this so hard to believe. I don't think many single moms would be this quick to allow a man into their children's lives this deeply even if they did have a history.
This was also not a second chance romance in my opinion. They may have had feelings for each other at one point in their lives but they were still only friends and teenagers. It's also been 12 years and while we are told often that Jake has been thinking about her all that time, we never hear the same about her feelings so I wouldn't call this a second chance, but rather a reconnection and it really didn't feel like she had been pining after him all that time.
This all factors in to the instalove aspect of this book. He's clearly all in basically from their first meeting, we get that on repeat....over and over, it's very repetitive. She is less all in at first and rightfully so but also doesn't really put up much of a guard in the end. I also found his "you're mine" moments to be over the top and almost possessive - and I can get behind a possessive man but not this quickly and I felt like she wasn't given much of a choice.
We got very little hockey in this hockey romance and I know she's setting up the next book with two of the side characters, but I felt like we needed to see more of the team aspect because the Thanksgiving scene was great and we meet all these people and I just wanted more of that!