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A review by eesh25
Hat Trick by Eden Finley
4.0
Since this book is not recommended as a standalone, I'm gonna assume that y'all are familiar with the characters. Jet more than Soren, since we've seen Jet in multiple books. He's gone from Matt Jackson's snarky younger brother to a famous musician. It hasn't all been good, though, and Jet could use a break. Even if it means being on a Fiji vacation with four disgustingly happy couples who are a constant reminder of Jet's own heartbreak.
The only other single person on around? Caleb Sorenson. And thanks to a past hook-up and some less-than-pleasant events, Jet doesn't like Soren very much. But there's undeniable chemistry between the two, just as there was when they first hooked up three years ago. And Soren wants to make things right. And he's willing to be patient about it.
And now comes the tricky part. What do I say about the book...? As a conclusion to the series, it was great. We got to spend some time with all the previous protagonists of the main four books of the series. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed Maddox. In fact, I actually ended up giving his book, Fake Out, a revisit afterward. At the same time, though, the presence of those characters didn't take away from Jet and Soren's story.
The time spend in Fiji, getting reacquainted, is just one part of the novel. Because the thing that caused Jet to be mad at Soren's isn't something that could take up the entire book. There are other issues they need to deal with. Jet's ex being one of them.
I don't know if Eden Finley is planning on some kind of spin-off, but the ex made me think that she might be. He's... complicated. I kept switching between wanting redemption, and maybe a happily ever after, for him, and wanting to punch him. He was a major cause of conflict in the book. And for good reason. He and Jet have an intense history. Even I wasn't sure if Jet would be able to move past him in time to avoid a huge mistake.
As for issues... the reason I'm struggling with what to say about the book (other than delaying the review for too long) is that I don't like the band-member trope. Not sure why.
A part of me is convinced it's because of the 1D fanfiction that got me into reading. Or maybe it's because the pretending-to-be-straight-because-of-management trope seems to fuel the assholes on Tumblr who want to force celebrities out of closets they might not even be in. What I do know is that, for the most part, I avoid books with bands. And while Jet's band-member status didn't bother me, exactly, it took away from my enjoyment a bit.
Still, I definitely liked the book. I liked the relationship that Jet and Soren slowly built, I liked how Jet's lively personality complemented Soren's more laid-back one. I even liked that the age difference wasn't an issue, even though there's a clear difference in maturity between the protagonists. The book made it feel like they liked each other for who they were, not for who they were at that point in their life.
Overall, this was a very good final book in a very good series. The first and second books are still my favourites, and will likely remain so, but this one gets third place. I'm looking forward to the author's future works.
The only other single person on around? Caleb Sorenson. And thanks to a past hook-up and some less-than-pleasant events, Jet doesn't like Soren very much. But there's undeniable chemistry between the two, just as there was when they first hooked up three years ago. And Soren wants to make things right. And he's willing to be patient about it.
And now comes the tricky part. What do I say about the book...? As a conclusion to the series, it was great. We got to spend some time with all the previous protagonists of the main four books of the series. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed Maddox. In fact, I actually ended up giving his book, Fake Out, a revisit afterward. At the same time, though, the presence of those characters didn't take away from Jet and Soren's story.
The time spend in Fiji, getting reacquainted, is just one part of the novel. Because the thing that caused Jet to be mad at Soren's isn't something that could take up the entire book. There are other issues they need to deal with. Jet's ex being one of them.
I don't know if Eden Finley is planning on some kind of spin-off, but the ex made me think that she might be. He's... complicated. I kept switching between wanting redemption, and maybe a happily ever after, for him, and wanting to punch him. He was a major cause of conflict in the book. And for good reason. He and Jet have an intense history. Even I wasn't sure if Jet would be able to move past him in time to avoid a huge mistake.
As for issues... the reason I'm struggling with what to say about the book (other than delaying the review for too long) is that I don't like the band-member trope. Not sure why.
A part of me is convinced it's because of the 1D fanfiction that got me into reading. Or maybe it's because the pretending-to-be-straight-because-of-management trope seems to fuel the assholes on Tumblr who want to force celebrities out of closets they might not even be in. What I do know is that, for the most part, I avoid books with bands. And while Jet's band-member status didn't bother me, exactly, it took away from my enjoyment a bit.
Still, I definitely liked the book. I liked the relationship that Jet and Soren slowly built, I liked how Jet's lively personality complemented Soren's more laid-back one. I even liked that the age difference wasn't an issue, even though there's a clear difference in maturity between the protagonists. The book made it feel like they liked each other for who they were, not for who they were at that point in their life.
Overall, this was a very good final book in a very good series. The first and second books are still my favourites, and will likely remain so, but this one gets third place. I'm looking forward to the author's future works.