Friends-to-enemies kind of-to lovers. There’s predictable moments, but I really enjoyed this. I read it in one day and easily got sucked in.
Rory and Zeke were childhood friends, but they had a falling out in middle school. Rory still lives in Vermont. Zeke is a professional basketball player. He returns to Vermont to rehab some injuries. They run into each other and slowly reconnect. Zeke definitely wants a relationship or at least friendship, but Rory is still angry from the earlier stuff.
Rory will probably bother some readers. She’s a harsher personality and she’s a big grudge holder. I didn’t mind, but I’ve been known to hold a grudge so I get it. She’s also fairly self-aware about that. She does grow and learn, too.
Zeke was a very nice guy and he tried to make up for mistakes he made as a kid. I would’ve liked him to be a bit more developed. We got little glimpses of his familial relationships, but that was really it.
My biggest issue was around the “big secret”. I knew from the beginning what the big conflict would be. I hate the not talking to each other thing. It wasn’t the knowing it part that bothered me but what the actual conflict was.
There were some small pacing or plotting things that felt off. Or sometimes I thought there was a continuity error. Maybe it was me. It didn’t impact my enjoyment too much anyways.
Ms. Mitchell, please tell me Stacey will get her HEA. I’ll definitely look into more books by Mitchell when I have space in my TBR. Her style was easy to read and connect with.
Thanks for reading!
Holly