Pages

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Playing Hurt

Star basketball player Chelsea "Nitro" Keyes had the promise of a full ride to college--and everyone's admiration in her hometown. But everything changed senior year, when she took a horrible fall during a game. Now a metal plate holds her together and she feels like a stranger in her own family.

As a graduation present, Chelsea's dad springs for a three-week summer "boot camp" program at a northern Minnesota lake resort. There, she's immediately drawn to her trainer, Clint, a nineteen-year-old ex-hockey player who's haunted by his own traumatic past. As they grow close, Chelsea is torn between her feelings for Clint and her loyalty to her devoted boyfriend back home. Will an unexpected romance just end up causing Chelsea and Clint more pain--or finally heal their heartbreak? (from Goodreads)

This book was totally not what I was expecting. I was expecting your typical summer romance novel with a bunch of cliches thrown in. But this was definitely, ah, steamier than the cover and summary imply. It was also told in two POVs, which was a bit odd, considering that the summary focuses on Chelsea only. But, overall, I liked the book.

Chelsea - and Clint's - characters both grew extensively over the course of the book. Much of this was because of the romance. It's one of the things that I liked most about the book. They both saw the flaws in each other and the obstacles in the way. Both helped the other person overcome these obstacles. To put it simply, they brought out the best in each other. There was no love at first sight (although there was a bit of 'lust at first sight'). I could imagine that this would happen in real life, as opposed to 99% of the romances in paranormal today. The romance developed at a good pace. It was easy to understand what they saw in each other besides looks. 

Gabe was just - ugh. I know that Chelsea depended on his a lot after her accident, but if I were her, he would have been long gone. He was possessive and really clingy. When they're apart, he calls, texts, and emails constantly. Chelsea kept going on about how sweet he was, but I just never really saw it, not enough to make up for the clinginess. When Chelsea pulls into the driveway, back from Minnesota, he's already sitting there, waiting for her. Stalkerish, anyone?

Maybe it was the way it was portrayed, but Chelsea's cheating on Gabe didn't really bother me. Normally, it does, but this time it didn't. Maybe it was because Gabe wasn't a really important character and barely came in at all. 


PLAYING HURT was much more than your average summer chick-lit romance novel. 

No comments:

Post a Comment