Short Take Reviews: Love on the Brain | You Had Your Chance, Lee Burrows

 

You Had Your Chance, Lee Burrows

by Piper Rayne

Series: Kingsmen Football Stars #1

Tropes: second chance, enemies to lovers, professional athlete

Piper Rayne is my go-to for when I want romance without the drama and angst. You Had Your Chance, Lee Burrows kicks off the Kingsmen Football Stars series (there was also a prequel novella, False Start). Lee broke Shayna's heart in college but that won't stop her from accepting her dream job as a sports therapist for a professional team, even if Lee is the star quarterback. It's been eight years and she's no longer a shy, naïve college girl. Shayna has every intention of keeping her distance but Lee has other plans.

One of my favorite aspects of a Piper Rayne book is that their characters are always so likable. Down to earth, relatable - and their actions and reactions feel completely realistic and believable. Shayna was a great example of that. Having had her heart broken (and still a little bruised) years ago by Lee, it was easy to understand why she tried to give him a wide berth and protect herself from more heartache. But Lee was determined to get back in Shayna's good graces and make amends. Even though it sometimes felt like Lee wanted forgiveness because he felt badly, and not because he genuinely understood the pain he'd caused Shayna, I still couldn't help but pull for him. I appreciated that he was willing to meet Shayna where she was, realizing that he was in no position to push for more. Shayna was smart, professional and had a good head on her shoulders. And I loved that when her job was in jeopardy, she called Lee out on his privilege and gave him a realty check. Go Shayna! Lee's teammates were a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to getting their stories. 4 stars

Love on the Brain

by Ali Hazelwood

Tropes: enemies to lovers, pining hero, STEMinist heroine

I have such mixed feelings about this one that I'm going to break out what I liked and what I didn't.

What I Liked:

* Levi! - What sweetheart. Sure he came off as grumpy and aloof (or I suppose he was meant to come off as grumpy and aloof), but it was obvious this was a seriously pining hero. And a total cinnamon roll hero. 

* Bee the quirky heroine - Bee's family background and former relationship drama made her instantly sympathetic. 

* Rocio the even quirkier sidekick - I got such a laugh from basically every scene with Rocio. And the unlikely relationship that developed? Priceless.

* The banter - I’m a sucker for good banter and Hazelwood obviously has a gift for it. The back and forth banter between Levi and Bee kept a smile on my face. 

But Not So Much: 

* Miscommunication - Least. Favorite. Trope. Ever.

* A heroine so obtuse it defied belief - For a brainy neuroscientist, Bee was unbelievably oblivious to Levi's true nature, even when his every action was in direct contradiction to her assumptions. And the longer the cluelessness continued, the less it made sense.

* Lack of subtlety - I don't claim to be a particularly observant reader who picks up on every nuance, but there wasn't a single surprise here. Every plot point felt obvious from the start (Levi's true feelings, the identity of Bee's Twitter friend, the "villain" at work).

* The 11th hour drama - So over the top and out of place. It was like, did we just step into a soap opera and I'm supposed to just go with this nonsense? That was just... no. 3.5 stars 

Note: I switched back and forth between the paperback and the audio version of Love on the Brain. Thanks again to Rachel (Waves of Fiction) for the physical copy she sent me!

Have you read either of these books?