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My Review:Title: Settling the Score
Author: R.S. Grey
Series: The Summer Games #1
Published by: Indie
Release Date: May 2nd 2016
Format: Kindle Book
Pages: 432
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Sports Romance
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2018 #LetsReadIndie Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 Beat the Backlist Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 New Adult Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ IndieBound
My rating:
Blurb:From the USA TODAY Bestselling author of Scoring Wilder, comes a sexy new standalone novel.
As an Olympic rookie, Andie Foster has spent far more time in her cleats than between the sheets. For 21 years, her Friday nights have consisted of blocking shots rather than taking them. But now that she's landed in Rio, she's ready to see for herself if the rumors about the Olympic Village are true:
• The athletes are all sex-crazed maniacs... • The committee passes out condoms like candy... • The games continue long after the medals have been handed out...
As Andie walks the line between rumor and reality, she's forced into the path of Frederick Archibald, a decorated Olympic swimmer and owner of a sexy British accent--too bad he's unavailable in a way that "it's complicated" doesn't even begin to explain.
In other words: off limits.
It doesn't matter that he has abs that could bring peace to the Middle East and a smile that makes even the Queen blush; Andie fully intends on keeping her focus on the soccer field. But the Village is small. Suffocating. Everywhere Andie goes, Freddie happens to be there--shirtless, wet from the pool, and determined to show her a whole new meaning of the phrase "international affairs".
Due to strong language and sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.
3.75 stars — I had a hard time deciding on my rating for this one, b/c while I thoroughly enjoyed a LOT of this book, I was also annoyed with our characters sometimes…mostly Freddie. He put Andie in some really tough positions, without thinking about the impact to her. Honestly, it felt out of character for him, I could never figure out why he was being so selfish and thoughtless. It’s why I docked this book an extra quarter of a star, b/c it just wasn’t *quite* a 4 star book for me.
Now besides the selfishness of Freddie, I actually liked him quite a bit. He had some very unusual burdens to bear, and while I wanted him to grow a backbone earlier with his family, I understood why before he met Andie he had just shrugged it off as something to deal with later. I just wanted him to do the right thing earlier than he did. But he was charismatic, adorable, hard working, and you could feel how much he genuinely felt for Andie and how he cared for her. I kind of enjoyed that she knocked some of his confidence out of him, I loved seeing him struggle with insecurity and desperation. While the situation was quite a bit of his own doing, it didn’t mean I didn’t feel for him when things started spiraling out of control.
Andie was her own mix of adorableness and occasionally frustration for me. I had just previously read Scoring Wilder, and so I couldn’t help but compare Andie to Kinsley sometimes (especially as Kinsley and Becca were a prominent fixture in this book as well), and so I liked her, just not as much you know? It took me some time to really figure out who she was… I loved her dedication to the sport, even if I was a bit skeptical with how that all played out (and kind of disagreed with her decisions — even if that’s what elite athletes would have done). But I loved her confidence, her willingness to explore, and she was so genuine too. I felt for her and the obstacles that were thrust in her way, both just from being in the Olympic limelight, but also from her relationship with Freddie.
And the two of them together were adorable and frustrating as well! Frustrating because of the nature of their relationship and the controversy surrounding it — it made me uncomfortable. I always find it hard to fully invest in a couple when there’s other people involved, even if it’s “not what everyone thinks.” But despite that, they were super cute together, and I enjoyed watching them flirt and fumble their way together.
Being an Olympic junkie, I loved that aspect to the story — I thought Ms. Grey did a great job showing the craziness that is such a huge international event, and the dedication it takes to be an elite athlete at that level.
I also appreciated seeing Kinsley, Becca and Liam again. Not just to get an update on them, but also as they tried to support Andie. Kinsley and Becca were just as hilarious as always, but I loved that you could really feel how much they cared for Andie. I also ADORED Freddie’s sister Georgie! That girl was HILARIOUS. She helped us see a different side of Freddie, and I appreciated how she tried to help him with his clusterfuck of a love life.
So yeah. Still thoroughly enjoying this author, it was just the circumstances surrounding this story that made it harder for me to fully invest. I’m curious to see what the next Summer Games book will bring!
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