The Hail Mary by Ginger Scott

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Title: The Hail Mary
Author: Ginger Scott
Series: Waiting on the Sidelines #3
Published by: Indie
Release Date: January 18, 2019
Format: eARC
Pages: 319
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Sports Romance
Source: the author
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2019 AtoZ Reading Challenge, Lenoreo's 2019 Finishing the Series Challenge, Lenoreo's 2019 New Release Challenge, Lenoreo's COYER Winter 2018
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks
My rating:

Blurb:

Sixteen years is a long time. In a marriage, it’s a milestone. On the gridiron, it’s a miracle. Reed Johnson wants more time for everything, but time is funny that way.

It can be cruel.

With a body that can’t quite take the hits it used to and a heart tired of being torn in two different directions, Reed is faced with a reality he’s not quite ready for—life without the game. He became a man under Friday night game lights and in college stadium tunnels, and without the grit and the glory that’s earned ten yards at a time, he’s afraid of what kind of man he’ll be.

But there’s more than a game at stake now.

Reed’s wife, Nolan, is afraid too. She’s seen what can happen when the love of her life pushes himself too hard, and she can’t escape the nightmares she relives after almost losing her entire world to one single play on the field.

There is no compromise when it comes to football. Same goes for the heart. You’re either all in, or you get crushed. For Reed and Nolan, the clock is ticking down. Time…it does that. One way or another, they’re going to have to make a choice.

This is their hail Mary.

This is win or lose.

(The Hail Mary is book 3 in The Waiting Series, which follows high school sweethearts Reed Johnson and Nolan Lennox through football, life, love and everything messy that goes along with it. The series begins with Waiting on the Sidelines and Going Long. Book 3 is for more mature readers and deals with adult themes.)

My Review:

I received a free copy through the author in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

4 stars — This whole series has been hard for me to read.  The thing is, Ms. Scott is an amazing writer…that is not in question.  But I’ve found that I guess I’m not that big a fan of somewhat more angsty reads.  I don’t mean like teen angst shit (though the first book had some of that), but just books with a lot of hardship and realism.  I guess I need more balance in my books.

I was worried about what Ms. Scott was going to put our MCs through, and rightly so.  We start the book off with a marriage experiencing turmoil.  It’s so real you guys.  It’s not the usual fighting or cheating or whatever…no, it’s more nuanced than that.  The love is still there, but life, and choices, and fear are making things difficult.  I’m not going to get into it, but I both loved what was portrayed, while simultaneously being completely frustrated with both Reed and Nolan and their behavior.

But here’s the thing…as much as I don’t like reading a story where the MCs frustrate me, Ms. Scott really does make me understand why they’re behaving the way they are, why they’ve made those decisions, and she honestly makes me *feel* the agony of being at odds with your spouse, with no easy solution on the horizon.  In an ideal/perfect world (or heck, in a movie), the compromise would be obvious, and it would be resolved real quick.  But that’s not real life.  In real life we’re flawed human beings that can’t always see our way through.

Now, saying all that, I was more frustrated with one character than the other (though neither gets a pass).  And I will admit that I didn’t expect the resolution to take so long to come…part of me saw the little steps they made along the way, and another part of me feels like “why did this one thing finally get through?”  So I’m conflicted.

Enough with all that vagueness.  LOVED seeing all our side characters again, and seeing where they’re all at in their lives.  I appreciated that they all had their own paths and even some had their own struggles (that we didn’t get into, but again…real life).  Buck was amazing.  Jason surprised the fuck out of me…I loved the evolution of his and Reed’s relationship.

All in all, this series did get better with each book…or maybe it’s that I was prepared and knew what to expect.  If you’re looking for a cookie cutter book, you’re going to be disappointed.  If you’re looking for real characters that might make you uncomfortable with their flaws, then this is the book for you.