#Awestruck by Sariah Wilson

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Title: #Awestruck
Author: Sariah Wilson
Series: #Lovestruck #3
Published by: Montlake Romance
Release Date: January 8, 2019
Format: Kindle Book
Pages: 284
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2019 New Release Challenge, Lenoreo's Can You Read a Series November 2019
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ IndieBound ✩ Book Depository
My rating:

Blurb:

A sweet all-American story of love and revenge.

Ambitious intern Ashton Bailey is about to get closer to her dream of being a sports announcer. All she has to do is prove that too-perfect-to-be-true NFL quarterback Evan Dawson isn’t quite as wholesome as his contract requires. It’s also the perfect opportunity to get delicious payback on the boy who broke her teenage heart. At least that’s her plan. But she forgot just how easy it is to crush on the irresistible charmer. #OhNoNotAgain.

Evan has a knack for getting through the opposing team’s defenses, and he won’t let this tall, redheaded knockout be the exception. He’s determined to make things right between them and earn back Ashton’s trust—and maybe her heart, too.

Then the press mistakenly announces their engagement, and Ashton and Evan find themselves going along with the lie. Now the whole world is watching as Ashton flirts with attraction and disaster. But while revenge is sweet, it just might come at the cost of something sweeter still.

My Review:

4 stars — This one had the opposite effect of the previous two books…I spent a lot of time wary and annoyed with the decisions that Ashton was making early in the book, but she redeemed herself and the ending was satisfying!!  So weird.

I saw a few reviewers mentioning how they feel like Evan got let off the hook for his past actions.  And while I can sort of see where they’re coming from, I actually didn’t mind it.  I think it’s because 1) he was a teenager; and 2) his apology was honestly genuine, and he showed that he had changed from who he was back then.  I feel like it showcases how if we can’t find a way to forgive even horrible mistakes, then what’s the point?  You mess up once and you’re done?  I wasn’t a fan that he gave excuses, but I think it was more by way of explanation.  Anyways, in the end I accepted it from him because I appreciated the man he had become, and the lengths he was going to to show Ashton he wasn’t that boy anymore.

Ashton, on the other hand, I was immensely worried about.  She was so wrapped up in hatred and revenge at the beginning, it made me uncomfortable.  It’s not that I didn’t feel for what she went through as a teenager, but those kind of negative emotions consuming you just isn’t healthy.  But in the end I actually did see her grow and change as the story went on.  It was gratifying to see her learning how forgiveness is as much for you as for them.  What bugged me was that she held on to the story a bit longer than I would like.  And I didn’t really understand why, other than for the purposes of plot…it just didn’t seem quite justifiable, you know?  I felt like her actions didn’t match the changes we saw in her mind.

BUT, saying all that, I really appreciated the way that all resolved.  It felt epic, as it should, and I 100% believed in her regret.  And I appreciated that the forgiveness wasn’t immediate, but happened over time, because that’s real.

They were pretty great together.  As with the other books, I loved the teasing and bantering and how that played into their chemistry.  One thing that I will note is that I wish I hadn’t binged the series, because it made the formula really stand out: one MC celibate, it’s a big deal in the relationship, it’s tested (and it doesn’t feel super authentic), and the other one stops it.  Misunderstanding, grand gesture, repeat.  I don’t mind formulaic stories, but I like a little more variety from one book to the next.

As always, the secondary characters were great — Ashton’s crazy family, and the friendship we saw with Nia (though I wish we’d seen her again at the end).

All in all, I feel like this book was more on par with the first book for me…  I think the only reason I’m not rating it higher is simply because the formula stood out so starkly.