Rush - Book Review

By Nicole Edwards

Synopsis

Kingston Rush
Becoming a goaltender in the NHL is the only thing I ever wanted for myself.
Goal accomplished.
Two years ago, I was the best goalie in the league, for the third time. With our Stanley Cup win, the Austin Arrows were on top of the world. Nothing could possibly bring us down.
Wrong.

Turns out, even when you’re at the top, you can find yourself back at rock bottom.
But it gets worse.
Not only did the team fall from grace, then I did too. I was accused of something I didn’t do. And now I’m being forced to repair my tarnished reputation.
Only I don’t know how to do that.

When the suggestion is made for me to pull off this ruse for the media, I know what I’m getting into. I also know there’s only one right answer.
But it’s complicated, and I’m not the only one who could get hurt.
There’s only one major problem.
I can’t say no.

Review

RUSH is the first book in the Austin Arrows series, and the first book I’ve read by Nicole Edwards. Unfortunately, I found myself struggling to get through this one. I usually like to read a book fast, but this one took me about three days because it wasn’t keeping my attention and I kept putting it down. There was a lot of repetition throughout the entire book, which was frustrating. I also felt the way the characters behaved was not appropriate for their age. Most of the characters are in their mid-thirties, but the sometimes childish, petty and bitchy way they acted was what I’d expect to see in a YA or NA novel. Overall, there just seemed to be too much drama.

There were times I liked Kingston and Ellie, and there were times I didn’t. My favourite parts of the entire story are when Kingston and Ellie text each other. It was cute, flirty, a little sexy, and most of all, no overthinking. Just simple conversation. I think what got me frustrated the most was that they were so afraid to tell the other how they really felt. Ellie never believed any of the nice things Kingston said about her and thought he was just sleeping with her to kill time. No way would he risk his friendship with her or her brother just to get some action, but she never thought of it that way. In regards to Kingston, I thought it was a little creepy that he kept calling Ellie a little girl, especially when they were having sex. There’s also a good portion of the story dedicated to Ellie’s twelve year old daughter, Bianca, as she searches for her father. As with Kingston and Ellie, there were times I liked her and times I didn’t.

RUSH is told mostly in Kingston and Ellie’s POV, with a few chapters being told in other characters POVs. It is a series, but I’m assuming each book could be read as a stand-alone. Sadly, this one didn’t win me over enough to give the rest of the series a try.