Sixteen-year-old Claudia Waring has never kissed a boy. Never been popular. Never been to a hockey game. All that’s about to change. Assigned to tutor Chris Winslow, a prank-loving, gorgeous hockey player, Claudia’s perfectly planned life immediately veers off course. And she kind of likes it. But as fun as Chris is, she knows she'll never fit in his world.
After his latest prank lands him in hot water, Chris has to get serious about school or lose hockey. Not an easy thing for someone as carefree as the defenseman. The biggest problem, though, is how much he wants to help his cute, buttoned-up tutor loosen up a little. But while confidence has never been a problem for him, around Claudia, Chris is all nerves. Why would a girl as smart as her ever fall for a jock like him? (Pub Date: Mar 14, 2016)
Review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley.
Having already a close 100% score at school, Claudia just needs this extra activity for her to get into the university course of choice. However, tutoring the hockey star Chris includes making new friends, falling in love and challenging herself to be more: to be her true awesome self.
I confess I had failed to notice this was YA, which turned out to be a great surprise, being one of my favorite genres. The story, however, was more on the plain side, with some twists. It's not a book I could recommend to those who aren't into at least romance—as mentioned, this is YA but the characters are just as mature as your everyday romance, in my opinion, although the dilemma here has to do with growing up and accepting yourself, a common YA plot. At the same time, I have nothing to discourage anyone who enjoyed the summary, this book has too few negatives.
One of them, as mentioned, I'd say it is lack of a better plot. This is boy meets girl, they're too different and need to overcome that before getting together. I also added there were some twists. The author remembered to add friendly characters and a couple of side stories, moreover she knew not to overdo the drama "mom doesn't want us to be together" and even the "oh no, you're making me fall behind at school". In fact, as little as I enjoyed that the plot went down that road, it wasn't painful at all. I could actually understand the issues, as they were prone to happen when you mix the jockey with the first-in-class; they helped the story acquire more credibility.
On the other hand, I'm not sure I was too into the romance at first, didn't they got interested in each other a little to quickly? I'm the type who enjoys watching the magic happen. The first time they met, jockey Chris already wanted to know all about nerdy Claudia—though, if he's all described, I can understand her attraction to him.
Cute scenes, cute dialogues, this book has them all for you. The first kiss part was my favorite. The author got me grinning by myself and I could even feel the butterflies in my stomach there. But again, on the other hand, I felt she was a little too worried about what was politically correct, turning their talks into long analysis on what is most appropriate before getting to the point. Just kiss! Just make up! Just break up already!, I caught myself screaming at them at times. However poorly executed, I did appreciate the concern was on her mind.
I have to mention a part of it reminded me of Slammed by Colleen Hoover—without the teacher-student romance. I'm mentioning it in case anyone is a fan. I should say even though Hoover's book had that extra it and this one didn't, I prefer Playing Defense. People here don't go throwing tantrums, slamming doors or making others quit their jobs at least... Oops, back to what matters.
This is a pleasant book for YA readers as well as for those who like cute romances, even if it's grade is more like a 2.5, so average it felt I was actually curious about the series for I hadn't read the first part and I wonder what will come next.
Rating: 3 out of 5.
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