★★★★★ 4
LOVED Tucker!!
Format: Kindle
4 stars — I was actually most looking forward to Tucker’s story, and while I loved it, it didn’t end up being my favourite. Weird how that works right?
Now as I fully anticipated, I LOVED Tucker. Like LOVE LOVED him. He was everything I was hoping for and more. I adored how he was this delicious blend of sweet, caring, genuinely good guy mixed with a delightfully dirty mind. I think that was the part that surprised me, though I’m not sure why. But damn, that boy had it going on!! And yet he was still so gentlemanly…god, I love that mix. And he was so freaking patient! Like, I couldn’t even believe it sometimes. He was almost too patient on occasion, b/c he wouldn’t push Sabrina at all, and maybe she needed a little push. But I loved how he could see through Sabrina’s bullcrap to the heart of her. And I loved how he didn’t let the curveballs throw him off his path, he stayed true to himself and wouldn’t make choices that he couldn’t be happy with when it came to his life.
While I wasn’t surprised that I loved Tucker, I will admit that I was surprised I loved Sabrina too. I loved how driven she was, and how she put on that persona of being a witch with a b to keep people away, but underneath she was extremely vulnerable. I also thought that Ms. Kennedy did a great job of showcasing the challenges of poverty through her situation. She desperately wanted a better life, and she thought she knew exactly what that better life would look like. While both Sabrina and Tucker aggravated me with their stubbornness and wrong assumptions (it’s not my favourite trope), she took a bit longer than I wanted to figure stuff out. It’s not that I didn’t get that her family life and childhood damaged her, but she was being an idiot and I was sad that none of her friends woke her up. Another thing that bugged me was that, in my opinion, she was seriously emotionally abused, and I kind of wished that that had been addressed at some point. Her Nana was, quite frankly, awful to her, and her love felt very conditional. And the way Sabrina would excuse Ray’s behavior…well, I just wish that someone had told her that that’s not normal, and gotten her some guidance.
Tucker and Sabrina were interesting together. Obviously they had amazing chemistry, and there were so many sweet moments that I just loved. But their relationship was a bit dysfunctional, and I felt like I needed a bit more near the end when things changed. I just would have appreciated learning a bit more about their motivations, or seeing more frank discussions between the two of them…it just felt like I didn’t understand why this time it was different, you know?
The plot in this one flowed a bit differently for me, especially the second half. It just didn’t feel like the usual narrative structure I’m used to, with the build up to a conflict and climax. As I said, I kept waiting for the turnaround, but it just kind of snuck in there with a lot of little ups and downs.
And can I also say that I hated the way Tucker’s Mom behaved? She was truly awful, and I’m not sure I ever fully understood her motivations, or what she was like, or how Tucker became who he was with that kind of mother.
On the completely other side of it, I loved seeing the group interact again. I really love all those boys and the girls they fell in love with. I also really appreciated that Dean and Sabrina worked things out, but weren’t all buddy buddy. And as for other secondary characters, I loved Sabrina’s friends and seeing a bit more of some of the other hockey boys. I’m so excited to know we’ll be getting a bit more of some of them.
So yeah, so much goodness in this one, just a few little niggles that made it not the hit out of the park I was expecting. But a seriously great end to a fantastic sports romance series.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2018
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