seriously romantic: big stick by r.c. stephens

i love sports romances, i think because you’ve got these tough guys exposing their squishy hearts for a girl. big stick has all the right elements. a veteran hockey player in love with his best friend’s girl. she loves him too. but she won’t forgive him for something. and they’ve been estranged for seven years.

and the problem i have with this book is that they don’t have a reasonable conversation about their past. yes, he’s holding something back, and it’s a pretty significant piece of information, but it should make actually it easier for her to forgive him once it is revealed. and the way it all plays out, i just found myself incredibly frustrated by these people. i understand there has to be a central conflict in a romance, but i think there are better ways to incorporate conflict than by having the heroine be irrationally angry at the hero for half the book, have a sweet period of détente, and then go back to being super angry. i’m not saying that all of her anger is unjustifiable because she does have reasons to be upset. but she runs away and shuts people out as her initial reaction and i just have issues with that method of handling relationships. it’s up to the hero to grovel and beg for her to listen and i get it, that’s how romance novels go, but am i wrong for wanting them to be more than a trope?

i want characters to be real and talk to each other. i want to believe these two people have a chance but i don’t because they don’t seem to understand the basics of human communication. the ending is sweet and if you like heroines who hold a grudge and heroes who know how to hold secrets and grovel then this is a good book for you. it just wasn't for me.

**big stick will publish on september 17, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing (embrace) in exchange for my honest review.