Title: Rush Me
Author: Allison Parr
Publisher: Carina Press (e-book only), 2013
Rating: 4 stars
Rachael Hamilton is struggling to make a living in New York City, working as an intern (for free) at a major publisher with hopes of eventually landing her dream job, and temping to pay the bills. One night while out with her roommate at a party with theater friends, Rachael gets lost and finds herself in the wrong party. With the New York Leopards, the city's major football team. After an awkward and tense first encounter with the quarterback, Ryan Carter, she leaves in a hurry with a few angry, choice words—only to realize the next morning she forgot her scarf. Of course she goes back for it, only to be pulled into a poker game with some of the other Leopards, to Ryan's chagrin. Thus begins Rachael's unlikely friendship with a bunch of professional football players, and the slow-burn romance that eventually develops between her and the least likely of the Leopards, Mr. Carter himself.
So I really, really liked this book for the most part. It's what you expect with the "New Adult" genre (which I still maintain is adult fiction with Millenial main characters); young 20-something in the city, trying to find her way in the world, finds a hot and sexy romantic lead. But this book is flipping funny. I loved Rachael (though it took her WAY too long to get over her weird hatred of jocks in my opinion), and Ryan is great too. The secondary characters are all wonderful too; I loved how Rachael just falls in with these guys, who become very brotherly toward her. This was like my dream in college. It's a lot of fun to read.
The dialogue is sparkling and witty, and the situations are occasionally laugh-out-loud. This is a rom-com of the highest order. It was also refreshing that Rachael is Jewish, even though she says she's more Jewish in theory than in practice. Abe, however, seems to be a fairly devout Jew, which is nice to see.
I remember there being a few awkward moment while I was reading where I cringed at a word choice, I think maybe it was the use of a mental disorder as an adjective to describe someone or something that was clearly not suffering from said mental disorder, but other than that my only problem was waiting for the characters just get over themselves, already. I was really rooting for Rachael and Ryan to get together, and stay together, in the end.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoyed Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham, so long as they like more sex and steaminess in their fiction. Because there's that, too. I'm happy to say I've already got the two sequels, Running Back and Imaginary Lines, waiting on my nook.
I do have to say, I know the author personally (worked with her in high school and went to college with her!), but this in no way had any effect on what I thought of this book. Honestly, I'm relieved I liked it so much! Well, maybe I could hear her saying some of the things Rachael says and that made me like it even more, but it's still all good and I recommend it to you anyway. Great job, Allison!
Disclaimer: I bought this e-book with my own money. Even if I also bought it to support my friend. :) It's a bargain, anyway!
+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteI rarely run into YA/NA novels in which a character's religion plays a significant role. Thanks for pointing it out! =)