Kayla Tirrell

With the flurry of sports romances out now, it was so nice to find one about a sport I hadn’t read about before, arena soccer. This is a cute, second chance romance that was nicely done. Sometimes second chance romances are tricky because you can spend practically the whole book with one character groveling and the other holding a grudge. While there was a little bit of that, I felt like the author did a great job carefully balancing the need for forgiveness/redemption with renewed attraction and moving forward.

Miriam is the outreach manager for a professional soccer team called the Storm. After a previously disappointing season, they’re hoping this will be their best year yet. Unfortunately, their newest player is former player Silas Jenkins who left the team and Miriam for a better opportunity a few years before. The betrayal stung especially when he didn’t discuss his leaving with Miriam. Now he’s back and she has to figure out a way to be around him without losing her heart again.

Silas made a huge mistake when he left Miriam and the Storm. After an awful experience and a lot of soul searching, he’s returning to win Miriam back and make it up to the team he took for granted. But, it’s not smooth sailing and winning back Miriam’s trust is going to take everything he’s got.

I really liked Miriam & Silas. Miriam reminded me of Pam from the Office for some reason. She had that sweet vibe about her. While Miriam still had feelings for Silas, I appreciated that she wasn’t willing to forget what happened. I enjoyed Silas, he’s the quintessential star athlete with the ego to match, but he gained some humility along the way which made him much more likable. I was hoping there was more to his leaving than just his ambition, but sadly that wasn’t the case. There are plenty of guys like that and I liked how he became more sympathetic as the story went on.

I didn’t know much about arena soccer, but the author did a fantastic job explaining the sport without it becoming too overpowering. I also enjoyed Silas’ teammates as well as Miriam’s best friend Allie. This is the first book in the Love in the Arena series and is a quick, fun romcom easily read in a day. If you enjoy closed door romance especially sports romances, give this a try. I received an advanced complimentary copy from the author but also purchased a copy through Kindle Unlimited. All opinions are my own and voluntarily provided.… (meer)

So in-between all of the fantasy I have been reading I decided to do a contemporary book. The synopsis intrigued me, I wanted a story that explored sadness, loss, and hope. While those themes are in the book, it wasn't as explored as I like. Katie lost her mother, something I wouldn't begin to even be able to understand, but the way in which Tirrell wrote her made her come across as Selfish and privileged. I really tried to like Katie and there were times in the book I did, like when she stood up to a racist jerk. Other times, I just wanted to skip her POV because of how she sounded.

Julian I loved, and his parts in the story were a saving grace, I completely understood what he was going through and Tirrell wrote him beautifully. Maybe it's because I've been around situations such as the one he has been through so I understood his grief more? He wasn't perfect by any means, but I guess I was just more sympathetic to him.

The one thing I didn't like was the romance. I understood that there may needed to be a build up and have it slow burn into love, but they spent half of the book avoiding and ignoring each other. I also understood they were childhood friends but you haven't seen the person in 5 years, plus they have changed due to the events in the book but they barely talked when they first saw each other. A childhood connection is not enough to have them bloom into insta-love after 1 kiss.

This is a series and the next book involves 2 characters who were in this one, that I enjoyed. I am not sure if I want to read it or not, I'll keep it in mind though.… (meer)