Welcome to my stop on the Anna Katmore Blog Tour
hosted by RABT.
Blurb:
Ryan Hunter’s parties are legend. And tonight she’s going to be there.
Lisa Matthews has been in love with her best friend since kindergarten. They’re close as can be. They’ve even slept in each other’s bed. But they’ve never kissed. Weeks away from her seventeenth birthday, Lisa hopes that soon things will change between them. But when Tony comes home after summer soccer camp, his mind is focused on someone else. And worse, that new girl is a soccer player.
Fighting for her love, Lisa gets carried away and makes a stupid decision: Without the least bit of talent or any passion for the sport whatsoever, she goes for the co-ed soccer team.
The tryouts are hell, the first match ends bloody, and the morning after the selection party she wakes up in the worst place possible—in the arms of the captain of the soccer team. The hottest guy in school. Ryan Hunter.
Cindy's Review:
I love these light romantic reads where the main character is in love with her best friend. So this short novella sounds like the perfect one to try. :)
Lisa Matthews - Our main character is a normal high school girl whose in love with her best friend, Tony. Things doesn't go according to plan when Tony starts dating Cloey, a soccer player Tony met at camp. Feeling like she has to own up to herself, Lisa also tries out for the soccer team.
For me, Lisa was an okay narrator. I didn't really connect with her, but she wasn't overly ditsy or anything. She was just perfectly normal. She does sound pretty though. She's the type that's super pretty and doesn't know it. Lucky her. *sigh
I did like the way she described some things, like her relationship with Tony. M&M. Cute.
Ryan Hunter - I guess I should move on with the love interest. Although it is supposed to be a love triangle, somewhat, it is pretty obviously who Lisa favors and likes. Throughout the first half, it was more about Tony, but as the book progresses, we get to meet more of Hunter and see how good they are together.
Ryan is of course 'amazing'. I mean, he sounds perfect by description. Tall. Abs. Captain of soccer team. Playful. Hot. Popular. Perfect.
But as for me, couldn't really fangirl either. Well, it must be hard to please me, but if I saw him in real life, I'll probably go for the looks and not the personality. He's a pretty playful type, yet I still can't fall for him. Idk. I thought his personality and popular-ness wasn't all that.
Anthony - I don't remember his last name, but I've got to say, I actually really enjoyed the parts talking about Tony and Lisa. They actually sound cute together. Although I knew it wasn't happening, I couldn't help but smile at those movie marathons and those hugs.
Tony is shorter than Ryan. That's all I got out of their descriptions. LOL.
The Plot:
While the characters weren't aksjerfijdjskj-ly ohmygosh terrific, I did enjoy reading the book and seeing their stories play out. It was a fun, light read where we see Lisa finally learning how to breathe without Tony and actually meeting new people! Not that having a guy best friend is a bad thing.
I'm happy to say that there are actually some love scenes. Not intimate scenes. Just cute kissing. It did mention somethings that weren't super innocent, but enjoyable either way. :)
Blurb:
Ryan Hunter kissed more girls than he cares to remember. But the only one he ever wanted is in love with his best friend.
Watching Lisa Matthews’ obsession with Tony Mitchell is a torture Ryan conceals from everyone. Until after a five-week soccer camp, where Tony gets involved with someone else, things suddenly take a different turn. Ryan knows if he doesn’t make a move now, he might never get another chance.
When Tony asks him to distract Lisa, Ryan is only too happy. He subtly seduces her first into his soccer team and later on to his party. He does all in his power to make her see that he’s not just an insufferable playboy but a guy who really cares about her. Some one-on-one soccer training, a passionate kiss — things seem to be going the way he wants. Except Ryan didn’t reckon on his best friend showing up at the worst possible moment and destroying everything...
This book can be read as a stand alone, but I strongly suggest you read PLAY WITH ME first.
Watching Lisa Matthews’ obsession with Tony Mitchell is a torture Ryan conceals from everyone. Until after a five-week soccer camp, where Tony gets involved with someone else, things suddenly take a different turn. Ryan knows if he doesn’t make a move now, he might never get another chance.
When Tony asks him to distract Lisa, Ryan is only too happy. He subtly seduces her first into his soccer team and later on to his party. He does all in his power to make her see that he’s not just an insufferable playboy but a guy who really cares about her. Some one-on-one soccer training, a passionate kiss — things seem to be going the way he wants. Except Ryan didn’t reckon on his best friend showing up at the worst possible moment and destroying everything...
This book can be read as a stand alone, but I strongly suggest you read PLAY WITH ME first.
Cindy's Review:
Basically, Ryan Hunter is what happened in Play With Me, but everything is in Hunter's point of view. For some reason, I'm not a big fan of the name Ryan. No offense to Ryan's out there. Maybe it's because I don't think the Ryan's I see are super hot at school...but anyways, Hunter just sounds better.
In Ryan Hunter, we learn more about the hero and his story. He doesn't get every girl like everyone thinks and he also isn't the player like everyone thinks.
I'm trying to decided between if I would have liked this storyline better with the two POVs side by side in one book or a separate Ryan Hunter POV like it is now. Since this is super short read, I think it can pass, but if it was a long book, I think having to two separate books of the same story can be a bit repetitive.
Overall Thoughts:
This was an amazing read that I thoroughly enjoyed. Although I didn't super connect and fall in love the characters and really ship Ryan and Lisa, it was a great light read.
The Rating: (1-10): 7~
Book Trailer:
Author Bio:
Anna Katmore grew up in Vienna. After she graduated from school at the age of 18, she moved to Austria’s country side.
Apart from traveling around the world, her one big passion is writing. She says about herself that she has been a storyteller all her life. Already in kindergarten, she came up with the most exotic fantasies and tales. Her teacher used to call her a liar. Anna calls it the cornerstone of her writing career.
Inspired by authors such as Lisa Jane Smith, Stepheny Meyer, and Becca Fitzpatrick, she started writing her first novel in 2009. Excessive reading and analyzing the structure and characters of her favorite books helped her develop the necessary skills and her very own voice. Because of her love for the language, she writes stories in English first, and when she finds a few weeks to squeeze into her tight writing schedule, she translates them into German later.
Her preferred genres are YA and fantasy romance.
In late 2012, Anna debuted with her novella PLAY WITH ME and later made this the first book of a series called Grover Beach Team. PLAY WITH ME was a finalist in its category for the RONE (Reward Of Novel Excellence) Awards, hosted by the InD’Tale magazine at the Romance Novel Convention 2013 in Las Vegas.
One funny fact: People always told Anna that she can’t make a living with being a writer. So when PLAY WITH ME came out and sold more than 500 units every day during the first four weeks, she was thunderstruck. It took her a few days to realize what was going on.
Anna is married and has a 12-year-old son. She loves her two cats, Lily and Emma, as much as she loves her family, tries to stay fit with ZUMBA dancing twice a week, and usually spends 86% of her day writing. The remaining time is used up for food and inevitable sleep.
P.S.: Cindy talking here: She sounds amazing! :) Just adding it there. Multi-lingual and not getting discouraged! I hope all you aspiring writers out there can continue to aspire like Anna Katmore. :)
Links:
Happy Reading~
Play With Me was an adorable read, I remember loving it!
ReplyDeleteI need to read the second one!