Book #21 read in 2025

Ali Hazelwood does flawed, deep characters so well. Scarlett is an emotional mess after getting injured doing an inward dive in a competition. When we meet her, she's still working through that with a therapist and struggling to be the odd diver out on her five-member dive team, where the other four members are paired for synchro-diving.

Lukas is a world-class swimmer who has won Olympic medals and is the boyfriend of one of Scarlett's teammates, Pen. But when Pen confides that Lukas is into some kinky things and they're just not compatible, Scarlett realizes she and Lukas are. With Pen's blessing, they explore that relationship.

A lot has been made about the kink in this book on social media platforms, but it honestly makes up less than half of the book. Truth be told, I wanted more. The rest of the book delves into the mental strain that elite athletes go through, and, in true Hazelwood fashion, a "nerdy" STEM project is undertaken by Scarlett and Lukas, giving their relationship even more depth. I will read anything Ali Hazelwood writes, but Scarlett and Lukas have to be one of my favorite Hazelwood couples.

The narration by Therese Plummer and Ben Holtzmuller was terrific. My favorite part, besides Lukas's voice, was that it was Ben every time Lukas spoke. Therese didn't do the male character voice for Lukas at all, meaning it was easier to be in the moment with the two characters. I loved this book! 

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This novel was published on February 4, 2025.