I love when a book makes me love all of the characters and that leave a smile on my face. The First Score, the newest book by Amie Knight, was one of these books.Today I want to tell you about this book and what I thought! A big thanks to the author for providing me with an ARC to read and review.
Do be aware that The First Score has moments where self harm and domestic/child abuse is discussed. This could be difficult for some readers.
There was something about that first score, and not just on the football field.
I loved all of life's firsts, which was why I’d been saving mine for one girl, my older sister’s best friend — Hazel Jones.
She was tough and sarcastic with walls around her heart as tall as a football stadium, but I knew she was the one for me.
Desperate times called for desperate measures and I’d have done anything to make her mine.
Like create a fake online persona.Lie about my age.Pretend I wasn’t some naive virgin.
And catfish the hell out of the love of my life.
The First Score by Amie Knight
on 13/05/2020
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 232
Format: ARC
Goodreads
Review
The First Score is an emotional slow burn romance. A slow burn romance can be a hit or miss for me, but Amie Knight did this one right. Our main characters Hazel and Ollie have known each other most of their lives (Hazel is Ollie’s sister’s best friend). I love a good best friend’s sibling romance and this one met my expectations.
Hazel is a guarded person. Her childhood was less than perfect and that’s hit her hard and made it hard for her to trust people and relationships. This was such a raw character and the emotions were really there. Going through so much and still being strong isn’t an easy task, but Hazel did it. I loved that she was a gamer (we don’t see many female gamers in romances), but I do wish we would’ve learned just a bit more about the game she developed. I loved seeing the story progress for Hazel though. She slowly lets her walls down and lets herself love. Which isn’t easy at all!
“My mind was always on guard, but my heart was still so damn hopeful.”
Ollie has always been the little brother, but he knows from an early age that Hazel is the one for him. What I loved about Ollie is how caring and protective he is. Even though he knows the relationship probably won’t go anywhere, he’s always there for Hazel no matter what. It was interesting to see that everyone thought of him as someone who was popular with the woman. Yeah, he’s a football player, but his eyes were on one woman. Ollie made me laugh and want to hug him and that’s a good thing for a book-boyfriend.
I do have to talk about the cat fishing element. While I understand his thoughts behind it, he could’ve handled it differently. I’m a big one for honesty, but we do find out in this story it’s not all as it seems. I would’ve loved a little more time spent in them gaming together though. That was such a fun element of the story.
“I just knew that with every word, he was stealing what was left of my heart. What little he hadn’t claimed already.”
Okay, now let’s get to the romance. The First Score is definitely a will they, won’t they story. I loved that Hazel didn’t jump right into a relationship, because I do feel like she needed to deal with some things on her own first. Ollie and Hazel definitely had chemistry and Amie knows how to write a steamy scene of two. Also, it was a nice change to see that the male main character was a virgin and not the other way around. Friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes and worked perfectly in The First Score.
Also, I have to mention the amazing cast of side characters. Hazel’s best friend and Ollie’s sister Scarlett is just so much fun. My favorite of them all was Hazel’s grandfather though. He was so much fun and had me laughing out loud and I loved how much he loved and cared for Hazel. There were characters with minor parts that I really would love to see have their own books as well, so who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky and Amie will write more books in this series!
Oliver and Hazel were characters I loved reading about and I can’t wait to see what this author gives us next! What’s the last romance that wouldn’t let you go? Let me know in the comments!