Rival Summer byJess Bryson
Bayside Lake Series Book #2
Rating: 3/5
Spice: 2/5
Plot: 3/5
Primary Genre: Sports Romance
Blurb: This summer, Chandler’s plan is simple—focus on herself and steer clear of Blue Devil athletes. But life has a way of throwing curveballs, and hers comes in the form of a summer job right in the heart of Blue Devil territory. Now, she’s spending her days surrounded by her brother’s baseball team, which just so happens to include her childhood crush—the charming shortstop—and her former fling—the cocky starting pitcher who broke her heart last summer. Chandler finds herself caught between two irresistible men, who are strictly off-limits. Old wounds reopen, new sparks fly, and Chandler faces a decision that could change everything.
Tropes:
🌊Small Town Romance
⚾College Baseball Player MMC
🌊Second Chance Romance
⚾"F*ck It"
🌊Theatre Major FMC
⚾Brother's Best Friend vs Bad Boy
🌊Flirty Banter
⚾Found Family
🌊Dual POV
⚾Open Door Spice
The Good:
* Absolutely love that Boston is being scouted by the Chicago Cubs. Go Cubs Go! I am a baseball fan so if I do read a sports romance, I prefer it to be a baseball one for obvious reasons. I enjoyed the baseball aspects of the book and all of the Chicago Cubs references.
* This book is the 2nd in the series. I didn’t receive or read the first one but this book is perfectly readable without having read the first. While it’s clear that you probably missed out on some drama in the first book, you don’t feel like there’s any huge plot holes. The author does a great job of transitioning you into the 2nd book in such a way that you can read it without having read the 1st.
* I found myself really growing to like the FMC Chandler’s character more and more towards the end of the book. I wasn’t entirely sure about her in the beginning but I 100% liked her at the end. I had a hard time connecting with her initially but somewhere along the line everything clicked into place for Chandler and I, I get her now. She IS human and not ACTUALLY perfect.
* I did thoroughly enjoy the drama between Boston and Reese, this was absolutely my favorite part of the book. They’ve got this whole frenemies vibe thing going on that I was living for. I could have read a whole book about only that.
The Meh:
* This book was a little on the angsty side for my taste. A lot of the scenarios felt overly dramatized, including character reactions.
* Some of the dialogue felt a little juvenile and dare I say, cheesy at times?
*It ended on a cliffhanger, which always ticks me off
Bottom Line:
If you’re looking for a new adult sports/baseball romance you will probably like this! It’s got a good/interesting plot. It’s a light hearted rom-com, it held my attention and there was no shortage of love triangle drama. This book is low on the spice end in my opinion but it’s definitely not no spice.
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