Mini Reviews: Thief & Hate The Game

Theif was a freebie novella and Hate The Game is a full-length novel I grabbed via Kindle Unlimited.
Both are told in alternating, first-person, pov.

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It always happens when you least suspect it.

Love.

The chemistry.

The pull.

Even when you don’t want it to.

Timing—it’s a bitch.

And then you have to make a choice.

Do you regret what is, or what isn’t?

Because when love is involved, there’s always regret.

And my story is no exception.

This novella started off super strong but went downhill pretty sharply once it moved from the past and into the present.

It starts off in the past and shows you the friendship between Vi and Max and how Dash came to be part of their friendship. It shows how the relationship between Vi and Dash started and how the loss of Max both sealed them together forever and simultaneously tore them apart.
Considering this novella is around 100 pages, it was very well done.
And then it moved into the present and I had such hopes for the reunion of Vi and Dash as adults and was bitterly disappointed.
For a start, Dash had a girlfriend who he immediately dumped upon the return of Viola. Nice and classy. Real prince there. I think it was supposed to highlight his devotion to Vi but it was an epic dick move that devalued him in my eyes.
Then, as if there hasn't been enough drama, Fernando manages to pack in some more with over the top reactions and misunderstandings.
It was like the first half of the book was meant to be part of something so much bigger but then the author thought, fuck it, I'm gonna cut this short and battered out a reunion and ending that took place in the blink of an eye, was riddled with unresolved issues and painful to read.

So, yeah. If you're new to the author, I don't think I'd start here. Her novellas - the two I've read - have been very weak compared to her full-length novels so I'd suggest going for one of those.

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Talon Gold is a lot of things: good at football, bad at love. Obsessed with scoring, refuses to play by the rules. Cruel. Relentless. Brilliant. Intoxicatingly attractive.
Despite his demanding reputation and propensity for being the most arrogant a-hole ever to strut Pacific Valley University’s picturesque campus, everyone wants a piece of him: coaches, scouts, and pretty little campus fangirls with pouty lips and perfect top knots.
But Talon … he only wants a piece of me.
And four straight years of infuriating rejection means I’m almost positive he’d take a night with me over a national championship trophy.
But I’m no fool—he only wants me because he can’t have me. And with graduation approaching, time is running out. He’s more desperate than ever, pulling out all the stops and doing everything in his power to get in my good graces.
They say, “Don’t hate the player, hate the game.”
But to that I say, “Why not both?”
I have my reasons ...
Sorry, BMOC. This victory? Not going to happen.

This book was brain fluff when I needed it most. It was easy to just sit and read it, cover to cover, without interruptions.
It wasn't an angsty story, it wasn't overly dramatic (although there was some drama), and it wasn't even that interesting. It was just a nice steady story about a superstar athlete who has wanted the one girl since he first laid eyes on her in their first year of college and the girl who has studiously avoided him, rejected him, and judged him without knowing him all because of her past bad experiences with football players.
In short, Talon was likeable but could be a bit of a dick to anyone who wasn't Irie, and Irie was a judgemental bitch who didn't entirely deserve him (and wasn't overly likeable) but somehow the story worked.
There were a few moments when I sat there genuinely wondering what the hell the author was thinking - like the reason Irie hated jocks - but beyond that, I liked it well enough and would read more of the author if something caught my eye but not enough to actively seek out more of the author's work.