#Awestruck by Sariah Wilson

#Awestruck by Sariah Wilson
#Lovestruck #3
Published by Montlake Romance on January 8, 2019
Age Group & Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited

A sweet all-American story of love and revenge.

Ambitious intern Ashton Bailey is about to get closer to her dream of being a sports announcer. All she has to do is prove that too-perfect-to-be-true NFL quarterback Evan Dawson isn’t quite as wholesome as his contract requires. It’s also the perfect opportunity to get delicious payback on the boy who broke her teenage heart. At least that’s her plan. But she forgot just how easy it is to crush on the irresistible charmer. #OhNoNotAgain.

Evan has a knack for getting through the opposing team’s defenses, and he won’t let this tall, redheaded knockout be the exception. He’s determined to make things right between them and earn back Ashton’s trust—and maybe her heart, too.

Then the press mistakenly announces their engagement, and Ashton and Evan find themselves going along with the lie. Now the whole world is watching as Ashton flirts with attraction and disaster. But while revenge is sweet, it just might come at the cost of something sweeter still.

#Awestruck is a huge disappointment. 😭

After the disappointment with #Moonstruck, I learned from my mistake and entered #Awestruck, the third book in Sariah Wilson’s #Lovestruck series with not so very high expectations. I’m pretty sure Sam from Fictionally Sam can say the same since we both had similar feelings about the second book.

But much to my dismay and with major disappointment, I didn’t see the point of going beyond 39% and suffering through the entire book.

We have another fake relationship of sorts. And second chances.

Like the second book, #Awestruck contains a fake relationship, but with different characters. #Awestruck’s relationship is between NFL quarterback Evan and aspiring sports announcer Ashton after a bit of an accident with the press and the two decide to go along with it. But not only do we have a fake relationship, but we’ve also got a faker than fake relationship. (In fact, the relationship is faker than my own relationship, which is nothing at all.)

And we have a second chance relationship. Years after having her heart crushed by Evan, Ashton seizes the opportunity to get back at him when her boss wants proof that Evan isn’t a virgin. But as she tries to get her revenge, she finds it increasingly difficult as her feelings for him haven’t gone away.

#Awestruck’s second chance should have remained fizzled.

FIZZLED.

I don’t mind second chance romances most of the time, but this one should’ve stayed six feet under the ground (maybe even lower). This kind of says a lot because I’m the densest person in romance. After reading what Evan did to Ashton in high school, he doesn’t deserve her at all. Ashton can do so much better and she deserves better.

In the 39% of the book that I managed to crawl through slowly, I’m still not convinced Evan deserves a second chance. There are moments in the book where Evan expresses his regret and wants to make it up to Ashton, but I fail to see the proof. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me? Maybe if I continued through the book, it would’ve been proven? I’ll never find out now.

The characters were ultimately meh.

Other than the relationship that never should have come back up for air, I have other issues as well. I enjoy Ashton’s ambitions to be a sports announcer despite the field being male-dominated, and I can feel her passion and enthusiasm for her dream.

But other than her ambitions, I just couldn’t connect with her or any of the other characters, nor did I care about them (certainly not her boss, Brenda, because we can toss her into the bucket of nope). There’s this feeling of, “I kind of want to read on to see what happens” but also a feeling of “I know this is going to be a bit of a mess.”

Unfortunately, I didn’t feel like sticking around with #Awestruck. Not when there are other books around to read instead.