Rate: 💖💖💖💖
Spice: 💋💋💋💋
Favorite Quote: Still, the knot of tension between us loosens. “maybe the elephant’s just… blindfolded?”
He nods slowly, “And tied up.”
“and doing as it’s told”
He looks like he might find that more appealing. “What a good elephant.”
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So, I picked up Deep End by Ali Hazelwood, thinking, why not try a sports romance? it is by my most favorite author. Turns out, I don’t like sports romances. Which makes sense, considering I also don’t like sports. Who knew? But despite my personal meh on the whole “athletic people falling in love” thing, this book was undeniably great.
For starters, Deep End delivers some top-tier spice—kinky, sexy, and the kind that makes you reconsider everything you thought you knew about diving. Ali Hazelwood’s writing? Chef’s kiss. If I were into sports romances, this would’ve been an easy five stars.
The book follows Scarlett Vandermeer, an NCAA diving queen who, post-accident, now has one tiny issue—she can’t perform an inward dive without her brain short-circuiting. Classic trauma response. Enter Lukas Blomqvist, Olympic gold medalist and human embodiment of “I could fix him/her, but I’d rather just love them.”
Now, Scarlett’s friend Pen (who is, let’s say, enthusiastically drunk at a party) suggests that Scarlett and Lukas hook up because, well, they’re both into kink, and Pen is…not. Fast forward to Pen and Lukas deciding to take a break (cough break up cough), and Pen finds herself Hot Teacher while Scarlett and Lukas engage in a totally casual, no-feelings-whatsoever sex arrangement. Because those always go as planned.
Spoiler: They do not.
Lukas catches feelings faster than I lose interest in sports, and honestly, so does Scarlett. But Scarlett refuses to admit it because he’s Pen’s ex and know one know they broke up. The story unfolds with Lukas being the emotional support dom daddy we all deserve (if you’re into that sort of stuff), while Scarlett remains stubbornly in denial. If you’re anything like me, you’ll spend half the book resisting the urge to scream, “Scarlett, you absolute buffoon, the man is in love with you!” But alas, yelling at fictional characters remains ineffective.
So, in conclusion: Deep End is a fantastic book. You should read it. Unless you’re me. In which case, you’ll still enjoy it—but with the added realization that sports romances are not your thing.
What a great review!