Deep End by Ali Hazelwood
Scarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream. A Junior at Stanford and a student-athlete who specializes in platform diving, Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med school and on recovering from the injury that almost ended her career. She has no time for relationships—at least, that’s what she tells herself.
Swim captain, world champion, all-around aquatics golden boy, Lukas Blomqvist thrives on discipline. It’s how he wins gold medals and breaks records: complete focus, with every stroke. On the surface, Lukas and Scarlett have nothing in common. Until a well-guarded secret slips out, and everything changes.
So they start an arrangement. And as the pressure leading to the Olympics heats up, so does their relationship. It was supposed to be just a temporary, mutually satisfying fling. But when staying away from Lukas becomes impossible, Scarlett realizes that her heart might be treading into dangerous water...
Review: There were so many elements of this book to love! An elite college swimmer and diver with undeniable chemistry?! Sign me up! Scarlett and Lukas aren't just elite athletes in their prime, but they're also both accomplished Stanford students. I loved the high achieving, big goals aspects of both of their characters. They are driven and have big dreams and is something they bond over.
But. But. I did not enjoy this nearly as much as I had hoped or as much as I enjoyed other Ali Hazelwood books. My biggest issue was this was Lukas's ex, who just happens to be Scarlett's best friend. Pen breaks up with him because they are not compatible sexually and then instantly pushes him on Scarlett because she thinks they might be better matched in bed. 1) Who dates someone for literal years if they are that poorly matched sexually only to be like actually, no, this won't work and 2) Why would she push him on her best friend? It just felt far-fetched and seemed destined to get messy for their friendship. Also, Scarlett worries about Pen's feelings way more than she does Lukas or her own and it irked me throughout.
Also, I know I am not the first to say this but for a book that is billed as her "kink" book, the sex scenes were surprisingly tame. The same sexual preferences that Pen ran screaming from, that had Scarlett and Lukas discussing a contract and safe word, just ultimately turned out to be rough sex. I was stealing myself for something much darker. And what we got was fine! But the buildup just did not match the description. This book also dragged for me. It felt so long in the middle.
This was the first duet narration audiobook I have ever listened to it! I have listened to dual narration (where each chapter is fully read by the male or female narrator) but this duet narration was a new experience where it was almost fully narrated by a female narrator, except when any male dialogue took place, a male narrator would jump in. I typically love dual narration so I thought duet would be the same, but I actually found it a bit distracting! I loved that the male narrator gave Lukas his Swedish accent, but the timing and volume just felt a bit off, and it seemed noticeable that it had been spliced together.
I liked a lot about this, but I think it ultimately fell flat to me, mostly because I have loved the other two books I have read by this author and had high expectations! Truly loved the premise, which felt unique and a different angle on the sports romance story but wish a few plot elements were different.
Stars: 3
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