My Rating; 5/5
Spice Level; 2/5

Themes / What to Expect;
~ College / Football Romance
~ Friends to Lovers
~ Angsty AF
~ Love Triangle (do NOT let that scare you)
~ SLOW BURN & then some
~ Brothers Best Friend
~ Found Family

About the Book (no spoilers);

This book is the first book in the Boys of Avix Series (although I’ve heard there is an interconnected series before this one by the same author, that maybe I’d look into before this book however I never had a hard time reading it). 

Arianna is a girl who stays at a families beach house with 3 of her closest friends and her twin brother, Mason. Although all of them are friends, she’s been secretly longing  for her brothers best friend, Chase, who sends her mixed signals. One night lead them to a decision that would change their friendship forever and leave Arianna brokenhearted.
Sad and depressed, Arianna leaves her friends at the beach house early. 
She starts off her first year at college not as planned, although she’s roomies with her best friend Cameron, she’s grief-stricken. She won’t go out for fun, she’s not going to family dinners, and she’s not going to her brother and friends games (which is definitely unlike her). 
One night, she decides to finally go out with Cameron, meeting up with his friend Trey and unexpectedly meeting his friend Noah; the one who she briefly met months before and who hit her in the head with a football at the beach (by accident of course). 
Noah Riley is the well known captain of her brothers college football team. Easy on the eyes, he’s also genuinely kind and there for Arianna, sparking a growing friendship that becomes so much more than either of them expected. 
Unfortunately, there’s always Chase, there and looming, clearly fighting feelings of his own. 
And just when you think they finally have it all figured out, tragedy strikes in the most traumatic way, leaving the ending to Noah and Arianna -as well as the rest of the friends- unknown…

My Review;

I read this book to start of the year of 2025 and wow am I so glad I did. The book is THICK so for a contemporary romance, I was nervous about the size, but the author definitely knew what she was doing with this book. I wasn’t bored during it at all. It was a bit slow at first, but the romance, the love, the longing, the tension, the angst, the slow burn to burn to slow again, I mean it had me never wanting to put the book down and glue my hands to it if I could and I know that sounds dramatic but I don’t care, it’s true.
The author put the MMC THREW IT and I wanted to email her personally and ask if she had a problem with Noah because why was she having my man go through it like that?! I mean he was dragged, chewed up, spit out and ran the f*ck over by the end of the book but wow did she make it come back together in such a devastatingly beautiful way. You felt like you were going through it with them and although I’ve seen mixed reviews on this book, I will say it’s worth the hype. To be honest, I wish I could read it again. 
I also know the “love-triangle” trope is scary BUT, as someone who hates them and didn’t know about the love triangle, it’s not what you think it is. Just, read it. Please do not deprive yourself of Noah “I’ve known that  girl was worth the world from the moment I met her” Riley!!!

I bawled, I was anxious, annoyed, in LOVE and I would 100% recommend this book if you’re looking for a nice (bit heart jerking) romance with a couple of delicious spice scenes. You could also read this as a stand alone if you wanted (I’m deciding after the 3rd book if I’d like to read on or not). 

Also, Noah Riley, get ‘em girls.