Wow! That was an emotional rollercoaster I was not expecting from the football themed title and cover. I cried so much throughout this beautiful story of first love and unimaginable pain. This was one I could not put down and read in one sitting. I highly recommend this one if you loved Anna and the French Kiss as it also has companion novels coming out that follow different characters in the same world and has crossover so we still get glimpses of our first story.
In this story we follow the heartbreaking journey of two broken people who help heal the hurts of the other. Two years ago, Maggie witnessed her father murder her mother and hasn't spoken a word since. Football star, West, is currently losing his beloved father to cancer and hasn't told anyone so he is suffering alone and is drowning in the pain. One night as West begins to self destruct and act out more and more he encounters the new girl, Maggie, as she is forced to attend a football party with her cousin. He sees strength in her eyes as she stands up to him silently while he tries to lash out at her in the middle of his heartbreak. It wasn't the reaction he was expecting and it catches him off guard. One night he finally approaches her and lets his walls down, knowing she won't repeat anything he says since she never speaks. He tells her everything he is going through, but what he never expected was that she would answer back. Maggie sees the pain in West and recognizes it immediately. She understands the pain of losing a parent like no one else possibly could and she wants to help him through it since no one was able to help her through her profound loss. The two of them become closer and closer as they work through Wests pain. In the process, Maggie slowly begins to finally deal with her own pain that she had buried so deep. Somewhere along the way, they developed real feelings beyond friendship or shared pain. But, the emotional connection they formed based on the worst moments of their lives was so strong that they were able to overcome anything together.
This was an unexpectedly beautiful and emotionally charged book that caught me completely by surprise. I was looking for a light and fluffy contemporary to start off my reading this year and this was not that at all. However, I was so glad I stumbled upon this book because it was so heartbreakingly and beautifully accurate in it's descriptions of loss and the sometimes overwhelming and all consuming feeling of first love. If you are looking for a fast read that packs a punch, this is the book for you.
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