Soccer goalie Rachel Jameson is in her final year at Glendale College on academic and athletic scholarships. It’s quite the achievement for a young woman who grew up in a home filled with drunken abuse, who barely made it out of high school alive.But she’s smart, dedicated, and has her eyes set on that cap and gown next spring. Nothing’s going to get in the way of a hard-fought battle for the … freedom and independence she’s so desperately craved.Until she meets Mack.He stumbles into her world with a flirty smile and warm eyes – a man that pushes Rachel out of her comfort zone and into his arms. Their chemistry is swift and undeniable, and soon after meeting the two recognize the depth of their connection.But an unfortunate circumstance forces the two to abandon their romance before it has truly begun. Rachel’s carefully planned life begins to shake like an unstable house of cards, and when she risks losing Mack completely, she has to decide what’s more important.Her future.Or theirs.
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A thoroughly enjoyable sports romance, set in college environment. An emotional book about Rachel ‘RJ’ Jameson and Andrew ‘Mack’ McIntosh. A love story that turns forbidden. The author skilfully takes us through all they encounter. Not only do they have to struggle with what has happened to them in the past, they have to deal with the consequences if they stay together.
Rachel is a goalkeeper for the women’s soccer team. She is in her senior year and determined to finish college as she has her future all planned out. She has both academic and sports scholarships so works very hard to keep them as returning home is not an option. She isn’t very outgoing and seems to lacks confidence but shows a great strength when we hear what she has been through. She shares a room with Charlie a student nurse and her best friend. Rachel’s brother Jeremy is a professional soccer player for LA Galaxy and one evening Charlie drags her to a party at his place where she literally bumps into Mack. There is an instant connection between them and they are shocked because neither have felt this way before. They go on a wonderful first date and things are so easy between them she even opens up a little to him. Then it all explodes around them and the ball drops!
We follow their journey as they try to find a way forward through what fate has handed them. Mack has certainly thrown a spanner into all her plans. We hear about when Charlie first meets Jeremy and how Rachel warned her off him. Then he warns her off his friend and he fills her in on the gossip surrounding Mack’s career. The author slowly reveals how Mack found life hard after he signed to play professionally for Chicago Fire. His past is as tragic and heartbreaking as RJ’s. I felt so sorry for Mack as for the first time he got a real connection with someone and was hoping for a meaningful relationship. Mack adorable and when he opened up to her and told all his secrets, I really hoped she’d take the plunge and do the same. He shows such patience as he can’t be with her how he wants to be and great self control as he battles the feelings he can’t show in public.
She has never had someone who wanted her so much they were willing to risk everything for her. Due to her past, she wasn’t willing to risk everything for Mack and it takes her a long time to process it all. There is a lot of angst at the end with a ‘will they – won’t they’ scenario. Mack keeps telling her she worth it but she has to find a way to believe that as her father had constantly told her she was worthless. I loved how he was prepared to wait until she finds herself, finds a way to let him in and allow herself to love him. It helps because he has some self-deprecating problems to work on himself. It all comes to a head when her past crashes into her present.
Can RJ forget about Mack so she doesn’t lose her scholarships? Will Mack give up his job to be with RJ? Can they leave the past behind them? Can they accept each others love?
The author certainly developed good characters and even some of the secondary ones brought a lot to the story. The problems they all have are realistic ones and Jillian deals with them in a thoughtful way. I did think RJ was very mean to Mack at times but on reflection this was the type of behaviour she had grown up experiencing. I was glad they worked it out as deserved each other after all they been through. Found the parallel between the two couples interesting as all four have insecurities and have buried their hurt so deep it a battle they all face. The title is clever as it is the position she plays but also describes Mack because he is a keeper! Overall the story shows what can happen when you overcome your past, survive what you have endured and finally find someone to love and love you. It is a healing journey for the couple and hopefully Jeremy and Charlie will find theirs in Keep Away.
I could not put this one down! Which, for me, is unusual. I related to RJ on so many levels: being casual, awkward, and unsure. And Charlie reminded me of my best friend in college, too.
And Mack, well… Of course, he’s this hot soccer star. But my favorite thing about him is his thoughtfulness. Their first date was so perfect. And it warmed my heart the way he was always so understanding when it came to RJ and their relationship.
The book was only from RJ’s perspective, which I’m not used to. It would have been nice to know some of Mack’s thoughts as well, but even without them he was an exceptional character. In fact, I loved the way all the characters were so complex and great, despite their flaws.
The entire book was an emotional roller coaster. There was a lot of drama and “will-they-won’t-they be in a relationship.” It kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. I also appreciated how the author didn’t spend a bunch of time on scenes I didn’t care about as much. If the story strayed from Mack at all, it wasn’t long until he showed up again somehow. There was plenty of romance, humor, and drama to keep me hooked. And it was totally worth dropping everything to read. I am definitely looking forward to the story between Charlie and Jeremy. I have so many questions there!
When author, Jillian Liota, first approached me about giving her book a read, my initial reaction was a resounding HELL NO. Was it because of the author? Nope. Was it because of the cover? Negative. Was it because of the blurb? Not entirely … I saw the word “soccer” in the blurb and my stomach started to turn. Weird thing to refuse a book for a word, right? Well of course it is. Unless you decided to play soccer when you were around 10 years old and it was the most horrific two weeks of your life. Horrific may be a stretch. But it was bad. Anyway, I actually asked Liota how much soccer was actually in the book – everything hinged on that answer. Luckily, she said that it was just a small smattering of soccer nonsense (my words, not hers) and that I could easily replace those soccer moments with softball moments (my preferred sport) instead. So that’s what I did and dude. Couldn’t be happier that I made that decision because I found a new author to book-stalk!
If I’m completely honest, those few soccer moments weren’t too difficult to digest because of how talented of a writer Liota is. She made me forget my intense hatred of soccer and just enjoy the book. I didn’t think that would happen. The story was engaging from the very first page and I soon found myself not wanting to do anything but read because I couldn’t wait to see what would happen between Rachel and Mack.
Those two … man. I loved their story. I liked the push and pull between them that Liota created in this taboo relationship. This story is much deeper than just a romance – there are hurdles that Rachel has in her life that are heartbreaking and it’s a bit difficult to read about. Not because it wasn’t written about well but because it was written TOO well. It was realistic and absolutely plausible. This was the case with all of the characters and situations throughout the book. The characters burrow themselves into your heart and they soon feel like old friends. I liked all of the secondary characters almost as much as I loved Rachel and Mack. Fine. Mostly Mack. Because well … he’s Mack. You’ll see.
Everything really seemed to play out like a movie as I was reading, nothing was lagging or long winded and the story moved along at the steady pace that I love. Because of all of these things and about a million more, I had an awesome reading experience and I can’t wait for the next Liota book.
This was just a great story. One that I won’t soon forget and I believe that this is Liota’s debut novel. If that’s the case, holy crap. I can’t wait to see what the next book is like because if it has just a smidgen of the spark that this one had, it’s going to be amazing.
* I received this novel in exchange for an honest review *