Review: The Slam by Haleigh Lovell


Note: This ARC was provided by Enticing Journey Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

Oh wow! The Slam was such a wonderful surprise of a read! I've never read anything by Haleigh Lovell but after having finished her latest release, I'm certainly going to be keeping an eye out for her future releases because The Slam was a funny but insightful story about Adelaide Vikander and Enderson Hemsworth, two childhood best friends who lose touch for a decade and learn to live with the older versions of themselves and re-establish their friendship and may be they could become much more. It's not exactly a short read but I was so into it that I was taken aback when I got to the end and realized that time had flown by without me even noticing it. Yup, the book was that good.

Ender and Addy met in Australia when he was ten and she was eight and they formed a tight friendship, causing others to call them "bosom buddies", and along with Ender's younger brother, Edric, the three had a memorable summer. When Ender's grandmother contacts him and informs him that Adelaide will be studying at the University of California-Berkeley, the same college that Ender and Edric attend, and with his grandmother now being Addy's guardian--their grandparents became a couple later in life--she decides Adelaide would be living with the brothers in the home their grandmother owns. Addy provides a lot of comic relief in the story, but she's also a girl who's used to having people think she's strange because of her Asperger's, which is on the autism syndrome. 

Adelaide is the kind of girl who says what she thinks. She doesn't censor herself and has a tendency of talking a lot and oversharing. Now, for most people, this can be rather irritating or distracting, and you can see that in the beginning of their rekindled connection, Ender dismisses her talkativeness and even becomes quietly frustrated with her. But her having Asperger's means she cannot always control what she says and does, and over time, I liked that Ender began to see what a truly unique young woman she was and that she had this trusting and innocent quality to her but in no way would you say she was naive. Curious, yes, and rather upfront about her queries, even if they would probably embarrass other people.

This love story didn't follow any sort of pattern set by other friends to lovers stories out there. Adelaide was in a class all her own, and she was such a great female main character. Ender grew on me after a while, making him more than the tennis-playing, manwhoring guy that he first came off as. Their love story is quirky and fun, and while I did like the ending, I wouldn't mind reading another book that continues their story, maybe with Ender finally going pro and following his dream with Addy by his side. Then there's Edric, who I think deserves his own happily-ever-after, especially after he was with that mouthy, shrill girlfriend of his. Maybe he could be paired up with Piper, one of Adelaide's closest friends. There were a few other supporting characters who could also have their own time in the spotlight, and I would happily read their stories if they're as good as The Slam. I'm highly recommending this and give it five stars. ♥

Release Date: 01 April 2016

Date Read: 01 April 2016

Learn more about Haleigh Lovell.

Purchase The Slam on Amazon.

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