Series Review: The Waiting Series by Ginger Scott (Waiting #1-#3)


Note: Review copies (books one and two) and an advanced reader copy (ARC) (book three) were provided by the author via Wordsmith Publicity.

The setbacks. 
The milestones. 
The ride. 
The motherfucking ride. 
This life, it's hard on a marriage. It's hard on the mind and the soul. You have to be something rare just to survive it and I did. 
We did.

Is it possible to read three books back-to-back-to-back? Why, yes, it sure as hell is. Just as ask me because that's exactly what I did with Ginger Scott's Waiting series. Books one and two--Waiting on the Sidelines and Going Long, respectively--were released in 2013, and the series officially comes to a close with Scott's latest release, Hail Mary. I'll be honest: I went into the entire series BLIND. Yep, I had no clue what the series was about and when I signed up to review the books, I did so simply based on the fact that it was written by this particular author. I've read a few of her more recent releases over the past couple of years so I knew going in what to expect in terms of the quality of writing. And all the hours I put in reading these books--and those were A LOT of hours? Time well spent!

The three books are about one particular couple: Nolan Lynn Lennox and Reed Johnson. In short, all three books are interconnected and you WILL need to read them in order. That being said, going forward in this review, I may mention things that could come off as spoilers, so fair warning! You could simply stop reading at this point, and I'll tell you that I loved the series as a whole, my affection growing for it with each book. I could also tell you what my individual ratings are and what my rating for the entire series is, but I always reserve that for the very end of my reviews. Sorry, not sorry. But trust me, the ratings are far from being low. Hello, I did read all three in a single day!

Waiting on the Sidelines is a young adult (YA) read, wherein Nolan and Reed are both fourteen and freshmen in high school. She's the awkward tomboy who has a close-knit family that lives in a trailer and he's the up and coming star quarterback who comes from money but whose family ties are frayed on certain ends. Going Long is more new adult (NA), with Nolan and Reed in the midst of the whole college experience and dealing with the strains of maintaining a relationship when they happen to be in two different schools. Then there's The Hail Mary, which is a contemporary sports romance that is Nolan and Reed's love and life story after their happily-ever-after.

These three books... Gah! The myriad of feelings and thoughts in my head as the main characters ran the gamut. At times, I found myself shaking my head in frustration at the antics of these two as teenagers. Then there were times that I seriously wanted to give them a consoling hug whenever they would inadvertently hurt each other. Sigh. But here's the thing: you do stuff--stupid, thoughtless, selfish stuff--at any age, and that the reminder that this series makes. At the end of the day, it isn't necessarily about the missteps but how you realize the error of your ways and both seeking redemption and absolution from the one you love most and yourself. It's about love truly prevailing.

Waiting on the Sidelines tested my patience, but I'm blaming that on my lack of patience and low frustration level when it comes to teenagers. However, I did recognize a lot of what Nolan and Reed were doing to each other from my own teen years--not that I did that sort of stuff, mind you! I'm talking about stuff some of my peers were doing to their significant others. This one gets 4.5 stars. With Going Long, Nolan and Reed were still very much in love, but boy, oh boy, these two seriously still needed to work on their communication skills. The issues they faced felt real and I empathized with the struggles that they had to confront. This second one definitely earns itself five stars.

And The Hail Mary. Le sigh. By this point, I was already fully emotionally invested in all things Nolan and Reed. Because books one and two were released in 2013, the series could have ended then and there, but I'm glad that Ginger Scott decided to release this third book six years later because THIS was the ending that Nolan, Reed, and fans of the Waiting series deserve. I seriously had tears threatening more than once, and my heart felt like it had gone through a whole choreography with everything that happened between these two AND all the major peripheral and supporting characters in the series. Major series hangover and absolute must-read. Five-plus stars. ♥

Dates Read: 19 January 2019

Learn more about Ginger Scott.

Purchase Waiting on the Sidelines on Amazon | Apple Books | B&N | Kobo.

Purchase Going Long on Amazon | Apple Books | B&N | Kobo.

Purchase The Hail Mary on Amazon | Apple Books | B&N | Kobo.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Release Blitz: Saved by Hazel James

Book Spotlight: Cherry Pie by Samantha Kane

Review: The Wrong Kind of Angel by Ruby Moone