5 SMOOCHES!
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SYNOPSIS:
There was something about that first score, and not just on the football field.
I loved all of life’s firsts, which was why I’d been saving mine for one girl, my older sister’s best friend—Hazel Jones.
She was tough and sarcastic with walls around her heart as tall as a football stadium, but I knew she was the one for me.
Desperate times called for desperate measures and I’d have done anything to make her mine.
Like create a fake online persona.
Lie about my age.
Pretend I wasn’t some naive virgin.
And catfish the hell out of the love of my life.
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REVIEW:
Amie Knight never fails to engage me with her thoughtful, expressive storytelling. The First Score is heart-wrenching and moving friends-to-lovers first-and-only love story. Knight’s writing style, always so very witty and vividly detailed, is perfectly suited to telling a story like this, one that so rich in emotion. She gifted her readers with wonderfully endearing, authentic and completely relatable characters. This was a wholly consuming romance, and it was incredibly easy to lose myself in these pages.
Oliver and Hazel have known each other most of their lives, and Ollie is pretty sure he fell in love at five years old with Hazel, his sister, Scarlett’s, six year old best friend. They have a long and beautiful history, and their friendship was special and all theirs. Hazel didn’t have an easy childhood, and she moved in with her “Pops” at a very young age. While he showered her with all the love and support he possibly could have, she never dealt with her painful history. She hauled that baggage around with her, using is as armor to protect her fragile heart. But Ollie saw right past it, he always had. His kind heart, his patience and understanding were some of the only solid things in Hazel’s life. Ollie had his own secrets, though, and he carried them around—along with the blazing torch he also carried for Hazel.
I was so absorbed in this wonderfully bittersweet, coming-of-age story. Ollie never once pushed Hazel, he never made demands, and his strong, steady presence was exactly what she needed. But then again no one knew Hazel like he did, and he was always there, supporting her, loving her. Hazel’s journey to healing broke my heart. This young woman had been through so much, but at one point, I did want to shake her so she’d see what was standing right in front of her if she could only gather the courage. It took her a minute, but once she made the decision, it was rewarding to see Ollie and Hazel finally come full circle.
A moving and memorable tale, The First Score is pure Amie Knight. This is her jam, this is Knight doing what she does best and telling these deeply emotional, slow-burning, difficult to tell but oh-so-romantic Southern-rooted love stories. Five smooches from me for The First Score by Amie Knight!
~Danielle Palumbo
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