Grasping Air by Carrie Aarons Review
4 Smooches
Synopsis
We were the seconds after a grip released the bar, body floating through the air with nervous wonder. Would we successfully grab it again, or would we hit the mat, shattered and defeated?
Peyton Adams learned a long time ago that selfish and detached is the only way to be in life. What most people call shameless or obnoxious behavior, she considers key to getting where she needs to go. Most disapproving of all? USA Gymnastics’ golden boy with an eight-pack, Jared Hargrove. After being cut from the women’s team right before Rio, Peyton is back on the post-Summer Games tour. Not only is she the only one without a gold medal, but her history with Jared won’t stay buried for long.
Control and good manners; the two things drilled into Jared Hargrove’s head from birth. As a four-time gold medalist, he’s always obeyed the rules and reaped the reward. Well, except for the whirlwind week four years ago in London when wild-child Peyton Adams finally got under his skin, and into his bed. She broke his heart, and he hasn’t removed the ice wall around it since. Now she’s back to redeem herself to the world of gymnastics, and it seems, to push his buttons more than ever.
After years of resentment and heartache, can they repair a relationship so badly broken that most people wouldn’t even try? Or will they continue to fall, grasping at any last emotion before they finally collapse?
Review
Grasping Air takes us back into the world of competitive gymnastics with this brand new standalone romance. Peyton and Jared have a secret and sordid history. After a week spent passionately together four years ago it is undeniable that they have baggage. Especially since while Jared was open about his feelings for her she decided to stay closed off and ran. Now fours years of hurt and hate have passed and they are thrown together on a post Olympics tour and neither one is prepared for the barrage of emotions that will come out when they are in such close quarters.
“Be wild with me,”
While she never makes it easy, I quickly found myself falling for the hard to love Peyton. Jared is another story. He was easy to love with his southern charm and a momma’s boy kindness to him. But when he lashes out all that gentle kindness is thrown to the wayside and he lashes out at Peyton and knowing the genuine goodness that he is capable of made it hurt that much more. Grasping Air is a second chance romance that hit all my high notes. It was dramatic and sexy while remaining to be fun and exciting too.
‘For a brief period of time, so short it was like a shooting star, all of that was mine. And I was his. But that was a long time ago.’
I thoroughly enjoyed the book as a while. The characters and story were intriguing and I was hooked from the beginning when you find out that they had a quick affair that has haunted both for the past four years. For me, the first half of this story was the strongest but that was probably because my cold heart thrives on tension and angst and it was running rampant. By the second half the tension and drama were still there but we were clearly on the way to a adorably sweet HEA. I really enjoyed Grasping Air and found it to be a good solid book I would recommend to any sports romance lover.
~miranda
