Pine River

by Tijan

[Nadz@Totally Addicted to Reading]

 I went into Pine River believing it to be a sports romance in a college setting, instead I got a high school setting with lots of teenage angst and drama. Despite Pine River being not what I expected in terms of setting and genre, it still provided an interesting read.

The story introduces Ramsey Williams, who moved to Pine River, hoping to put the traumatic events of Cedra Valley behind her. Starting a new school can be daunting. With her protective triplet cousins on her side, navigating her new school should be less scary. She plans to keep her head down and not attract attention. Her cousins, however, had other ideas. To make the situation more complicated, she caught the eye of Scout Raiden.

Scout came to Pine River one year ago because of family issues. During that time, he has risen to the top of the social hierarchy of Pine River High School. He fights in legal MMA fights, hoping to secure a spot in the UFC once he reached the required age.

One could feel the sparks between Ramsey and Scout from the moment they first came in contact with each other. However, despite the chemistry sizzling between them, they despised each other. Their explosive attraction to each other, however, provided the ammunition to tear down the walls of enmity between them. They both struggled with demons from their past. Not only will their backstories break your heart, but it will also provide an understanding as to their current behaviour. Ramsey's demons were huge, having suffered abuse at such a young age and losing someone close to her. But she's a survivor and throughout the story we how hard she worked to deal with the pain.

I enjoyed how the relationship between the main characters developed. They confided in each other and provided much needed support. In doing so, they helped each other to heal.

The story had a lot going on, and despite it being over 500 pages, I finished it quickly. As much as I enjoyed my time in Pine River, I struggled with a few things. One of which being the unending and overtop teenage drama. The circumstances behind Ramsey and Scout's move to Pine River were not resolved adequately. That aspect of the story was rushed and could have done with some more development. Also, I didn't find the spicy scenes in a high school romance appealing.

Pine River offers a combination of romance and drama. It delivered a steamy and intense enemies to lovers romance while exploring the themes of abuse, healing, and self-discovery