Reviewed by Lynn on
Born to Polish immigrant parents living in California, Natalia Grekov's young life has been devoted to gymnastics and now she's only a handful of months away from realising her dream; to win a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She's in South Jersey attending a training camp with other elite gymnasts, all vying for a coveted place in Team USA. Whilst in training, a poor landing after a dismount from the beam results in an injury that threats to ruin her dream.
Spencer Russell has women falling at his feet with his good looks, charm, and incredible body, honed to perfection during the hours of training to become a world-class gymnast. Unfortunately, his Olympics dreams were shattered when an injury forced him to retire from the sport that's his life. Four years later, he's a trainer and working with male gymnasts as they prepare for their Olympic dream, only it is one of the female competitors that catches his eye.
The nemesis is Novak Filipek, a Polish trainer with questionable techniques, although that's rumours...right? His regime is not for the faint-hearted as he bullies the weak athletes and openly despises those popular and well-respected by their peers.
"Some gymnasts have the ability to feel the fear and do it anyway. I wouldn't know. I've never been afraid of anything in the sport.
Until now."
I liked Spencer and Natalia together. They are very much alike in attitude when it comes to their competitive natures, but it's during their illicit training sessions when an empathic Spencer is helping Natalia to overcome her fear, I feel the connection between them. At other times, it is the gymnastics that takes priority rather than their relationship, but that's okay because the plot more than kept me entertained as I turned the pages.
This my first Carrie Aaron's novel and I definitely want to read more in this series. The secondary characters we're introduced to are fun and likeable so I'm more than happy to read their stories too.
***arc generously received courtesy of the author via Ink Slinger PR***
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 5 August, 2016: Finished reading
- 5 August, 2016: Reviewed