Review of ‘Running Deep’ by Bette Hawkins
This was a sweet, second chance lesbian romance story. When I see that a new Hawkins book is out, I’m always excited to read it. Hawkins is an automatic must-read author for me because of her comfortable writing style. Her books always work for me and in my mind, she is four for four with good books so that in itself is pretty impressive for a writer who is still newer to the lesfic scene.
When I heard the premise was about an Aussie and American Olympic swimmers, I could not be more excited. I’m a huge Olympics fan and with them canceled this year due to Covid, I could use like ten more of these sports romances. I do need to mention that this was more romance than sports. If you are not a sports geek like I am, no worries you will still enjoy this. There is nothing too technical with most of the swimming being either exciting or important to the story. This story really is about a second chance romance, the swimming is there to add some pop.
With this being a second chance romance, this book actually switches back and forth between YA and adult representing the past and current time. I would say maybe 35% YA with the rest being adult. I do have to admit that it took me a little while to get into the YA part. Usually, Hawkins hooks me into the story very fast. Instead with this book I was not really connecting as I hoped. The YA part was sweet but the beginning was missing something. Once feelings got involved and the book started moving, I feel into that comfortable place with Hawkins’ writing again. It just took me longer than I expected this time. The slow start is the reason why this wasn’t a full 4 stars like Hawkins’ books normally are for me.
I’m not sure what is going on but I am on a roll of sweet, feel-good romances lately. That is exactly how you can describe this story. This is a second chance romance so you do know there is some drama that happened, but after that, this book is pretty much angst-free. Of course, there is the conflict of will they or won’t they, but this book really makes you want to say the word “sweet”. It’s so funny because I am craving angst and wanting to need tissues right now, I keep mentioning this, I know, but instead, I keep reading all this sweet stuff, and they kept being good stories so that I can’t really complain.
If you are like me and are missing sports, sad about no Olympics, or just need a sweet feel-good lesbian romance story, this book is for you. I would also recommend it for YA fans even with it not being completely YA. I think with the overall feel of this book that YA fans would still enjoy it. The way Hawkins writes is comfortable and all her books are worth the read. I will be patiently waiting for whatever she writes next. 3.75 Stars.
An ARC was given to me for an honest review.
