Review of ‘Taking a Shot at Love’ by KC Richardson
Lisa Tobias is the new women’s basketball head coach for a small university in California. Her dream job is to move up the coaching ranks and reach the professional level, so no love distractions allowed during the basketball season. Celeste Bouchard is an English professor at the same small institution, Glassell University. Having broken things off with another professor and suffered from the fallout, Celeste swore off dating anyone from the university. That is until she meets Lisa.
The story is narrated in third person point of view, alternating between Celeste and Lisa who are in their mid to late forties. Celeste is also overweight and dealing with self-esteem problems. I appreciate the author featuring a non-traditional main and showcasing some of the concerns that come with it. For example, being self-conscious and not being able to be confident in many settings, but especially in a relationship. Celeste also uses pole dancing as a physical and emotional form of exercise. I thought that the exercise choice was unusual and a great way to work through all her insecurities.
Unfortunately, I was not able to connect with the characters the way I would have liked to. The first actual interaction was a misunderstanding in which one of the leads acted unrealistically considering her age and education. The idea of wanting to be friends when they seemed to be at odds with each other was strange as well. The point of having a friendship in place sort of failed as communication broke down once again, but lust won anyway.
I wish there would have been more positive interactions between the characters before they’ve got together. The end seemed to come a little abruptly and decisions made on the spot blatantly contradicted previous actions and dreams that were clearly going in a different direction.
I do not want to spoil anything but this lesfic book was very predictable, so readers will understand as they progress through the story. 3 stars
ARC generously provided to me by BSB via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
