Lessons in Letting Go by Jessica Peterson: Review

Posted December 13, 2016 in review Tags: 4 stars, Spain

Lessons in Letting Go by Jessica Peterson
Pages: 400

Series: Study Abroad #3
Genres: New Adult, Sports Romance
Source: ARC

“Ten minutes ago, I was just an American student studying abroad in Spain. But now? Now I’m a professional soccer player’s muse. His good luck charm...”

Soccer star Rhys Maddox’s recovery from an injury isn’t going well—until one night with a beautiful American and a few terrible pick-up lines changes everything. With Laura at his side, he plays smarter, runs faster, and fights harder than he ever has on the pitch. She’s just the good luck charm he needs to turn his flailing career around.

Laura Bennet begins her semester in Madrid with plans to ditch bad habits and worse boyfriends. But when she unexpectedly gets caught up in Rhys's A-list life, her plans are put on hold. Who wouldn’t skip class to fly on a private jet with a studly Welsh footballer? It’s a no brainer, or so she thinks. Turns out Rhys’s glamorous lifestyle hides an obsession with appearances—an obsession that makes her totally miserable. Determined to take back her happiness, Laura decides to dump Rhys and tackle a “Spain Bucket List” on her own.

But Rhys isn’t letting his good luck charm go without a fight. He’s spent his entire life trying to earn his way into the big leagues, and he’ll do anything to win—even risk his carefully crafted image to help Laura with her bucket list. Will he be able to let go of his ego? Or will he and Laura ultimately let go of each other?

Hot soccer player? Check! Exotic locale? Check! Lessons in Letting Go has 2 of my favorite things in books: sports heroes and cool settings!

Rhys is a major douchecanoe. Like, seriously douchey. I wanted bad things to happen to him for most of the story. But Laura? I loved her. She joins the semester abroad program so that she can reinvent herself. She has identified the things in her life that she wasn’t happy with and is making a plan to change. Who can’t admire that!? She meets Rhys and gets a bit caught up in his douchey lifestyle and she starts doing things the ‘old Laura’ would do. And God bless her, she realizes it and decides she needs to stand up for herself and the person she wants to be! I think Laura is the person lots of us wish we could be. We wish we would have been stronger and resisted certain things in our lives. However, so few people can really say they were able to except Laura.

The main ‘conflict’ in the story comes from their lack of communication and as a trope, its my least favorite. Second to Rhys’ douchey behavior (did I mention that yet?), this was my biggest issue with the story. I think in the end, I wanted better for Laura. Maybe I didn’t feel Rhys had changed soon enough in the story? Maybe I just didn’t really buy that he was actually going to be good for her. Whatever it was, I felt like Laura deserved more.

POV: 1st
Tears: no
Trope: miscommunication, famous athlete
Series/Standalone: standalone within an interconnected series
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »no « Hide Spoiler
HEA: View Spoiler »yes « Hide Spoiler

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The Hook Up by Kristen Callihan, Emerge by SE Hall, Home Tears by Tijan…then you will probably like Lessons in Letting Go!

Lessons in Letting Go

About Jessica Peterson

About Jessica Peterson:

I was a weird kid with bad skin and braces and an ardent imagination that was spurred to life by my love of books. Needless to say, I didn’t quite fit in at school, and so I escaped into the worlds of Aragorn and Dorian Gray, Anna Karenina and Jo March, Elphaba and Mary Boleyn (Philippa Gregory, you slay me!).

I was a weird kid with bad skin and braces and an ardent imagination that was spurred to life by my love of books. Needless to say, I didn’t quite fit in at school, and so I escaped into the worlds of Aragorn and Harry Potter, Anna Karenina and Jo March, Bella Swan and Christian Grey.

Catherine Coulter’s DEVIL’S EMBRACE was the first romance I remember reading; Christina Dodd’s THE RUNAWAY PRINCESS was in heavy rotation as well, and of course we can’t forget TWILIGHT. They were delicious and romantic and featured plenty of the bodice-ripping (and blood-sucking!) that I found so thrilling.

When I discovered said bodice-ripping happened a lot less often in real life than it did in romance novels (especially in high school), the writer in me sprung to life.

So I began writing. My first attempts at fiction featured a heroine with an uncanny resemblance to yours truly and a hero based on the hottest guy in the grade below my own. It wasn’t long before writing became an impulse, a necessity; as an introvert, I drew enormous energy from the nights I spent sitting quietly at my huge Apple computer, filling blank pages with passionate declarations of love and lots of making out.

But it wasn’t until I experienced my own real-life romance, and fell head over heels in love with the tall, dark and handsome Mr. Peterson, that I began to take my writing seriously. The experience of falling in love, coupled with his generous faith in me, gave me the courage to finally chase after my writerly dreams.

I did what everyone told me not to and quit my job. I wrote. I read even more. I wrote historicals first; but then, after falling HARD for New Adult, I began writing that too. Based on my own experience studying abroad in Spain, THE STUDY ABROAD series was born. It’s my first foray into the indie world, and I couldn’t be more excited about it.

SPANISH LESSONS, book #1, was released in January 2016. Book #2, LESSONS IN GRAVITY, was released on March 25, 2016.

I’m currently working on a STUDY ABROAD novella, and hope to launch book #3 ASAP!

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Leona

Your reviews alone have me second guessing my decision of including new new adult books back on my shelves. Gosh! You make me want to read these stories, you had me freaking hooked with ‘Hot soccer player.’ But I think because Rhys’ doucheiness didn’t work for you that it won’t work for me either.