I'm back with a book review of the second instalment in the Windy City series, The Right Move by Liz Tomforde.
My last blog post was a book review of Mile High by Liz Tomforde. Mile High is book one in the Windy City sports romance series and I knew from reading that book that the others in the series would be just as good.
So here I am sharing a review of the second book, The Right Move.
This series can be read as interconnected standalones, however, I do feel that if you read them all together - in the right order - it'll make your experience a lot better. It has for me because you get introduced to the other couples ahead of when their book actually comes out.
But without further ado, let's get into what I thought about The Right Move by Liz Tomforde.
Review of The Right Move by Liz Tomforde (Windy City #2)
Genre: Contemporary romance
Tropes:
Sports romance: 9/10
Best friend's brother: 10/10
Roommates/Forced proximity: 9.5/10
Grumpy/sunshine: 9/10
Fake dating: 10/10
Overall rating: 4.5 stars
Synopsis for The Right Move:
"RYAN: She’s a distraction, that’s what she is.
I’m the newest Captain of the Devils, Chicago’s NBA team, and the last thing I needed this year was for Indy Ivers, my sister’s best friend, to move into my apartment. She’s messy, emotional, and way too tempting.
But when the team’s General Manager vocalizes his blatant disapproval of my promotion to Captain, referring to me as an unapproachable lone wolf with no work-life balance, I can’t think of a better way to convince him otherwise than pretending to date my outgoing roommate.
The only problem? Faking it feels far too natural.
Having a fake girlfriend wasn’t supposed to be messy but having Indy under my roof and in my bed is complicated, especially when she wants all the romantic parts of life that I could never give her.
INDY: I never imagined I’d be living with my best friend’s brother, NBA superstar Ryan Shay. Even more unbelievable? He needs me to act as his loving girlfriend who’s suddenly changed him into a friendly and approachable guy.
Because, well…he’s not. He’s controlling of his space and untrusting of others.
Our arrangement isn’t one-sided, though. I’m in a wedding coming up, one where every one of my childhood friends, including my ex-boyfriend, will be in attendance, and there’s no better date than my ex’s celebrity hero.
Blurred lines make it almost impossible to separate real from fake. Falling for my roommate was never part of the deal, especially when Ryan is quick to remind me that he doesn’t believe in love.
I’m a romantic and can’t help fantasizing that he’ll change, but soon enough, I find myself questioning if sharing a roof with my best friend’s brother was the right move after all."
From my ratings above, you can probably tell I loved this book. Just like Mile High, The Right Move is a must-read for sports romance lovers.
The second book in the Windy City series is a basketball romance and follows Ryan Shay and Indigo Ivers. We meet these characters in Mile High and the brief scenes in book one of their interactions set up their story perfectly.
The Right Move is a funny, heart-warming book. Ryan and Indy are opposites in a lot of ways and I loved reading their dynamic of living together and navigating their growing feelings. It was a completely different type of story compared to Zanders and Stevie in book one. I feel like in this book we got more angst and sexual tension of Ryan and Indy living together whilst trying to figure each other out. And then when they finally gave in, we got to see the sweetness of their relationship.
Ryan is Stevie's twin and when it comes to his sister, he is relaxed, happy and more free. But with everyone else, including Indy, Ryan is more reserved. Throughout the book, we learn about Ryan's past and the reason why he doesn't trust people easily; it is his flaw but he learns to open up and trust those who want to be there for him because of who he is, not what he does.
The NBA star feels an immense amount of pressure and the fake dating begins to placate his coach. However, Indy slowly worms her way into his life with her bright colours and wide smile and we see the tough, stoic façade of Ryan crack to reveal a charming, kind-hearted man. Ryan is such a good romance book hero because he is sweet but also a bit possessive of his girl when they're together and at times, you know the fake dating wasn't all that fake.
Whilst Ryan begins the book as grumpy, Indy is sunshine. She's suffering from her own past trauma and wants a fresh start, but moving in with her best friend's brother and being in a fake relationship with him isn't exactly what she had planned.
Indy's character is such a great female MC. She is comical, loyal and determined. I didn't relate to her as much as Stevie's character, but there was still that connection between reader and character throughout the book.
One thing I loved about The Right Move was the friendships. Not only did we see the friendship between Indy and Stevie, but we also saw Ryan open up more to Zanders and Kai Miller - book three's protagonist - and Rio as well. Romance books always have a small friendship group, I've found, and Liz has done a fantastic job of creating diverse characters that feel believable as friends. Plus, Indy's daily updates to Stevie made me laugh!
I really enjoyed The Right Move because it did make me laugh and it did tug at my heartstrings when it came to Ryan and Indy's past trauma and individual issues. The Right Move involves sign language because of a deaf character, which as someone who is writing a novel with a deaf character I found intriguing but also wholesome because of Ryan's actions related to sign language.
The Right Move by Liz Tomforde is full of love, charm, banter and spice. It is definitely worth the read if you're a fan of sports romances and even if you're not much of a fan of basketball, you probably will be after reading this book.
Intrigued?
If my review has persuaded you to give The Right Move by Liz Tomforde a try, click the cover below to view it on Amazon.
Until next time...