Rush Me by Allison Parr
Series: New York Leopards #1
Publisher: Carina Press
Source: Netgalley
ISBN: 9781426895333
Release Date: April 8, 2013
Pages: 263
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When post-grad Rachael Hamilton accidentally gate-crashes a pro-athlete party, she ends up face-to-face with Ryan Carter, the NFL's most beloved quarterback.
While most girls would be thrilled to meet the attractive young millionaire, Rachael would rather spend time with books than at sporting events, and she has more important things to worry about than romance. Like her parents pressuring her to leave her unpaid publishing internship for law school.
But when Ryan's rookie teammate attaches himself to Rachael, she ends up cohosting Friday-night dinners for half a dozen football players.
Over pancake brunches, charity galas and Alexander the Great, Rachael realizes all the judgments she'd made about Ryan are wrong. But how can a Midwestern Irish-Catholic jock with commitment problems and an artsy, gun-shy Jewish New Englander ever forge a partnership? Rachael must let down her barriers if she wants real love--even if that opens her up to pain that could send her back into her emotional shell forever.
Rush Me was a book that sounded New Adult, but in reality it read more like a chick-lit book. Our main character Rachael is on her way to a party when she loses track of her best friend and ends up at the wrong place. There she runs into a NFL player who of course despises her and they do not get along. When going back for her scarf the next day, she somehow ends up playing poker and hanging out with the guys and befriends them.
I just did not click with the book. I wasn’t a fan of either main character. Rachael was whinny and immature for most of the novel, and Ryan was not a charming guy. I don’t understand how he was supposed to be charming (as other characters mentions throughout the book). He was a complete ass and manhandles Rachael several times throughout the book. Ryan does simmer down as the book progresses, but I couldn’t get over how rude and condescending he was at the start of the book. He was straight-up rude and an ass to Rachael when he first meets her, and not in the “I’m an asshole, but look how adorable I am” kind of way.
As I said Rachael was whinny throughout most of the book. She was a bit stuck up and instead of having confidence she preferred to look down on others and make snap judgments instead of getting to know them.
I did enjoy the other teammates. They all had distinct personalities and weren’t lumped into the typical jock type of behaviour. They were sweet and treated Rachael as a sister. I wished you saw more interaction with them throughout the book as the relationship was nice. Same with Rachael’s roommate, Eva, a theatre major starting her first real performance. She was an interesting character, but after one point she kind of just disappeared. Does this mean that as soon as Rachael got a boyfriend she just ditched her friends? Because that’s just not cool in my books. Rachael whinnied about Ryan to her for weeks and then when they final hookup she disappears on her?
