Long Shot - Special Edition (Hoops)

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In my dreams I choose him, my prince, instead of the fraud. In this parallel universe, at this second-chance juncture, I turn right instead of choosing wrong… and there only there, we are together."

I loved Iris' relationship with her cousin and best friend Lotus. Their solidarity and deep bond. She was there when Iris needed her the most, and stayed strong for Iris when she couldn't be. Their relationship with their grandmother was beautiful. Long Shot spans over years and it gives the reader time to connect and invest themselves in Iris and August. In their story. Separately and them together. I sure as hell. From their first meeting in the bar. Their connection was immediate and palpable. Push/Pull: Yes The h pushes away a lot. She pushes away I'd say until the epilogue tbh. The H is the main pursuer of the relationship. It was beyond uncomfortable to read. I almost had to disassociate at times, I took many breaks in between to read something lighter and step away from the story. Fortunately, I had the luxury to do that.

This book.......took me on a journey. A very raw, emotional, stripping of my soul journey. One that made me feel as if I was in the story experiencing all the highs and lows, the joys and sorrows, the hopes and fears, and the strength and determination of characters that engrained themselves into my soul. With the visual clarity of the author’s vivid, heartfelt, and passionate words, this story felt real, raw and painfully open and honest. A melancholy yet hopeful journey of life’s timing and the choices one makes over others. Iris and August meet just before their lives changed. They were just two college students who met at a dive bar and have a mutual love for basketball. Who both, at one point, have felt like they never really belonged. It was easy to open up to a stranger who seems to understand you more than anyone else, and that's what they did that night. There was a connection neither of them can deny, they just can't do anything because they're going on different paths in life. August and Iris have an unexplainable bond from the moment they meet. Things are difficult for them and it seems impossible that they will find their way to each other, but it’s meant to be. The thing I loved most about August and Iris’s relationship is the fact that he let her shine. He built her up and her hopes, dreams, and wants were important to him. Iris deserved that more than anyone. WOW. I'm still recovering from how emotional this book was and how INCREDIBLE it was. It was so heartbreakingly beautiful and was similar to It Ends With Us as they both have the topic of Domestic Violence. Long Shot is a sports romance, my first time reading NBA, and it has also has the aspect of forbidden romance too. His smile melts a little around the edges, and his eyes lose some of their humor. “At the five-spot,” he says softly.

I 1000% recommend reading this book to just experience the most beautiful story. I am so looking forward to reading the rest of the series. I’ll see her again. That thread that connects us, glowing neon, it’s still there. I may not be able to see it, but I feel it. It’s still wrapped around me. Wherever Iris is, I hope it’s wrapped around her, too.” It's so easy to judge a person for staying in a toxic or abusive relationship, and even easier to tell them to leave. We tell our friends that if that happens to us, we'll leave. It's so easy to say those things because we're not in that situation. I confess I was once guilty of thinking that way. I'm grateful for books like this and society and media becoming more vocal about abuse because then we lose the ignorance. Her courage in the face of Clear and Present Danger is laudable and admirable. A tigress protecting her cub is the fiercest fighter indeed. A true HEROINE !Ok, I need to stop here because I could spend all day re-reading and sharing all the highlights I have of all the delicious things that came from August. Overall Opinion: Yet again I feel like a broken record here. Why oh why can't we get some good closure?! We have such troublesome times that we experience with these characters...is it so much to ask for some more of the good stuff thrown in to balance it all out?! The drama seemed a little too OTT as well. At the time of reading it I let it go thinking that we would get those happy times to even it all out, but sadly I don't feel like I got enough to justify it all. I enjoyed the book enough to keep reading it, but I honestly think that it could've been a lot better. I had a hard time with the balance between the characters as well. The H seemed too good for the h, and I didn't feel like the h deserved him and all he did for her a lot of the time. She just seemed to be a taker in the relationship and not so much a giver (if that makes sense 🤷🏻‍♀️).

Gosh, this book is heavy! I was not expecting that. And it really should come with trigger warnings. If you were triggered or traumatised by It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover, please don't read this book. Listening to it makes the brutal scenes more graphic. When I first read Kennedy's Grip series, I knew this woman's writing was for me. When I finished Long Shot, I knew this woman cemented herself as a favorite. Their story is fiction but it could be your own story. Ok, maybe not being a basketball superstar, but that adds to the depth of the story. I don't want to tell the secrets of the story, but there are parts that will shred you. It will make you really think. Have I ever judged someone before for this very thing? Have I missed something in someone I know? Would I recognize it and how would I handle it? What if it was me? The modern application of this is deeply embedded not only with the sports system, but with our countries presidents, politicians, TV show hosts, actors etc. The branding of a trophy wife is something that needs to be stopped and needs to be seen as wrong, because when you're moving towards something as focused as equal rights or even to stop the wage gap. These kind of things cannot exist. And I so wish I could get my hands on Caleb! I'd choke him with my bare hands and gouge his eyes out. One thing to note, he didn't change throughout the story, his venom never diluted, just distilled to potency and for which I must applaud Kennedy. She never gave him an out, or attributed his vehemence to obsessive love. Nope, he was pure evil through and through!Sometimes, we stand at a juncture on which our path, our very life can turn. A fork in the road. Sometimes the heart speaks in whispers, and by the time we hear, by the time we listen, it’s too late and we don’t know If you want to know if I recommend this book, the answer is YES. It doesn't matter if romance is your preferred genre or not. This is a book for everyone. It's a story that needs to be heard, and Kennedy did an amazing job telling it. I hope you give it a shot! August West and Iris Dupree meet in a bar before the two graduate from college. They have an instant spark followed by the conversation of a lifetime, but something prevents them from taking things further than a one time kiss. Their timing is all wrong, but they never forget the connection they felt that night.