Moonshot
by Alessandra Torre
Christy's 5-star review!
Alessandra Torre excels at writing romantic-suspense. Add in sports romance, second chance romance, loads of angst, and forbidden love and you’ve got a thrilling read you won’t want to put down, aka- Moonshot.
Baseball. Americas greatest pastime. Are you a fan? After reading this book you'll want to be! I live in a city with a baseball team so I've been to my fair share of games and always root for the home team (Go, Reds!) but I wouldn't consider myself a baseball fan. After reading Moonshot, I want to cheer for baseball! The Yankees in particular ;) Ty made me want to be a fan. I could feel the love she had for the game and her team so strongly I wanted to feel it, too. Ty's father is a player for the Yankees so she grew up on the field. Literally. From the age of 7 to 17 she traveled with the Yankee's, eventually becoming their ball girl. The team was the most important thing in her life.
When Chase Stern gets traded to the Yankees, Ty doesn't know how to feel. He is baseball’s bad boy and the guy she's had a crush on since she was younger. He's only 5 years older than her and she tries to avoid him because as attractive as he is, he could only be trouble. Ty and Chase can't stay away from each other for long. Their chemistry is palpable. You can feel it rolling off the pages. They start a secret relationship and although it's bumpy at first and mistakes are made a long the way, they find their groove. Until everything changes. Nothing will be the same for these two.
Fast forward 4 years. Yes, you read that right... FOUR YEARS. Once I got to this four years later, I just couldn't handle it. The angst made me feel nauseated. Safe to say, angst isn't my thing most of the time but with the direction the story took, it was unavoidable. My heart just broke for these characters. The situation, all they'd been through and what they were going through now. There were moments I was angry, but most of all I just hurt for them. On top of the angst, there was a suspense element going on in the last half. The first half was more romantic and the second half definitely more angsty and suspenseful.
“God, you have no idea how much you tempt me.”
“It’s not temptation if you can have it.”
Ty Rollins is a character I fell in love with from the start. Her love of baseball, her liveliness and demeanor made me adore her. The last half of the book, I had a few issues with the choices she made but I can't say I didn't understand to some degree. She really did frustrate me at times towards the end, but she wasn’t in a good place. Chase was the opposite. I started out not knowing if I would love him, but the more we got to know him the more I liked him. By the end, he was my favorite character by far.
Moonshot is one of the most angsty stories I’ve read this year, and by far the most angst-filled book I’ve ever read by Torre. It wrecked my nerves and made me feel. The writing is brilliant and the story is complex. It’s more than just a romance. It has so many elements to it. If you are a fan of angst, I would highly recommend this read! The characters, though frustrating at times, were lovable and their story proves that sometimes first loves last.
Bella's 5 Star Review
Seriously.
This is Alessandra Torre's writing at its best. Yes, it's sexy. That woman can write sexy like no other. BUT. I won't remember Moonshot by its sex appeal. The plot was AMAZING. It was sexy, it was forbidden, it was suspenseful, it was tragic. The entire time I was reading I couldn't stop turning the pages and the entire time I wasn't reading I was thinking about what was going to happen!!! This book is the reason I like to read.
Moonshot is the story of Ty and Chase.
What I loved about this book:
~ The writing. Alessandra Torre is so talented. She weaves a web of first time love that is so addictive. I was sucked in so completely so quickly. I HATED that I had to stop reading to sleep and take care of my family - real life is such an interruption to my reading!
~ The characters. Ty, her father, the team, Chase. The characters weren't perfect. Ty is a 17 year old girl and she thinks & feels like a 17 year old girl. I wanted to shake her silly a couple of times for the choices she makes...but I made several bad decisions at her age, too. I love that Alessandra Torre was realistic in her depiction of this age.
Ty is in love with Chase before he even joins the team because of his talent on the baseball field. But, Ty is traded to the Yankees because he slept with the wife of one of his teammates - so his moral code is questionable. Her father warns her again and again that Chase is no good for her. And she puts up a good fight. No make up, baggy clothes, avoid eye contact whenever possible.
But.
She couldn't fight the pull.
And Chase. I wanted to hate him. I mean. Who sleeps with his teammate's wife? And does drugs? Only a scumbag, for certain. But as I learned more about Chase and found out about the demons he carries, I was able to see under all of that ugly stuff to the guy inside. And I fell for him too.
Chase tries to fight the attraction to Ty. He really tries. But. On the few interactions they have, she surprises him. She calls him on his BS. She helps him find peace in a chaotic world. And once he falls for her, he really falls for her.
They don't have it easy. They don't get a HEA for a long while.
~The suspense. I loved trying to figure out what the heck was happening. This is what I love most about Alessandra Torre - she is the queen of plot twists.
~ Alternating POV. We get in Ty's mind the most - her POV is told in first person. But we also get Chase - his POV is told in third person. This is an interesting way to do it. I would prefer first person for both POV's but I'm glad we got into Chase's mind. And we also get these bits of news articles that freaked me out and put me on the edge of my seat. Great combination.
What I didn't love about this book: there were some parts of this book that drove me crazy. But I really can't say that it detracted from the story. Pet peeves of mine that I avoid in other books worked for Moonshot. And it made the ending that much sweeter. I'm trying not to give any spoilers!
Bottom line: Moonshot is amazing. Highly recommend!!!
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