Kristin's Bookshelf

The Hearts We Fumble
Braysen U, Book 4
By Brooke O’Brien
🎧 Narrated by Stefanie Kay & Lee Samuels
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Of all the books classified as sports romances, this one definitely leaned into the ‘sports’ part of the equation more than most. Half the time when I pick up a sports romance, the guy plays hockey or football or whatever, but the actual sport barely makes it into the story.

That wasn’t the case here. Football is Zane’s world, at least before Wyatt, and we actually get to experience the games, conversations about his future in the sport, and how football impacts his life. It was a nice change!

I absolutely loved Wyatt. She’s independent, wears her heart on her sleeve, and was easily my favorite character. Zane, however? I was VERY hot and cold about that man. 😂 At the beginning, he pissed me off regularly. He was so cocky! But he slowly grew on me, and seeing how protective he was of his sister especially helped change my opinion of him.

I also really liked how mature and level-headed the people around them were. Everyone could clearly see how Zane and Wyatt felt about each other, but instead of creating unnecessary drama, they basically waited for those two to figure it out themselves.

And there was A LOT for them to figure out.

Football games, romance, college parties gone wrong, misunderstandings, family secrets, fights, and plenty of other drama. At times, it felt like the story had more going on than it really needed, and I think it could have been tightened up in places. That said, a lot of those storylines helped give Zane more depth. I just wish we’d gotten some of those additional layers with Wyatt too.

This was my first book in the Braysen U series, so I went into it without any history with these characters or their world, but I still really enjoyed it.

🎧 Narration: Stefanie Kay and Lee Samuels were both new-to-me narrators, and they did a wonderful job. I’m definitely taking a look at their backlists to see what else I can add to my TBR!