Seducing the Saint (Good Ol' Boys #3) | M.J. Hendrix

(review in english after the portuguese one) 

Nota legal: Agradeço à autora por me enviar um exemplar deste livro em troca de uma opinião literária honesta.

Sinopse: I hate Silas Saint. But we weren’t always enemies…not even close.

Now, he’s a star D1 college baseball pitcher, bound for the major leagues.

We were best friends growing up, but I ran like hell after the scandal (ghosted him, actually).

I guess his taste has changed from trailer park to two-faced blonde sorority girls.

I was perfectly fine with ignoring his existence before I was offered a job I couldn’t refuse. If I want my school paid for—I’m stuck working for the head baseball coach.

Which means I’m being forced to watch Silas sweating through batting practice and striking out every opponent he’s up against. If he’d stop glaring at me from across the cafeteria, maybe I would stop flirting with everyone on the team except for him.

I can’t say why I hate him—it’s a big, dirty secret. A secret Silas CANNOT find out.

A scandal. The best word to describe my life up to this point is scandalous.

And the ‘scandal’ part, started with a Saint.

This book is a complete standalone, but the best reader experience would be to start with Falling For Temptation, book 1 of the Good Ol' Boys series. This is book 3.

Compra este livro: Amazon

Seducing the Saint é o terceiro livro da série Good Ol’ Boys e traz-nos a história do Silas e da Scarlett.

O Silas cresceu numa cidade pequena e é o filho do Pastor, mas na universidade é conhecido como a estrela da equipa de basebol.

A Scarlett foi criada pela sua mãe solteira e representa tudo o que os pais de Silas não aprovam para  seu filho. Teve que se mudar muitas vezes com a sua mãe, que teve muitos relacionamentos que não correram bem, por isso Scarlett teve que crescer mais rápido, aprendendo desde cedo o valor do trabalho e a sustentar uma família.

Silas e Scarlett eram amigos de infância, até que a última carta que Scarlett lhe escreveu termina abruptamente com essa amizade. Pensavam que nunca mais se iriam ver, até que se encontram numa festa da universidade onde Silas é a estrela da equipa de basebol e para a qual Scarlett entrou recentemente como responsável dos equipamentos da equipa de basebol.

Com esta aproximação forçada vamos descobrindo a sua história, a razão pela qual a sua relação mudou e como nem o seu "ódio" um pelo outro os consegue deixar indiferentes e evitar a atração que sentem um pelo outro.

Gostei da forma como a autora introduziu o desporto neste romance, tornando-o diferente do outro livro desta série que li também em parceria com a autora (podes ler a minha opinião do livro Seeing Double aqui), do qual também tinha gostado muito.

Gostei do slowburn de "Seducing the Saint", mas foi mais lento do que gostaria e, apesar de entender o motivo pelo qual a Scarlett se desentendeu com o Silas, sinto que ele foi injustiçado nesta história porque ficou "às escuras" em relação ao verdadeiro motivo.

Não achei que o Silas merecia aquele grande ódio da parte dela e, por outro lado, também achei inválido que o Silas se referisse a ela como um "escândalo andante". Contudo, entendo que o lado dele está enviesado pelas opiniões e ensinamentos que os pais lhe transmitiram. 

De uma forma geral, foi uma leitura agradável mas achei que faltava desenvolvimento da parte do drama familiar e teria sido uma mais valia se a autora explorasse mais um pouco os traumas da Scarlett no que toca a relacionamentos para que percebêssemos o porquê de algumas das suas atitudes.

Gostei imenso da Lucy, amiga da Scarlett, e do Dan, amigo de infância do Silas e da Scarlett. Lucy e Dan são duas personagens secundárias que mal posso esperar por conhecer melhor no próximo livro. Estes dois foram um ponto crucial no relacionamento da Scarlett e do Silas e ajudaram monumentalmente a Scarlett a perceber que confiar em alguém e ficar vulnerável nem sempre tem resultados negativos.

Vais gostar deste livro se gostas das tropes: romances de amigos de infância, segundas chances, inimigos para amantes, bad girl x good boy, romance universitário, romance com desporto.

Classificação: ★★★☆☆ (3/5)

Com amor, Brenda

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Review in english:

Buy this book: Amazon

Disclaimer: Thank you to the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Seducing the Saint is the third book in the Good Ol' Boys series and brings us the story of Silas and Scarlett.

Silas was raised in a small town and is the Pastor's son, but in college he is known for being a star in the baseball team. 

Scarlett was raised by her single mother and represents everything that Silas' parents did not approve of for their son. She had to move many times with her mother, who had many relationships that didn't go well, so Scarlett had to grow up faster, learning the value of work and supporting a family from an early age.

Silas and Scarlett were childhood friends, until the last letter Scarlett wrote to him abruptly ends that friendship. They thought they would never see each other again, until they meet at a university party where Silas is the star of the baseball team and which Scarlett recently joined as an equipment manager of the baseball team.

"They say you never forget your first heartbreak. I was hoping I'd never have to see the source of mine in the flesh again." - Silas

With this forced approach we discover their story, the reason why their relationship changed and how not even their hate for each other manages to leave them indifferent and avoid the attraction they feel for each other.

I liked the way M. J Hendrix introduced sport in this book, making it different from the other book in this series that I also read in partnership with the author (you can read my review of the book Seeing Double here), which I also really enjoyed.

I liked the slowburn of "Seducing the Saint", but it was slower than I would have liked and, despite understanding why Scarlett fell out with Silas, I feel that he was wronged in this story because he was "in the dark" about the real reason.

I didn't think Silas deserved that much hate from her, and on the other hand, I also didn't like Silas referring to her as a walking scandal. However, I understand that his side is biased by the opinions and teachings that his parents transmitted to him.

In general, it was a pleasant read, but I felt that the family drama lacked development and it would have been an asset if the author had explored Scarlett's traumas a little more when it comes to relationships so that we could understand why some of her attitudes.

I really liked Lucy, Scarlett's friend, and Dan, Silas and Scarlett's childhood friend. Lucy and Dan are two side characters that I can't wait to get to know them better in the next book. These two were a pivotal point in Scarlett and Silas' relationship and monumentally helped Scarlett to realize that trusting someone and being vulnerable doesn't always have negative results.

You'll like this book if you like the tropes: childhood friend romance, second chances, enemies to lovers, bad girl vs. good boy, college romance, sports romance.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3/5)

With Love, Brenda

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