A review by bookphenomena_micky
The Keeper by Jillian Liota

5.0

4.5 stars

Wow, this book has been hiding in plain sight since it's release mid November and I feel like I've found a treasure. This is a writing debut from Jillian Liota and frankly, I'm stunned. Sports romance is one of my absolute favourite genres and I have read varying quality within that area, this is in the top ten. Can I remind you that this is the author's debut and that this author can write, indeed write well.

When I signed up to read this, I recall reading the blurb and being interested to sign up, because it was sports romance. I knew I couldn't read for publication date and now I'm kicking myself and want shout a little about how this book absorbed my thoughts, reading time and gave me book love.

I thought the title meant one thing, then another, then both; even the title is clever. The strongest character in this book is RJ (Rachel), a soccer-playing college girl. She's shy, she keeps to herself and a few others but has some strength of character and spark that reeled me in. She meets Mack and whilst feeling some out-of-character swoons around him, she connects with him. Mack took me on a roller coaster of like, love, dislike and belief. He had his moments of constancy and then flakiness and there's a thread of angst, especially in the last 25%. Essentially both these characters had depth, connection, personality and chemistry. The sports theme was strong which is a must for me in this genre. There were great backstories and character development to get your teeth into.

I didn't want this book to end and yet I needed the culmination like I needed to breathe. I devoured this book over 24 hours. I was unsure of the journey and I liked the unpredictability of certain elements and the way everything wasn't tied up too neatly. I don't know this author but I want to share how good this book is from a story, character and writing perspective. Highly recommended.

A copy of this book was provided by the author in return for an honest review.

Reviewed for Jo&IsaLoveBooks Blog.