Waking Olivia by Elizabeth O’Roark

Cover: ★★★
Precisely: Enjoyed it!
Voice: Easy flowing
Characters: LOVE ’em
Plot: College Sport/ Coach-Student love
Page Turner: Up until 80%
Recommended To: NA Romance Lover
Book Boyfriend: Will Langstrom
Love Triangle: Nope (Kinda)
Pages: 378
Published: March 14th, 2016
Format: E-Book via NetGalley

“That girl isn’t just trouble of the not-a-team-player, not-a-reliable-runner variety. She’s trouble of the devious, manipulative, too-effing-hot-for-her-own good variety. She’s the kind of girl who causes trouble merely by existing, and then makes sure to cause more. And the last thing I need right now is more trouble.”

A failing farm-His father’s debt-And a struggling college track team.
Will Langstrom has too many responsibilities, and the last thing he needs is Olivia Finnegan, a beautiful but troubled new transfer student.

A smart mouth-A strong right hook-And a secret that could destroy her.
Olivia is her own worst enemy, with the past she can’t seem to escape, and the last person she wants help from is a cocky track coach she can never seem to please.
Refusing to be pushed away, Will is determined to save her.
And determined to resist an attraction that could destroy them both.

I love YA/NA Contemporary Romance. It’s sweet and simple with multi-dimensional characters dealing with dark trauma and helping each other out. There’s something so inspiring about it that it fills me with hope and will to fight through my hardest time. But, my favorite thing about these romances is the chemistry and tension. We know the two main characters would end up together even before they’re introduced but yet it keeps us on the edge to know how and when. We invest so much in characters and their story arc and if the author does an impressive job, we fall in love with them. Such was this story.

Olivia Finnegan is a very interesting character- she’s tough, strong, snarky. She’s a star track player with a bad reputation as she assaulted someone in her previous college. And that’s the last person Will wants to join the women track team. He is the coach and he hates her. And his cocky attitude towards Olivia makes her hate him more.

However, Olivia has a lot going on than she shows. She sleep-runs! Yes. And she has some dark secrets making it hard for her to achieve what she wants. Once Will learns about it, he tries to help her. Enemies turned to friends. What they fear is their growing attraction for each other.

“Olivia, I’m not allowed to like it. I’m your coach. And that’s all I’m ever going to be.”

I really enjoyed the story line. It was deep and touching. Originally, I was going to give this book 5 stars but then something happened around and beyond 80% of the book. I thought the book would end there. But, it kept going! The author stretched the plot and added more drama after the huge climax and it bothered me. And it was so rushed and messy as she tried to put that all in a span of few chapters and I had lost all interest.

But other than that and few illogical events, I had no problem with this book. I am in love with the characters and would keep an eye out for more books by this author. If College Sport/ Student-Coach Romance is your thing, you SHOULD read this book. Heck, if you love Contemporary Romance, you’d not regret reading this one.