Honestly, I was a little apprehensive to read this book because of how much I loved Bring Me Back. But, I got over it and jumped into The Game That Breaks Us.
With little experience of any of Smeltzer's other books I relied heavily on the blurb to tell me what I needed to know, but found that chapter one was enought to get me hooked into the book...
Grace Wentworth just arrived on campus. Her roommate already hates her from the moment she walked in the door. However, Grace has the good graces to look on the bright side and not let her roommates mood sour her first days on campus. While walking around campus looking lost, she bumps into a helpful stranger. She decides to be bold and accept the help of this handsome stranger for the afternoon. However, don't get the wrong idea -- no numbers were exchanged and they went their separate ways without any expectations of ever meeting again. Little does Grace know that she will be returning the favor in very big way!
The Blurb:
Hockey’s bad boy needs to clean up his reputation…
Bennett James has built his career at being the best, on and off the ice, and now it’s come back to bite him. The media has turned against him, and with a near career-ending injury, he needs to clean up his act and prove that he’s serious about the game. For Bennett, working with his old coach at his alma mater feels like a step back, but it might be just what he needs.
…and she’s going to help him do it.
Grace Wentworth has always been the good girl, and she’s tired of that stigma. She wants to prove that she can get down and dirty with the best of them. The problem? She doesn’t know how.
Bennett will teach the good girl how to be bad, if she pretends to be his goody two-shoes girlfriend in front of the media.
But what happens when the game becomes real?
Now that we know the basics, lets talk more about this book...
This was a great read! If fact, I've already read it twice. I would considerer it one of my light reads in contrast to the "cry your eyes out love stories" I've been drawn to lately -- cough cough Bring Me Back cough.
In the first few chapters you are along for the ride while Grace get settles into her new surrounding, starts to make friend, and experience typical college life. You aren't quite sure where the story is going to go, but it's clear through the duel perspective writing style that Bennett James fits in here somewhere. When the story really takes off, I love that we get to see both Grace's and Bennett's perspective because they are very different characters in a unique predicament. Having access to both of their thoughts give you a better understanding of their character flaws and struggles throughout the book. With Bennett in particular, I think his outward persona would be interpreted somewhat differently without having access to his thoughts. Perhaps because of this, as a reader I fell in love with both of these characters and only wanted the best for them -- even in the most difficult situations.
Another aspect that I like about this story is that Grace and Bennett truly become friends. In some books characters start relationships based on lust or other factors but that isn't the case here. There is clearly an attraction, but the friendship between Grace and Bennett is really something special.
The Game That Break Us is a part of Smeltzer's Us book series, but I found it was an easy read alone. Also, fans of Smeltzer's Willow Creek book series will enjoy Grace's connection to the characters from those books. However, the author does a good job of explaining these relationships to those of us who are unfamiliar with the Willow Creek series of characters. Personally, this part of the book feel a little bit like fanfare. However, I can appreciate that it grounds The Game That Breaks Us into Smeltzer's book universe for her most loyal fans.
My one grievance for this book is that, while I really like the cover art... I pictured these characters differently. The couple on the cover seemed older in my mind then Grace and Bennett are in the book. While he is a professional hockey player, I imagine him having a bit of boyish charm among his other qualities as someone in his early to mid-twenties.
Overall, Grace and Bennett's story teaches us that having the right people in your life can makes all the difference! Who wouldn't want to read about that?!
Favorite Quotes
"It's a small thing, sure, but the small things usually mean the most to someone. It's the little things that show you pay attention."
"We think that if we can't love ourselves for who we are that nobody else can. We rarely see the beauty in who we are and just the ugliness. We all focus to much on what's wrong and not what's right. I promise, you even if you can't see it, you're pretty amazing."
"I haven't always been a nice guy, Grace, but that's how I want you to see me. I want to be good because of you."
"So the bad boy wants the good girl to make him good, and the good girl want the bad boy to make her bad."
"I know that makes me sound like a lovesick sappy fool, but when you've never been in love and you finally someone that makes you feel like a better version of yourself, the rest doesn't matter to you."
"Nothing could make me move from this spot short of the zombie apocalypse, because zombies equal get the hell out of here."
Song Dedication
For The Game That Breaks Us by Micalea Smeltzer I want to dedicate the song 'Need Your Love" by The Temper Trap to Bennett. When he hits rock bottom, Grace is the main thing on his mind. I think this song does a good job of describing who Grace has become to him. Especially with lyrics like these...
She is my salvation in the dawn
But at night with lips of honey calls the devil’s horn
And I am a war of flesh and heart that’s left undone
Between the person that I was and have become
Need Your Love - The Temper Trap (RAC Remix)
