Deep End by Ali Hazelwood on February 4, 2025
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, Fiction / Romance / New Adult, Fiction / Romance / Sports
Pages: 464
Format: Paperback
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“I’m afraid of the unpredictability of existing.”
Scarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream. A Junior at Stanford and a student-athlete who specializes in platform diving, Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med school and on recovering from the injury that almost ended her career. She has no time for relationships, at least, that’s what she tells herself. Swim captain, world champion, all-around aquatics golden boy, Lukas Blomqvist thrives on discipline. It’s how he wins gold medals and breaks records: complete focus, with every stroke. On the surface, Lukas and Scarlett have nothing in common. Until a well-guarded secret slips out, and everything changes. So they start an arrangement. And as the pressure leading to the Olympics heats up, so does their relationship. It was supposed to be just a temporary, mutually satisfying fling. But when staying away from Lukas becomes impossible, Scarlett realizes that her heart might be treading into dangerous water…
DAMN… this book!! Hazelwood is an artist! This is everything Fifty Shades thought it was and also they have the stamina of Olympic athletes. I appreciated her writing so much in this novel. The care with which she used to discuss and create a safe space for people to express and explore their wants, it was really heart warming. The kink didn’t feel mild or “nonexistent”, it was simply “basic” but basic is not bad nor undeserving of recognition. Kinks don’t necessarily have to be something wild. Theirs was a display of what healthy and consensual looks like, showing that it could be your average couple that likes a little kink and doesn’t need to be considered a dark or taboo subject. Every scene where they were intimate was based around their trust and that really brought out a whole new range of emotions. The heat, the intensity, the tension, the longing, the sweetness, the way he takes charge, the knowledge that she is one who truly holds all the power in their relationship. It created the PERFECT atmosphere. I just loved it. I wanted this novel to be twice as long as what it was. I needed more.
Five stars for this one. Their relationship was based around their trust in each other and that is why I’m really convinced they’re genuinely in love. Not only did they protect their safe space but they didn’t allow it to take over their daily lives. Their respective careers and passions were given so much space and attention, it was just really amazing that Hazelwood didn’t treat their personal drives as a gimmick but explored BOTH of their passions. I don’t remember the last time I felt this satisfied with a couple before. Their dynamic was so perfect and felt so genuine to me. Just pure perfection.