By Lulu Moore
Oxbridge Book 1
Star rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice rating: 🌶️🌶️
Blurb
She's rowing for Cambridge. He's rowing for Oxford. A boat race to go down in history.
Arthur Osbourne-Cloud has always had his future mapped out for him – graduate Oxford and follow his dreadful father into politics. Except Arthur wants to do anything but that. He’s more than happy filling his days rowing for golds at the Olympics or World Championships, and this year he has The Boat Race to win.
Kate Astley also has her future mapped out – the next six years at least. Fly half-way across the world, and win a scholarship at Cambridge University to study medicine. Oh, and become a crew member for the legendary Boat Race. Seems simple enough. But then she meets Arthur.
For Arthur, this feisty American challenges everything he's been taught to believe, while Kate battles between what she wants to do, and what she’s expected to do. The bitter rivalry between their schools is destined to destroy them, but it’s only a matter of time before they give in to the sizzling chemistry bubbling between them.
Then the reality of their future comes knocking. In The Boat Race, there can only be one winner. Who will sink and who will swim?
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Read if you Like:
🛶 New adult romance
🛶 American student in England
🛶 Insta connection
🛶 Secret romance
🛶 Sports romance
My Thoughts:
I am on a sports romance kick and I really enjoyed reading about a different sport and reading a sports romance set in the UK. Also, Kate and Ozzy are the cutest and will totally steal your heart!
I saw a lot of people talking about how much they learned about rowing from this story. I definitely learned stuff about rowing but I personally learned the most about grading and medical training at Oxford. It's probably just the part of my brain that's always a professor but I needed to know why an undergrad was in a medical program and what a first meant! I also thought the college rivalry was a fun twist and I could totally see people taking it as seriously as it was portrayed in the book.
I loved Ozzy and Kate's connection. They really brought out the best in each other and I liked that they understood each other so well. I also liked that they had a shared interest in rowing and an understanding of family pressure but other big differences. Their story is super romantic and swoony and I think any romance reader will love it.
This was my first Lulu Moore book but it won't be my last! I am already so invested in these characters. I need book two now! I really liked that this was a college romance that was sold as adult romance but not super spicy. While I enjoy spicy books I feel like a lot of books in the new adult space are either sold and YA when they shouldn't be or are super spicy. I enjoy the super spicy ones as much as the next reader but I think the variety is a great thing!
🌶️🌶️ - This book has a couple open door scenes but the detail is pretty limited. There is yearning and some sexual tension but it's by no means the focus of the story.
Thanks to Penguin Random House UK for the electronic arc! All opinions are my own.
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