Hook Up by M.L. Broome
Hook Up is a Second Chance, Brother’s Best Friend, Reverse Age-Gap Romance
Greer:
Ryder Gray is a racing legend with one weak spot—me. At least that’s the line he used on me eight years ago, right before he ghosted me.
The worst part? I believed him—every sweet, romantic line. Turns out, that’s all they were.
I moved on, or so I thought, until we wind up spending a weekend together in Vegas. We’re there to celebrate my brother’s wedding, but Ryder has a different plan—to reclaim the heart he abandoned years earlier.
I’d be a fool to fall for Ryder again, so why can’t my heart tell him no?
Do I trust him, or is this another Ryder Gray hook up?
Ryder:
Since I was ten, I wanted two things from this life—a career as an F1 racer and Greer Hammond. Turns out winning championships was far easier than winning Greer’s heart.
But I’m no quitter. When I see something I want, I don’t stop until it’s mine. And Greer is the one thing I’ve wanted for twenty years.
She’s the only woman who’s ever set my heart racing, and now that she’s back in my lif, I have a plan to keep her in my arms forever.
This time, she won’t get away.
This time, she’s mine.
- File Name:hook-up-by-m-l-broome.epub
- Original Title:Hook Up: A Driven World Novel (The Driven World)
- Creator:M.L. Broome
- Language:en
- Identifier:MOBI-ASIN:B097PFC88F
- Publisher:KB Worlds LLC
- Date:2021-08-25T18:30:00+00:00
- File Size:482.085 KB
Table of Content
- 1. Hook Up
- 2. Contents
- 3. Copyright
- 4. Introduction
- 5. Dedication
- 6. Prologue
- 7. Chapter 1
- 8. Chapter 2
- 9. Chapter 3
- 10. Chapter 4
- 11. Chapter 5
- 12. Chapter 6
- 13. Chapter 7
- 14. Chapter 8
- 15. Chapter 9
- 16. Chapter 10
- 17. Chapter 11
- 18. Chapter 12
- 19. Chapter 13
- 20. Chapter 14
- 21. Chapter 15
- 22. Chapter 16
- 23. Chapter 17
- 24. Chapter 18
- 25. Epilogue
- 26. Driven World
- 27. Also by M.L. Broome
- 28. About the Author
- 29. Also Written by K. Bromberg
Hook Up, Book 4 of the Seasoned Hearts Club series (also a part of K. Bromberg's Driven World), was about 30-year-old Ryder Gray, a professional F1 race car driver, and 38-year-old Greer "Gigi" Hammond, a nurse practitioner.
Side Note: I began reading this story with much trepidation after seeing the poor review ratings (and even reading some of the worst). I wasn't sure I would enjoy this story, but I found it utterly captivating. Did I wrestle with it? Yes, there was a bit of a struggle for me, but not nearly as badly as I feared.
Ryder and Greer had known each other since childhood. He had been her younger brother's BFF growing up. When Greer was 18 and about to leave for college, her brother cheekily informed her of his BFFs infatuation with her. When she asked him about it, 10-year-old Ryder admitted his secret crush. While she told him she was too old for him, he said that wouldn't always be the case. So the two of them made a pact that when he was a famous F1 race car driver, he would look her up. They didn't see each other again for many years.
12 years later, they were at the same New Year's Eve party and shared a few hot kisses. They had planned to go back to his hotel for some spiciness, but they had both arrived with different people. While he went to take care of his ex-girlfriend, she was informed of HER ex-boyfriend being drunk. She knew she couldn't wait for Ryder, so she tried to get their host to give him her number. However, that didn't happen, and Ryder believed she had ghosted him. She, in turn, believed the same of him.
8 years passed and Ryder received a wedding invitation to his estranged BFF's Vegas wedding. He wasn't going to attend because he believed Greer was married with children and he didn't want to run into her being happy with someone else. But then he found his current live-in girlfriend in bed with another man, so after kicking the two out of his home, he decided to attend the wedding as a distraction. When he informed Greer's brother, he learned that Greer had never married and her brother said Ryker could be her "plus-one". He determined if she was at the wedding, he would never let her go again.
This book was so full of angst and drama that it was overwhelming at times. It also had the misfortune to be a place for information dumping. While the story was only 18 chapters long, each one seemed to get longer the more you read. The emotional rollercoaster ride of twists and turns was so OTT that it boggled the mind. Too many times the two main characters were thwarted in their relationship by outside influences and miscommunications and it seemed unlikely that these two lovebirds would ever get their HEA.
The plot of the story had too many paths that were deadends before finally settling on one and going with it for the remainder of the story. This caused a lot of frustration for not only the reader but for the two main characters as well. Sometimes the plot path was unnecessary, thus leaving quite a few unresolved issues by the end of the book. That was very disappointing because it detracted from the flow of the storyline which, in turn, allowed the book to become boring and stilted.
The two main characters, while both well-developed, didn't seem to be all that mature. Neither of them wanted to address the many elephants in the room, namely their feelings and the MMC's ex, who was in the book right up until the end. The MMC had so many issues going on at the same time, but he also was not quite coherent with his thought patterns. For example, at no time in the story had the FMC ever tried to take advantage of the MMC in regards to his celebrity status or his more than healthy bank account. And yet, when he was at his ugliest, he accused her of those very things He was the one always pursuing HER, not the other way around. There were times when the MMC would say, either to her or in his inner monologue, that he would never lie to or hurt the FMC...and yet he did both repeatedly. He often seemed unstable in his thoughts and actions regarding the FMC.
As for the FMC, she seemed less mature than her 38 years. She allowed her emotions (and her history with her father) to control many of her actions, which often were detrimental to her relationships with everyone around her, especially with the MMC.
Another side note: The title of the book didn't exactly fit the story. At no point did the two main characters "hook up". There were times when they attempted to do so but never followed through due to interruptions. Perhaps a better title would have been "Thwarted Love"? Anyway, back to the review.
While the story was better than what many of the negative reviews would lead a prospective reader to believe, it wasn't worthy of a five-star rating. Yes, it was a good book. But there were just too many variables that weren't addressed, and even more that caused the rating to be lowered. With that in mind, I could only give this a three-star rating, and that was being generous. With the way this story went, I don't know if I want to read any of the other books in the series. That's something I will have to debate with and determine for myself at a later time.
HOOKED UP by M.L. Broome
WOW!! Another good story. Loved the characters and story. I had my emotions run the gamut. I was happy, sad, angry, frustrated and I even cried. It was well written, flowed nicely and kept my attention. So happy is wasn’t drawn out over 40+ chapters, but would have like a few more chapters of the mouth watering Ryder Gray :)