Burnout by Coralee June

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Synopsis

Maybe if we met at another time—another life—he could’ve been mine.

Maybe if I were older. Maybe if he wasn’t my brother’s best friend. Maybe if he wasn’t my teacher.

Maybe.
Maybe.
Maybe.

Having my dirty little secret living down the hall had me obsessing over alternate endings and happily ever afters. I’d never wanted someone so badly, but his hot and cold behavior was giving me emotional whiplash. In the classroom, he practically ignored me. But here? In my brother’s loft? It felt like we were a thick rubber band, pulled so tight we’d snap.

Falling for Decker Harris made me realize that life wasn’t as serendipitous as everyone liked to think. We weren’t just a collection of maybes thrust into the world with hope and good intentions. Everything started with a choice, and somewhere between grief and redemption, I chose to make him mine.

Goodreads

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Review

Burnout has so many of my favorite tropes! There is an age gap (ish), student/teacher, best friend’s sibling.

This is a high angst book; see above trope listing for why. I felt like this was a very original story, yes it was full of tropes, but it was told in a way that I hadn’t read before. Blakely was a strong character, and I loved her resilience. I liked seeing her overcome her past. Decker and Blakely’s relationship was wonderful. Seeing Decker go from being suspicious of Blakely to being in love with her was pretty entertaining. Their relationship felt natural to me. She was able to be truthful with Decker, and Decker understood her in a way that Lance couldn’t. This is a dual POV book, we see both characters start to fall for the other and all that comes with that from each of their perspectives.

The story was interesting, but I did think just the story of Lance, Decker, and Blakely would have been enough. The extra stuff with the crime and the kidnapping wasn’t necessary. I didn’t hate it, but it took a little bit away from a great story! There was enough drama without that to tell a perfectly good story.

I will certainly read more by this author!

Available on Kindle Unlimited