I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
No Cooldown for Love by Aliyah Burke Series: Rock Falls #3
on June 26, 2023
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Multicultural & Interracial, Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy, Fiction / Romance / Sports
Pages: 400
Format: ARC, Digital
Goodreads
From USA Today bestselling author Aliyah Burke comes a playfully sexy romantic-comedy about one room, one bed, and a man who knows how to play...
When ex-pro basketball player Mitchell Anderson sees an overturned car on the edge of a cliff during a nasty snowstorm, he knows he has only minutes to rescue the woman trapped inside. What he’s not expecting is their instant attraction, or that she can deliver one hell of a pick-up line even under the most terrifying of circumstances.
Hope Roman’s entire life is on the edge. She’s already overwhelmed with grief and upset, and nearly dying is pretty much the icing on a terrible, soggy cake. So it’s just her luck that she’s suddenly snowbound at a charming little inn with the hottest, yet down right grumpiest, man she’s ever met. And naturally, there’s only one room left.
Now the pillow barrier between them keeps disappearing. And the walls are coming down. But Hope knows she doesn’t belong in Mitchell’s world any more than he belongs in hers. The question is whether either of them can trust the other long enough to play for keeps...
Each book in the Rock Falls series is STANDALONE:
* Tinkering with Love
* A Sweet Spot For Love
* No Cooldown for Love
The third book in the Rock Falls series where an expert science journalist and an ex-NBA player get it on when they’re snowed in at a bed and breakfast in VT. However, I will note that you do not have to read this in order. I have not read the first two and do not feel like that took anything away from the experience. If anything, it made me want to read about how the other couples got together that we met in this book. Read on to see what I thought about Hope and Mitchell.
Tropes
Insta-love, forced proximity, snowed in, one bed, miscommunication, grumpy/sunshine.
Content warnings
Fat-phobia, racial discrimination, car accident, infidelity (historical; discussed, but off page), toxic relationship, eating disorder (discussed).
What worked for me
The sexual tension was so well done and what kept me reading to see how these two ended up together. Since the hallmark of a romance is the happily ever after (HEA) or happily for now (HFN), I knew that was going to be inevitable and the journey was worth the pay off. The glances, knowing the other person was present, genuine caring was the best part of the entire story for me. There are certain things that I didn’t love as much, but all of those pieces aside, the sexual tension was well done for my tastes.
I did feel that Hope had more growth than Mitchell did throughout the course of this novel. She started as someone who underplayed her accomplishments and really didn’t have many people she could count on. I would give this a found family feel from Hope’s perspective. Watching her grow to rely on other people and find a home, so to speak, with the people from the bed and breakfast and then around Mitchell’s life was another highlight.
Mitchell was kind of an ass at many points throughout the book. In my opinion, his grand gesture wasn’t enough for Hope to forgive him. That aside, he knew instantly that he messed up and I appreciated the journey he want on, emotionally and mentally, to win her back and show growth. So, despite my opinion on the grandness of the gesture, it still ended up working for me because of what comes after the gesture.
Last item I’ll mention on what worked well for me was the way in which the miscommunication trope was done. This is trope that’s usually low on my list of preferred tropes, but I do think Burke inserted this in the best way. It didn’t felt like it was thrown in for the hell of it. The trope propelled the story forward and was a key component of the external conflict that caused the third act break up (yes, spoiler, there is a third act break up). I don’t want to say too much on how the trope is used because it could be a spoiler. Know, though, that it worked for me.
What didn’t work for me
Third person point of view (POV) is not something that typically works for me. It took me awhile to get in to the flow of the writing, but I do think this book would’ve been more successful for me if the chapters were in first person alternating perspective. In addition to this, I think the third person POV allowed for the writing to be more telling than showing. Once I got used to the writing style, I found myself wanting to continue reading, but it did take some time to get acquainted with the style.
Generally speaking, it did feel like there were some unresolved plot items by the end of the store. For example, Hope receives a letter from her mentor as part of his will. All she ends up doing is putting it in her pocket to read later. It’s never revisited and resolved at all. It’s almost as if it was forgotten when writing the end of the book. That honestly bothered me a fair bit.
There were also a couple of phrases used that stood out to me and made me pause when I was reading. I’ve discussed in prior reviews the use of the phrase “clean” to discuss not having a sexually transmitted infection (STI) and the stigma that it portrays with individuals. Where the view of “unclean” because someone has an STI is considered “bad” instead of an important discussion that individuals having sex should have before they sleep together.
The other phrase that stopped me in my tracks early was “not fat big, just strong big” when Hope was describing Mitchell. I’m talking 8% of the way in to the story. While that was a bread crumb to the fat-phobia, this phrasing seemed unnecessary and could’ve been described better without the fat-phobia.
Lastly, though this is not factored in to any rating, I don’t think the cover makes sense for the story we’re reading. Mitchell is an ex-NBA player, but nothing about what we’re reading has to do with basketball or sports. The cover is a bit misleading, but that’s neither here nor there.
Spice rating
I’m giving this a 3 flame/spice rating. It is open door with on page descriptions. However, nothing outside of some aggression that would lead to a higher rating.
Final thoughts
Overall, this book accomplished what it intended. It was an enjoyable experience while reading, but I won’t be revisiting or screaming from the rooftops my thoughts. This is what lands me at the 3.25 or so rating. ‘m super intrigued, like I mentioned earlier, on the other couples and will revisit Aliyah Burke’s work in the future.
Thank you to Net Galley for an e-copy in exchange for an honest review!
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 23 for 23
