“From the very start, you had all the power. From the very start, I was in the palm of your hand.”

WHET, I mean, DEEP END by Ali Hazelwood is a classic Ali book with a sports romance twist. Our main characters, Scarlett and Lukas, are collegiate diving and swimming athletes, respectively. Scarlett wants to concentrate on her studies, get in to med school, and focus on recovering from her injury that almost ended her diving career. She doesn’t have time for relationships - until she gains the interest of Lukas. Lukas and Scarlett share a secret, and once that slips out, they agree to an arrangement. But what was supposed to be temporary fling turns out to be more than what Scarlett expected.

I will give it to Ali that she knows how to write a book that will keep all of us reading. She knows the formula that we like and if it works, why break it? She introduces a few new aspects into DEEP END (sports, kink), and she explores mental health and more complicated interpersonal relationships (because college and friendships can be complicated).

Overall, I enjoyed DEEP END. Scarlett and Lukas were well-written characters with multiple dimensions to their characters. Yes, Lukas is the typical Ali Hazelwood MMC, but he’s not just a jock as we would expect in a sports romance. I had trouble with some aspects of the story, but I think it was because I identified a lot with Scarlett’s anxiety around perfectionism and not being good enough - and sometimes it’s hard to read about yourself