Book Tour!! Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler!!!

Eeeks!! You guys. I'm geeked. For reals. I've never done a book tour before! This one was started by the fabulous Tara at Fiction Folio! I'm so glad I saw the tweet about signing up! We got to read Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler. The book was mailed to me by my dear Anna at Anna Reads and she included a note that among other things said that she liked it and knew I would too. Boy was she right!!

Here's the review Goodreads has, I don't want to review...I want to rave :)

Star basketball player Chelsea "Nitro" Keyes had the promise of a full ride to college—and everyone's admiration back home. Then she took a horrible fall during senior year. Now a metal plate holds her together and she feels like a stranger in her own family.
That summer, Chelsea's dad hires Clint, a nineteen-year-old ex-hockey player and "boot camp" trainer, to work with her at a northern Minnesota lake resort. As they grow close, Chelsea finds that Clint's haunted by his own tragedy. Will their romance end up hurting them all over again—or finally heal their heartbreak?

Ok. Lets get something straight because as a communication major here's something I hold to be true: Every opinion you make, things you like or dislike, have a lot to do with your Frame of Reference. As an athlete, an athlete who has had injuries to over come (not as severe but whatever lol!), I know that mental blocks are the WORST. And that no matter how "sure" you are of where your life is heading, sometimes you hike up a different trail and the view is completely different.

Watching Chelsea deal with her own mental blocks was rough. The struggle she was going through to keep her dreams alive even though it was killing her to look back on them was easier for her than looking ahead to a passionless future. Even super amazing boyfriend Gabe can't make up for what she's missing in her very soul- the emptiness that comes with giving up. I'm not sure if that's what Schindler was thinking when she wrote it, but those were the feelings she dredged up for me!

Clint is such a deep character and the athletic history he has is maybe even more painful than Chelsea's because it was himself who took him out of the game. Taken him out and hidden himself from any semblance of it. I love Clint. Period. Gabe may be "all that" back at home and super romantic but he just doesn't do it for me! Clint is real. He's like a cowboy...only he's not a cowboy, but still...who doesn't love a cowboy?! lol! Ok back to the rave...

If you are a fan of hopeless love, of letting go, of giving in, of caving to the desires your head tells you not to have - this is the book for you. You know like, every Taylor Swift song about "kiss me in the pouring rain", "this love is difficult but it's real", "Come on, come on, don't leave me like this, I thought I had you figured out"? Well, if you're like me, you not only know these songs but can't help but sing them passionately at the top of your lungs every single time you hear them. Even if they're on repeat on your iPod in the car...lol...well this book was like all of that to me. I ate this story alive. Literally. I sat down, ate it, digested it and it was food for my soul. Do not hesitate to give in, lose yourself and relish in the bold feelings of love.