The Right Move (Windy City Series #2) by Liz Tomforde |Slow Start, Strong Payoff
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Synopsis
The Right Move follows Ryan Shay, the newly promoted captain of Chicago’s NBA team and Indy Ivers, his sister’s best friend, when living together and fake dating starts blurring into something a lot more real. What begins as a convenient arrangement turns into a romance built on proximity, tension and feelings neither of them is especially equipped to handle.
Review
Right. I’m just going to come out and say it. This one and I did not exactly hit it off straight away.
I wanted to be into it immediately. The tropes are there, the setup is there, the potential is definitely there and yet for a while I was just sort of sat there waiting for myself to care a bit more. I think the biggest problem, for me, was that I wasn’t massively sold on either Indy or Ryan at the beginning and when I don’t click with the main characters early on, everything starts feeling slower than it probably actually is.
Main Character Info & Summary
Ryan Shay - Guarded, routine driven, emotionally closed off, strong moral values, personality initially seems quite flat.
Indy Ivers - Warm, emotional, disorganised, completed opposite to Ryan. Good friend, too selfless.
Stevie Shay - Ryan Shay’s twin sister, Indy’s best friend. Warm hearted, relatable and resilient. Dating Zanders.
Evan Zanders - Cocky and arrogant public image, caring and protective away from the spotlight, Captain / Defenseman for the Chicago Raptors. Dating Stevie.
So yes, the start dragged a bit for me. Or at least it felt like it did.
I was basically trying to force myself into liking them, which is never the best way to begin a romance. It’s a bit like going on a date and spending the first half thinking, “Please say something interesting. Please.”
But.
Once this book actually settled into itself, I really started to come around.
I stopped wondering what I was going to make myself for dinner and became fully invested in them. As their relationship developed and we got more than just the initial surface level version of who they are, they both became far more likeable to me. The story definitely got stronger the deeper it went into their connection and even though I could see exactly where it was all heading, I still found myself rooting for them anyway.
What I liked most is that they are total opposites, but in a way that actually works rather than just being there for trope points. They balance each other out really nicely. Or maybe “balance” is too calm a word. They sort of wear each other down…but in a healthy way! They help crack open all of each other’s carefully built walls, sometimes without even realising they’re doing it and that ended up being the thing that really sold me.
Ryan especially grew on me. At the start, this man is so controlled, so rigid, so painfully buttoned up that I’m sorry, but he was a bit boring. Hot yes but boring! And yet, as the story goes on, you start to see the glimmers underneath all that stoicism and suddenly he becomes very appealing indeed. Especially once he starts moving through life like the physical embodiment of “acts of service” as a love language. Ryan Shay really said, “I shan’t express myself loudly, but I will quietly worship you through competent and thoughtful behaviour,” which apparently, i’m a sucker for!
Indy also improved a lot for me as the book went on, which actually surprised me because I liked her in Mile High. So I wasn’t expecting to struggle with her quite so much here. But at first, she did grate on me a little. I didn’t click with her straight away and found her harder to warm to than I thought I would. Thankfully, that changed. As she developed more and her true personality started coming through, she became much more endearing. Her natural charisma started shining a lot more and once that had something solid to bounce off in Ryan’s hardened exterior, their dynamic became much more enjoyable to read.
And really, let’s be honest, the romance is what carries this book. That is the thing that keeps it moving. Once the emotional side kicks in properly, their chemistry starts doing the heavy lifting and the whole story becomes much more compelling. Their connection feels stronger, the special moments land better, and the whole fake dating situation starts blooming into something with actual legs. Predictable? Very! Did I care by that point? Not really. Because by then it had enough tension, sweetness and emotional payoff to keep me hooked.
Audiobook
Now. The audiobook.
This was narrated by Juniper Young and Sean Crisden, which on paper should have been absolutely fine.
In reality? Mixed. Very mixed.
And this pains me to say because I am, generally speaking, extremely pro-audiobook. Audiobooks are companions. Audiobooks are emotional support. Audiobooks are there for us when our eyes are tired and our brains are running on mush. So I do not say this lightly.
But I was not especially impressed by the performance choices here.
The biggest issue for me was the way each narrator voiced the opposite character during their POV chapters. It just did not work that well for me and it kept taking me out of the story. Romance feels so much more immersive when it’s done in true duet style, where each narrator sticks to their assigned role all the way through, and this really felt like a book that would have benefited from that approach.
Indy’s voice, in particular, grated on me at times. There were moments where it tipped into a more exaggerated “character” delivery, and instead of pulling me further into the story, it just distracted me. Which is the exact opposite of what I want an audiobook to do. If I am noticing the performance more than the emotion, something has gone wrong.
So while the story itself improved for me as it went on and while my feelings towards the characters got warmer, I can’t honestly say the audiobook elevated any of that. If anything, it held it back a bit.
This is actually one of those rare occasions where I wouldn’t recommend the audiobook and would just say stick with the physical book or ebook if you can.
Who I’d Recommend This Book To
I’d recommend this to:
Readers who like sports romance with a strong character dynamic
Anyone who enjoys fake dating, forced proximity and opposites attract
People who like a hero whose character is a little flat at times but his acts of service win
Verdict
This started out shakier for me than I expected. I didn’t immediately click with Indy or Ryan, the first chunk felt slower than I wanted and for a while I genuinely wasn’t sure this was going to win me over. But it did. Gradually, but it did.
The characters improved for me, the relationship improved for me and once the emotional payoff really kicked in, I was there. The romance ended up being the real selling point and even though I could predict most of what was coming, the journey still became enjoyable enough that I was happy to go along with it.
So no, not a flawless read for me. And no, definitely not an audiobook I’d rave about.
But as a romance? Once it found its footing, it absolutely got me in the end.
Rating
4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Buy this book on Amazon (Affiliate Link): https://amzn.to/4cRfJgr (Paperback)
