Review: Falling from the Sky by Sarina Bowen

Title: Falling from the Sky (Gravity #1)
Author: Sarina Bowen
Genre: Contemporary romance, sports
Release Date: 2 Feb 2015

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My rating: 3.5 Stars
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Synopsis 

She's the woman he doesn't remember. He's the man she can't forget.

Bad boy Hank “Hazardous” Lazarus used to have everything: a gorgeous girlfriend, a career as a freestyle snowboarder and a spot on the US Olympic team. Nine months ago, after a bad crash in the half pipe, he woke up in the hospital, unable to move his legs. Now he’s landed there again, but gravity is not the culprit. With his family pressuring him to try a groundbreaking treatment, Hank self-medicates with too much tequila instead.

Doctor Callie Anders has the courage to restart a patient’s heart with a thousand volts of electricity, yet she’s afraid to risk her own. So she doesn’t confess to her newest patient they they met just before the accident, an encounter that he doesn’t remember. Even as their friendship develops, she won’t admit that she regrets turning down his dinner invitation, or that her heart stutters every time those inked shoulders roll through the door of the therapy department.

With another Vermont winter coming again, Hank needs a hand out from under the avalanche of his disappointments. If only Callie were brave enough to take the job.

Review

Sarina Bowen’s Ivy Years series was one of the nicest surprises in my reading last year. I loved her New Adult romances and was excited to try her adult romance series Gravity, as well. Furthermore I have a soft spot for sports romance and what better time to read about a snowboarder falling in love than during one of the coldest weeks of the year. It was a nice contemporary romance and I enjoyed it a lot but not as much as Ms Bowen’s college hockey books.

I liked Hank and his journey from a superstar snowboarder to a person bound on wheelchair. His struggles to come to terms with happened to him and to move on and build a new life for himself were interesting to read.

The heroine, Callie, who is a doctor, was shy, focused on her work and really missing have someone in her life. Her attraction to Hank was pretty clear and even after his injure she saw him as desirable, someone she wanted to be. She acted somewhat childish and immature which I found annoying.

I felt the story lacked some depth, it dealt with serious issues (disability, professional ethics, etc.) but I wished we were given more insight into them instead of focusing mostly on Hank's attempts to get together with Callie and her fears and distrust.

The romance was slowgoing and felt real and intimate. There was some quietness and bit of predictablity to it but overall, it felt me feeling happy for the couple. 

The story had an easy flow to it, nice and pleasant but nothing really stood out. The conflict wasn't very strong and overall things were rather tame. I wanted more tension, a bit more raw emotion. I'd have loved to see Hank at  his darkest/lowest moments after the injury and the way he dealt with the irrevocable  changes in his life.

Still, it's a nice, uplifting story without being too sweet or too gritty, keeping a middle ground. I can recommend it to fans of sport romances. I'm curious about the other characters and plan on continuing with this series.

Purchase links: Amazon / B&N / iBooks / Kobo

My reviews of other books by Sarina Bowen:
The Year We Fell Down (The Ivy Years #1) - 4.5 Stars
The Year We Hid Away (The Ivy Years #2) - 4 Stars
The Understatement of the Year (The Ivy Years #3) - 4 Stars