This book had me feeling all different emotions at once. It was like at first I was intrigued because the author sums up teenage angst, emotions, and traumas really well and it took me back in time to when I was a teenager. My heart broke along with the characters and I hated that they lost so much time and memories to one decision. At first the naivety of Harper kind of made me mad at first but then I took a step back and realized she was just a scared child and was not thinking things all the way through but as she got older it still took her time to get wiser and realize her decisions were not always what she thought they would be. Then years later Landon steps back in and saves the day. Landon was my ultimate favorite person, once he loved he loved with his all and loved hard. He loved Harper so much that he is willing to wait and once he gets his chance again he holds on to her with all he has. There are some characters that will anger you but it makes for great drama and tension. Overall a fantastic read and I loved it. ( )

I really liked this book. I'm a sucker for second chance books anyway, but I thought that Harper was a great character.

I thought that she did so much with her life and she was such a great mom. She handled co-parenting with someone who never really wanted to be a parent anyway, and who wasn't acting like much of a parent, with a lot of grace. Her priority in that case is always her kids and what will make her kids happy and keep them safe. I think that she's just really strong and a powerful person. ( )

A rollercoaster read
5 stars

A total standalone, Clutch Player takes place in the Cocky Hero world that Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward created. It is related to British Bedmate and Simon and Bridget from that novel do appear in this one as supporting cast.

The first part of this book (until nearly 30%) shows us the origins story of Harper and Landon aged 16 and 17. I love a new adult story (or is it young adult?) and it was an absolute delight to see a couple get together and growing feelings for each other. Even in a second-chance love story, we rarely get to see the beginning other than in flashback - so to have a whole chunk of their beginning was really good to see. And although they are each other’s firsts, in sexual terms this was a fairly gentle section with no real explicitness.

After the 30% we move to ‘present day’ - or 12 years after the original section and Harper and Landon’s lives have gone in completely different directions. Although I was so excited to get to this section of the book, I honestly can’t say which section I preferred. Well, probably the later section only because of the sex and the HEA, obviously!

Both Harper and Landon were really interesting characters. I especially loved Harper’s change from a young girl in love, to a woman and mother, and then back to her roots and her love for Landon and more finding the person she was supposed to, and wanted to be. Landon was a cutie pie (a hot and sexy cutie pie) and he was the perfect hero for Harper. I liked the fact there was no messing about for him. He knew what he wanted and he wasn’t afraid to go after it. And he was a bit of a dirty talker, too, which always makes me weak at the knees!

And since he had the dirty talk down, it’s just as well that he backed it up with actual actions. And boy did he do that. The sex between Harper and Landon was delightfully hot. And frequent, too. There was some talk of anal sex, a little anal play and then a quick flashback of the actual anal sex - which was easy to skip over if, like me, that’s not your thing. If it is, then it’s all good.

A lot of things happen in this book and it’s definitely a rollercoaster. I actually think that Ms Ash might be an evil genius. Every time the story got to a place where I was hopeful that things were on the upward slide, and she threw in a curveball (no pun intended!) and got me all riled up and reeling…and then hoping for things to be better. This happened both when I expected it and at times that I didn’t.

As I said, a lot of things happen in this book - at times emotional, upsetting and difficult things - and yet this book was surprisingly low on angst and the emotion was never so deep as to cause me, as a reader, to be overcome or overwhelmed. However, despite this, I judge a book on how entertaining it is - and boy was this book ever entertaining.

The writing was great - hugely engaging - and the characters were likeable and people you could really root for. There was a great mix of chat, banter, action and drama - and just enough emotion not to bog you down. This book has a little bit of something for everyone and it’s such a fun and entertaining read that I would recommend it to anyone to while away a couple of hours. A definite 5 star read. ( )