Rush was my first read from this author. I really enjoyed it, though New Adult is not my typical go-to. I'm 33 now, and reading about 20-year-old college students falling in love often tries my patience.
Preston Rush is the star quarterback of the college football team. Priscilla Winslow is the star of the women's soccer team at the same university. This was already different than some of the other stories I've read, as the heroine was a star athlete, too. I liked that, and thought that gave them more weight as equals. They have quite the eventful meeting at a Halloween party, then she jumps in to help him when he gets jumped later that night outside. They get arrested, and things go down hill from there for Priscilla.
Priscilla is dressed up as Little Bo Peep for the party when they meet, and he is Chewbacca. He calls her Peep throughout, as a nickname, which I found to be endearingly adorable. Of course, Priscilla is the one who gets in trouble after their arrest. She gets suspended from the team for the rest of the season, and can't get in touch with Preston for him to help her as a witness to her self-defense claim. Of course, she thinks he doesn't care, and is furious that he's faced no consequences whatsoever, as someone has pushed it under the rug for him.
When Preston finds out what happened, he vows to help her any way he can, even to the detriment of his own college/future pro career. She doesn't even realize what a big deal that is, as she is unaware of his family life, and what he's done for them in the past that could come back and bite him. Of course, their relationship builds from there, with several stops and starts, along the way. Priscilla has trust issues from her dad walking out and her mom falling apart because of it. Preston doesn't want to get close to anyone because his family life is difficult, and he doesn't know if he can trust anyone with his secrets either. They struggle to trust each other as the story goes on. Plenty of people in the periphery of their lives make that extremely difficult at different times, including some of his teammates.
I enjoyed both characters separately, and together. I enjoyed their groups of friends, and their families as well. I really appreciated that Preston had strong moral convictions about doing the right thing for Priscilla, regardless of what the consequences might be for his own life. That's pretty impressive for a guy in his early 20's. However, though I understand the impulse, I didn't like that he didn't trust her with his secrets, and believe the fact that she wanted to fight for him too. The epilogue is nice, but we only get a Happy For Now ending, though I guess that's to be expected with their age, etc. Also, I felt like Preston got the short end of the stick on how everything worked out. Though he seemed at peace and said he had no regrets about the outcome, I couldn't help but feel badly for him. I can only hope that it didn't affect his future prospects over much. There were some great side characters, and I'd definitely be interested in further books focusing on some of them, and getting a future glimpse of what life is now like for Preston & Peep.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I look forward to more from this author!