September 2025 First in a Series BOTM - Binding 13 by Chloe Walsh

[Jamie]

He wants to save her. She wants to hide.

She's damaged. He's determined.

Fate brought them together. Love binds them.

Johnny Kavanagh is the definition of popular. He is an all-star rugby player with loads of friends, which means he should be enjoying the many perks of his life. But what people don't know is that he has been dealing with a painful injury that could halt the magnificent trajectory of his career. This means he has no time for distractions or mistakes. Especially not a girlfriend.

Shannon Lynch has been bullied all her life. She is shy and would rather hide herself away to make it through school. But when she arrives at Tommen College for a fresh start, she meets the notorious Johnny Kavanagh on her first day in a not-so-romantic way. What follows is a complicated friendship that turns into undeniable chemistry. It seems that Shannon won't be able to hold onto the anonymous status she once hoped for. But maybe that's alright?

Johnny won't give up on Shannon. No matter what it might cost them both.

**This BOTM thread will be open until October 5th @ Midnight (in your time zone)**

[Grace]

Might be joining this one

[Jamie]

I'm definitely reading this one. I've been needing a reason to jump into this series!

[Gracie]

I started this book series last night and I have just finished it was amazing I tried last year but I couldn’t get in to it. But I’m so glad I tried again.

[Gracie]

So being honest I really struggled getting through the length due to it being quite heavy on the physical abuse on Shannon. Johnny kavanagh’s character is so beautifully written however I can’t tell if the books are overhyped due to this

[Gracie]

I also love the character Joey and can’t wait to read more in depth of his story line, I know that people who have read the third book in the series say it is the best one due to the story line.

[Gracie]

I also love that all the book series in this book have a duet

[Brittni]

Hoping to jump into this one this month! Jamie, I've also been needing a reason to get into this one!

[Brittni]

I did it! I started this one!

[Brittni]

End of Chapter 39 - I meant to add more comments, but haven't had the chance throughout the day, unfortunately. It also doesn't help that I'm absolutely flying through this! This book is long but honestly, I don't even care. As of right now I feel like I could read this forever.

(view spoiler)[Ok sooo obviously so much has happened since the beginning of the book. Get ready for a jumble of thoughts.

This book is heart-warming and heartbreaking at the same time, and love and hate it haha.

WHY did her friggin brother just drive her back and leave her with her parents!!!!! WHY?! Did he really think it was better for her to go back there than stay with Johnny?!

I love Johnny. He's so darn protective of her. He is ready to fuck some shit up for her. That said, I'm a little afraid fo what might happen if he does find out that a. her dad is the one abusing her and then b. that her brother left her essentially alone is that house.

Her father is clearly struggling, and, interestingly, he blames that on them being taken away and what happened to her oldest brother. Which is horrendous by the way. As a parent, I could see how you would feel incredibly guilty for something like that happening to your own child. However, I think I would swing the other way and be incredibly protective. In some weird fucked up way, I think her dad does think he's kind of protecting her, which is sad. It also completely makes sense why her oldest brother left. I know their upset that he left but it does make sense.

I'm curious to see where this goes. I'm not sure Shannon will actually call the cops on her parents because she doesn't want to be taken away but what has to happen to make her call?

I think I've heard people say this was an emotional book for them and I'm a little scared now!

I LOVE Johnny and Shannon together. I also love the banter he has with his friends and just the banter in general in this book.

Now time to fly through the rest of this thing and hopefully leave more comments along the way. (hide spoiler)]

[Brittni]

Chapter 40

(view spoiler)[Oh goodness. I love Gibs and I love this conversation between Gibs and Johnny. Poor Johnny trying to convince himself he could be her friend.

Their relationship is just the best. (hide spoiler)]

[Jamie]

Chapters 1-10 => (view spoiler)[I'm definitely intrigued. There is clearly an instant attraction for these two, but Johnny is sketchy about the age difference. I need to figure out what the years mean, cause that seems different from the states. Maybe I need to look at the definitions in the beginning of the book again, lol (hide spoiler)]

[Brittni]

End of Chapter 43

(view spoiler)[Very surprised that Joey came back but my goodness am I glad he did.

I hate her father so much and her mother is certainly not helping the situation. I'm glad she's back at school because she clearly needs the break from her family.

Bahahaha. Shannon meeting Johnny's mom for the first time is amazing. I love it. (hide spoiler)]

[Brittni]

Jamie wrote: "Chapters 1-10 => [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[They talk about their ages at some point and why he typically isn't interested in younger girls. (hide spoiler)]

[Grace]

Brittni you're flying through this!
I will join tomorrow or the day after

[Brittni]

End of Chapter 56

(view spoiler)[I love Johnny's mother.

Oh my goodness. His hero being his dad is just too friggin cute. Good gracious, this friggin Johnny is adorable.

I hate friggin Bella. She needs to be no longer.

I'm so excited for her to go on this trip. She really needs a break.

I am ready for these two to get over themselves and get together! (hide spoiler)]

[Brittni]

Grace wrote: "Brittni you're flying through this!
I will join tomorrow or the day after"

Sounds great!

[Brittni]

End of Chapter 60

(view spoiler)[The track he had her listen to being Fuck Her Gently by Tenacious D is hilarious!

Obviously had to go listen to She Will Be Loved after this. My heart kind of melted. It was a throwback.

I love that they're opening up to each other. I'm still so curious when he'll find out about her dad and what will happen.

Goodness, I hope nothing happens during this game and I'm curious what he's planning to tell her after the game. Will he be able to drive her home? (hide spoiler)]

[Jamie]

Chapters 11-20 => (view spoiler)[I'm enjoying it, but I'm starting to get annoyed at the constant mention of their ages. I get that he's a senior and she's a freshman, but damn they are so focused on that.

I also get that Johnny usually likes older women, blah blah...I just need the story to move a little. I'm 213 pages in and we are just now seeing things go bad with her dad. It's like we are purposefully drawing out things for what? to make it more angsty??

In saying that, I do like that Johnny is protective of her, but I'm also annoyed that again, they are both pussy footing around each other instead of having a conversation. I don't know, maybe this is to signify how young and immature they are...which of course they are at 15 & 17, and I could forget that, if SHE WOULD QUIT MENTIONING HOW OLD THEY ARE EVERY OTHER CHAPTER!!!...

Let's hope things start to move some. Shannon's dad is an asshole, I'm guessing her brother lied and won't take her with (because then we can draw the parent thing out even longer), mom of course clearly isn't going to leave, Bella is of course going to become an issue now that the paper is out, and these two won't actually talk about how they feel until the end for a cliffhanger.

Ugh...ok, I feel better getting that off my chest. Now to see if I'm right about any of this. (hide spoiler)]

[Brittni]

Jamie wrote: "Chapters 11-20 => I'm enjoying itl..."

(view spoiler)[It may be dragged out longer than you want. (hide spoiler)]

[Jamie]

Brittni wrote: "..."

Yeah I was worried about that

[Brittni]

End of Chapter 67

(view spoiler)[Yep, Johnny's been hurt. This was not surprising.

Oh goodness. This hospital scenario is hilarious. I LOVE it. (hide spoiler)]

[Brittni]

Finished

(view spoiler)[Oh my...this did not go well, which I anticipated. Of course they had to end with a bit of a cliffhanger.

I really enjoyed this one and can't wait to jump into the rest.

This series is very YA I would say, as right now at least. And I know it's long but I really didn't mind it at all. For whatever reason I eat these kinds of stories up. (hide spoiler)]

[Brittni]

I'm curious to see what you two, Jamie and Grace, think of it. It's a style that I haven't read with either of you before and I'm not sure it's your thing.

[Jamie]

Chapters 21-30 => (view spoiler)[ God, her parents are awful. So Joey says that his dad turned into this after finding out what happened to Darren while in foster care, so instead of just being a drunk because he's depressed, he turns into a drunk who BEATS his kids. lol.

And yeah, I don't like her mom either. I get that it's hard to leave, but no...just no. You are with a man who beats your children, drinks all your money, but you keep having kids with him?

So now I'm starting to wonder if something is up with Shannon and if these are her parents because she keeps saying it's always her fault. He takes it out on her. Now I'm starting to wonder if something else is up with this...

Oh, and after the movie thing, Bella will totally become an issue for Shannon. I just hope that she will stand up for herself. (hide spoiler)]

[Brittni]

Jamie wrote: "Chapters 21-30 => ..."

(view spoiler)[Her parents are the friggin worst. I also thought this! The father turns into this after what happened to Darren?! (hide spoiler)]

[Jamie]

Chapters 31-40 => (view spoiler)[I knew Joey was going to leave. I'm a little mad about that. I get it, but I don't.

I really don't like her parents.

I love that Johnny thinks he can only be her friend, lol. No, you can't, dude.

I'm waiting patiently for these two to admit how they feel towards one another and act on it.

I'm also waiting for Shannon to confide in him about what is happening at home. (hide spoiler)]

[Jamie]

Brittni wrote: "End of Chapter 39 - I meant to add more comments, but haven't had the chance throughout the day, unfortunately. It also doesn't help that I'm absolutely flying through this! This book is long but h..."

(view spoiler)[Yeah I'm mad at Joey about leaving her alone in that house. (hide spoiler)]

[Jamie]

Brittni wrote: "Chapter 40..."

I literally laughed out loud at this!

[Jamie]

Chapters 41-50 => (view spoiler)[These two are a trip. She kisses him, he freezes, now she thinks he doesn't want her. UGH!!! I guess I should expect this for their ages.

I hate Bella. I have a feeling she's not going to let up with Shannon either. Hopefully more people come to Shannon's defense cause it seems a lot of people know she's not a nice person. (hide spoiler)]

[Brittni]

Jamie wrote: "Chapters 41-50 => These two are a trip..."

(view spoiler)[Ugh! Bella sucks so much! (hide spoiler)]

[Kala]

When I first started this book I was struggling with the behavior of the characters and their reactions to each other. This could be due to the age of the characters and that this isn't my typical type of book so I don't know what the norms are. As I've read I am intrigued in the characters and want to see where the story goes.

[Kala]

Chapters 1-50

(view spoiler)[ The immediate possessiveness of Johnny seemed more stalkerish and less cute. Referring to the part when he got her school file from his friend. But as the story went on they've grow on me. I do have trouble believing how he can punch out another teenager and not get in trouble from it (when he punched out the boyfriend from the other school). What was stopping that guy from going to the authorities.

I didn't see the point in Joey bringing her back to the house and then leaving himself. But at least he came back for a night or two.

It seems the mother will never choose the children, especially Shannon, over their father. Which is heartbreaking. But at least she fought to get Shannon into Tommen, that is something to be grateful for.

The only difference between the two schools is that at least at this school Shannon has friends, and hopefully they will help her deal with the Bella drama.
(hide spoiler)]

[Jamie]

Brittni and I plan on continuing the series, so here is the thread if anyone is interested - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Jamie]

Chapters 51-end => (view spoiler)[OMG!!! First and foremost, morphine induced Johnny is fucking hilarious! The way his dad was with him had me laughing and smiling. As a mom myself, I was laughing so hard with his mom's comments. When she said "Jesus wept" I about died.

But then we get to that ending with Shannon...Ugh I knew it was going to be bad for her. I hate her parents. I hate what those kids have to go through.

But that ending...."Him or us?" 😭😭😭😭 (hide spoiler)]

[Kala]

Chapters 51-67
(view spoiler)[
From the moment she got on the bus it alludes to something bad happening, so that's looming over the entire night. And of course the moment he said he'd tell her on the way home that he would not be driving her home.

The scene in the locker room was unexpected but I'm glad it finally happened.

I did enjoy Johnny on morphine and his relationship with his father. I felt so bad when he finally woke up and asked Shannon to leave. But I get sober him needed time to process.

(hide spoiler)]

[Kala]

End

(view spoiler)[
That ending was so heartbreaking! I see why you guys started the next book right away. I want to know what happens!
(hide spoiler)]

[Grace]

OKay I'm gona start tonight.
What was the audio situation? How many parts were there?

[Jamie]

There are two parts for both book 1 and book 2.

[Grace]

okay I'll make sure I get all then. Even on Audible it's divided like this?

[Jamie]

Grace wrote: "okay I'll make sure I get all then. Even on Audible it's divided like this?"

Yes. I bought the audible through amazon when i grabbed the book which is why I thought I had the full audio. Brittni was right though. I had to go on audible then to buy the second half.

For the next book, when I bought the audible on Amazon it was the second half, lol. I had to go on audible to grab the first half. It was weird.

[Grace]

lolll that sounds complicated but thanks for the headsup!

[Grace]

Chp 1-7

Audio
(view spoiler)[I am incredibly glad we have Irish narrators and the accent kept the authenticity of the story's origins.
It did take me a minute to recalibrate to the accent and get on it, and I am not sure atm I can listen without reading (so far) but I like it and I am here for it.
But it did make me feel that some chapters which were already long (I'm looking at you chp 5) are longer, although the narrators have a great pace and very good narration style (hide spoiler)]

Story
(view spoiler)[
I am intrigued so far. Shannon definitely has a lot of trauma and emotional wounds and I am so glad she's able to find this safe space at Tommen.

Johnny is adorable but the voice with all the cursing are making me feel he's 25 hahahaha
but he's whipped and almost sound like a cute puppy too

we've established the author, Chloe, has bipolar. And we've also established that Lizzie in her book is based on her.
For me this is quite evident because the way Lizzie has been described so far definitely shows bipolarity symptoms. I would've made the assumption/doubt even without Chloe's confirmation.

Joey is the absolute best brother and I just want to wrap him in a blanket and hold him!
However how does he fit in the Tommen universe? Does he join the school to become a Tommen boy?

I am technically blind to everything in this series.
I know a bit of Lizzie's background/trauma.
And I know Johnny Kavannagh's and Joey and Aoife's names and that's about it.
so excited to discover (hide spoiler)]

[Brittni]

Grace wrote: "Chp 1-7

Audio
I am incredibly glad we have Irish narrators and the accent kept the authenticity of the story's origins.
It did take me a minute to recalibrate to the accent and get on it, and I am..."

It definitely took me a second to get used to the accents as well.

They can certainly be long but truly, I didn't even notice the length.

I'm excited to dive into the rest of this series and read the other characters' stories. I'm attached to them now.

[Grace]

=> chp 39

(view spoiler)[
my heart breaks for them.
this has been slow and not really eventful, but also has me hooked and my heart all tangled up.

I am so sad Joey decided to leave. but I also understand.
I love that before this we got several places where we saw Shan feel jealous and envious and surprised and mad at Joey BUT still at the same think feel guilty that she's thinking this way and recognise he deserves the happiness and love and friendships.
and at that moment, when she knew he was leaving, she was thinkin of herself and how it affects her.
not because she doesn't love him or want him to be safe and happy, but because she's so terrorised and scared....

Johnny is just such a good boy and the pure way we're seeing him fall in love with her is amazing. he genuinely and deeply cares for her and would do anything for her.

I fear that this book will end with her and her brothers being places in the system and Johnny leaving for summer camp.

also, I want to meet Darren, but I am so scared of meeting him because I know his story will break me. (hide spoiler)]

[Grace]

Jamie wrote: "Chapters 1-10 => [spoilers removed]"

I was wondering about the age
(view spoiler)[
from the things I am seeing in the culture I feel there's a bit of similarities between Lebanon and Ireland like the drinking and the pubs and so on.
but I feel for the age it's more his own perception. 2 years can feel a lot between them especially when it comes to their lifestyles and what they can/would do. (hide spoiler)]

[Grace]

Jamie wrote: "Chapters 51-end => OMG!!! First and foremost, morphine ..."

(view spoiler)[I laughed my ass off at morphine induced Johnny and I am honestly so glad for that.
He needed to say these things so that he would admit them and so that Shannon and his parents hear it, I have a feeling they're going to need it and that this is a key moment that will make a solid foundation for the rest of the story and I am glad it was in a funny delivery.

my heart absolutely broke for Shannon, I knew he was going to hurt her
I am was scared Joey would kill him and go to prison!!!!!!
And then Tadgh intervenes and I couldn't keep the tears at bay! (hide spoiler)]

[Grace]

Brittni wrote: "End of Chapter 67. "

(view spoiler)[I am kinda glad Johnny got hurt?
because it was evident something was terribly wrong and if he kept at it any longer he would be damaged beyond repair, so I am glad he got hurt in a game so he is forced to rest and recover

I think halfway through I knew he needed to either decide to stay for Shannon and that would happen if she got hurt, or he would need to get hurt so he would be able to stay, so it was inevitable (hide spoiler)]

[Carrie]

Grace wrote: "Chp 1-7

Audio
I am incredibly glad we have Irish narrators and the accent kept the authenticity of the story's origins.
It did take me a minute to recalibrate to the accent and get on it, and I am..."
I am blind to but really enjoying it so far! Is there background books or prequels? I guess I need to look into this!

[Jamie]

@Carrie - No, this is the first book of the series.