Book Review: Stoked

Stoked by Lark O'Neal

The second, compelling episode in the Going the Distance series.

He never believed in love at first sight until he fell….

At the beginning of the summer, former Olympic hopeful Tyler Smith was knocked off his feet by Jess Donovan. Smart, beautiful, courageous—and dirt poor—she awakened his desire to be someone better than he is.

The two found a rare and rich connection, but in a moment of bad judgment, Tyler nearly broke it all to pieces, forcing Jess to make a decision that would take her far away from him—and maybe build a brilliant new life for herself. 

Now he has a second chance to win her love….

When Tyler is handed an unexpected opportunity to earn her respect, and maybe his own, he’s ready to give it everything he’s got. Can he shed his demons and become the man she deserves?

More urgently, can he do it in time? Because there might be another guy who would like to be Jess’s one and only…and that guy hasn’t spent a life time sabotaging everything good in his life.

This is the second episode in Jess and Tyler's story. Read about how they met in RANDOM.

I received this book from NetGalley and when I requested it I had no idea that it was actually the second 'episode' in the series (I didn't read what the book was about which is why). Only when I received the book did I notice that it was actually part two. I did not have part one and I did not know where I could buy it from so I decided to just start with part two. Normally this might be confusing as you might not know what is happening but the book was structured and written in such a way that  had I not known it was part two, I wouldn't have even realised. It was so well written and so interesting. I absolutely love Tyler and kept wondering, throughout the book, where I could find a Tyler of my own. He is a very complex character and there is so much about him that is worthwhile learning. There were a lot of references to snowboarding that I didn't get as I have never snowboarded before in my life (I have never even seen snow!). However, I felt as though they were described well enough for me to be able to picture what was happening even though my snowboarding knowledge is non-existent. The book ended on a cliff-hanger while not being a cliff-hanger at the same time. All I know is that I absolutely cannot wait for the next part to come out because I need to read it! I would definitely recommend this book.