ARC Review: Oar Than Friends (Oxbridge #1) by Lulu Moore
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Series: Oxbridge #1
Author: Lulu Moore
Published March 14th 2024 by Penguin
Goodreads Synopsis
She's rowing for Cambridge. He's rowing for Oxford. A boat race to go down in history.
Arthur Osbourne-Cloud has always had his future mapped out for him – graduate Oxford and follow his dreadful father into politics. Except Arthur wants to do anything but that. He’s more than happy filling his days rowing for golds at the Olympics or World Championships, and this year he has The Boat Race to win.
Kate Astley also has her future mapped out – the next six years at least. Fly half-way across the world, and win a scholarship at Cambridge University to study medicine. Oh, and become a crew member for the legendary Boat Race. Seems simple enough. But then she meets Arthur.
For Arthur, this feisty American challenges everything he's been taught to believe, while Kate battles between what she wants to do, and what she’s expected to do. The bitter rivalry between their schools is destined to destroy them, but it’s only a matter of time before they give in to the sizzling chemistry bubbling between them.
Then the reality of their future comes knocking. In The Boat Race, there can only be one winner. Who will sink and who will swim?
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
Kate Astley has travelled half way across the world to fulfil her late brother's dream, and earn a medical degree at Cambridge. Her future is all planned out, and with her scholarship, she needs to work hard to keep both her studies, and her rowing career on course. It's going to be hard, but she can do it. However, meeting Arthur, and falling head over heels for the Oxford captain was not in the cards. So when their worlds collide in a truly unexpected way, and they will be competing head to head at the annual Boat Race, neither Kate nor Oz know how their love will survive.
I just loved this book. I'm not a sporty person, and I very rarely watch the Boat Race when it's on the TV, but from the first few pages in this book, I was hooked. Kate was someone who knew what she wanted, but was also willing to fulfil her brother's wishes and do the wrong degree. Her love of racing, and her ability as a coxswain, kept her going. But never in her wildest dreams would she imagine she would be racing at the annual Boat Race, and let alone the cox for the men's team. I could see early on that she and Oz would be going head to head, and couldn't wait to see it. When they found out each other went to competing universities, and then were actually competing against each other, it was so fun to see their friendship and romance blossom. They were truly made for each other, and though Oz came from a privileged background, his family was not the most stable, and he was under a lot of pressure from parental expectations. I was so happy with how Kate and Oz's stories intertwined, and the ending was perfection! I can't wait to read the next book, and pray that these two will make a lot of appearances.
Dates Read:
February 12-13, 2024
Rating
4 Stars
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