'The Shameless Hour' The Ivy Years #4 by Sarina Bowen

From the BLURB:

The girl who’s had everyone meets the boy who has no one.

For Bella, the sweet-talking, free-loving, hip-checking student manager of the Harkness men’s hockey team, sex is a second language. She’s used to being fluent where others stutter, and the things people say behind her back don’t (often) bother her. So she can’t understand why her smoking hot downstairs neighbor has so much trouble staying friends after their spontaneous night together. She knows better than to worry about it, but there’s something in those espresso eyes that makes her second guess herself.

Rafe is appalled with himself for losing his virginity in a drunken hookup. His strict Catholic upbringing always emphasized loving thy neighbor—but not with a bottle of wine and a box of condoms. The result is an Ivy League bout of awkwardness. But when Bella is leveled by a little bad luck and a downright sinister fraternity stunt, it’s Rafe who is there to pick up the pieces.

Bella doesn’t want Rafe's help, and she’s through with men. Too bad the undeniable spark that crackles between the two of them just can't be extinguished.

‘The Shameless Hour’ is the fourth book in Sarina Bowen’s contemporary New Adult romance series, ‘The Ivy Years’.

Readers met the protagonist of ‘The Shameless Hour’ a while ago, Bella had a particularly big role in third book ‘The Understatement of the Year’ as the occasional hook-up and best friend of closeted hockey player, Michael Graham. Upon first meeting Bella, some readers probably formed opinions of her. She likes sex, and isn’t ashamed of that – furthermore, she loves hockey and hockey players and she’s shared her bed with a few of the Harkness team.

When we meet Bella in ‘The Shameless Hour’ she’s still her carefree, cheeky and sexy self – if a little bruised over Graham’s rejection of her (regardless of his sexuality, it still hurts) and his blissful coupling with John Rikker. It is in this mind-frame that she stumbles across her handsome neighbour, Rafe, who is drowning his sorrows in a bottle of champagne on their House doorstep.

Turns out Rafe’s girlfriend had been cheating on him, as he found out on the night they were meant to share a special birthday celebration …. Unbeknownst to Bella, Rafe is a virgin and he was planning to lose his virginity to his long-term girlfriend Alison. Sharing tales of their heart-wounded woes, Rafe and Bella fall into an easy camaraderie and eventually into Bella’s bed. And though the seeming casualness of the hook-up bothers Rafe (whose Ma taught him better than that), miscommunication leaves Bella thinking that Rafe wants nothing more to do with her.

Though she feels an intense attraction to Rafe, Bella refuses to mope over their fleeting moment. Instead, she keeps on enjoying herself just fine … until an encounter with a Harkness frat leaves her hurt, humiliated and staring down an all-too common campus assault that shakes her confidence to the core.

There’s an endorsement quote for this book which I just love;

“The Shameless hour is a gift to any girl or woman who’s ever been slut-shamed. It’s magnificent.”
—   Tammara Webber, New York Times bestselling author of Easy and Sweet

That’s it. Right there. Sarina Bowen’s book is goddamn brilliant on a lot of romance levels – Rafe and Bella are both complex and intriguing characters in their own right, but when they come together their heat and easy camaraderie makes them truly enjoyable characters to read and root for. The sex scenes are steamy, the build-up even more so … but all the sexy stuff aside, Bowen’s ‘The Shameless Hour’ is a commendable romance because she flips gender roles in her protagonists and confronts slut-shaming head on.

I wouldn’t call Rafe a “beta” hero, but he is a virginal hero to Bella’s sexual confidence, which in itself is a refreshing flip. Bella gets whispered about by some hockey girlfriends, and is aware of her “reputation” in the close-knit Harkness sporting community. But she doesn’t give a shit. In a scene with her GP, Bella asserts control over her sexual health and talks freely about her sexual appetite. I loved her. And I loved Rafe for her – especially after a certain reference he made …

“Why? Who was he?” 

“Never met him before. But some rich dude in a fancy suit. Your basic nightmare.” 

I let out a hoot of laughter. “Rafe? Did you just quote When Harry Met Sally to me?” 

His gaze slid into mine, and a slow smile began to overtake his face. “I might have. My mom really likes the chick flicks.” 

Then comes Bowen’s portrayal of the fallout of sexual harassment on campus. I finished reading this after Amy Schumer’s brilliant takedown of rape culture through a ‘Friday Night Lights’ parody, and it was kind of great that between reading ‘The Shameless Hour’ and seeing Schumer’s skit go viral, there was just so much material tackling this subject which was once barely on society’s periphery.

Sarina Bowen does tackle Bella’s harassment in a myriad of tender and thoughtful ways. It really made me heart-sick to read the funny and confident Bella shrink into herself because of what happened to her; 

The people around me were oblivious – tapping on their phones or talking to friends. What I wouldn’t give to go back in time just a few days. I wanted to be oblivious too – to walk around campus like I owned the place. But now I didn’t know what to do with my eyes whenever we approached someone. Harkness was a small school, and even the people I didn’t know looked familiar.
Every time we passed someone, I looked down at my shoes. And I couldn’t help but wonder, Have you seen the picture? Have you read the caption?

In Bowen’s ‘The Understatement of the Year’, two gay hockey players don’t want to be defined by their sexuality, and I think Bowen carries a similar message in ‘The Shameless Hour’. Bella doesn’t want to be seen as a victim after her assault and harassment. It’s a powerful message to be sending, particularly to the romance community for whom these truly gritty explorations rarely form the basis of plot.

I also loved a secondary character in ‘The Shameless Hour’, Bella’s next-door-neighbour Lianne who has an Emma Watson-esque storyline as an actress (from a famous fantasy franchise). The same way Watson went under-the-radar at Brown University, Lianne has similar hopes at Harkness. I really hope we get her book soon;

 Lianna shook her head. “I finished kindergarten in a regular school. After that, my mother dragged me to whichever continent she thought would amuse her most. I had private tutors. And then I worked all the way through high school. The only people I saw every day wore capes.”

Sarina Bowen’s ‘The Ivy Years’ is one of my favourite series. They’re sexy and titillating to be sure, but Bowen is tackling big stories in this series too and I love her for it.

5/5

'The Understatement of the Year' The Ivy Years #3 by Sarina Bowen

From the BLURB:

What happened in high school stayed in high school. Until now.

Five years ago, Michael Graham betrayed the only person who ever really knew him. Since then, he’s made an art of hiding his sexuality from everyone. Including himself.

So it’s a shock when his past strolls right into the Harkness College locker room, sporting a bag of hockey gear and the same slow smile that had always rendered Graham defenseless. For Graham, there is only one possible reaction: total, debilitating panic. With one loose word, the team’s new left wing could destroy Graham’s life as he knows it.

John Rikker is stuck being the new guy. Again. And it’s worse than usual, because the media has latched onto the story of the only “out” player in Division One hockey. As the satellite trucks line the sidewalk outside the rink, his new teammates are not amused.

And one player in particular looks sick every time he enters the room.

Rikker didn’t exactly expect a warm welcome from Graham. But the guy won’t even meet his eyes. From the looks of it, his former… best friend / boyfriend / whatever isn’t doing so well. He drinks too much and can’t focus during practice.

Either the two loneliest guys on the team will self destruct from all the new pressures in their lives, or they can navigate the pain to find a way back to one another. To say that it won’t be easy is the Understatement of the Year.

‘The Understatement of the Year’ is the third book in Sarina Bowen’s New Adult romance series, ‘The Ivy Years’.

‘The Ivy Years’ has fast become one of my favourite romance series, ever. Sarina Bowen hasn’t simply set her New Adult series inside an elite American college, she’s using that microcosm setting to explore serious issues – sometimes ripped from the headlines.

From first book ‘The Year We Fell Down’ which featured a disabled heroine, to second book ‘The Year We Hid Away’ with a plotline that echoed the Jerry Sandusky/Penn State sex abuse scandal. Latest and fourth book ‘The Shameless Hour’ even deals with slut-shaming and the rape culture on college campuses. Third book ‘The Understatement of the Year’ focuses on the inherent machismo in the sporting culture at school, by introducing an openly gay player to the Harkness hockey team.

John Rikker has transferred schools after he was intensely bullied by his teammates for his sexual orientation. There are those who welcome him to the Harkness team, and the odd teammate like his previous who are unimpressed with his transfer. Then there’s Michael Graham who is so thrown by Rikker’s appearance on his team, that it sends him into a hate-spiral. Because Graham and Rikker knew each other once, and they certainly both know Graham’s biggest secret that no amount of casual sex with enthusiastic female freshmen can keep buried … Graham is gay, and as a teenager was in a relationship with Rikker.

I loved this book. Rikker and Graham had such seemingly insurmountable odds stacked against them, that were all the more heart-wrenching because they stemmed from Graham’s fear and self-loathing. But is it any wonder Graham is so fearful – when satirical newspaper ‘The Onion’ highlights the absurdity in the sport’s lack of diversity with a headline like “Report: NHL Actually Has Had Hundreds Of Openly Gay Players For Years.” Being an Australian, I must admit I’m not exactly up on the NHL – but I believe it remains the only league without representation, when the likes of basketball player Jason Collins and Michael Sam from the NFL are openly gay players. The lack of representation is something that Bowen absolutely touches on, like in this scene between Rikker and team manager Bella:

She chewed her lip. “Yeah, in the movies, the athlete wins the big game, right? And then he cries at the press conference and reveals to the world that he’s gay.” She put a hand over her heart. “And the team is, like, ‘we love you just the way you are!’”
“I’m pretty sure that movie hasn’t been made yet.”

And Graham is even more spooked to start confronting his own sexuality when he sees the way some of his team treat Rikker. For his part – and an overarching theme that Bowen touches on again and again – Rikker doesn’t want his sexuality to be the most interesting thing about him;

I usually left early, quitting while I was ahead. It wasn’t exactly healthy, the way I still felt like I was apologizing for myself half the time. But there was no road map for being me. I was operating under the vague assumption that if I played really great hockey this season, things would just get easier. My teammates might accept me as a true friend, rather than That Gay Guy who can make tape-to-tape passes. 

Because everybody loves a winner, right?

I loved that while Bowen touched on the big issues in this book, Graham and Rikker’s is ultimately a sexy as hell love story. For all the turbulence of their affair, Bowen pays readers back ten-fold in the romantic peaks. They are now, quite possibly, my favourite of all the romantic pairings in ‘The Ivy Years’.

5/5

'The Year We Fell Down' The Ivy Years #1 by Sarina Bowen

From the BLURB:

The sport she loves is out of reach. And the boy she loves has someone else. What now?

She expected to start Harkness College as a varsity ice hockey player. But a serious accident means that Corey Callahan will start school in a wheelchair instead.

Across the hall, in the other handicapped-accessible dorm room, lives the too-delicious-to-be real Adam Hartley, another would-be hockey star with his leg broken in two places. He’s way out of Corey’s league.

Also, he’s taken.

Nevertheless, an unlikely alliance blooms between Corey and Hartley in the “gimp ghetto” of McHerrin Hall. Over tequila, perilously balanced dining hall trays, and video games, the two cope with disappointments that nobody else understands.

They’re just friends, of course, until one night when things fall apart. Or fall together. All Corey knows is that she’s falling. Hard.

But will Hartley set aside his trophy girl to love someone as broken as Corey? If he won’t, she will need to find the courage to make a life for herself at Harkness — one which does not revolve around the sport she can no longer play, or the brown-eyed boy who’s afraid to love her back.

‘The Year We Fell Down’ is the first book in Sarina Bowen’s contemporary romance series … what some may call ‘New Adult’, because as the series title suggests, ‘Ivy Years’ takes place at Harkness College.

I’m an idiot. Adele (Persnickety Snark) recommended this book to me when it came out back in March this year. I bought it as an ebook, and did intend to read it … and then didn’t, until now. ‘The Year We Fell Down’ marks the tenth or so reading-rec from Persnickety that I’ve held off on reading, only to be proved foolish when I finally do get round to cracking it open … and, as I’m doing with Sarina Bowen’s book, adding it to my list of this year’s favourites.

Part of the reason I so loved this book is that it’s a refreshingly different romance – wherein our heroine Corey Callahan is attending College one year after suffering a back injury that sees her unable to walk unassisted. Corey gets around in a wheelchair, or with the aid of crutches and meets the hero Adam Hartley when they are assigned to the same disability-friendly housing and are across-the-way neighbours. Adam, ‘Hartley’ as he is known (and he in turn, calls her ‘Callahan’) is on the mend after breaking his leg in two places, the result of a drunken accident.

Callahan is instantly attracted to Hartley, not least because they both share a love of ice-hockey … Hartley is getting grief from his coach for the injury which has benched him for a season, and Callahan is still grieving for the sport she loves but can never play again. Callahan and Hartley bond over their aches and ailments, and playing video game versions of the sport they can’t currently play in real life.

But Hartley is off-limits as more than a friend for Callahan. For one, he has a girlfriend – sure, she’s currently on exchange overseas, but he’s clearly besotted as evidenced by their frequent phone-calls and his endearment of her as his “hottie”. Furthermore, Callahan can’t envision the good-looking, popular Hartley ever being interested in her … not as she is now;

“It’s …” I tried. “I was …” 

He only held me tighter. “This was a mistake,” he whispered. 

I shook my head. “No, it’s good,” I bit out. “It is. But before …” I shuddered. “It’s so hard … to accept.” 

“I’m so sorry,” Hartley said, his own voice breaking. “I’m so damned sorry.” 

“I was perfect,” I said. “And I didn’t even know.” 

“No,” he whispered into my ear. “No, no. Perfect isn’t real.” I took a deep, shaky breath, and the feel of his strong arms around me began to feel steadying. “There’s no more perfect, Callahan. Now there’s only really damned good.”

Corey Callahan is the real standout in this book, and for more than just her being a point of difference in the romance genre as a heroine with a disability. She’s refreshing because she’s funny and a tomboy, loyal and down-the-line honest, and these are all the things that attract Hartley to her. Bowen writes their rapport beautifully, and rather than boring ‘love at first sight’ clichés, she writes their evolving friendship and attraction with real finesse.

Of course, Callahan having a disability also makes this a somewhat unique read. I appreciated that Bowen explored all aspects – from Callahan being frustrated by people’s sympathy, to her questioning her own sexuality in the wake of her injury and even simple things like her and Hartley having to gain access to the cafeteria via a service-elevator because accessibility is poor. This is a more interesting book because the heroine has a disability, to be sure, but I especially loved that this is still a romance, and Bowen crafts Callahan’s injury and history into the narrative. Callahan questions her own attractiveness against the able-bodied women Hartley is clearly attracted to, and she wonders how different her love life will be in the wake of her injury.

When the romance does start bubbling up, it is good. Partly thanks to Sarina Bowen beautifully teasing out their friendship first, when Hartley and Callahan do cement things it’s heated and glorious, but also honest and sweet.

‘The Year We Fell Down’ is going down as one of my favourite books of 2014, for sure. Books #2 and #3 in ‘The Ivy Years’ series are currently available, and I’m reading book #2 ‘The Year We Hid Away’ which features Hartley’s best friend and love-rat teammate, Bridger McCaulley … right now, only a small ways into the book, I don’t think it has anywhere near the same gravitas or panache as Hartley and Callahan’s romance. But I am excited for #3, ‘The Understatement of the Year’ which features a romance between two male students.

5/5