CHALLENGE by AMY DAWS :: REVIEW

 “I want what I feel when I’m with you.”

What a fabulous sports romance with a footie playing hero who will charm your knickers off and a sweet yet naïve heroine who’s a bit of a wonder kid. Challenge had us hooked from about a third way in and we became completely sucked into the story of Camden and Indie; two opposites whose paths collide when a nasty accident happens on a muddy pitch in Bethnal Green.

“I am football. Nothing more. If I can’t play, what the fuck am I?”

We had so many laughs whilst absolutely swooning over the footie ace who went on a bit of a journey of self-discovery after facing his past and coming to terms with what this could mean for his future. This all aided by his attending doctor who for reasons he can’t quite understands manages to capture more than just his attention, medically.

‘I’m drowning in deep, dark, delirious destiny. I’m in a place I never want to leave. A place I never want to say goodbye to. A place I never want to let go. Just sinking further and further into a world I’ve never known.’

Dr. Indie Porter is quite a force to be reckoned with in the London hospital. She’s brave, intelligent and quite lonely. Other than her best friend Belle, she really doesn’t have anyone else in her life. It took us a while to fully warm up to Indie, what was sweet, endearing and funny in the start began to grate a bit after a while and she pissed us off big time on occasion. We put it down to her being the classic case of ‘book clever’ with an impaired ability to function in social situations unless in the role of Dr. Porter. Indie has no filter though when it comes to her personal life and clearly doesn’t suffer fools gladly. Hence, we struggled at times but she definitely won us over in the end.

‘I want her. I want her more than she wants me…and that never happens to me.’

As for Camden Harris; he started off as the typical sexy football star who’s got the skill and potential to strike it big…pun intended. We fell completely under his spell, as sure he was cocky, but he never played games nor did he act under pretence or instigate anything that wasn’t emotion led, wearing his heart on his sleeve, always.

Penis #1: The Virginity Snatcher.

Penis #2: The Sweetie.

Penis #3: The Ultimate Cocktail

Commence operation The Penis List by Indie Porter. It had us in stitches in the beginning. Then it became a bit of ‘enough already, grow up Indie girl’. Saying that, her childhood and fast paced entry into adulthood did give her a free pass in the end. Between her and Camden; both have such strong and vivid scars from the past emotionally that it’s no wonder some things played out the way they did.

‘Tears slide down my temples and into my hair at the realisation that I’ve never felt this level of devotion before, both for him and from him. It’s more than I’ve ever felt about anything in my entire life.’

We fell completely in love with the whole Harris family and Belle too. Challenge made for a real feel good romance with a bit of angst and drama that never took anything away from the beauty of Cam and Indie’s love story. We can’t wait for more and have to say that we really love the easy feel of Amy Daws’ writing.