THE FIRST SCORE by AMIE KNIGHT

‘Her favorite thing in the world seemed to be giving me shit. And still I sought her out like a fool.’

The First Score by Amie Knight was such an emotional and angsty read, we literally could not put it down. A unique take on a soulmate love story spanning years. Talk about slow-burn romance, this right here is the definition of it and it was deliciously agonising and left us emotionally frustrated, but in a really good way. Beautiful, heartbreaking, funny and just so agonisingly good! The First Score covers a multitude of serious issues as well as a delectable friends to lovers’ romance.

‘I hated how much he made me feel. And I loved it. I loved it more than anything.’

Oh, be still our beating hearts, because Oliver may be one of our favourite male characters we’ve encountered in a while. He was just everything. So incredibly loyal, kind, passionate, protective and the way in which he was written was uniquely superb. So many things could have gone wrong in writing a character like this with such a strong sense of restraint and such a massively loving heart, but Amie Knight nailed it. His whole persona was just perfection. We fell in love with ‘Winnie’ and would be so very proud to wear his jersey! When Oliver loves, he really does truly LOVE!

“How do you always do that?”
“Do what?”
“Come when I need you. Save me.”

Whilst Hazel comes across as a fierce and strong woman, she is so emotionally messed up from a horrendous childhood and an acute sense of abandonment, resulting in a distorted view on relationships. Her grandad being the one exception to her self-imposed rules. Hiding her scars both literally and figuratively underneath layers of protection she only shows what she wants to share, unable and unwilling to let anyone in. Her grandad is the only one who sees the truth, and with time, Oliver.

‘She’s special, you know? And special girls have to be taken care of. Their hearts are bigger, which make them all the more delicate.’

We cannot stress how hard we fell for Oliver. WE LOVED HIM! And Hazel, the sweet girl who just needed to be cared for, loved and understood. The First Score was such a wonderful story of perseverance, friendship, love and healing.  The only reason this wasn’t a five star read for us was because of what to us felt like a rushed end after such an agonising slow burn romance. We were suddenly told, instead of left to experience which was so brilliant throughout the story. One moment in particular, we would have loved to be a part of. Oh how we would’ve loved to have been there and felt that final crux of the story moment of pure heart-rending happiness. We certainly won’t be forgetting Oliver Winston Knox!

“You know you’ve been putting doors between us for a long time. And one day you’re going to realise that a door isn’t going to keep me from you. Because I’m always here Hazel. Right on the other side, waiting. And all you have to do is open the door. That’s it. It’s so simple and yet so hard. And trust me, I know it’s difficult for you. But if you just opened up, I could love you like you deserve to be loved. In difficult times like these, I could hold you up a hell of a lot better if there wasn’t always a barrier between us. But I’m a patient man, baby, and I loved you since the first day I saw you.”