Review: The Total Package – Stephanie Evanovich

My rating: 4/5 stars

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

After an addiction to painkillers ruined Tyson’s football superstar status, Tyson went from rock bottom to climbing his way back to the top. Dani Carr is a football commentator and is not quite as convinced about Tyson as the rest of the public and she will never forget what he did to her in college. Tyson doesn’t recognise Dani and remember that he broke her heart. Will Tyson make it from the sidelines and into her heart?

My thoughts

I actually “read” this book as an audiobook. I was making the most of the hot weather in England and sunbathing and the glare from a screen was making it difficult so I chose to listen to this book instead using the Libby app.

I don’t know what it is about the hot and sunny weather but it really puts me in the mood to read romance books. I think it is because they are usually quite an easy and relaxing read as the ending is usually predicable. This book was no exception, it was your classic romance novel.

The writing is charming and you can really get swept away into the story. The narrative is engaging and at times a bit cheesy but there are a lot of emotional moments. It deals with some harder topics too like addiction and recovery which I thought gave the story a bit more depth and set it apart from other romance stories. These issues were all written with great sensitivity and I thought that they were well handled by the author. There are some funnier moments within the novel but it is mostly on the serious side. The novel started slower than some but does build up pace and by the end I thought that it was paced well.

The characters in the novel are all likeable and individual. They are all well-developed and have their own journey and I loved seeing how they evolved. The novel starts with Tyson as an addict and you follow his journey through rehab, his was my favourite development throughout the novel. Tyson always seemed to say the right thing and I loved that the start was mostly from his point of view.

The love story between Dani and Tyson started off quite cute, almost like a crush, and then became something more passionate. The synopsis of the novel made is seem, at least to me, that the romance would go from hate to love, but really there is no point that Dani hates Tyson. The love are written well and portrays the intense feelings that the characters have well.

Katie Schorr was a great narrator for the story and changed her voice depending on the character that she was reading. It was easy to distinguish between her characters and her accents were good. The only accent that irked me slightly was the British accent but I think that is because I am British, to me this accent didn’t seem that realistic.

If you are looking for your next passionate read than I would recommend The Total Package. Whether reading it or listening to it through an audiobook provider the novel is a relaxing romance read and is a story that you can be easily swept into.

Do you have a suggestion for the next book to add to my bookshelf? Let me know in comments.