Mini Book Review: Rookie Mistake by Maren Moore

Rookie Mistake (Orleans University #3.5)
Pub Date: 24 September 2024
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Panda Rating:

_{(3.5 pandas)}

📖 SYNOPSIS

I won my brother’s rival in a Date the Player auction… and had the best night of my life.

Davis Guidry is Orleans University’s starting rookie pitcher.
He’s handsome, charming, and an all-around flirt.

After spending a hot, spontaneous night together, we can’t seem to keep our hands off each other.
But our no-strings fun comes crashing down when my overbearing brother, who happens to be Davis’s biggest rival, catches us in action.
Even that seems to only make the fire burn hotter when we’re together.
And suddenly, our secret fling starts to feel like something more than either of us bid on.

Are these casual hookups between us just a fun way to pass my freshman year… Or have we made the ultimate rookie mistake and caught feelings?

Rookie Mistake is approximately a 36k word novella in the Orleans University world. It is a complete standalone. This is high spice, low plot and lots of fun!

Moore describes this as “high spice, low plot, and lots of fun”, which is spot on for this college romance novella. At less than 200 pages, things move unsurprisingly quickly for Zara and Davis but thankfully, even with their instant connection, there are no instant declarations of love. From the go, their chemistry was palpable and I loved seeing them grow closer as friends and romantic partners. Their personalities were complementary and it resulted in some fun and wild times!

While obviously, I would’ve liked to learn more about them as individuals, this is a novella, so I was already pleasantly surprised by the development we got. Davis is more of a softie simp and less of the playboy he’s made out to be and Zara is the kind of fiercely independent, cheeky, and wild FMC I love. They had sizzling chemistry and if you’ve read this author’s previous romances (she does dirty talk and mild kink) and enjoyed it, you’re bound to enjoy it here too.

One of the tension points is the rivalry between Davis and Zara’s brother Oliver, whom I unfortunately didn’t like at all. Oliver was a capital D DOUCHE to Zara and grossly (and repeatedly) refused to respect her despite her setting clear and strong boundaries, particularly when it came to her relationship with Davis. She stood her ground but I also wish she drew her line faster because girl, the belittling (“Oh, you’re my baby sister, I need to protect you because you don’t know what you’re doing or you don’t know your mind and will make stupid decisions blah blah”) was frankly gross.

Other than that though, this was a fun and sexy time and a great addition to her college sports romance series. That said, it didn’t stand out to me in any particular way and I don’t think I’d revisit it.