Book Review: The Right Move by Liz Tomforde

Ahhh, I finished this a few days ago and have been thinking about Ryan Shay and Indy ever since then. There’s magic in these books! While still a little longer than I’d hoped, Liz Tomforde really kept true to her word and delivered another stunning romance. This time, a basketball romance!

Synopsis:

RYAN

She's a distraction, that's what she is.

I'm the newest Captain of the Devils, Chicago's NBA team, and the last thing I needed this year was for Indy Ivers, my sister's best friend, to move into my apartment. She's messy, emotional, and way too tempting.

But when the team's General Manager vocalizes his blatant disapproval of my promotion to Captain, referring to me as an unapproachable lone wolf with no work-life balance, I can't think of a better way to convince him otherwise than pretending to date my outgoing roommate.

The only problem? Faking it feels far too natural.

Having a fake girlfriend wasn't supposed to be messy but having Indy under my roof and in my bed is complicated, especially when she wants all the romantic parts of life that I could never give her.

INDY

I never imagined I'd be living with my best friend's brother, NBA superstar Ryan Shay. Even more unbelievable? He needs me to act as his loving girlfriend who's suddenly changed him into a friendly and approachable guy.

Because, well...he's not. He's controlling of his space and untrusting of others.

Our arrangement isn't one-sided, though. I'm in a wedding coming up, one where every one of my childhood friends, including my ex-boyfriend, will be in attendance, and there's no better date than my ex's celebrity hero.

Blurred lines make it almost impossible to separate real from fake. Falling for my roommate was never part of the deal, especially when Ryan is quick to remind me that he doesn't believe in love.

I'm a romantic and can't help fantasizing that he'll change, but soon enough, I find myself questioning if sharing a roof with my best friend's brother was the right move after all.

My Review:

Where do I begin? First things first, I loved Ryan and Indy’s grumpy/sunshine dynamic. He has a tight, rigid schedule and doesn’t like to deviate from it — and so when his twin sister Stevie asks him to let her best friend, Indy, move in after her devastating breakup with her fiancee, Ryan is reluctant at first, but ultimately agrees. She’s a distraction that he doesn’t need right now as he focuses on basketball.

But then, she presents an enticing offer that they fake date to get what they each want: make her ex jealous at an upcoming wedding, and make his team’s general manager like him. I love the fake dating trope and this one was such a good use of the trope. Like, better than most fake dating tropes. This reminded me of Funny Story (by Emily Henry) — which if you read my review, then you’ll know it’s one of my favorite books with the fake dating trope.

Now, the characters. I loved Indy! She was a bright ray of sunshine who is a people pleaser at heart. She’s a mirrorball — she loves being the center of the party, and is often the life of the party! However, she has needs and just wants to be loved because she has so much love to give. When she broke up with her fiancee, Alex, she also “broke up” with all of her friends, who continued being friends with Alex. That devastated Indy, someone who loves being around people. We, the readers, quickly understand that her friends aren’t so great — that’s what makes Stevie and Indy’s friendship that much important, and later, Ryan and Indy’s relationship and support for one another equally as important.

Ryan! Come to the front. I loved him so much. Like I mentioned, he keeps to a tight, rigid schedule and he doesn’t like to deviate from it. He keeps to his routines. He keeps to himself — which we explore more of that later in the book — and he doesn’t like change. He’s very reserved and private (also something we learn more about — why he’s so guarded), and doesn’t like anything bright and color. So when a “bright ray of sunshine” comes strolling through his front door one day and makes herself at home, their opposite personalities clash. But as the pages turned, we learned more about Ryan and his slow approach to showing love to those he cares about (Indy, but also his twin sister, Stevie). He doesn’t need big, loud declarations of love, or need to show his love in big, loud declarations of love, but rather in the quiet, intimate moments. He also shows love via service in quiet ways. Like when he paid for certain things that Indy needed.

I loved Ryan and Indy’s relationship. The perfect progression of their relationship with unbelievable chemistry. I just knew from book 1 that Ryan and Indy were meant to be together — and that’s even without reading the description of this book while I was reading Mile High (Book 1).

It took a while for me to get into in the beginning, so I switched from reading on my Kindle to listening on audio. What a decision because once I switched to the audio, I couldn’t stop. Overall, I’d definitely recommend reading this book and the series — I’ve only read the first two books, but I will be prioritizing the next three books on my TBR.

Rating: 4/5

Buy on Amazon, Bookshop.org.