Freddy is a playboy hockey player who, in addition to dealing with past trauma and grief, is struggling to pass his biology class, not just because of his inappropriate past with the professor, but because of his dyslexia, dyscalculia, and ADHD. When Ro’s on-again, off-again boyfriend and fellow biology tutor bullies Ro into taking on his “nuisance” of a student, Freddy, she is initially hesitant because Freddy is her “celebrity” crush and her first kiss (although Freddy doesn’t remember this). But study sessions soon lead to a meaningful friendship and an escape from the loneliness that Freddy and Ro both feel. As Freddy and Ro help each other deal with past trauma, grief, and abuse, real feelings start to emerge.
Unloved is a new adult hockey romance featuring the athlete with tutor, forced proximity, and reformed playboy tropes. It deals with themes and topics such as mental health, dyslexia and dyscalculia, ADHD, bullying and harassment, abuse, death and grief, cheating, manipulation, fame and reputation, sexuality, love and heartbreak, self worth, challenging parent-child relationships, struggles of females in male-dominated fields, loneliness and isolation, abuse of power, PTSD, and dealing with past trauma. I would recommend Unloved to fans of sports romances like The Dare by Elle Kennedy, Stealing Home by Grace Reilly, Hail Mary by Kandi Steiner, Play with Me by Becka Mack, or A Photo Finish by Elsie Silver.
Firstly, I want to point out that Unloved isn’t a light-hearted rom-com. It’s more of an emotional romance that deals with some complex (and potentially triggering) topics; this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just something to note, especially if you’re a mood reader like me. Furthermore, I felt like the cutesy cover art and even the blurb didn’t really prepare me for such an emotionally complex read. Since the book was a little longer and more emotional than I was expecting, I personally feel like I might have preferred listening to an audiobook version of Unloved (or tandem reading an audio and physical copy of the book). It’s important to note that Unloved takes place at the same time as Unsteady (Rhys and Sadie’s story and book 1 in the Undone series) and a lot of the plot in these two books were interconnected, so I think that readers need to have read Unsteady before picking up a copy of Unloved. Even though I have read Unsteady about a year ago, I felt as though i was missing or forgetting some important plotlines from Sadie and Rhys’ story, which unfortunately created some minor gaps in Unloved. Thus, I’m thinking that a tandem reading guide for the two books could be beneficial for some readers.
Even though I had a hard time getting into this book and it wasn’t really what I was expecting, I ended up really liking it in the end. Unloved is definitely a slow burn romance with a lot of will they/ won’t they vibes, and the majority of the spice takes place at the end of the book. That being said, there was a ton of swoonworthy moments (including a sentimental sewing project, a romantic trip to the bookstore, and a cute hang out involving temporary tattoos) and secret mutual pining throughout the book, which I loved! Ro’s aesthetic with her butterfly clips and bows was fun and I loved how bookish Ro was, as I always relate well to characters who are fellow bookworms. Lastly, the fact that there was no dreaded third act break-up or miscommunication trope (which is my least favourite trope) was appreciated.
If you’re in the mood for an emotionally complex read full of swoon-worthy moments and mutual pining, then I highly recommend picking up a copy of Unloved!
Unloved is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of February 4th 2025.
Will you be picking up Unloved? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
The highly anticipated follow-up to Peyton Corinne’s “unputdownable and unforgettable” (Bal Khabra, author of Collide) TikTok sensation Unsteady follows hopeless romantic Ro and player—on and off the ice—Freddy as their feelings for each other grow from strictly friendly to so much more.
Matt “Freddy” Fedderic is all smiles—at least on the surface. On the ice, he’s the star left winger for the Waterfell Wolves with a stellar reputation in bed and a potential future in the NHL. But in the classroom, he’s barely scraping by on a 2.0 GPA, retaking dropped classes and struggling with a rough mix of dyslexia, dyscalculia, and ADHD. Freddy had plans to enter the NHL draft at eighteen, but then his estranged father added a “graduation” clause to his inheritance, and now, he needs help to pass Biology with a professor who’s already betrayed him before.
Ro Shariff is a hopeless romantic with terrible luck in love—and now, Freddy’s new tutor. She keeps telling herself that she’s very happy with her on again/off again boyfriend, but Ro is desperate for real affection. As her tutoring sessions with Freddy lead to friendship and late-night phone calls, an undeniable heat begins to simmer between them, which they’re both trying desperately to ignore.
Although they are too protective of their newfound friendship to cross that line, Ro can’t stop thinking about how Freddy was her first kiss her freshman year at Waterfell, a spine-tingling moment seared into Ro’s memory that Freddy doesn’t seem to remember, and Freddy is determined to protect Ro from his reputation at all costs. Meanwhile, Ro wants to prove to him that despite what others have led him to believe, he’s worth more than his body. But maybe, just maybe, together they can learn how easily the right person can love every part of you, even your flaws.
