Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: No Take Backs
SERIES: Zone Defense #1
AUTHOR: Becca Seymour
PUBLISHER: Rainbow Tree Publishing
LENGTH: 291 Pages
RELEASE DATE: November 10, 2021
BLURB:
Some things you can’t take back.
If you say those words, get caught glancing at his bulge, or share a heated kiss, it’s game over. The “no take backs” rule strikes, and there’s no way you can backtrack.
That’s the way it’s always been with me and Nate Griffin, my old best friend who thought he could change the rules.
It doesn’t matter that time and distance have pulled us apart. I’ve finally figured myself out and yanked my head out of my backside. Now, if only I can drag myself out of the closet and be the man I want to be for Nate…
But I’m a pro basketball player who has no desire to be a poster boy. Not only that, Nate and I don’t even live in the same country.
Nate, big-hearted guy he is, takes it all in his stride, and I can’t help but wonder if just maybe he’s too good for me. But hell if I can resist him.
It all boils down to: Do I want to take anything back when it comes to Nate Griffin?
REVIEW:
Nate and Ryan vowed to be friends forever. They ended up in different countries and estranged – One a US pro basketball star, the other a local boy, managing the family store. Can these two find the love, distance, and ambition destroyed?
No Take Backs is a sweet, friends-to-lovers story with a sporting background. Another endearing variation on a popular theme. Nate and Ryan both hail from Australia. With Nate’s support, Ryan follows his basketball dreams. But sport can be cruel, and survival a savage mistress. Once years have passed, the two connect again.
The story is told in the first person from the viewpoints of Nate and Ryan with accordingly named chapters. Besides landscaping, world-building centers around Ryan and Nate’s past and present relationship, including their families and friends. While the sporting realm is part of the backdrop, the matches aren’t the main feature.
The author has favored phrases such as stink-eye, bitten/chewed lips, and ample use of the word smirking, whose dictionary meaning is ‘evil grin’ unless used with other contextual words, of which there were none. Much of the dialogue is enclosed within paragraphs, which occasionally made it difficult to tell who was saying the words.
The cast is small, which suits my reading brain functions. Here is where I shout out to the characters Jayden and Sutton – these guys I want to read more about. Anyhoooo, Nate and Ryan are sweet, understanding, totally into each other, and on opposite sides of a river that they need to build a bridge over to have a future. On the way, they cover the ground between want, need, and the realities of the lives they’ve chosen. Supporting Nate and Ryan are family, friends, and plenty of toilet humor.
Other than personal fears, there isn’t an evil element in the tale. The story is a personal journey of deciding what one wants out of life and acknowledging when the time is right. As such, it contains inward processing, hot body action, and a slower pace than some stories that are akin to a hundred-meter dash to the finish line.
Using a bit of lateral comparison – I found No Take Backs to be less of a stormy sea of emotions and more like strong winds on a lake causing a few ripples. Yes, it was engaging, heartwarming, and the characters likable. A sweet, better-than-average read. But it lacked an edge that made me eager to turn the page quicker. That being said – it is a shining example of how supportive people can be.
RATING: 
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