Hopeful Hearts

D E S C R I P T I O N

When Malia's boyfriend perceives her first conversation with Reese, their college's star soccer player, as flirting, her night ends in lies, denial, a nasty breakup, and a tight strain between her and the hot soccer star.

A hopeful romanticizer at heart, strong-willed college student Malia hopes for the best outcomes despite rarely receiving them. After a breakup, Malia faces a familiar loneliness over a lack of long-lasting people in her life - the kind you don't have to worry about losing. While navigating a whirlwind of familial changes and the confusing feelings associated, Malia finds a new friend in Ramona, the sister of the soccer player she can barely stand to look at. However, the more time Malia spends around Reese, her problems shift from toleration to a fight not to fall in love--to protect her new friendships, but more than that, her heart from spiraling into the only hope she couldn't handle crushed.

Dedicated college athlete Reese lives and breathes soccer. With a goal of constant improvement before he enters the pro draft, there isn't a day that goes by where he isn't training. However, behind the dedication lie unresolved emotions that he channels into working toward his dream. Invisible to most people and seen as a passion for the sport, his past traumas fizzle below the surface. As Reese slowly catches unwanted feelings for Malia, the stubborn girl entering his life through his sister, he must decide if he's ready to face his masked emotions to pursue something more.

N O T E S

Malia, Reese, and these characters have existed in my head for a scorching hot minute. This story has undergone changes (both in my head and from the first couple of chapters I previously posted). Those previous chapters have since been unpublished to allow for a rewrite. I'm excited to share it! :)

Updates will be sporadic as of now, but the goal is to shift (at some point) into a weekly schedule.

While the book is set in Arizona, the specific town/college where the book takes place is fictitious.

This is a story set in college and involving college soccer. If minor aspects aren't entirely true to how things would work about college life or, more so, college sports, just chalk it up to fiction.

*This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.*

This book is my original work. It belongs to me! Please do not copy, steal, replicate, or plagiarize its content.

Trigger warnings/content warnings:

-past familial death

-(small) alcohol consumption

-(small) drug use from side characters

This story will include:

-a HEA

-an abundance of sexual tension

-complicated sibling and family dynamics

-a stubborn girl and a guy who knows how to work her

-a mid/slow burn

-sexual content (descriptive sex scenes) ;)

This story will NOT include:

-cheating

-love triangles

A E S T H E T I C S

Malia Douglas

Reese Keating