For the love of the game.
Brandon Chase has always defined himself by one thing: football. Tough and athletic, he is a great college player who enjoys the hard hits and the sweaty grind of the gridiron. But when Brandon is injured, only one person can help him get back on track-a forbidden love he's desperately tried to put behind him.
Alec Andrews has never quite forgiven Brandon for walking away when their friendship turned into something more. But he can't deny help to one of his closest friends. As the two spend the long, hot summer working together, their old attraction comes flooding back.
Now as Alec thinks about coming out to his conservative family and Brandon considers revealing he's a gay football player, the two men must be strong to fight for a love that could be the greatest rush of their lives.
What I thought about Rush
One reason I like reading New Adult titles is that these titles typically deal with a lot of “firsts” -- first love, first loss, first adult problem that isn’t easily solvable. Nyrae Dawn does an incredible job of portraying many firsts in this novel, and her love of these characters and their story really shines through in Rush.
I was hooked on this book from the very first scene. The anguish between Brandon and Alec jumped off the pages, as Brandon leaves Alec in the lurch because he can’t face his own sexuality. I loved Alec’s reaction when Brandon tells him, “I want things to be easy. I don’t wanna be different, Alec, and I don’t want to hide calls to you and pretend things are going to magically change. It’s so fucking hard to be all these different people. Maybe it’s just you. I mean, I felt attracted, but I never touched any other guy until it was you. Maybe...maybe if I don’t always have you in my mind all the time, I can move on.”
But Brandon can’t move on and some rather serious circumstances bring them back together. When they finally get to live like they want to, what follows is a wonderful story of love and awakening, as Alec and Brandon accept their feelings about each other and figure out their place in the world. I absolutely loved the way Nyrae Dawn slowly unfolds their story for the reader, touching upon so many different aspects of falling in love, coming out and just being true to yourself. Let’s put it this way -- I felt the love, too.
My heart soared when Brandon finally decides to come out to his family, only to be broken again when Alec’s father discovers the truth. And that’s not the end of it. Brandon has to decide what he’s going to do about coming out to his teammates. My heart hurt for both of them and I thought Nyrae Dawn nailed the emotions in this part of the book, especially Alec’s pulling back and his hesitancy to put his heart on the line one more time..
Even though the secondary characters don’t get a lot of page time, I liked Logan, Nate and Charlotte. It was good to know that Alec and Brandon had some support.
If I had to describe Rush in just a few words, beautiful love story comes to mind. Somehow Nyrae Dawn manages to craft this novel so that it’s all about the love. I’m still sneaking back to read parts of Rush, even though I finished it over a week ago, because there is so much beauty here, as these two men come to terms with who they are and what is in their hearts.
I think Nyrae Dawn says it best in her dedication… “Love is a beautiful thing. Love always wins.” She shows the reader just that in Rush. There is an uplifting quality to this story that just hasn’t gone away for me. Highly recommended.
P. S. You can get more Alec and Brandon in the novel, Four Summers, which covers how Alec, Brandon, Nate and Charlie met. I was so happy to find this on my ereader! 
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