Hook Shot (HOOPS Book 3) by Kennedy Ryan

🛑 Please Do Not Read If You Would Like to Avoid Spoilers 🛑

Ratings:

⭐️: 5/5

🌶: 3.5/5

Tropes:

- Age Gap

- Single Dad

- Basketball Player/Designer & Podcaster

- ⚠️ Trigger Warning ⚠️

- Child S*xual Abuse

- Su*cide

Review:

Hook Shot is the third and final novel in the HOOPS Series by Kennedy Ryan. The book is centered around Kenan Ross and Lotus DuPree, a basketball player, and podcaster/designer, from different societies. Before this book, Lotus and Kenan interact with each, but not through conversation instead with the intensity they share through eye contact. Kenan is a divorced single dad who is still dealing with the after-effects of his ex-wife's affair with his ex-teammate. Now, he is co-parenting with his ex for the sake of his teenage daughter in New York. With Kenan in a new state for the summer as Lotus, they cannot deny the chemistry and attraction they have.

I loved this book! I finished it within two days, and I fell in love with Kenan and Lotus. Throughout the previous two books, I was waiting for the two of them to get together. When their eyes would meet through the words on the paper, I could not deny the overwhelming chemistry they shared. From the beginning, I was a supporter of the book due to the exploration of black love. Often in books, the main characters are Caucasian, which is no problem 🤷🏾‍♀️, but both Kenan and Lotus are black. Not to mention most of Kennedys Ryan’s characters are people of color which I love!

As for the book it was great! In Long Shot, we get a glimpse of Lotus’s past and her trauma which was awful. But, in this book, we can see what happens and when I say my heart stopped and I couldn’t breathe that would be an understatement. I could not believe a mother could witness such a heinous act happening to her daughter and choose the man that did such over her. However, I can because I have seen mothers do such and then not understand why their children that they neglected no longer want a relationship with them. I know they say you should forgive, but I wouldn’t be able to though Lotus did. She was a strong and fierce woman that I adored during the whole book. She had her own sense of fashion, and taste, and didn’t let anyone intimidate her no matter how small she was. I couldn’t believe a person who went through so much was able to be so strong and the opposite of what most female characters are written to be. I adored the relationship she had with her great-grandmother and the way Kennedy was able to explore colorism in this book without making it the main talking point. As for the voodoo aspect as a person that loves to watch and read about the religion and more. I wasn’t set on it and felt like it was necessary, but then Lotus was in New Orleans with her great grandmother which made sense. I know people might find it cringy, but I would have liked another series focusing on such not much in connection to a basketball series. I still adore Lotus and enjoyed her character she faced her demons and came out on top. The scenes when she was attending her support groups were amazing. Everyone was sweet and they all spoke with grace and support. Those scenes stood out to me the most because though I am not a survivor of sexual assault or harassment, I do, however, believe support groups are amazing! Instead of jumping into a relationship with Kenan first, she embarked on her healing process, she was truly amazing. Out of all the main female characters in the HOOPS series, Lotus DuPree is my favorite❗️

Kenan Ross is the epitome of a male hero in a book. He was gentle, kind, and loving. Not to mention he was an amazing father that owned up to his faults when needed. I like that when it came to his failing marriage, he recognized that even though his ex-wife, Bridget, cheated he was at fault for certain issues. He wasn’t home much, and he didn’t love his ex-wife the way she should have been loved. That still doesn’t excuse her cheating 🙄. But, he admitted he made mistakes as well and went as far as asking Bridget for forgiveness. Then the relationship he had with his daughter was amazing! I love my father dearly and I admire him

for being there for me my whole life. To see it between Simone and Kenan was a breath of fresh air and seeing how a divorce can affect a child was insightful. I could not stand Bridget and the hell she was putting Kenan through. She cheated and expected them to rekindle but can’t accept that wouldn’t happen even going as far as to keep his daughter away from him. To add on, publicizing everything on a reality TV show, like “Basketball Wives”, to bash Lotus and Kenan was even more f*cked up. She had another thing coming if she thought Lotus would back down from her 😂. All in all, Kenan is a poster of what a man is. Especially the way he treated Lotus. From the beginning, he knew Lotus was hurt and took it easy with her. He went slow with her and excepted her proposition to start as friends. Not to mention he let her go at her own pace even igniting the first kiss of her choice when she was ready. I liked the fact that he was a man and admitted to being an introvert and homebody. That is me in a female body. Yes, he was a basketball player, but he was human as well and his personal life consisted of being at home and enjoying his space. He was an old soul as well which my mom tells me 24/7.

To me, he and Lotus were perfect and built to be together! For both of them to receive a happily ever after was amazing. In the end, I like the bond Simone and Lotus formed specifically because Lotus took her into consideration after what she went through. Even Lotus recognizing the good in Bridget just shows how great of a person she is.

I couldn’t get enough of this book which prompted me to give it a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating! My

first of the 2022 year. I was happy to see other characters like Iris and August, Sarai, and even Banner and Jared 🙃. If you read my blog about Block Shot, you know how I feel about those two. To me when it comes to the s*x scenes they were enduring and you felt the connection between Kenan and Lotus, especially with how steamy they were, but I didn’t care to read them. The book was great, and the dialogue was so well that I didn’t need sex to fulfill anything. I can say seeing Lotus find her intimacy and finally connect with someone who shares her body was beautiful.

As usual a round of applause to Kennedy Ryan for her amazing work with this series! She is an amazing author, and I am glad the series ended on a happy note. I can say these were the

first books I have read by Ryan, and they won’t be the last. Read this series, it explores multiple topics from trauma, to health, to careers, and more. You will leave the books with a smile on your face.

"Hook Shot" Amazon Link