SUMMARY

Cover of the book 'Ride the Wave' featuring a young woman in a pink dress and a young man holding a surfboard, standing on a beach with a colorful sky and ocean in the background.

In surfing, everyone’s chasing the perfect ride…

Twelve years ago, Leo Silva was a world champion surfer-until reckless partying and tabloid scandals ended his career. After a mysteriously sudden and early retirement, Leo retreated to a sleepy seaside village in Portugal, where he’s remained out of the spotlight ever since. But when he receives a surprise invitation to compete in Australia’s legendary Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach contest, the news of his comeback sends shockwaves through the surf world.

Enter Iris Gray, an ambitious sports journalist from London. Her editor wants her to make Leo and his comeback the topic of glossy Studio magazine’s next big feature, but there’s one small catch – he happens to be the son of TV star and media proprietor Michelle Martin, the owner of Studio. With a lot of pressure riding on this project and Iris’s career hanging in the balance, there’s simply no room for mistakes.

When Iris flies to Portugal, she expects to uncover the truth behind Leo’s infamous past, but she is unprepared for his stubbornness-or the undeniable chemistry that simmers between them. But as her interviewee and the boss’s son, Leo is strictly off-limits…

With a fierce rival threatening to derail Leo’s comeback and the competition fast approaching, can they stay focused on their goals, or will love pull them under?

Image and summary from Goodreads.

REVIEW

I picked up Ride the Wave on Libby as an audiobook because I was in the mood for something fun, summery and easy to listen to. There’s something about listening to a romance while you’re out walking or driving that just hits differently and this definitely had those feel good beach vibes I was looking for.

This was a story that had a nice mix of romance, self discovery and finding your place in life. Iris and Leo both went through a lot of character development throughout the story and there were some really sweet moments between them but I felt like they both needed a little bit more emotional depth and chemistry to make their relationship stand out.

I found this story unique with the surfer x journalist characters as I have never read this type of sport romance before and did enjoy getting to visualise how Leo would surf the waves in my head but I did find it dragged a little bit during the middle of the story. It could be because it was a predictable romance and I saw where the story was heading early on in the beginning but I still wish it had surprised me just a little more.

Overall I did enjoy listening to this one. The narrator made it an easy audiobook to get through and I found myself listening to this in one sitting by speeding up the narration to 2x speed. Even if the story didn’t sweep me away completely, it was still an enjoyable way to spend a few hours of my day.

This was a 3 star read for me but it was still an enjoyable audiobook with a fun beach setting and had some lovely moments throughout it.