Book Review: Love and Other Goals- Tracy Baack
- Abigail Paden
- Feb 24
- 3 min read
I am still trying to figure out how I want to format and write my book reviews, so bear with me.
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Personal Rating: Very high 4 stars
Age Rating: Around 15
Synopsis
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail…right??
Lana Grant’s goal is too important to risk failing, so she’s formulated an iron-clad plan to get to where she wants to be—changing the world as an immigration lawyer, just like her mother.
She’s spent all of high school and college ticking off boxes toward her future, aided by the support of her family, sorority friends, and campus ministry group. She hopes her recent summer internship will be the final factor that makes her law school application stand out in the stack. Now, all Lana needs is for her long-time crush to finally confess his love and her dream future can become a reality.
Lana thinks she has the dominoes all lined up—that is, until the captain of the soccer team, Mateo Alvarez, asks her to coffee and throws a very unexpected wrench into her plans.
With senior year responsibilities and law school deadlines looming, Lana balances her relationships with her best friends and new boyfriend while still pursuing that all-encompassing life goal. But what happens when unforeseen circumstances turn things upside down and her well-planned future threatens to unravel? How will Lana choose which goals to fight for?
Love and Other Goals is a college soccer romance for fans of swoon-worthy but meaningful contemporary romance. Readers who appreciate seeing faith elements woven into characters’ lives will especially love this story. You’ll find all the heart-melting, feet-kicking moments with zero explicit content in this closed-door, kisses only romance.
Content Warning: Brief mention of opioid addiction, miscarriage, and child loss in side characters. Contains references to the ramifications of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Romance spice level is sweet, swoony kisses only.
Review
I binge-read this book, which is saying something because I am a busy college student. So the fact that I put aside most of my responsibilities to devour this book is astounding. The characters felt like real people, and Matteo (the main love interest) acted like an actual dude. To those of you who don't know, it is common for male main characters (MMCs), specifically in Contemporary Romance books, written by women to talk and behave like women. So props to the author for creating an MMC that felt real and not like he came out of a woman's daydreams. I loved that Matteo exemplified how a man of God should pursue a woman. I think there would be a lot of parents who would be relieved to know that their teenage daughters get to witness that in a book.
I could tell at the beginning of the book that this is the author's first published work just because of the pacing. The pacing was well done for the majority of the book, but it was a bit fast at times. It was like that for the first few pages but slowed down when Matteo, the MMC, entered the picture. Personally, that didn't affect my enjoyment, but it might bug others. Regardless, I loved Lana, the female love interest, and Matteo as individual characters and their relationship. They were so cute! I really wanted the ending to go on for a few more pages!
Tracy Baack did a wonderful job at introducing us to the university and the characters' lives in and around it. I wanted to spend more time in this world, but I understand why there can't be another book only about Matteo and Lana (*sigh*).
Overall, I will certainly be rereading this book in the future and be recommending it for here on out.
If you would like to buy this book you can follow this link to Amazon.
It is an affiliate link so I will earn a small portion of the sale at no extra cost to you.
Loved Lana and Mateo! Have you read Love and Other Chances too? That's Teegan's story!