Living With B

Hockey rookie Elias Westbrook is drowning in fame and pressure, while ballerina Sage Beaumont needs a publicity boost to land her dream role. When the two agree to fake date for mutual benefit, sparks fly—and the line between pretend and real quickly blurs. But with their futures on the line, they must decide if their growing feelings are worth the risk.

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first thoughts

Bal Khabra has kept me in a chokehold since I read Collide, her debut novel. Not long before I read Collide, I had read Ice Breaker and although I enjoyed it and gave it a 3-star rating, I was missing something. Collide gave me exactly what I was missing and when I saw Khabra was releasing her second book of the series, I pre-ordered it so quickly! A ballerina fake dating a famous hockey player? Sign. Me. Up!

I was beyond excited to read this and even pre-ordered it when I saw she was releasing a new novel! I waited patiently, adding the date of release to my calendar, and then it arrived on my Kindle and I began reading.

main characters

Sage Beaumont is a struggling ballerina living in New York City who falls head over heels with Mr. Elias Westbrook. She is sarcastic, independent, and a girls girl. I was not a big fan of Sage… Like at all. Once I hit Chapter 7, my enthusiasm for Sage dwindled and it dwindled quickly. But we will explore that a little more later.

Elias (Eli) Westbrook is a rookie hockey player who is struggling to perform up to his normal expectations. As the youngest hockey player on the Toronto Thunder, he is insecure and struggling. I didn’t mind Eli, I think he is a golden retriever and I didn’t mind that he lacked character development. He was kind, thoughtful, and a hockey player… What more could you want?

thoughts while reading

Anyway, I enjoyed this up until Chapter 7. As soon as it began and I began seeing more of Sage, I was not a fan. Not one bit. She constantly went back on her morals to get what she wants. Which, as a struggling artist, I guess makes sense but it gave me the ‘ick’. Her sarcasm doesn’t come off as sarcasm and instead feels as if she’s just a mean girl. Sage says some good things, but despite that, I couldn’t last the entire book with her as the main character. While I continued forward, I don’t know if I hated Sage more or the amount of tropes Khabra threw at the reader.

Fake dating, instant love, golden retriever boyfriend x black cat girlfriend, and insert any other romantic trope you think could fit in this story. It felt like every flip of the page was a new trope we didn’t need!

There were some sweet moments. For instance, Eli goes to a ballet recital to support Sage and he brings her extra gems in case one fell off before her performance. Another time, Eli brought Sage flowers and told her the reason he did it was because he liked it when her eyes lit up. Cute! Adorable! I loved Eli!

I could go on and on about my love for Eli, and on and on about my dislike for Sage, but I digress.

quotes i loved

Note to self: One bad situation doesn’t have to become a bad day. Sage, Page 11

One, I love talking no matter who it is.
Sage, Page 119

Good things need to be celebrated because bad things will find a way to be acknowledged regardless.
Sage, Page 120

“Why do you buy me flowers?”
“Because I like seeing you light up…”
Sage & Eli, Page 139

final thoughts

I cannot believe I hated this as much as I did! It felt like Khabra took Collide and said “This is the blueprint” and created Sage as the complete opposite of Summer. UGH! I DNF’d it at 56% and despite trying to continue it, I decided my happiness while reading was more important than saying I finished it. Did this book push me into a slump? Yes. Do I regret buying it? Yes.

do i recommend this book?

Personally? I would not recommend this, at all. If someone enjoys instant love, then perhaps you’d enjoy this. I just could not recommend this based on what I read, but I hope anyone else who has read this enjoys it more than I did!

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