Reader Rayna

Title: Deep End
Author: Ali Hazelwood
Publisher: Berkley
Publish Date: February 4, 2025
Genre: Adult Contemporary Sports Romance
Pages: 447
Format: Paperback

A competitive diver and an ace swimmer jump into forbidden waters in this steamy college romance from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis.

Scarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream. A Junior at Stanford and a student-athlete who specializes in platform diving, Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med school and on recovering from the injury that almost ended her career. She has no time for relationships—at least, that’s what she tells herself.

Swim captain, world champion, all-around aquatics golden boy, Lukas Blomqvist thrives on discipline. It’s how he wins gold medals and breaks records: complete focus, with every stroke. On the surface, Lukas and Scarlett have nothing in common. Until a well-guarded secret slips out, and everything changes.

So they start an arrangement. And as the pressure leading to the Olympics heats up, so does their relationship. It was supposed to be just a temporary, mutually satisfying fling. But when staying away from Lukas becomes impossible, Scarlett realizes that her heart might be treading into dangerous water…

I read this in 2025, so the details are a bit fuzzy to me, however, I did enjoy this steamy sports romance! This was not my first Ali Hazelwood book (Bride was in 2024), so going into this after hearing people raving about it, I had high hopes for it, and it did not disappoint!

The plot follows a college diver, Scarlett, who had a bad accident at a previous competition that caused her to have some performance anxiety around diving. Despite this, she remains on the team, but doesn’t do the more complicated stuff because she doesn’t feel she’s ready yet (even though her coach thinks she is as she’s come a long way in her healing process). She’s also well on her way to getting into medical school, though this wasn’t as big of a focus in the book as the diving was.

Lukas, on the other hand, is part of the swim team, having performed in the Olympics, loved by all, and also going for his own medical degree after the initial college years. He’s a quiet guy, observing the world around him much more than speaking his mind on things, and I honestly think that can be a flaw of his. Though, much of what he says is also very direct, so even though he doesn’t say much, it can have a bigger impact.

The plot following the two getting into almost a contract of sexual relations and fantasies in order to let off steam was surprising, but also not. This is an age to really explore yourself, and what better way to do it than with someone who you consent with, has similar interests as you, and makes your heart flutter? (At least in this instance lol)

I thought that the tension between the two was well done, though some of what they tried out, seemed as though they were more skilled or advanced than they actually were. It didn’t take away from those moments, it’s just something to note.

There was also a minor case of the miscommunication trope in this book which drove me a bit crazy. Like I said before, Lukas is a quiet guy, and if he actually communicated what he was feeling to Scarlett, a lot of hurt feelings could have been avoided. I also say this because there were definitely parts of the book that just felt too long or dragged out, especially in the middle and toward the end. Cutting away some of the swim meet stuff, or some of the brooding might have helped push it along more.

However, as far as romances go, I did enjoy myself! I thought it was informative because I could tell Hazelwood did her research as far as what diving teams and swim teams do, but that it was also steamy and romantic in the ways it was trying to achieve. I think that if you’re looking for something that leans a little into the BDSM category, has STEM characters, and has a romance to cheer for, then you should check this out!