“I think you’d be really easy to love.” 😍😍

⭐️ Rating: 5/5
🌶️ Spice: 3/5

🏒 Athlete x Tutor
🏒 Friends to Lovers
🏒 Slow Burn
🏒 Mental Health Rep
🏒 No 3rd Act Break Up
🏒 Hockey Romance

I can’t begin to express how good The Undone series is. And we only have two books?! First, let's get into our characters. We’ve got two pathological people pleasers in the form of a student athlete and a student tutor. We’ve got diversity through so many avenues in this story. Through their upbringings, past experiences, family dynamics, and learning abilities.

What I love most about this story for it’s emotional depth. It’s a bit of a slow burn but it’s perfect in the way it plays out. We really get to see this friends to lovers arch play out through consistency and sweet gestures.

I also want the story of Freddie’s mom and Archer. That seems like the most heartbreaking and sweet story of all time.

📚Unloved by Peyton Corinne
🏒 mf contemporary romance
🏒 new adult college setting
🏒 sports (hockey)
🏒 tutor/athlete
🏒 friends to lovers
🏒 opposites attract
🏒 hurt/comfort
🏒 mental health rep (mmc has adhd, dyslexia, dyscalculia)
🏒 slow burn
🏒 dual pov
🏒 book 2 in an interconnected standalone series

CWs for domestic violence, toxic relationships, emotional abuse, harassment, other man drama, death of a parent, grief/loss, terminal illness

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

A HUGE thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review❤️

“I make a vow then to protect her, the pretty girl with butterflies in her messy curls, even if she’ll never really be mine.”

Unsteady by Peyton Corinne was one of my top 10 favorite romances of 2024, so I was soooo excited to get my hands on an ARC of Unloved! I was going to try and pace myself (considering this book doesn't come out until February 2025), but I accidentally ended up devouring it in less than 48 hours. Oops!! I loved absolutely everything about this, and am already looking forward to re-reading this again.

Unloved by Peyton Corinne follows Freddy and Ro, and let's just say these two couldn't be more different. Matt "Freddy" Fedderic is a star college hockey player on track for the NHL, he has loads of friends, and a notorious reputation with the ladies. He's always all smiles...well, on the outside at least. Due to his diagnoses (dyslexia/dyscalculia/ADHD), he's struggling to keep his head above water academically. He was initially going to enter the NHL draft at 18 to avoid any academic speedbumps, but his estranged father threw a wrench in his plans by including a "graduation" clause in order to receive his inheritance. Ro Shariff is a hopeless romantic with a terrible track record. She's in an off/on relationship with an absolute tool who treats her in questionable ways, but Ro desperately wants to feel wanted and cared for. She loves hard and cares deeply, but with her beloved family living so far away she feels incredibly isolated. Freddy and Ro's paths initially crossed several years earlier at a party. It was at that party where Freddy became her first kiss, but things never went any further beyond that night...a night that Freddy appears to have no recollection of. Ro later gets assigned to tutor Freddy. Their academic relationship leads to friendship, late night phone calls, and eventually something more.

While I loved the first book in the series, I just connected with Freddy and Ro on an intrinsic level. They were both so flawed and relatable in a way that makes them so incredibly human. They make poor decisions, they struggle with effective communication, they question their worthiness for unconditional love, and they both wear their hearts on their sleeves. I was really touched by the way Freddy and Ro were both yearning for unconditional love in their own ways, but both had their own barriers that prevented them from seeing it for themselves. At every stage of their relationship, Freddy and Ro fit together so well.

“No one, since my mother, has defended me so fiercely. I think I’m in love with her—not even romantically, but on some soul level. I feel devoted to her.”

This book deals with a lot of heavy themes, but I felt like the author handled everything in a sensitive and effective way. While Unloved can technically be read as a standalone, I really think you should read Unsteady first as it will give a little additional context behind some of the background events and secondary characters.

“Freddy is warmth and sunlight, shining and shimmering across ocean-blue water. The kind you want to bask in. His gaze is like heat on my skin. And he’s always reaching out to touch some part of me—physically affectionate in a way that has nothing to do with attraction.”

I can't wait to pick up a physical copy to annotate on release day!

“I think you’d be really easy to love.”

Peyton Corinne writes vulnerability in a way that makes your heart bleed for Ro and Matty. I wanted to reach into these pages and give them both a hug as they struggle to believe that they are worthy and deserving of love. By forging a relationship from friendship, they help each other heal and realize that with the right person love is easy.

Both have toxic relationships that leave scars in their psyche. For Matty, his relationship with his father and former paramour leave him with deep-rooted insecurities that he is only good for what his body can do (whether that be hockey or sex). For Ro, she is in an emotionally abusive relationship with Tyler. Tyler is the epitome of every awful boyfriend you and your friends have ever had. You will hate him from the first moment he is on page, deservedly so. I think we have all been Ro in the past; letting ourselves be treated poorly in the mistaken belief that it must be because of something we are doing. I loved seeing them come out the other side of these situations.

I also have to say that Matty’s grief for his mother left me raw.

I cheered these characters on. I cried for them. I think this book is masterful and I’m so happy to have started 2025 off with this book.

this book means… so much to me.😭 i feel so many emotions right now, but i feel so mushy most of all.

I loved this even more than i loved Unsteady. Freddy & Ro are nestled into my heart from this point forward. I identified with so many part of this book and it is so timely that i’m reading this because I really feel is aided in my healing 🥹❤️‍🩹 I wanted to cry and laugh so many times while reading this. Nevermind the fact that it’s a major slow burn, i couldn’t even tell! yes, alert the masses 🚨

I also must mention… the placement of the songs in the chapters. the intentionality was only one of my most favorite parts of the book. Like queen of taste!😭 the songs were perfect

I really have to hand it to Peyton, she is easily becoming an auto-read author for me. Like i’m shook, I think this may be one of the best books i read this year? Yeah… yeah… you know what? Hell yeah!

I did not like Matt at the beginning of this book. His flirting style was so strange. But I warmed up to him by the end and he became the brute of a knight in shimmering armor! Ro also irked me, why stay with someone who treated you so horribly!!! This book just felt like so much happened but not a lot really happened. We just danced around this first night they met as they both let bullies run their emotions. This just felt too long and I checked out after the first half.
I have enjoyed this author in the past but this was not the one for me.

Thank you NetGallery and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read this eARC.

This book was seriously good. I love Matty with my whole heart and my sweet baby sunshine Ro.
If you like reading:
-tortured boy/anxious girl
-no third act break up
-hes obssesed with her
-hes so emotionally intelligent and reassuring
-her standing up for him

Then I suggest you get ON THIS BOOK.

Thank you to NetGalley, Peyton and the publishers for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was very excited to read this book after enjoying the first one very much!

This story takes place parallel to Unsteady, so we see some moments that we already saw in that book from those main character's point of view. Because of the fact that we're supposed to already know them, they're explained very briefly and we rush through them, but I felt like it would have been better to explain them properly as if we didn't know what happened yet, both for the readers who might not remember much from book one (or might not have read book one, since readers tend to skip books in interconnected stand-alone series), and because I thought it would also be interesting to see those moments from the point of view of this book's MCs.

Anyway, apart from that I still very much loved this story.

I'm hoping Kane gets his own book because I'm way too intrigued by him.

HOLD ON, let me wipe my tears after finishing this amazing and adorable book. Peyton, what are you doing to me girl?! Alllllll the feels.

BUT first things first, I LOVED and DEVOURED this book, like in TWO days. This book had so much emotional challenges like the first one which just broke my heart and mended it again.

This is the second book of Peyton's Undone series that I have read. I gotta say, this one hit home for me. We follow Ro and Matty through their side of the timeline that was occurring in Unsteady which definitely gave us (for what I feel) more background to their lives and what was happening through their year at college. I honestly haven't read a book that occurred on the same timeline so that was new for me. I adored Unsteady but I LOVED Unloved.

What I love the most about this book (and Unsteady) was that they depicted real life events (like losing a loved one) and dived deep into what it was like to either have a learning disability or mental health challenges. Personally for me, I definitely felt seen in more ways than one because I have struggled with Grief like Matty has with losing a parent. Grief hits you at such different times and I felt like I resonated and shed some tears with him through those moments. Ro and Matty definitely were made for each other in more ways than one. She battled her own insecurities with a douchebag of a guy she thought she loved and was everything (we have all been there before). Matty trying to overcome grief by distracting himself with things that created a reputation he didn't intend on having (but went along with anyways), also, dealing with his dad that just wanted to control his hockey career but never treated him right, while ALSO struggling with learning disabilities (dyslexia and dyscalculia) that impacted his college career.

The relationship Ro and Matty had started off professional but then they slowly started to become friends with one another and created a bond and foundation that later progressed into the most precious relationship. Even though, they did meet freshman year but that's another story. When I tell you it's a slow burn, it is but in the most SATISIFYING way. This was well executed in a way that gave our characters times where they came together to discuss their actual feelings for real life situations rather than miscommunicating.

Overall, I believe everyone should read this book especially if you love a good slow burn, emotional/rewarding storyline and cute hockey boys. But for real, it was such a great time even when you feel like your heart is breaking, it comes back together more solid than ever. I definitely can't wait to see what else Peyton writes in this series with some of the side characters that we also get to see build their stories too in the background.

Thank you soooo much NetGalley and Peyton for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was the first book by Peyton Corinne that I've read and it was pretty good. I liked that both of the main characters had issues they needed to work through and got stronger together. It was cute, I enjoyed reading it, and it was pretty quick to read through because it was entertaining. Tyler and Carmen are the absolute worst, both taking advantage of people who just want to be loved and appreciated.

However, I didn't love it as much as I have loved some of the other hockey romances I've read. It felt almost too much like "The Dare" by Elle Kennedy with the tutoring and the Hockey House. But it also felt a little too much like Icebreaker by Hannah Grace with the figure skating/hockey player duo. I also wished that I didn't feel like I was missing pieces of the story that were probably in The Undone #1. I enjoy reading interconnected romances, like the Briar U or Maple Hills series, but in those, if you haven't read one, it doesn't feel like pieces are missing. It jumped around a bit for me in that aspect, for instance, when Sadie's brothers end up in the hospital.

Also, I understand that we are supposed to see how sheltered and naive the FMC (Ro) is, but at times it felt like she was too childlike and it ruined a few of the moments for me. I had to keep reminding myself that they were seniors in college (so like 21) and not kids, due to the way a lot of the dialogue was written. There were some of the more spicier scenes that I skipped through because the writing made it feel like they were younger than they were.

Overall, it wasn't bad and I think I would like to read more of her stories as it was really entertaining and I liked watching her characters evolve.

I have stared at the blinking cursor for far too long trying to sum up my thoughts on Unloved. My Kindle is left open on the acknowledgements, where the whole book just hits harder. I savored every second of this book, taking far too long to finish it out just because I didn’t want it to be over.

Since I cannot accurately type my thoughts on this book out, I’d thought I would just state facts. Before I was halfway done with Unloved, it was preordered and added to my most anticipated releases for 2025. I cannot wait to annotate, annotate, and annotate some more in my physical copy.

Peyton Corinne has truly wrote a masterpiece of grief, love, healing, mental health, learning differences, and self growth with Unloved.

This book is simply easy to love. ❤️

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced copy of Unloved in exchange for my honest review.

I received a copy of this for my honest review

This story will break you heart, but put it back together in the best way.

Our FMC and MMC technically meet.thwir freshman year of college. It's at a party - he becomes her first kiss, but disappears and doesn't remember the night. Years later they are at another party and she admits she's had a crush on him, but she's drunk and doesn't remember the next morning. Our FMC is working as a tutor and our MMC needs to pass in order to graduate, and remain eligible to play hockey. He already has an NHL contact post graduation, but he won't take the easy way. He's struggled with learning disabilities and she is the first person to try and actually help him. They build a friendship - both wanting more but unwilling to risk what they have. Both a little broken from their past finding it hard to step out as someone new. It's a beautiful story of grief, and working on self love to be able to be with someone who truly cares, not uses them.

Thank you so much to Atria Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC of Unloved. I absolutely loved and devoured Unsteady so I was over the moon to be approved for the sequel. I have read a lot of sports romance and there’s something about the way Peyton Corinne combines writes her characters that makes them 3 dimensional, complex, and relatable. I really liked finding out a lot more about Freddie and what drives him and Ro and the depth of her character. The glimpses we got of both characters in Unsteady had me in expecting one thing but I was pleasantly surprised to learn that there was more than met the eye to both main characters. Ro is sensitive and even though she is smart as hell and driven she struggles with low self-esteem and self doubt. Meanwhile Matt/Freddie comes off as unserious and a playboy which he is but it’s because he’s trying so hard to make up for feeling inferior especially in academics. I loved how both characters where what each other needed and the way their relationship developed. I cannot wait to read more in this series.

4.75/5⭐️

“I think you are one of the best people I’ve ever known. And I think it would be almost too easy to fall in love with you.”

this story follows matt fedderic, who is known for being the star left winger for the waterfell wolves and being great in bed. however, he’s doing really bad in classes, struggling with dyslexia, dyscalculia, and ADHD. he desperately needs a tutor to pass his biology class, which is a requirement to graduate, and here enters ro shariff, the hopeless romantic who has had bad luck with relationships, and has had a crush of freddy since freshman year, and now is stuck being his tutor…

wow, i read unsteady a couple months ago, and immediately fell in love with the characters, the story, and the authors writing, and this book did not disappoint. i really didn’t know what to expect with this book, but these two characters related to me on a entirely different level. i really loved reading two characters, who really wanted to be loved, find love within each other, it was so incredible to read. both ro and matty had gone through so much, and it was so enticing to read them both grow throughout the book and get their happily ever after. these two both suited each other’s needs so perfectly, with matty being a great acts of service man, and ro always giving him words of reassurance and affirmation, i highly recommend you read it.

3.5 stars. peyton has a writing style that is easy to get into! I did not realize this book takes place at the same time as unloved. There are a LOT of references to things that happened in that book, so it threw me off at times since I forgot some of the details. I absolutely loved the learning disability representation in this book, I think really showed academic struggles and navigating that through college especially having it portrayed in a male character! Peyton also writes about grief in such a raw/vulnerable way.

Freddy & Ro were so cute and you could tell how much they wanted to support each other!!! Freddy was so down bad and protective of Ro but in such a healthy way!! He wanted to show that girl her worth. I also enjoyed seeing Rhys & Sadie. At times the story felt choppy. For some reason I did not feel as connected/invested like I did while reading unloved. I am so curious to see who is next in the little waterfell crew!

Ro + Matty

-hockey romance
-tutor/athlete
-friends to lovers
-mental illness rep

these two are so special…& i love how real the story is in the way it’s so relatable! matt suffers from so many mental blocks that could have been made easier for him with a little bit of help but he hid them from embarrassment & in which was cast aside! it’s all about how the narcissistic love we accept in our life can damage our self worth & how having the right person on the other side of that can help us heal!! ugh do beautiful!

Absolutely adored this sweet, emotional story. I will always eat up a hockey romance!! I felt connected to the characters right away and really enjoyed witnessing their development. Obsessed with the tutor trope and so much tension!!!

This book was even better than the first one! I had such a good time and I am really really really excited to keep reading from this author! I can’t wait to see what else this author can do to tear out my heart!

i truly enjoyed this book! dare i say more than the first one! matty and ro both deserve everything and im glad that they found each other :)

Just WOW yall! I was really looking forward to this one with the hype that I have read and seeing some of the character art on Peyton's insta, but I was still absolutely blown away by this! We got snippets of Ro and Matt AKA Freddy in Unsteady which is kind of cool because this books timeline coincides with Unsteady. These two characters had been through SOOO much. Once again we are dealing with some HEAVY topics- death of a parent (not on page), gaslighting, anxiety, and Peyton once again handled them with such tenderness and rawness. We have Freddy who is the playboy of the group. He is who you got to to have a good time with no strings. We learn that Freddy is wearing a mask- he has so many layers beneath this mask. He carries so much shame and sadness with the passing of his mother and his actions- it was heartbreaking to read. Then we have Rosalie, Ro, who feels that she is a burden to her family. She doesn't want to bother anyone with conflict. She wants to be the perfect person so she is dating a complete jerk who gaslights her constantly. She has zero self-confidence. The way that Tyler treated her had me enraged. When these two meet and then become fast friends- I was rooting for them the whole time. Watching how their interactions slowly transformed from tutor x student to tender and vulnerable was perfection. I loved the Matty fell first but was once again heartbroken that he didn't think he was enough. When they finally came together- I was swooning the whole time.

Ro is once again not sure if she is single. What she does know is that she is going to a party tonight with her roomie Sadie. She wants to let loose and have fun. So that's what she does. She ends up hanging out Matt Frederick, hockey extraordinarie, who she has had a crush on since forever. She jumps off a roof and swims in a pool. She sheds her shell for the night. And then she wakes up and remembers that she is his new tutor. She has to act professional. She has to remember that he doesn't care about her. But she does recognize that he needs help- he has dyscalculia and dyslexia. So she works with him how she can. She tries to determine what the best way for him to learn is all while they remain professional. But then they start seeing each other outside of this environment. They exchange numbers and light texts. He is so different from her on again off again BF Tyler. He is consistent. He shows up. He is carefree. But she starts to wonder if all of that is a mask. She sees snippets of a more vulnerable person and she wants to meet him. So when they decide to become friends- she's in. She wants to show him that he is deserving of someone fighting for him. She is angered at how he has been treated. Somehow she can't channel any of this energy towards herself but he does it for her. He shows up for her. He tries to show her how she deserves to be treated. And ever so slightly they flourish and open up together. They can't fight this connection anymore. A kiss leads to more. Matt makes her feel that how she feels is amazing. He shows her how to gain her confidence. So she continues to do the same for him. She just needs him to fully let her in because he has become her person. What they have is to beautiful for just friendship- she just hopes he sees it too.

Matt AKA Freddy is living the life. Or at least that's how it looks on the outside. Inside- he has never felt like he is enough. He got burned BAD right after his mom passed away. So now he doesn't do strings. He has a good time and then goes back to his room where he is miserable alone. Until he meets her. Rosalie. And the first night they hang out she drunkenly tells him, he would be easy to love. He can't stop thinking about that. Could it be true? Could it be with her? He realizes she is his tutor and that he actually wants to come to his sessions now. She is trying new techniques and taking time with him that none of his tutors have before. She is still keeping him at a distance but he is patient. So when she starts opening up about her kind of BF- Matt decides that he is going to do everything in his power to show her what she deserves. Because she deserves the world. They keep saying they are just friends because they are both scared to ruin what they have. He has never felt this close to someone or like he can breakdown and cry and not be judged. He hasn't had someone advocate for him and make him feel less alone until her. He has never really talked about his mom or Archer until her. He definitely hasn't talked about the woman who broke him until her. And instead of leaving- she stays. So he does what he can't stop thinking about doing- he drops the mask and owns himself because he wants to be who she deserves.

These two had to WORK towards their love. They had to literally break down some walls and fight for it. I was just blown away by their story and their journey to get to their HEA. Reading about Freddy's anguish was heartbreaking. Reading about how both of these beautiful souls were taken advantage of and treated they way they were was tragic BUT watching them come together and help repair each other was magical.

Can I just also say that I LOVED getting more glimpses of our future MCs- I am looking at you Bennett. I can't WAIT to read about him and Paloma Blake of all people. Who I am assuming was sleeping in his bed while his service dog Seven was watching over her- SWOON. Bennett giving Ro advice on how to love someone just SIGH! I am also looking at you Toren with your Van Gogh tattoos. Peyton these teasers were amazing but also killed me. If you haven't picked up this series, I can't recommend it enough!!

Thank you to NetGalley and to Peyton for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!