WHITNEY
When the flirty, fast-talking guy I met gaming online suggested we meet in person, I took a chance. But then, he ghosted.
Two months later, I’m back in Coral Cove, training with the Carolina Current, when a pair of tattooed arms and an easy, dangerous smile have me one bad glance away from swimming into a lane rope.
Connor Fisk.
He’s charming, cocky, and absolutely off-limits thanks to his history with my brother. I should know better than to get pulled in, but Connor has a way of showing up when I least expect him—and every time he does, I find myself more intrigued.
I didn’t come back to Coral Cove to play it safe or live in my brother’s shadow. I came to trust my gut, even when it points straight at the one guy I’m supposed to avoid. Connor’s bad-boy image is only part of the story, and when the truth finally comes out, I want to keep my distance. But holding onto my anger gets a lot harder when we’re forced to travel together and keeping my guard up feels impossible.
CONNOR
I built my career on headlines, sponsorships, and pretending I have everything figured out. The only place I ever get to be myself is gaming anonymously with a girl who makes me laugh when everything else feels empty.
When I show up to our real-life meeting, I don’t expect to see Whitney Shields—my rival’s little sister—waiting there for me. So, I panic and bail, telling myself I’m protecting her, that the truth would only make a mess of everything.
Two months later, we’re teammates. And from the moment she smashes cake into me and swipes frosting off my bare chest with her finger, I know staying away from her is going to prove impossible.
Soon, we’re gaming, going on grocery store runs, and walks on the beach. For a moment, it almost feels like I could make it right, then she finds out I’m the guy who earned her trust online and broke it in real life.
I’ve made plenty of mistakes, but I’m learning that owning them is a hell of a lot easier than walking away from her.
(ARC Read)
Against the Current was pure rom-com chaos in the best possible way, and I had such a great time with Whitney and Connor.
Whitney Shields might actually be my spirit animal. She’s funny, impulsive, endlessly entertaining, and has absolutely no filter when it comes to speaking her thoughts out loud. Beneath all of that humor, though, is someone who has spent her entire life being compared to her older brother and trying to carve out an identity that’s entirely her own. I related to her so much. She uses jokes to diffuse tension, hides behind humor when things get uncomfortable, and somehow manages to leave a trail of chaos everywhere she goes. Honestly? I adored her.
And then there’s Connor Fisk.
Oh, Connor.
The swimming world’s tattooed bad boy has spent years letting other people tell his story for him. Rather than correcting rumors or explaining the truth, he keeps his head down and hopes everything blows over. It’s frustrating at times, but it also makes him feel incredibly real. Connor carries so much hurt, guilt, and loneliness beneath that carefully crafted public image, and watching him slowly learn to stop running from his problems and start owning his mistakes was one of my favorite parts of the book. He’s the kind of hero who’s easy to misunderstand, which made me root for him even harder.
Their relationship was everything I wanted it to be. The anonymous gaming connection between SailorGirl and DreamBoat was adorable, and I loved how they formed a genuine friendship long before attraction entered the picture. When real life finally throws them together, the chemistry is immediate. Between the brother’s rival tension, the secret identity drama, forced proximity, and Connor desperately trying not to fall for the one woman he absolutely shouldn’t want, the romantic tension never lets up.
“She’d taste like salt and sweat and bad decisions and fuck, I’m gone.”
But what really made this story shine was how much fun these two are together.
The cake scene alone deserves an award. Whitney literally running into Connor, dumping the cake all over his chest and on the floor, and immediately deciding the logical next step is to scoop frosting off his bare chest and eat it? Unhinged behavior. Relatable behavior. I support her completely.
“Because you ran into me.”
“Yeah, well, you came out of nowhere,” I argue.
“I was walking,” he says flatly.
“Then why are you shaped like a wall?” I snap.
Then there’s the Grand Theft Towel incident, which had me laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. Every time Whitney and Connor shared a scene, there was either enough tension to make the pages sizzle or enough chaos to leave me wheezing with laughter. There was rarely an in-between.
“Arguing with Whitney is like arguing with the ocean. You’ll lose and look ridiculous doing it.”
And we need to discuss Pussy.
That cat runs Connor’s entire household and absolutely knows it. She’s sassy, dramatic, judgmental, and fully convinced she’s the most important character in the story. Honestly, she might be right. Connor can pretend he’s in charge all he wants, but everyone knows Pussy owns him.
What I loved most about Whitney and Connor, though, was how deeply they understood each other. Both of them have spent years living under labels assigned to them by other people—Connor because of his reputation and Whitney because of her brother’s shadow. Together, they finally get to be themselves. They challenge each other, support each other, and create a space where neither of them has to perform for the world.
“Mine. The word doesn’t feel like possession. It feels like awe. Like reverence. Like the way a man looks at something he can’t believe he gets to touch.”
Against the Current is funny, flirty, emotional, and surprisingly heartfelt. It’s filled with banter, chemistry, laugh-out-loud moments, and two characters who bring out the very best in each other. Add in a charmingly misunderstood bad boy, a delightfully chaotic heroine, an unforgettable cat, and enough tension to keep the pages flying, and I was completely hooked from beginning to end.
SailorGirl and DreamBoat forever.
Release Date: June 11th, 2026
Thank you to Erin Hawkins for the ARC read!