Binding 13 by Chloe Walsh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

He wants to save her. She wants to hide.

She’s damaged. He’s determined.

Fate brought them together. Love binds them.
Johnny Kavanagh is the definition of popular. He is an all-star rugby player with loads of friends, which means he should be enjoying the many perks of his life. But what people don’t know is that he has been dealing with a painful injury that could halt the magnificent trajectory of his career. This means he has no time for distractions or mistakes. Especially not a girlfriend.

Shannon Lynch has been bullied all her life. She is shy and would rather hide herself away to make it through school. But when she arrives at Tommen College for a fresh start, she meets the notorious Johnny Kavanagh on her first day in a not-so-romantic way. What follows is a complicated friendship that turns into undeniable chemistry. It seems that Shannon won’t be able to hold onto the anonymous status she once hoped for. But maybe that’s alright?

Johnny won’t give up on Shannon. No matter what it might cost them both.

Binding 13

A Rugby Romance

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💛❤️🖤💙
Spice/Steam: 🌶️🌶️
Chemistry: 🧪🧪🧪🧪🧪
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏
Character development: 😋😀🤯😎🥰
Narration: 🎙
Narration type: Dual Narration

Main Characters and Plot Overview

I finally picked up Binding 13: Part One after seeing what felt like endless five-star reviews, and as someone who loves sports romances, I figured it was a safe bet. I did go in a little wary because I prefer sports romances as standalones, and this is very much the first half of a larger story.

The book follows Shannon Lynch and Johnny Kavanagh at Tommen College in Ireland. Shannon has spent years being relentlessly bullied because of her size and delayed development. The novel does not treat that lightly. We hear about the escalation from cruel nicknames to physical attacks, including the incident where a group of girls jumps and beats her badly enough that her mother pulls her out of school and takes out a loan to enroll her at Tommen. Her home life is no refuge either. Her father is openly cruel, tells her he never wanted her, and previously drove her beloved older brother Darren out of the house after Darren came out as gay. Shannon retreats to her bedroom whenever she can, which made the scenes of her quietly trying to take up as little space as possible feel especially heartbreaking.

Johnny is the complete opposite on paper. He is the school’s rugby star, already playing at an elite level outside school and dealing with the pressure of media attention and a recent groin injury. Their first meeting is wonderfully chaotic: Shannon cuts across the rugby pitch in the rain to retrieve her forgotten phone, gets shouted at by the players, and then is knocked unconscious when Johnny’s rugby ball hits her in the head. The image of her waking up surrounded by panicked boys while Johnny hovers nearby was the exact kind of memorable meet cute that hooked me immediately.

What surprised me most is how much of the book is about Shannon learning what safety and kindness even look like. Her tentative friendships with Claire and Lizzy, who knew she was bullied but not how severe it became, are almost as important as the romance.

Highlights and Limitations

The strongest part of this audiobook for me was the way Johnny consistently notices the things Shannon tries to hide. Early on, he realizes she flinches when people raise their voices and that she instinctively expects ridicule. One scene that stuck with me is when he quietly adjusts his behavior around her instead of demanding that she “get over” her fears. It made his interest feel earned rather than just the standard popular-boy fascination.

Shannon’s internal monologue also rang painfully true. Her constant comparisons to Claire and Lizzy, who are tall, blonde, and confident, contrasted with her feeling tiny and inadequate, gave the story a vulnerability that I don’t always find in sports romances.

I was less enthusiastic about the pacing in the middle section. The book spends a lot of time on school routines, rugby practices, and the slow build of Johnny and Shannon’s friendship. I enjoyed those moments, but there were stretches where I wanted the story to move forward more decisively. And because this is only part one, several major emotional threads are clearly being set up rather than resolved. I closed the audiobook feeling invested, but also mildly annoyed that I could not immediately get the payoff.

Narration

Jacqueline Milne was the standout for me. She captures Shannon’s nervousness without making her sound weak, which is a difficult balance. The scenes where Shannon is trying to speak up for herself, especially around her family, had a tight, breathless quality that fit the character perfectly.

Matthew Forsythe brings a lot of charm to Johnny. He sounds confident and teasing with his teammates, but he softens noticeably in his scenes with Shannon. I particularly liked his delivery during the aftermath of the rugby-ball accident, where Johnny is simultaneously horrified, guilty, and trying not to scare her further. Though I have to admit he did sound much older than Johnny is supposed to be, which took a lot away from the story for my tastes. As I listened more, it bothered me more.

The Irish accents from both narrators add a huge amount of atmosphere. This never felt like a generic boarding school romance transplanted anywhere; the setting comes through clearly in the dialogue and rhythms of speech. Though I sometimes have trouble understanding the thick Irish brogue. Between that and the age of the narrators, the listening experience was pretty much ruined as far as I was concerned.

Final Thoughts

I went into Binding 13: Part One expecting a fun rugby romance and got something much heavier and more character driven. The moment on the rain-soaked rugby pitch may be the scene that gets people through the door, but Shannon’s gradual realization that she is not invisible and not worthless is what made me stay.

Personally, I still wish the story had been a single, complete book because I was deeply attached to these characters by the end and wanted more resolution. Even so, I understand why readers become obsessed with this series. Johnny and Shannon’s connection feels protective, awkward, and genuinely tender, and several scenes, especially the early rugby-pitch accident and the quieter moments where Johnny notices Shannon’s fear, have stayed with me long after finishing the audiobook.

For readers who enjoy sports romances with substantial emotional depth, difficult family dynamics, and a very slow burn relationship, this one absolutely lives up to much of the hype.

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