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Binding 13

Binding 13

Contemporary LiteratureContemporary Romance
Pages
610
Published
2018
Language
English

Synopsis

When shy, anxious Shannon Lynch transfers to the prestigious Tommen College in Cork, she is used to being invisible — and to protecting herself from a home life defined by abuse and a family barely holding together. The last thing she expects is to be noticed by Johnny Kavanagh, the school's golden boy and a rugby prodigy destined for stardom.

But Johnny sees the girl with the midnight-blue eyes, and slowly, patiently, he begins to earn her trust. As Shannon learns what safety and gentleness can feel like, and Johnny faces the pressures and injuries threatening his future, the two build something fragile and real against the odds.

The first book in Chloe Walsh's beloved Boys of Tommen series is an emotional, slow-burn Irish romance about trauma, tenderness, and found family. Content note: it deals frankly with domestic abuse.

Prose complexity
1/10

Vibe

EmotionalRomanticTenseDarkHopeful
Slow BurnFriends to LoversFound FamilyMultiple POVsComing of Age

Genres

Contemporary Literature Contemporary Romance New Adult Romance Romance Sports Romance Children's Books Young Adult YA Contemporary

About the author

C
Chloe Walsh

​Chloe Walsh is the NYT and USA Today bestselling author of The Boys of Tommen series, which exploded in popularity on TikTok, Goodreads, and Amazon. She has been writing and publishing New Adult and Adult contemporary romance for mature audiences for over a decade. Her Tommen series has been translated into multiple languages around the world, finding bestselling success in several countries. Chloe focuses heavily on the mental health dynamics of her characters, shining a light on important, re...

Characters

Shannon LynchProtagonist

A shy, relentlessly bullied fifteen-year-old who transfers to Tommen College hoping to be invisible, while hiding the violence she suffers at home.

Johnny KavanaghProtagonist

Tommen's rugby captain and a prodigy bound for the Irish national side, carrying an injury he hides and determined not to be distracted — until Shannon.

Teddy LynchAntagonist

Shannon and Joey's father, an alcoholic whose violence towards his wife and children drives the book's central trauma.

Bella WilkinsonAntagonist

A former fling of Johnny's who turns on Shannon out of jealousy and manipulates others at Tommen to get at her.

Gerard GibsonSupporting

Johnny's best friend, known as Gibsie: the class clown of the group, whose humour and loyalty mask a tragic past of his own.

All characters in Binding 13

Frequently asked questions

  • Do I need to read Keeping 13 straight after Binding 13?

    Yes — plan on it. Keeping 13 picks up immediately where Binding 13 leaves off, and the two are best treated as one continuous story rather than two separate books. Readers and reading-order guides consistently describe them as a package deal, so it is worth having the second book to hand before you start the first.

  • Is Binding 13 young adult or new adult?

    It sits on the line, and is usually shelved as new adult. The protagonists are secondary-school students in their mid-teens and the book charted on young-adult bestseller lists, but it contains explicit sexual content and graphic, sustained depictions of domestic abuse, and is generally rated 17+. Readers looking for a gentler YA romance should know what it contains before starting.

  • What order do the Boys of Tommen books go in?

    Publication order is the recommended reading order: Binding 13, Keeping 13, Saving 6, Redeeming 6, Taming 7, then Releasing 10. The books follow different couples from the same Tommen friend group and overlap in time, so reading out of order spoils earlier arcs — in particular, Binding 13 and Keeping 13 should both be read before Redeeming 6.

  • Where is Binding 13 set, and is Tommen College a real school?

    It is set in Ballylaggin, a fictional town in County Cork, Ireland — the author's own county — in the early 2000s. Tommen College, the prestigious private school Shannon transfers into, is also fictional. The rugby, hurling and Cork vernacular around them are drawn from the real place.

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