Keeping 13

The Boys of Tommen series is a set of books by Chloe Walsh. It currently consists of five novels that follow the rugby players of Tommen College. Two of the novels follow Johnny Kavanagh and his relationship with Shannon Lynch: Keeping 13 and its prequel, Binding 13 (2018), so-called because Johnny’s soccer number is 13. Two of the novels follow Shannon’s brother, Joey—Saving 6 (2023) and Redeeming 6 (2023)—and one follows Gerard “Gibsie” Gibson—Taming 7 (2024). There are future novels planned for the series to follow other players, with rumors of a third book about Johnny and Shannon. Originally self-published, the series gained popularity through BookTok, an online discussion of novels on the social media app TikTok.

The novels are typically placed in the new adult genre, a developing genre that touches on topics such as relationships, self-discovery, careers, and mental health as they apply to young people entering adulthood. In her Boys of Tommen series, Walsh touches on many of these issues, using typically adult language, discussing sex, and portraying domestic abuse and violence—even though her central characters are teenagers. In this way, Walsh explores young characters who, although still on the cusp of adulthood, face very adult issues.

In Binding 13, 15-year-old Shannon Lynch starts at Tommen College, a private school in Ireland. For years, she has faced severe bullying from her peers, forcing her to attend several different schools. At home, she faces regular physical and emotional abuse from her father, who has an alcohol use disorder, as her older brother, Joey, attempts to protect her. At Tommen, she meets Johnny, a national rugby star who has dreams of joining the Ireland National Team. Although the two attempt to stay away from each other—as Shannon wishes to remain invisible, something that being with Johnny would make impossible, and Johnny is focused on his rugby career—they repeatedly run into each other at Tommen until they are unable to ignore the attraction between them. Through the stories of Shannon, Johnny, and their friends and family, Walsh explores themes of The Lasting Impact of Trauma, The Importance of Community, and The Power of Love to Heal and Transform.

After Shannon and Johnny finally decide to give their relationship a chance, choosing to open up to each other and show their insecurities, Binding 13 ends on a cliffhanger. Johnny is weeks away from his tryouts for the national team but is severely injured in Tommen’s last game. Shannon, who spends the night with Johnny after his injury, comes home to her father in a drunken rage, forcing her and Joey to stand up to him to defend their little brothers. Just as the novel ends, Joey gives their mother an ultimatum—stay with her husband or leave him for the sake of her children, while Shannon lays bleeding and barely conscious.