exes don’t – GoodeyReads

Rating: ★★★★☆
Audience: Christmas Sports Romance
Length: 292 pages
Author: Leah Dobrinska
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: October 8th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A fast-paced and fun sports and spy romantic comedy…let the games begin!

Rose Kasper has a secret. A big one. She’s a spy. Okay…not exactly. She works as an undercover security specialist. For a decade, she’s used dry humor, deflection, and self-deprecation to keep herself distanced from her sisters and friends in order to hide her double life. But when a man she dated for the job years ago—the same man she foolishly let herself get close to—is in danger, she must place herself in his playing field yet again. Whether he likes it or not.

Anton Bates has a full life juggling his roles as star quarterback of the Green Bay River Foxes and Prince of Penwick, a small island nation off the coast of Norway. He’s slow to trust, having been used for his position—both of them—on more than one occasion. So when Rose Kasper, a woman whom he loved and lost, sweeps back into his life, he wants nothing to do with her. Or does he?

Anton audibles and decides to use his unexpected reunion with Rose as an opportunity to prove to her that the two of them together are a touchdown. Rose knows she doesn’t deserve Anton—not with all the lies and deceit. But his gameplan is working, and she starts to believe that if she’s honest with him, maybe things between them can be different this time. But when the truth comes out and Anton’s life is at risk, their second chance looks like it’ll end in a loss.

Because exes don’t fall in love…do they?

MY KRYPTONITE.

I don’t know what it says about me that one of my favorite tropes is a man obsessed. But it is what it is and it’s really easy to win me over at that point. I loved this book, it’s my current favorite of the series and I had such a blast with it (especially after just finishing Wind and Truth, IYKYK).

The quarterback/prince dynamic took a little more suspension of my reality than I prefer, but the author made this work. It’s quirky and you don’t have ALL the information, yet the romance really shines and I loved that this had just the right amount of flashback chapters to add to the history between Rose and Anton.

Also, praise dual POV. I loved seeing both of their mindsets and personalities behind all of the hard decisions that were being thrown at them. I loved all of Anton’s teammates and Rose’s sisters. Strong support systems make a book really sing for me.

The confession of love about melted me through the FLOOR. Oh gosh it was perfect. I loved all of the heated kisses and mounting tension that broke away for a second chance and a true relationship. The drama played well into the finale and it’s a quick, lighter read that even has a little bit of holiday cheer.

Overall audience notes: