Tag: football romance

Book Review: Love the Way You Lie (Boys of Riverside #1) by Gracie Graham

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: NA Contemporary Romance
Length: 417 pages
Author: Gracie Graham
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: February 17th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Torn between my best friend and the boy who makes my heart beat again, learning the truth might break me…

My entire life changed in an instant.
One violent moment took my mother and destroyed me.
And I can’t even remember it.
All I know is…it was my fault.

Now I’m entering senior year after hiding away from the world as long as I could.
The only distraction I have from the heavy weight of my scars is my best friend, Graham.
He’s been my rock through it all.

But when his cousin Atlas appears…my world suddenly tilts on its already unsteady axis.
Everyone warns me to stay away from the star football player with a bad boy reputation and a chip on his shoulder.
I should…

Yet from the moment I climb on the back of his motorcycle, sparks fly.
Despite all the reasons to keep him at a distance, my need for the truth about the accident drives us closer.

Until the truth destroys everything…

OBSESSED.

Hello and welcome to a review for a book I binged faster than I could blink. Oh my goodness this entire story had me in a chokehold. I’m not really one for love triangles or overly dramatic plot lines, but when I am? BRING IT. And I picked this up at the right time. I could not get enough or turn the pages fast enough to figure out where this was going to go.

I loved that it was triple-POV. I loved having both boy’s POV’s and well as Mackenzie’s. The added mystery to the story was interesting to watch play out and the way my kindle lit on fire with some very choice quotes from one of the love interests (no I’m not going to tell you, GO READ IT).

This had many cliched things like the golden boy high school quarterback and the boy from across the tracks, etc. BUT do not let that deter you. Gracie Graham wove this story beautifully and made all of these aspects WORK. I was sucked in and this is a must read for sports romance fans.

**They are high school seniors (17/18) but it is definitely written in a new adult style**

Overall audience notes:

  • Sports Romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: moderate
  • Content Warnings: underage drinking, a father with a drug & alcohol addiction, grief depiction, loss of a mother (recounted), amnesia from a car accident

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Book Review: The Bombshell Effect (Washington Wolves #1) by Karla Sorensen

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Sports Romance
Length: 240 pages
Author: Karla Sorensen
Publisher: Dutch Girl Publishing
Release Date: June 14th, 2018
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

My new neighbor is a complete jerk. A tall, brooding, tattooed jerk. I tried to be nice, bake some cupcakes for him and his adorable daughter, and the only reaction I could come up with to his ice-cold reception was to shove those pink cupcakes right into his muscular chest.

In my defense, it was a rough week.

Being back in Seattle for the first time in years was hard enough, the fact that I was there for the dispersal of my father’s will made it even harder. I had no intention of staying, until I got a football stadium-sized surprise as my dad’s final gift to me.
No … really. He left me a football team.

It’s how I found myself in a conference room, staring down the veteran quarterback who wants nothing to do with a new owner. And that quarterback? It’s my tall, brooding, tattooed jerk of a neighbor.

Now he’s everywhere. Next door with his daughter. In meetings. Don’t even get me started on away games.
Luke Pierson is under my skin, and pretty soon, I’m not sure I want it any other way.

LACKING CHEMISTRY.

This is a super quick read, and I think that was a bit of the plot’s downfall. I just didn’t feel the chemistry between Luke and Allie. It was an attempt at enemies to lovers then it jumped to them jumping each other and I was left in the dust.

The single Dad trope was good. And I loved the Allie became the owner. There’s some good moments throughout and there’s plenty of solid football content too. And that third act? If you’ve read it, you know why that would make me a bit cranky.

I did like both characters on their own. Well built, mature and strong. I loved how great of a Dad Luke was and his consistent nature. Allie took a lot of new things thrown at her with such grace and poise. I loved the way she handled things.

I kind of want to try another book by this author, but I’m on the fence.

Overall audience notes:

  • Sports Romance
  • Lanuage: some strong
  • Romance: multiple open; high explicit
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a parent (off page)

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Book Review: Blitz (Treasure State Wildcats #2) by Devney Perry

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Sports Romance
Length: 356 pages
Author: Devney Perry
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: March 7th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A forbidden, small town, sports romance from Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author Devney Perry.

A coach. A student. The rules were concrete. We broke them anyway.

The night I met Toren Greely was the night I learned how to lie. He was a Treasure State football coach. I was the star of the volleyball team. Coaches and students were forbidden. My future was on the line, so I told myself it was only one night.

That was the first lie. They got easier to tell after that. The lines blurred. The boundaries shifted. Our relationship became a game of its own.

A chaste smile. A knowing glance. A veiled touch or a hushed kiss. We hid in plain sight. We were invincible. Or so we thought. Neither of us saw the blitz coming until it was too late.

Game over. The night I left Toren Greely was the night I learned how to lose.

I LIKED IT.

I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this forbidden romance, but honestly, it didn’t bug me all that much. I liked the set-up and just kind of rolled with the fantasy of this plot. I was here for vibes, and I liked the vibes.

The FMC was a bit dumb though. I didn’t like her POV as much with how repetitive she was and kind of unobservant of her situation. I think multiple things could have been handled differently, but I did love that she was a volleyball player and eventually found her passion and dreams.

I adored Toren. He was a sweet and I could not get enough of this age gap. There is something in Perry’s writing that pulls me in and I find myself flipping pages as fast as I can. I enjoyed the plot and had a good time reading this.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Sports Romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: 3-4 open door
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: inappropriate coach/student relationship, underage drinking

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Book Review: The Hardest Fall by Ella Maise

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: NA Sports Romance
Length: 430 pages
Author: Ella Maise
Publisher: Self published
Release Date: April 16th, 2018
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The first time you meet someone, you make eye contact. You smile, say hello. Should be simple, if you’re anyone but me. The first time I met Dylan Reed, I found myself making eye contact with a different part of his body. You see, I’m very good at being shy, not to mention extremely well-versed in rambling nonsense and, unfortunately, rather highly skilled at making a fool of myself in front of a guy I’m attracted to.

At the time, I knew nothing about him and thought none of what I said would matter since I’d never speak to him again. Turns out, I was very wrong. He was the star wide receiver of the football team, one of the few players expected to make it into the NFL, and I ended up seeing him all over campus.
I might have also propositioned him, run away from him, attacked him with a cooking utensil…and…uh, maybe I shouldn’t tell you all of it. It’s pretty normal stuff, things you’d expect…from me. Eventually, the time came when I couldn’t hide anymore—not that he’d have let me even if I tried.
Before now, he never knew I was secretly watching him. Now that we see each other every day, he knows when I have a hard time looking away. It doesn’t help that I’m not the most subtle person in the world either.

He smiles at me and tells me he finds me fascinating because of my quirks. I can’t even tell him that I think my heart beats differently whenever he’s around.

He thinks we’re going to be best friends. I think I have a big thing for him, and the more I get to know him, the more I don’t care that I’m not allowed to be his friend, let alone fall for him.
The thing is, that’s exactly what I’m doing—what we’re doing, I think.

Falling.
Hard.

EMOTIONALLY ATTACHED.

I started this one off not knowing how I would feel about it and then found myself holding my hand to my open mouth in shock watching the other shoe drop angry I had to put my audio book away for real life things because I NEEDED ANSWERS. Cleary this book wrapped me up and I was utterly smitten with Dylan and Zoe.

This turned out to be a really sweet strangers to friends to lovers scenario. I loved the forced proximity and all of the subtle moments that brought Dylan and Zoe together. I can’t help but love a good jealousy or protective moment and this had BOTH. I can also happily say this is definitely a sports romance. I loved the football aspects that were woven in well to the plot too.

I thought the Mark thing was initially off putting until fully explained and I wish that that creep factor hadn’t bee there at all. I don’t have any major issues otherwise. This was a swoony new adult romance that I could not put down.

Overall audience notes:

  • NA Sports Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: 3-4 open; high explicit
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: rape (occurs to a side character, aftermath depicted), physical assault

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