Veena’s review of One Night with a Quarterbook (Santa Fe Bobcats, Book 1) by Jeanette Murray
Contemporary Romance published by InterMix 17 Jun 14
I am not a football fan, but a few years ago my friends and family got me an Idiots Guide to Football. Unfortunately, it seems that I am one of those people forever fated to view football as a bunch of grown men running around letting off steam and throwing a ball into the bargain, regardless of everyone’s attempts to educate me otherwise. It’s a good thing that I don’t really need to know football to read and enjoy this opener in Ms. Murray’s Santa Fe Bobcats series. Cassie and Trey are delightful characters, though at times it amazes me that grownups can behave and feel like children, given the right set of circumstances.
Cassie Wainwright never knew she had a father until she was almost thirty years old. Given a health scare, her mother comes clean and tells her that her father is not the deadbeat she might have always imagined but instead the very respectable head coach of a football team. He never knew her mother was pregnant or that he has a grown-up daughter outside of the two teens he now has with his wife of many years. Determined to get to know and forge a relationship with her father, Cassie takes a leave of absence and comes out west. Clearly given that his wife and other children or the football franchise he works for know nothing of his escapade in his youth, there’s an interesting situation brewing in Santa Fe.
It gets better, because while her father and his family are willing to get to meet and know Cassie, there are lots of rules that she’s going to need to follow. Unfortunately for Cassie, she’s already broken the cardinal rule even before meeting her dad, which is no boys and no sex. It gets even better, because the guy happens to be the leading quarterback for the team in disguise to escape the groupies who constantly throw themselves at celebrities. Since Cassie has spent the most amazing night of her life with the shy, bespectacled man, will she be able to abstain? From the get-go I was salivating because I could already see that this story was going to get messy but be loads of fun.
Then there’s the stepmom from hell. The most perfect wife, mother, and spokesperson for wife of head coach Ken who does all she can to undermine the relationship between Cassie and her half sisters and her father, all under her most perfect façade of being the perfect stepmom. Plus, while she’s putting up with all this to get to know her father, he’s not really around. So what’s a lonely girl to do but to turn to the one friendly face she knows in Santa Fe: Trey Owens, the bespectacled young man with the fabulous body she met in a night club and had the most amazing sex with. Their relationship develops in leaps and bounds with each one lying to the other. Cassie, not being a football fan, doesn’t recognize Trey and he’s so happy to have a relationship without his fame getting in the way, he’s no hurry to tell her who he is. It definitely will surprise both of them when the truth is out and it’s the kind of truth that can’t be hidden forever.
Trey’s fellow team members and friends are warm and real, even his friend with the drinking problem. We see stories like this on TV with major sports personalities and the pressures they have to deal with, which lead to drugs and drinking. The father comes across as a very unlikable character, but he does manage to redeem himself at the end, so it will be interesting to see the relationship between father and daughter evolve as the series continues. This is a delightful story where love conquers all, though at various times the readers hold their breath to see what curve ball will come flying next.
I’ve definitely have become a Bobcat fan, so will be coming back for more of their stories as the series progresses.
Grade: B
Summary:
FIRST IN THE SANTA FE BOBCATS SERIES!
A one-night stand shouldn’t go into overtime…
She’s daddy’s little girl…or she would have been, had he known she existed. Cassie Wainwright thought her father—head coach of the Santa Fe Bobcats—ignored her purposefully. Come to find out, he had no clue she’d ever been born.
Now Cassie is determined to meet the man who’s always been missing from her life. Her mother warns her, being the long-lost daughter of a well-known NFL coach won’t be easy, but Cassie’s determined to stick it out. And before her life turns upside down, she wants one more night of fun.
Starting quarterback for the Santa Fe Bobcats, Trey Owens is tired of being in the limelight. Lucky for him, the beautiful brunette he meets at the club isn’t a local. She has no idea who he is…and she’s down to party.
Tomorrow, Cassie will think about her father. Tomorrow, she’ll think about her future. But tonight is for herself and the hottie she found on the dance floor. It’s a match made in heaven—if only for a night…
Other books in this series:
