Ten years of playing pro football has gotten Donovan Klasek two bad knees, a bad shoulder and an addiction to pain killers. Now he’s free of the addiction and ready to watch his younger brother play in the Super Bowl. Donovan loves his bar, but part of him wishes he had another chance at the big game.Johnni Aitken has always been her daddy’s girl. She can rattle off football stats with the best. When she gets a job waiting tables at Donovan’s bar, she can’t believe her luck. Football is a religion to her and Donovan has been the star in several of her fantasies. But a football star like Donovan would never look at a tomboy like her.
What happens when a man beat up by life meets a woman longing to heal his heart?
Genre: contemp novella
Grade: D
Sensuality: Hot
Jane Meter: SKIPThe Good:The cover fucking rocks. The two main character can be pretty likeable and the plot is good. Or maybe I have a thing for work relationships… uh anyway. Exprofootball player turn bar owner develops thing for waitress while current profootball player brother goes to the big game.
The Bad:Everytime the story caught my attention and MADE me want to know more, a character did something fucking stupid.
The Verdict:
I go back and forth thinking this hits the mark with men not sounding like men. They are football players! Cutie football players! Money! Women! Drink! Song! Drugs! Women! rinse repeat… but they seem rather wimpy. At the same time my own personal short experience with a newly exprofootball player leaves me with memories of a very insecure man and he wasn’t recovering from a painkiller addiction (uh at least I don’t think so). So I could have over looked that but the heroine had too many TSTL moments.
And I didn’t get the jealous of the bro thing… I mean I could understand it if there was a history to it or they weren’t close. But good god they are close buds and friends so it didn’t make sense. Throw in the fact I can’t see any woman forgiving how he treats her after their first night together, at least not that quickly, the book annoyed more than it amused.
excerpt here and you can buy here
I thought the cover was the best part of the book, too 😉
~jmc