5 SMOOCHES!
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SYNOPSIS:
A sexy standalone forbidden sports romance from #1 NYT Bestseller Lauren Blakely!
The woman I want is as off-limits as they come.
I had an excuse two years ago when I met her on campus. She interviewed me for a story on major league baseball’s rising stars, and we shared a hot, passionate night that ended far too soon, and without a mention of who her father was.
Now I know the innocent but sexy woman I can’t stop thinking about is the coach’s daughter.
That means her dad is the guy who determines if I bat fourth in the starting lineup in every game, or ride the bench.
All the more reason to resist alluring, confident, brainy Reese every time I run into the reporter-turned-sports publicist.
That ought to be easy enough, until the time she confesses she’s still carrying her V card, and she’s been wanting me to cash it in since the day we met.
Staying away from her is going to be harder than resisting a fastball down the middle.
Especially since I’m pretty sure she’s the one who got away, and letting her slip through my fingers again would be a rookie mistake.
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REVIEW:
I love a good sports romance, and Lauren Blakely has written some of my favorites. She knocked it out of the park with the first book in the Rules of Love series, The Virgin Rule Book, and she hit a home run with this book, The Virgin Game Plan, too. I listed to the audio, and Jason Clarke and Ava Erickson were positively fantastic. Their natural chemistry perfectly portrayed these characters and brought them to life. Coupled with Blakely’s witty prose, their performances created an unputdownable forbidden sports romance full of longing, lust and all these wonderful second-chance-at-love vibes.
I loved Reese. She was whip-smart, driven, hard-working, but as Holden’s coach’s daughter, she was also very off limits. There was an innocence to her that wasn’t naive or immature but instead played up the confident, sexy woman that was emerging. Holden was completely focused on his career in professional baseball. A good guy through and through, he was definitely in deep with Reese, but he was struggling with the unspoken player’s code and his loyalty to his coach. I loved his friendships with the other guys, despite the fact that they were technically his rivals, and I loved how close he was with his family. Reese may not have had the greatest relationship with her father, but I really like how directly and maturely she handled their rift.
There was so much substance to Holden and Reese’s story, and Blakely took readers on this couple’s fateful journey to happily ever after, carefully telling their story through their ups and downs. The electricity of their first meeting was thwarted by fate throwing—almost immediately—a serious wrench into their plans. Then two years down the line as they realize they’re both back in the same city, clearly ready to pick up where they left off, and the fickle mistress fate once again toys with their plans, foiling them before they can even materialize. Given the circumstances, Holden and Reese settle into a friendship despite the fact that they’re both seriously crushing on each other. There was such a natural ease between them, but it was that nearly overwhelming attraction, the soul-deep yearning for each other, and the stone cold fact that they both wanted so much more than friendship that ultimately drove this couple together. Their romance was overflowing with all those gotta-have-you-now, I’m-so-into-you feels, creating a truly smoking hot, heart-thumping, feel-good love story.
Lauren Blakely’s romances are as known for their wit and charm as they are for their heat and heart, but what they aren’t known for are being overly angsty or unnecessarily dramatic–and that’s precisely what I love about her writing. Cover-to-cover, her love stories are an absolute joy to read. These are the kinds of books that I’m happy to pick up and that make me happier with each passing page. This was exactly the kind of romance she gave her readers here in The Virgin Game Plan. I was so totally caught up in Reese and Holden’s love story, I listened to it straight through without pausing. I’m so excited about this series, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the other characters stories! Five smooches from me for The Virgin Game Plan by Lauren Blakely!
~ Danielle Palumbo
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