I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Forward Pass by Desiree Holt Series: Game On #1 - Desiree Holt
Published by Lyrical Shine on July 7th 2015
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 251
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
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Get Ready to Play RoughShay Beckham grew up idolizing her brother’s best friend, star quarterback Joe Reilly. There was no one in their Texas town who had the moves to match Joe on or off the field. Years later, he’s still a player who has what it takes to drive any hot-blooded woman wild. But Shay isn’t a kid with a bad case of hero-worship anymore. She’s grown-up and independent, with her feet on the ground and a serious head on her shoulders. If she could just say the same for Joe.It’s been fifteen years, but Joe Reilly hasn’t forgotten the skinny little kid who used to follow him around like a shadow. What he can’t get over is that the skinny shadow has grown into one hell of an incredible woman. One any man in his right mind would kill to get his hands on. And one who seems to be completely immune to him. He knows he and Shay could have something special together. If he could only convince her he’s about more than just the game.
This one… It just didn’t work for me. I didn’t like either of the main characters at all. Shay was so immature. Joe was keeping secrets for no reason I could really discern or understand. Who hides the fact that he or she is a good person. Who actually thinks “If my significant other finds out about this, she’ll know that I’m a good person and that I’ve changed. I’m definitely not going to tell her.” Especially when he spends the entire book trying to convince Shay that he’s changed. He knows that some of the charity work that he does will definitely convince her of it, so he hides it from her? That doesn’t even make sense.
And Shay was just as bad. Apparently Joe, a former NFL quarterback, used to have a reputation for being a player, his every exploit fodder for the tabloids. Ok. I can understand that Shay may not want to be involved in a relationship with him if that’s the case. But even she admits that he hasn’t been in the news for a long time, and he tells her repeatedly that he’s changed. And she can see that he’s changed. And yet every time Joe’s phone rings, Shay immediately assumes it’s a woman and gives him shit about his “harem”. It’s never a woman, by the way. Except a few times it’s the woman who he’s working with on the foundation he’s putting together. The foundation he won’t tell Shay about because he doesn’t want her to know that he’s a better guy, even though he’s trying to convince her that he’s a better guy. Up until the very end, Shay is assuming that he’s playing her. No matter what he tells her. It’s hard for me to believe that she’s really in love with him when she refuses to believe him or listen to a word he says.
I hate giving reviews that are nothing but negative, but this one just didn’t do it for me. I will say that most of the sex scenes were good, except for one that was just…. weird. The writing was fine, so maybe it was just these characters. But I just couldn’t get into this one.
