Jaci Burton’s books were described to me as ‘explicit sports romances’. Those words, in that order, speak directly to my soul. Unfortunately, I was not really taken with this book. Rather than the characters ever feeling real to me, it ended up more like fantasy, football porn. (That comma is key, I am not talking the kind of fantasy where you pick your team each week and brag to your coworkers – more like the kind where someone dreams about being whisked away in a private jet. The first is the only kind of fantasy football that I want.)
Football is the one professional sport I follow, and this was my first football book. I am able to enjoy watching the game, while simultaneously feeling guilty because of all of the very serious problems that plague the NFL. This book touches on nothing problematic, and there is almost nothing actively describing football at all. As far as I can tell, the only reason the hero is a sports figure is to allow him to have his wildly wealthy and glamorous lifestyle. Which, I guess I can appreciate, after reading too many random rich dudes books where you can’t even tell that they work for it. (This gives me the chance to share one of the greatest pieces of writing I have ever encountered courtesy of The Toast. Please see the bullet point on money and helicopters).
The hero, Mick Riley, is the starting quarterback for the local NFL team. He leads a playboy lifestyle and harbors a Dark Secret (which you can guess pretty easily early on, and he is already dealing with it in a very healthy way). The heroine, Tara Lincoln, owns an event planning company and is a workaholic. She also has a Secret, but that is revealed in chapter 3(?), so, while I won’t give it away, it’s clearly not an issue. In fact, there are very few issues between the characters in this book. There is *literally* no reason that they could not be together happily from day one – other than Tara’s trust issues. Her history shows where the trust issues come from, but I find it annoying when a character undeservedly projects past bad behaviors of others on their new loves.
And, that is my biggest issue with this book – Mick is Practically Perfect in Every Way. I’m pretty sure his Dark Secret was thrown in because otherwise he *would* be perfect. He’s a star athlete at the top of his game. He’s chivalrous and charming from the moment Tara meets him. Never pushy and extremely giving of his time and body. 😉 One time he whisks Tara away on a private jet to attend a movie premier (makeover included), another time to a private island. He is extremely close with his loving family who openly embraces Tara. Oh yeah, hot and wealthy too. That’s how great this guy is, the top two requirements of a romance hero, and I almost forgot to include them. I don’t need, or necessarily want, my romance to reflect real life, but this is just a little too out of control unrealistic. It was an enjoyable, escapist read, but didn’t have enough depth to make me want to follow up with the many, many other books in the series.