Review: A- rating.....
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 13, 2012
My Review:After the very first chapter of this book, I was in love with it and looking to see if it was available in print to add to my permanent library (sadly, right now, it's not). Right away, I need to give kudos to Jami Davenport. She wrote a hero (and heroine although she isn't quite as bad) who has some serious flaws, which could make him really unlikable. But he's not...she creates a great balance so you can remain empathetic to him even when he's acting/thinking like a real jerk.The book starts with Tyler as quarterback and winning his second SuperBowl in a row. The guy should be on top of the world, but he's NOT. He's completely apathetic about what just happened and where he's going in life. Immediately, I was in love with this character...just because my heart hurt for him.Then you meet the heroine, Lavender at the funeral of a man she loved. Art lived next door to Lavender and she had a close friendship with the older man. They'd planned to turn his mansion into an affordable vacation home for veterans, but that plan is derailed when he dies and leaves his mansion to his nephew, Tyler. Lavender has an issue with jocks. She is incredibly drawn to them, and Tyler is no exception to this, but she's learned the hard way that they mean nothing but heartache. She refuses to become involved with another one, no matter how good the chemistry is.Like I said before, this is a different kind of book, mainly because the hero is not your normal hero material. Yes, he's gorgeous, but he's shallow and materialistic. He admits to staying with his fiance simply because they have really hot sex...most of it make-up sex. He's plowing through his money almost faster than he can make it and works to build his cocky bad-boy public persona. What he doesn't let anyone see is the real him...the one that gives to charity, the one who cares way too much, the one who's hurt by the dumb-jock persona. He knows that his only life-skill is football and feels really unworthy of all that he's earned because of it.This book has a slow build up. When it's all said and done it covers almost six months time. Even the relationship between Lavender and Tyler builds up really slowly. I liked that realism, especially knowing Lavender's history with jocks. I will admit I was shocked when the whole story of who her father is came out. I didn't see that coming and liked the way her father has ties to both characters.I love sports books and this one was a great one. The book takes place during the off-season, but there is still interaction and conflict coming from the team situation. I need to go back to read book #1 in this series and absolutely cannot wait to read #3, because we meet the hero in this book...and yeah, there's going to be some good angst there because he's heading into his final football season. I think I found a new author to add to my favorite sports-author list!I received a complimentary copy of this book in return for an honest review.