Game On by Collette West
Publication Date: October 17, 2014
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Sports
Synopsis
Pitching phenom Bruce "Jilly" Gillette has a hard time talking to women. His hulking presence of tattoos and muscles is what makes him an intimidating closer on the mound, yet off the field, he's painfully shy, uncomfortable in his own skin. Desperate to revamp his loner image, the New York Kings hold a dream date contest, granting the lucky winner a night on the town with their surly reliever, doing whatever it takes to force Jilly out of his comfort zone. Hailey Halpert enters the contest on a whim, looking for answers as to why her high school relationship with Jilly hit the skids. Now she’s a popular romance author writing under a pen name, and her reappearance in Jilly's life is no accident. It turns out that her novels are all about the sexy players on the Kings, and Jilly has no clue that he's about to become her new leading man.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Bruce "Jilly" Gilette is a successful pitcher for the New York Kings. In an attempt to revamp his image, the team sets up a contest where a fan can win a date with him. The winner happens to be Hailey Halpert, who was a close friend of Jilly's in high school, and the girl he has always loved. Hailey is a quiet girl who waited for years for Jilly to make a move to take their relationship past friendship, but he never did and then he got recruited to the major leagues and she felt her chance with him was lost. When they re-connect it is clear that they still have strong feelings for one another. Hailey has been writing popular romance novels under a pseudonym about the players on the team, and she knows that it would be trouble if people found out she was the writer of the novels.
Both Hailey and JIlly are easy characters to care about. They are both quiet and considerate, and have a hard time going after what they really want. It is clear that they would be a great match for one another, but frustrating to watch them both sit back and let opportunities pass them by. The chemistry between Hailey and Jilly is strong, and the sexual tension building between them over the course of their friendship was pretty tough to wait out. They face a lot of challenges from external people and situations as well as struggle with their own introverted tendencies. This is the first book in this series that I've read, but I would be interested in reading about some of the other characters from this book.
*An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review
Excerpt
A clap of thunder
echoes above us and the heavens open up, pummeling us with rain, but he doesn't
stop. He keeps kissing me hard
and fast. We quickly become drenched as he brushes my sopping-wet hair away from my neck. I feel
droplets of rain fall off his face onto mine, but it only seems to intensify
the way he’s kissing me. His tongue opens my mouth, and he eagerly explores
every inch of it. I never imagined that he'd be so good at this. I whimper
again, and he wraps his good hand around my waist, lifting me up against the
building, pressing himself against me.
I don't even know
what I'm doing as I open my legs to him. He lowers his hand, finding the back
of my knee and hooking one leg around him, and I follow suit with the other,
our wet clothes weighing heavily on our overheated skin. This time, his hands
aren't staying in those designated 'safe' areas like they did that night on the
couch, and it's almost too much to handle.
The only thought
in my head is that I need to get him alone and continue this somewhere where I
can have him all to myself.
I throw my head
back, freeing my lips from his, needing to breathe.
He chuckles
softly. "Was that what you wanted?"
"Uh
huh," I somehow manage to respond. "Even better than chocolate."
He smiles,
shifting my body in his arms until he's cradling me against his chest. “What do
you say we get outta here?” he asks, reading my mind.
I nod, and he
smiles again, teasing my lips with his while walking slowly toward the street.
He raises his hand to hail a cab, and I slide my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. He starts kissing me deeply as the rain hits
us full on. I can feel his heartbeat pounding through his wet T-shirt that’s
now clinging to his hard, muscular body, and I sigh, knowing this has to be,
hands down, the sexiest moment of my life.
About Collette West
Collette West grew up as somewhat of a jock-nerd hybrid. Entering the world three weeks premature, her dad nearly missed her birth because he had seats behind the dugout for a sold-out, highly-anticipated match-up between two of baseball's biggest rivals. Not to be outdone, her book-loving mom taught her how to read by the time she was three. A love of the game coupled with an appreciation for the written word were instilled in Collette's impressionable brain from a young age. No wonder her characters believe in the philosophy: sports + romance = a little slice of heaven. Splitting her time between the Pocono Mountains and Manhattan, Collette indulges her inner fangirl by going to as many games as she can from hockey to baseball and downloading every sports romance novel in existence onto her iPad. When she's not clicking away on her laptop, she enjoys walking her dog in Central Park, satisfying her caffeine craving at the Starbucks on Broadway and keeping an eye out for Mr. Right. But above all, she loves dishing with her readers. Email her at collette_west@yahoo.com. She is the author of NIGHT GAMES and GAME CHANGER.
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