Professional basketball player Bri Early needs a physical therapist after an injury, and he’s heard that Obie is the best. Bri takes an immediate liking to the out-and-proud man with the magic touch, and even though Bri isn’t openly gay himself, he’d never let anything stand in the way of something he wants.
Obie can’t deny that the sexy athlete presses all his buttons, but he’s a professional and has no intention of getting involved with a client. While they’re working together, it’s hands off, no matter how great the temptation.
But being a pro athlete isn’t easy. Bri has enemies, and one of them is making his life hell. When his house is set ablaze, Bri can no longer pretend the threatening messages he’s receiving are jokes. He needs a safe place to stay, and Obie can’t turn his back. But the two of them in the same house is a recipe for combustion that could burn them both….
Buy links: Dreamspinner | Amazon
Cat gives this one 4 Meows with a 3 Purr heat index...
Buy links: Dreamspinner | Amazon
Cat gives this one 4 Meows with a 3 Purr heat index...
Sports romance isn't my favorite genre but I do read them especially since this was an Andrew Grey book. You can always count on good, solid characters, an interesting storyline, with a hint of mystery, and hot sex that is never crude but sensual and sexy.
Both Bri and Obi had odd names that was a running joke in the story that really lightened it up. I liked both dad's and was glad to see acceptance and they both work to protect the men. I also liked how the antagonist had small parts of view added in and they were in first person and that made it easier to distinguish from the main characters. I would have loved to have seen a little more.
If you like friends to lovers, sports romance, a slow building romance with a happy ending this is for you.
Excerpt...
“DON’T YOU dare say it,” Bri said with a scowl that threatened to spear the team trainer right through the heart. “I can see you getting ready to use that tone with me, and only my mother calls me by my full name… ever.”
“Well, being a total stubborn jackass is not going to help your knee heal or get you back on the court,” Jack said with an equal dose of bullheadedness. “I know you’re impatient, but cut it out. You can be aggressive on the court, but here, it’s only going to hurt you. And you know damned well I’m not going to let you play until you have full extension. Otherwise, you’re going to injure it again, and then you’ll be right back in the same place, only this time with a double injury. And you know what the team will do then.” He drew his finger across his throat in dramatic fashion.
Bri stifled a cringe. Being cut from the Philadelphia Rockets—his dream NBA team—was the last thing he wanted. Lately he’d been giving a lot of thought to what he would do when his playing days were over. And the truth was, he had no idea. That frightened the absolute fuck out of him, enough that he felt like throwing up all over Jack’s shoes. “I know.”
Jack thumped him on the shoulder. “You’re getting older. It happens to all of us, but it’s not all bad. You’re the team leader and they need your experience. But things are taking longer to heal now, and you have to do what the therapists tell you.” Jack made it sound so reasonable…. But Bri wasn’t afraid of hard work—hell, he excelled at it. Only, the therapists he’d seen had all seemed afraid to push him. So he’d had to do it himself.
“I try. But they don’t seem to understand that I need to get back up to playing condition as soon as possible.” He actually growled at Jack, who rolled his eyes. Jack Harker had been around long enough that it just rolled off his back. “What am I going to do?”
Jack blew air out of his mouth as he thought. “You’ve been through the therapists that the team uses, and none of them want to see you again.” Jack pulled open the drawer of his desk. “I have notes from all of them asking that I not send you their way again.” Jack’s lips didn’t curl upward at all. “They describe you as grumpy, bossy, unruly, and impossible to work with.” He let the pages drop to the polished surface of the desk. “I don’t know what to do with you. I really don’t.”
Bri blinked, suddenly a little light-headed. “Is that true?”
“Yes. You yelled at one of the therapists so loudly that the other patients complained. No one else in that office is going to take you on either.” Jack sighed. “You need to understand that you have to work with therapists, not against them. They can’t help you if you won’t help yourself.”
“Well, being a total stubborn jackass is not going to help your knee heal or get you back on the court,” Jack said with an equal dose of bullheadedness. “I know you’re impatient, but cut it out. You can be aggressive on the court, but here, it’s only going to hurt you. And you know damned well I’m not going to let you play until you have full extension. Otherwise, you’re going to injure it again, and then you’ll be right back in the same place, only this time with a double injury. And you know what the team will do then.” He drew his finger across his throat in dramatic fashion.
Bri stifled a cringe. Being cut from the Philadelphia Rockets—his dream NBA team—was the last thing he wanted. Lately he’d been giving a lot of thought to what he would do when his playing days were over. And the truth was, he had no idea. That frightened the absolute fuck out of him, enough that he felt like throwing up all over Jack’s shoes. “I know.”
Jack thumped him on the shoulder. “You’re getting older. It happens to all of us, but it’s not all bad. You’re the team leader and they need your experience. But things are taking longer to heal now, and you have to do what the therapists tell you.” Jack made it sound so reasonable…. But Bri wasn’t afraid of hard work—hell, he excelled at it. Only, the therapists he’d seen had all seemed afraid to push him. So he’d had to do it himself.
“I try. But they don’t seem to understand that I need to get back up to playing condition as soon as possible.” He actually growled at Jack, who rolled his eyes. Jack Harker had been around long enough that it just rolled off his back. “What am I going to do?”
Jack blew air out of his mouth as he thought. “You’ve been through the therapists that the team uses, and none of them want to see you again.” Jack pulled open the drawer of his desk. “I have notes from all of them asking that I not send you their way again.” Jack’s lips didn’t curl upward at all. “They describe you as grumpy, bossy, unruly, and impossible to work with.” He let the pages drop to the polished surface of the desk. “I don’t know what to do with you. I really don’t.”
Bri blinked, suddenly a little light-headed. “Is that true?”
“Yes. You yelled at one of the therapists so loudly that the other patients complained. No one else in that office is going to take you on either.” Jack sighed. “You need to understand that you have to work with therapists, not against them. They can’t help you if you won’t help yourself.”
Andrew Grey is the author of nearly 100 works of Contemporary Gay Romantic fiction. After twenty-seven years in corporate America, he has now settled down in Central Pennsylvania with his husband, Dominic, and his laptop. An interesting ménage. Andrew grew up in western Michigan with a father who loved to tell stories and a mother who loved to read them. Since then he has lived throughout the country and traveled throughout the world. He is a recipient of the RWA Centennial Award, has a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and now writes full-time. Andrew’s hobbies include collecting antiques, gardening, and leaving his dirty dishes anywhere but in the sink (particularly when writing). He considers himself blessed with an accepting family, fantastic friends, and the world’s most supportive and loving partner. Andrew currently lives in beautiful, historic Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Thank you for the review and excerpt! The cover looks great =)
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