Author: Desiree Holt

Book: Forward Pass

tl;dr recommendation: This is a sweet romance in which I was happily swept away with Joe’s over the top gestures and dirty talking.

Book Summary:

Shay 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.

Longer Review:

3.75 stars!

I love a good sports romance. This is written in a classic contemporary romance style, meaning you sort of see how things are going, but you love it anyway. I declare this beach-read-awesome.

While Joe isn’t playing anymore, and is a reformed playboy, his wild days continue to plague him. It just goes to show you that it takes longer than five minutes (or five years in Joe’s case) to change your reputation. Shay has been in love with Joe since….uhhhh….forever. He was her brother’s best friend growing up and she spent her days learning about football so that she could impress Joe. However, he never saw her as more than the bratty little sister that followed along.

Until now.

A set of circumstances throw Shay and Joe together and Joe suddenly realizes that Shay is most definitely all grown up. Unfortunately, she’s heard all of the stores of his bed jumping and she’s not looking to be another notch on his bedpost. Joe makes it his mission to convince her otherwise….but of course, it’s not that easy.

This is a sweet romance in which I was happily swept away with Joe’s over the top gestures and dirty talking. There are some wonderfully hot and steamy sex scenes that definitely had me needing a time out to recover.

Shay was super reluctant and very in her head, questioning all the things. That sort of drove me nuts, especially when Joe was practically pouring his heart out to her. I wanted to shake her when she was unwilling to give Joe any sort of a chance, even though he’s more than making an effort. Thankfully, with a lot of ice cream, she comes around. [this book really made me want ice cream].

Joe is sort of an idiot, but an extremely adorable and well meaning idiot. He goes completely all in with Shay, practically immediately, and that scored major points with me. Things move VERY quickly in this story, so be prepared for some quick timelines. That’s sort of par for the course (oops, wrong sport) for this type of novel, so it didn’t really bother me, but it’s worth mentioning.

Pick this one up on the way to the beach & enjoy the day basking in the sun while Joe’s sweet and dirty words roll over you. Overall, I enjoyed the plot, and even though I could see how things were going to play out, I was more than happy to ride along. 3.75 stars.

[I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review]