book blurb:
Zoey:
My life is anything but perfect—but I’ve gotten really good at pretending it is.
My ballet career busted before it even began, all because my body changed. And my love life? That’s been doomed from the start, too. Why? Because I’ve been in love with one guy since I was a kid. And that’s exactly how he sees me.
Gary Robinson, quarterback of the Seattle (NFL team), I’ve known him since I was twelve and in love with him since I was thirteen!
He’s never said anything, thank God. I don’t even think he’s realized it. Maybe when I was little, but now he definitely has no clue. But regardless, he’s been a constant in my life—those piercing blue eyes, that easy charm. His goofy sense of humor!
He’s everything I want but can’t have… Loving him isn’t the hard part—hiding it is.
But then he walks in on me while I’m FaceTiming with my sister, being completely ridiculous while sunbathing by the pool—instead of laughing it off, he gets…angry.
And suddenly, pretending gets a whole lot harder.
Gary:
Being a professional quarterback for the Seattle Steelheads? That was always the dream.
But Zoey? I never saw her coming.
Not only is she the coach’s daughter, but he’s also my friend. His wife is my cousin!
She’s always been there—cute, talented, sweet as hell. She’s never been anything more than the cute kid that had a crush on me once.
When did she grow up?
I’ve never been in a serious relationship before, even a not serious relationship. But now, after seeing her at the pool…I can’t unsee what I saw. And—well, I don’t want to.
*High Gravity ALC *Age Gap *Sports Romance (Football) *Best friends Daughter
*Coach's daughter *Dancer FMC *MH Body image struggles *Rom-Com *Spice
*Found family *Protective MMC *novella *Reformed Playboy MMC *Banter
*State Challenge: Washington *long time crush (FMC to MMC) *Cinnamon Roll MMC
Thoughts:
I had seen this authors books around and had a few on my TBR so when this one came available as an ALC through High Gravity I had to grab it to check it out!
I didn't read the blurb beforehand but I checked it out after I started listening to it and I wasn't sure if I would like it or not I'm not opposed to age gap but I was concerned that the fact that Gary (MMC) is friends with Zoey's (FMC) dad and had met her when she was younger I wasn't sure how this was going to play out... turned out to be not as big of an issue as I thought it would be.
Gary (who knew someone named Gary could be so hot) is a player on and off of the field on the field though he's the star quarterback... he doesn't have girlfriends he's more of a one night stand kind of guy. Zoey has had a crush on Gary since she was a young teenager but knows it will go nowhere he doesn't see her as a woman... moving on from her crush she starts dating her current boyfriend... now ex after she caught him in a compromising situation but he apparently hasn't received the hint that they are done.
Gary and Zoey grew closer as friends since Zoey started going to college he just likes hanging around her she's easy to talk to and fun... he knows it's wrong but very recently he's started feeling differently towards Zoey and doesn't know what to think about it... he can't act on these feelings obviously.
Zoey is home from college when Gary catches her in a compromising situation then one thing leads to another and it is fireworks! Zoey is dealing with a lot of shame about her body since gaining some weight (it doesn't help that her ex-boyfriend and dance instructors were always commenting about her weight gain). I loved how sweet and thoughtful Gary is towards her in helping her see she is beautiful just the way she is no changes needed.
I appreciate how the author acknowledges the age gap but put them in a situation where the feelings they had were growing over time after she was an adult so them ending up together didn't feel forced or wrong, it felt inevitable it was meant to be.
I also enjoyed that they were not hiding their relationship Gary once given the chance went above and beyond to be the perfect out in the open boyfriend even fessing up to his friend (knowing his friend might be livid).
The narrators did a great job bringing these characters to life. This story had me laughing throughout, I loved cinnamon roll Gary and how thoughtful and caring he was. Even though it's a shorter book it doesn't really feel "insta love" there is enough build up of their relationship prior to the book starting that you can see how both leads would be having feelings for each other. I loved watching Gary go from playboy to all in for the right woman and Zoey come to learn that she doesn't need to change who she is to please others.
This was a spicy fun quick read and I enjoyed it!
Have you read this one yet? what did you think?
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