Making the Play | Romantic Reads and Such

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Book Review, Hidden Falls series, Making the Play, T.J. Kline

Author T.J. Kline brings readers a new series … and it is going to have something for everyone. Cowboys, copy, firefighter, and, kicking it all off, a football player. Oh, man 🙂

*****

Making the Play

Hidden Falls #1

by T.J. Kline

Releasing September 27, 2016

Avon Impulse

Blurb:

T.J. Kline launches a brand new series with the charming story of an NFL player who finds love when he least expects it…

Grant McQuaid has dedicated his entire life to his football career. Now an injury threatens his place on the team and he’s forced to return home to rehabilitate. But when he meets his “biggest fan,” a precocious, blue-eyed, hearing impaired boy named James—and his beautiful mother, Bethany—Grant begins to question whether football is the future he still wants.

Bethany Mills has been doing just fine since her husband walked out on them… and she definitely doesn’t need another man to disappoint her—or her son. But when James runs into his hero at the park, Bethany admits there is a void in her son’s life that she just can’t fill. Her attraction to the handsome football star is undeniable, but a man in the limelight is the last thing she wants for herself, or James.

Grant doesn’t want to subject Bethany to the chaos of dating a professional athlete. But the more time he spends with her and James, the harder it is to resist making a play for her heart…

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30166230-making-the-play

Goodreads Series Link https://www.goodreads.com/series/181009-hidden-falls

Buy Links: Amazon | B & N | Google | iTunes | Kobo

*****

Excerpt:

Bethany watched from the doorway as Grant McQuaid, star running back, lay on her bathroom floor repairing the seal on her toilet. Thank goodness she’d cleaned the tile after the water had soaked it.

“That should do it,” he announced, standing up and handing James the wrench he’d purchased. “Go put that in a safe place so your mom has it when she needs it next time.”

His shirt had several wet spots on it from his less-than-stellar handyman skills, plastering it to him in several places and making it difficult for Bethany to keep from staring at the way the muscles of his upper body shifted, flexing with his every movement. Her fingers itched to run down the lines of his rib cage where the shirt clung to him like a second skin.

“Ice cream time,” James announced, running past her into the hallway.

“Put it into the drawer by the phone, baby,” she called after him.

Grant washed his hands at the sink and wiped them on the towel sitting on the counter before he turned toward her. “Ice cream time,” he repeated, his voice low and husky.

It didn’t sound like a fun outing when he said it. It sounded like a dark promise of sweet, sinfully dangerous things to come. He took a step toward her, eliminating any distance between them and looked down at her, his dampened chest only inches from her face. Her fingers twitched, desperate to reach out and touch his skin, to see if it was indeed as hot and hard as it looked.

“Are you ready?”

Bethany glanced up at him, the heat from his skin warming her without a touch, setting every nerve ending in her body on high alert. She felt his breath wash over the top of her head. “Are you sure you want to do this? You don’t have to.”

The smile that spread over his lips was warm. And slightly wicked. “Bethany, there is nothing I’d rather do right now.”

His eyes met hers and he lifted a finger under her chin. His hand was cool and still slightly damp from washing up but his gaze was hot. Bethany felt the sizzle of electricity from his touch as it stole her breath. She licked her lips, wondering what she could say, if she could even form words to speak.

His gaze fell to her lips and she felt her knees weaken, her breaths coming in shallow pants. “I take that back. I can think of a few other things I’d rather do with you.”

*****

Review:

Contemporary romance readers won’t be surprised at how this story flows, but they will appreciate the special things that make it a fun read.

Bethany is a wonderful mom (and her son is one of the highlights of the book), but she’s been hiding her heart away. Meeting super-sexy Grant, who shows real interest in her son as a person, shakes things up. She struggles a little with opening up and I have to say that once she does she shows more patience than me to put up with Grant’s shenanigans.

While he may be great with James, Grant does seem a little lacking in the relationship department. Which is to be expected since this is really his first true romance. He’s spent so much of his life focused on football that he never really got involved with a woman. His hot and cold attitude, stubbornness, minor fibs, and lack of communication definitely cause him a ton of troubles … but of course there’s gonna be problems. It’s a romance 🙂

While there there are familiar elements, Kline does a great job of giving us characters that pop and keep you drawn in to the end. Just because something has been used before doesn’t mean they can’t be enjoyable if the book is done well. And this one definitely is.

Grant has a few siblings so I’m sure we’re going to get their stories too. And if they are anything like this I can’t wait!

*****

Author Info:

T. J. Kline was raised competing in rodeos and Rodeo Queen competitions since the age of 14 and has thorough knowledge of the sport as well as the culture involved. She writes contemporary western romance for Avon Romance, including the Rodeo series and the Healing Harts series. She has published a nonfiction health book and two inspirational fiction titles under the name Tina Klinesmith. In her very limited spare time, T.J. can be found laughing hysterically with her husband, children, and their menagerie of pets in Northern California.

Author Links: Website | Facebook| Twitter | GoodReads

*****