I love sports (a lot) and romance. I don’t have an opportunity to read many books with sports in the forefront and especially not a romance novel, so I had been looking forward to reading this title for some time now. And even though I’m not a “sweet” romance type of girl, I really enjoyed it and didn’t feel that I was being ‘faded-to-black’ or missing out on a deeper romantic level. I was satisfied when I finished reading.

This is a sort-of-enemies to lovers romance between Greg and Ciara. I say ‘sort-of’ because Greg really holds no animosity towards Ciara, but her preconceived notions of him based on his reputation which was actually cleansed pits them as unnecessary adversaries. She finally spends enough actual time with him to discover what an incredible guy he really is only to throw it all away without even giving him a chance to explain.

This is the second novel I’ve read by this author and he creates such wonderful main characters that by the end, I’m rooting for them to find someone worthy of their love instead of the person they’re pursuing. It’s understandable that Ciara is cautious considering a past heartbreak, but good grief, the small mistake Greg makes solicits a completely unwarranted response. It doesn’t help that her best friend has never been able to see past Greg’s, well… past. The fact that Ciara chooses this woman as her best friend already makes me question her life choices.

In end… I’ll remember Greg Miller for years to come (as I do EJ from Jim Cangany’s first series). Their love interests? Not so much. And it’s not because their love interests are terrible people, they’re flawed just as we all are, but they’re just not good enough for our fellas.

The basketball game descriptions are compelling, especially in the game against “The Machine.” I felt as though I had been dropped into the field house on the tenth row, cheering for our team to pull out the win, experiencing the action as it unfolded. I even had a few pricks in the back of my eyes when Ciara gave her pre-game speech before the big one. But the sports action does not overwhelm what this book is – a romance. That’s always what’s in the forefront when reading this novel.

I definitely recommend this to anyone who likes sweet romances. Or even if that’s not your go-to, read anyway, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

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