Tag: Game On

Review: The Hot Shot by Kristen Callihan

Posted May 18, 2017 by Rowena in Reviews | 3 Comments

Review: The Hot Shot by Kristen CallihanReviewer: Rowena
The Hot Shot by Kristen Callihan
Series: Game On #4
Also in this series: The Hook Up, The Friend Zone, The Game Plan

Publication Date: April 18th 2017
Genres: New Adult
Pages: 337
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

First we were friends. Then we were roommates. Now I want more…

What can I say about Chess Copper? The woman is capable of bringing me to my knees. I know this about five minutes after getting naked for her.No one is more surprised than me. The prickly photographer my team hired to shoot our annual charity calendar isn’t my usual type. She’s defense to my offense, a challenge at every turn. But when I’m with her, all the regrets and darkness goes away. She makes life fun.

I want to know Chess, be close to her. Which is a bad idea.

Chess is looking for a relationship. I’ve never given a woman more than one night. But when fate leaves Chess without a home, I step up and offer her mine. We’re roommates now. Friends without benefits. But it’s getting harder to keep our hands off each other. And the longer we live together the more I realize she’s becoming my everything.

Trick is… Now that I’ve made her believe I’m a bad bet, how do I convince her to give this player a true shot at forever?

The Hot Shot is the fourth book in Kristen Callihan’s Game On series and it follows Dex from The Game Plan’s teammate, Finn Mannus. Finn Mannus is a quarterback in the NFL and he’s winning in life. He’s got a great family, supportive friends and he never has trouble with the ladies so when he shows up for a photo shoot for work and meets the photographer, Chess Copper, he’s not prepared for her to stay on his mind long after the shoot is over.

Chess is a photographer who works hard and goes out of her way to be kind to people but there’s something about Finn Mannus that gets under her skin the first time she meets him. She’s all prickly whenever he’s around and he’s around a lot more than he should be since the job she worked with him on is done. Before Chess knows what’s what, her and Finn have become friends and he’s become a daily part of her life.

I enjoyed this book. It wasn’t my favorite Game On book but it was still a pretty solid read. Finn was the bomb and I adored every minute of getting to know him. Chess was pretty great herself but there were times when I didn’t understand her actions and the way that she thought about things. That’s not to say that Finn didn’t have his moments of WTF because he did. Most of his came through the whole thing with the girl that wasn’t his ex but almost became his baby mama.

I enjoyed seeing Finn so sure in himself and in his feelings toward Chess. It took Chess a little longer to come around and when she finally does, I was glad for it. Kristen Callihan really shines for me with these sports romances. I can’t get these books fast enough and I’m always thirsty for more. That was the case with this one.

This was such an easy read filled with lots of laughs, characters that rocked my socks and a romance so steamy, I about melted into a puddle of lust more than once. Finn and Chess found the real thing with each other and Kristen Callihan captured their love in a way that I just flat out enjoyed. I hope she never stops writing books for this series because it’s my favorite series of hers and this was another fabulous addition. I definitely recommend.

Grade: 4 out of 5

four-stars


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Joint Review: The Game Plan by Kristen Callihan

Posted November 6, 2015 by Holly in Reviews | 2 Comments

Joint Review: The Game Plan by Kristen CallihanReviewer: Holly and Rowena
The Game Plan by Kristen Callihan
Series: Game On #3
Also in this series: The Hook Up, The Friend Zone, The Hot Shot

Publication Date: November 1st 2015
Genres: Fiction, New Adult
Pages: 331
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

A beard-related dare and one hot-as-hell kiss changes everything.

NFL center Ethan Dexter’s focus has always been on playing football and little else. Except when it comes to one particular woman. The lovely Fiona Mackenzie might not care about his fame, but she’s also never looked at him as anything more than one of her brother-in-law’s best friends. That ends now.

Fi doesn’t know what to make of Dex. The bearded, tattooed, mountain of man-muscle looks more like a biker than a football player. Rumor has it he’s a virgin, but she finds that hard to believe. Because from the moment he decides to turn his quiet intensity on her she’s left weak at the knees and aching to see his famous control fully unleashed.

Fi ought to guard her heart and walk away; they live vastly different lives in separate cities. And Dex is looking for a forever girl. But Dex has upped his game and is using all his considerable charm to convince Fi he’s her forever man.

*We call this a joint review but really it’s just the two of us discussing the book. There may  be spoilers and bad language. 

Holly: Fiona is Ivy’s younger sister. We met her in the previous book, The Friend Zone. We also met Dex in the previous book (I don’t remember him from book 1). He was the wise, quiet one in that book and we learn here that he’s like that all the time. He has deep thoughts and tends to be introspective.

He’s also huge, tattooed, bearded, has a man-bun and he’s a virgin. SWOON.

Rowena: I feel like this review is going to be me fan girling over how much I loved Dex.

Love You

Like it’s going to be filled with heart eye emoji’s and that’s it.

Heart Eyes

But IDGAD, let’s do this.

Holly: Now Dex is in the NFL and like her sister, Fiona wants nothing to do with professional athletes. Her father was a professional basketball player before becoming a sports agent. He cheated on their mom and has mostly been absent from their lives. Fi wants nothing to do with anyone who might even closely resemble their dad. But right from the beginning Dex is different. He’s quiet and observant, funny and sweet…she doesn’t want anything to do with him, but she can’t stay away. I loved how drawn they were to each other.

Rowena: The story really takes off right from the very beginning and I like that we didn’t have to slog through huge backstory to get to the meat of their romance. I liked seeing them both become aware of each other and I loved the forthright way that Ethan was with Fiona. There was none of that silly back and forth between these two. Fiona knew where Ethan stood right from the very beginning. I dug that

Holly: I dug that, too. And I liked that Fiona decided to be just as forthright with Ethan. She could have played games, but instead she met his honesty with her own. There were a couple times I thought she was going to close down or not share with him what was going on in her head, but she always came through.

The first half of the book worked better than the second for me. Something about the big drama rubbed me the wrong way. It’s not that I disliked it, or thought the reactions of the characters weren’t appropriate, but I guess I felt like it was a bit over the top.

Rowena: I thought the big drama was pretty interesting, especially considering everything that went down in the real world with a similar big drama. Does that make sense?

Holly: Yeah, it makes sense. I guess it just felt really dramatic. Though, you’re right, in this day and age it isn’t outside the realm of possibility. I think maybe I struggled so much because she was so selfish during the whole ordeal. She wasn’t the only one affected, yet she was the only one she thought about. Would I have acted differently? I can’t say. But the fact that Ethan fought for her the whole time, yet she turned him away when he needed her most..well. I guess I didn’t like that.

Rowena: That’s kind of realistic though, isn’t it? Wouldn’t you be more worried about yourself because it’s your naked body out there for the masses eyes. For your parents to see, everyone at work, at school, at CHURCH, everyone has access to private photos of you and they got it without your permission. I think I would have been more worried about myself first and foremost. I wouldn’t have thought about Dex for at least two days. ;D

Holly: Sure, I get that. I even agree. But the theme of the entire book was Fiona pulling away and Ethan working for her, for them. So then this big thing happens and yes, it definitely affected her, but it affected him, too. He had his own issues and he got fucked with, too, over that. So this one time, when he really needed her, she couldn’t have looked past her own issues to help him with his?

Ron Swanson WTH

Rowena: I guess not. Ha.

One of the things that low key frustrated me was Fiona’s workplace issues. I wish Fiona would have been as forthright with her boss, or maybe not even the boss but the problem girl, as she was with Dex. I really liked her revenge though. That was some shady and petty goodness.

Holly: You’re right, she shouldn’t have been so quiet about what was happening. I get sometimes you have to eat shit at work. You can’t just run around and demand things. I get that. But she said nothing.

I did love her form of revenge, though. It was petty and shady, but I still laughed. Though, thinking on it a bit more, it was pretty immature. I’m going to laugh instead of worrying about it, though, because that girl at work deserved everything she got. And so did her boss.

Rowena: Holy cow, how dumb was that girl?

Holly: That girl was a moron. For real.

Rowena: The thing that kept me frustrated was that the stuff at work happened more than once. I get not wanting to be the office snitch but hell, don’t be the office bitch eithe/r. Stand up for yourself. Put that bitch in her place. I’ve had to do that and it’s not easy but it needs to be done sooner rather than later because that shit is not cool. At all. Those people are messing with your livelihood. Don’t let them. I kept wanting to yell at Fiona to cut that bitch up (professionally, of course…can you cut a bitch up professionally? Eh, you know what I mean) and I felt like it took too long for her to fix that shit.

cut you like bad bangs

 

Holly: I completely agree. She needed to stand up for herself way sooner than she did. That was no time to be timid and wait for something to magically change on its own.

Rowena: I did like her office friend Alice. We all need someone at work like Alice.

Holly: Yes, Alice was great and I’m glad Fiona had someone she could talk to.

Rowena: As far as the romance goes? I liked it. I liked that their feelings for each other weren’t in question. It was dealing with the dynamics of their lives that was the issue. She lives in New York, he lives in New Orleans. Him being on the road all the time, her hating that lifestyle because of the issues she had with it growing up. That world is so foreign to me so I found that part of their romance quite interesting. I wish I had the kind of money where if my bestie in New York City needed me, I’d be on the first flight out there. To bad for you, since if you need me, you have to settle for phone calls and cyber hugs. Sigh.

Holly: Ha. I wish we could afford to fly to each other every weekend. I will say, I loved that they were both willing to do that for each other.

The romance was sweet. They had good chemistry and a solid understanding of how the other worked.

Rowena: I thought that Callihan handled Dex’s story incredibly well. His insecurities and his background made perfect sense and sold me on Ethan Dexter as a whole. I loved the person that he grew up to be…and I really loved that his friendship with Grey and Drew was solid and long lasting.

Holly: I agree. Dex was wonderful. One of the best aspects of this entire series is the friendship between the guys. I love that they’ve maintained it even after their lives split and they ended up in different cities and on different teams.

Rowena: OMG, what about how Dex flew to San Francisco to watch the baby so that Gray and Ivy can catch up on their sleep? Gah. He’s the best.

Holly: I LOVED THAT! When he was like “I know babies and you need help” I about died. I want a Dex!

I loved Fiona. I loved Dex. Like, OMFG LOVED him. I thought the major drama toward the end of the book – or, more specifically, Fiona’s reaction to it – was a bit disappointing, but that didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of the book. I loved the way their romance developed and I wanted to see them work it out.

All About the Fairytale

I’m going to give this a 4 out of 5

Rowena: Like you, I really enjoyed this book. I loved Dex. I loved Fiona. I loved getting all of the Gray and Ivy and Baby Grayson bits. The romance between Dex and Fiona was hot and believable and my favorite part of the entire book. The minor disappointments of the happenings at Fi’s work didn’t take too much away from my enjoyment of the book because in the end, that revenge rocked my socks.

I’m giving this book 4.25 out of 5.

Final Grades

Holly :  4/5
Rowena : 4.25/5

four-stars


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Cover and Excerpt: The Game Plan by Kristen Callihan

Posted October 23, 2015 by Holly in Promotions | 1 Comment

Cover and Excerpt: The Game Plan by Kristen CallihanThe Game Plan by Kristen Callihan
Series: Game On #3
Also in this series: The Hook Up, The Friend Zone, The Game Plan, The Hot Shot
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: November 1, 2015
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
Series Rating: four-stars

A beard-related dare and one hot-as-hell kiss changes everything.

NFL center Ethan Dexter’s focus has always been on playing football and little else. Except when it comes to one particular woman. The lovely Fiona Mackenzie might not care about his fame, but she’s also never looked at him as anything more than one of her brother-in-law’s best friend. That ends now.

Fi doesn’t know what to make of Dex. The bearded, tattooed, mountain of man-muscle looks more like a biker than a football player. Rumor has it he’s a virgin, but she finds that hard to believe. Because from the moment he decides to turn his quiet intensity on her she’s left weak at the knees and aching to see his famous control fully unleashed.

Dex is looking for a forever girl, but they live vastly different lives in separate cities. Fi ought to guard her heart and walk away. But Dex has upped his game and is using all his considerable charm to convince Fi he's her forever man.

Game On​

I’m ridiculously excited to share an excerpt and the cover for The Game Plan by Kristen Callihan with you today. I loved this book. Dex was amazing, and Fiona was perfect. Football and a hot guy with tattoos. What else do you need in life?

TGP Amazon

Isn’t that cover awesome? The tattoos! The Muscles!

Read an excerpt:
Muscular man with tattos undressing. Isolated on white

I grin up at him. “You know, before this, I’d have taken you for a hard rock, or maybe even a bluegrass fan.”

“It’s the beard, isn’t it,” he asks.

“And the man-bun.”

He laughs, a short rumble of sound. “Want me to let it down?”

Yes. Maybe.

“Not necessary. Man-buns are hot. I blame Jason Momoa. There was only so much watching him bang Khaleesi the female population could take before they wanted their own Khal Drogo.”

Shit. I really don’t know what the hell I’m doing. Because it sounds a lot like flirting to me. Instinct tells me flirting with Ethan Dexter isn’t something to do lightly. And there’s the fact that I don’t go for athletes. At all. I don’t care how fit they are. Or how confident. I don’t like sports. Football bores me. Oh, I know tons about the sport—kind of impossible not to in my family—but I don’t want to pretend that I care when I’d rather talk about other things.

Dex’s eyes crinkle again, and he turns toward me, leaning an elbow on the table. “Doesn’t Momoa have a beard?”

I wave my hand. “Who has time to look at his beard when his muscles are on display?”

I most certainly do not look at Dex’s phenomenal arms.

“So your stance on beards is?” His gaze so strong I feel it in my toes.

My breathing picks up. “Don’t particularly like them.”

It’s the truth. And yet I can’t help but look at his. It’s dark, framing his mouth, which should be a turnoff for me. Only it draws all my attention there. To the shape of his mouth—the upper lip a gentle curve, the lower lip fuller, almost a pout. There’s something slightly illicit about the whole effect.

I clear my throat, glance up, and find him watching me through lowered lids. He doesn’t seem particularly put out by my frankness.

“What don’t you like about them?”

Is he serious?

He stares at me.

I guess he is.

Taking a quick sip of my drink, I search for an answer. “They’re just so…fuzzy. Prickly.”

He moves in, not crowding me, but putting himself at arms’ reach. He smells faintly of cloves and oranges. It must be his aftershave or cologne, but it works for me.

I’m distracted by it and almost jump when he speaks again. “Do you know this based on experience, or are you making an assumption?”

My gaze narrows. “Aren’t you the philosopher.”

“You didn’t answer the question.”

“Fine. Assumption.”

His lips quirk. “You should find out if your assumption is true before you condemn the beard.”

“Is this some sort of creepy way to get me to touch your beard?”

A challenge flashes in his eyes. “There are a few guys at the bar sporting beards. You could go ask them. But I figure since we know each other…”

“Not that well.”

“You’d rather ask a stranger?”

“You’re assuming I care enough to ask, Slick.”

His teeth shine white in the shadows of the club. “I know you’re curious. You’re fairly twitching with wanting to know.”

I flatten my hands against the table and glare. Is it just me, or is he closer? Close enough that I can see his eyes are hazel, lighter around his cornea with a starburst pattern. I wish I could see the colors, but he’s painted in shades of blue and gray right now.

And he’s watching me. Patient. Calculating. Tempting.

“It’s always the quiet ones,” I mutter before taking a breath. “Okay, I’ll pet your fuzzy face.”

“Hold up.” Without hesitation, he reaches for my drink and takes a sip. “Liquid courage.”

A strangled laugh leaves me. “Because I’m sooo scary.”

“You have no idea, Cherry.”

I think I growl at him. I definitely want to give his precious beard a good, hard tug. But he simply lifts his brows at me. “Get on with it, then.”

This cheeky bastard is totally playing me. And here I am falling into his trap. Because I cannot look away from his beard now. More specifically, his lips, which are parted just slightly. An invitation. A dare.

Shit. I’ve never been very good at ignoring a dare.

I hate that my hand trembles as I reach up to touch him. He stays perfectly still, his arm casually slung on the edge of the booth behind me, his body turned toward mine. But I don’t miss the way his breathing has kicked up just slightly.

I hesitate, shy almost. Hells bells, I’m only going to touch a bit of facial hair. Why does it feel like we’re two kids tucked in a dark corner, playing a game of “I’ll show you mine”?
Annoyed with myself, I close the distance between us.

Check out Kristen Online:

http://www.kristencallihan.com/
https://www.facebook.com/KristenCallihan
https://twitter.com/Kris10Callihan
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23204215-the-game-plan


​Pre-Order Links
Amazon: Amazon | iBooks: http://apple.co/1GQdm5a

 


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Review: The Friend Zone by Kristen Callihan

Posted May 27, 2015 by Holly in Reviews | 4 Comments

Review: The Friend Zone by Kristen CallihanReviewer: Holly
The Friend Zone by Kristen Callihan
Series: Game On #2
Also in this series: The Hook Up, The Game Plan, The Hot Shot

Publication Date: May 5th 2015
Genres: Fiction, New Adult
Pages: 323
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Gray doesn’t make friends with women. He has sex with them. Until Ivy.
The last thing star tight-end Gray Grayson wants to do is drive his agent’s daughter’s bubblegum pink car. But he needs the wheels and she’s studying abroad. Something he explains when she sends him an irate text to let him know exactly how much pain she’ll put him in if he crashes her beloved ride. Before he knows it, Ivy Mackenzie has become his best texting bud. But then Ivy comes home and everything goes haywire. Because the only thing Gray can think of is being with Ivy.
Ivy doesn’t have sex with friends. Especially not with a certain football player. No matter how hot he makes her…
Gray drives Ivy crazy. He’s irreverent, sex on a stick, and completely off limits. Because, Ivy has one golden rule: never get involved with one of her father’s clients. A rule that’s proving harder to keep now that Gray is doing his best to seduce her. Her best friend is fast becoming the most irresistible guy she’s ever met.
Which means Gray is going to have to use all his skills to win Ivy’s heart. Game on.

Gray Grayson doesn’t do relationships. He’s all about hooking up for the night, but he isn’t interested in attachments. Until he needs to borrow a car and his soon-to-be agent offers up the use of his daughter’s pink Fiat. When Ivy texts him telling him to take care of her baby, they become surprisingly close …considering she’s studying aboard and they’ve never met face-to-face.

When Ivy needs to be picked up at the airport Gray is happy to do it. He can’t wait to finally see the person who has become really important to him. Until he meets her and realizes they have sizzling chemistry. The last thing he wants is to ruin their friendship by getting physical, but the more time they spend together the more he wants her.

Ivy is just as surprised at the punch of physical attraction she feels for Gray. She considers him her closest friend, and she doesn’t want to ruin that any more than he does. Plus, she watched her father treat her mother like crap, and she has no desire to hook up with a playboy athlete who’ll break her heart. Keeping things platonic is the best course of action…until Ivy gets sick and Gray ends up sleeping in her bed. The enforced physical closeness just heightens their awareness. Before long Gray is trying to convince Ivy to take a chance on him…on them.

Gray seems to have it all: a sport he loves and is good at, looks, brains and a great sense of humor. But he’s harboring pain from his past and wants love just like everyone else…only he doesn’t think he deserves it. He’s afraid of putting himself out there with Ivy and losing her altogether. Ivy doesn’t want to repeat the mistakes of her parents. Plus, she’s planning to head back to England in 3 months. Even though neither was looking, if they stick together this could be the start of something beautiful..or it could ruin them both.

I was really looking forward to this book after finishing The Hook Up. To be honest, I struggled with the heroine in the early part of The Hook Up, and thought it was kind of slow in the middle. But I zipped right through The Friend Zone, loving every minute of it.

Gray was everything I’d hoped he’d be – smart, funny and sexy as hell. His ribald sense of humor and realistic outlook on life really endeared him to me. Too often in New Adult novels we see the pasts of the main characters dictating every decision they make. That wasn’t the case here. Gray had suffered and still carried some scars, but he also lived in the moment with an eye toward the future. It’s hard to move forward with one foot stuck in the past, and Gray realized that.

Ivy was still trying to figure out what to do with her life, and struggling to deal with the pain of having a father who was mostly absent. I thought her issues were well written and she was a sympathetic character. She could have come off as too-young or immature, but rather I thought she was entering a new phase of her life and trying to navigate unfamiliar waters.

Despite her issues with her father, they clearly had a lot of love for each other. I really liked their family dynamic and her relationship with her sister. Gray didn’t have a relationship with his family, but his friendship with Drew was important to him and they were more like brothers than not. While that came across in The Hook Up, I think I felt the connection more here. I also loved his friendships with the other guys on his team. They were all close and I liked how they turned to each other when things got rough.

“She’s not…‘this’ Ivy,” I pant out. Dip, touch, turn, sprint. “And what’s to tell? She’s…” I touch the next cone. “My friend.”
“Hmmm…” Drew takes a pull on his straw—Jesus, the drink has an umbrella. I swear he put one in it to fuck with me. It’s forty degrees out here, and he’s acting like he’s on a beach somewhere. “And yet you’re attached to your phone like it’s become your second dick.”
“Don’t see a problem with that.” I grunt. “Two dicks, twice the fun.” One. More. Set. Fuck.

There’s quite a bit of humor in the book, and I laughed out loud more than I expected to. Usually when the team was all together and giving each other a hard time, Ivy and her sister were teasing one another, or Gray and Ivy were texting each other.

GrayG: So as friends, can I still say inappropriate, sex-related things?
IvyMac: Sure. Think of me as just another guy. With a vagina.
GrayG: A. Shudder. B. Yeah, no. C. I had this dream that you were sucking my 8==> But when I looked down, I discovered it was actually a goat…you know. Then I really woke up because I yelled so hard, I fell out of bed. And now I live in mortal terror of goats.
IvyMac: LMFAO! Gray got it from a goat!
GrayG: >:-[
IvyMac: Goat-on-Gray action! Heeeee! *Falls down ded*
GrayG: You suck, you know that?
IvyMac: No, the goat does! *Dies again* My sides. My sides!
GrayG: Laugh it up, Chuckles.
IvyMac: Okay. I’m good now. Aw, Cupcake, I’m so glad we’re friends.

I really felt the connection between Ivy and Gray. The early part of their relationship is shown via the text messages they exchange, and I thought it gave us great insight into their friendship. They got to know each other without any kind of physical attraction getting in the way, and they took their time exploring their friendship in person once Ivy came home. They joked and laughed, traded secrets and fears, and came to rely on one another. I really loved their romance.

“Every inch, Ivy,” he whispers against them.
I open my eyes and smile. My arms wind around his neck, holding him close. “You said that once, before your last game. But you never really told me what it means.”
Gray’s hands move to my waist. “Before you, it meant I’ll fight for every inch of yardage, never give up until I’m in the end zone. But now?” His blue eyes meet mine. “It means I’ll fight for every inch of you.”

I was really bothered by the number of typos and grammatical errors. At one point they agree to meet at 1pm and in the next paragraph it’s 8pm on the dot. That was a minor issue, though, and didn’t really detract from my overall enjoyment.

The story was touching, funny and engaging. I fell right into it and didn’t come up for air until the end.

4.5 out of 5

four-half-stars


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