ARC Review – Straddling the Line (Play by Play #8) by Jaci Burton

Straddling The Line really has a mix of everything a sports romance reader loves. We get lots of field action, lots of smoking sex, and cocky sexy athletes all wrapped around an original yet beautiful love story. ~ Rhayne, Guilty Pleasures 

Description:
Trevor Shay has it all—a successful football and baseball career, and any woman he wants. But when he finds out his college mentor’s daughter is in trouble, he drops everything to come to her aid.

Haven Briscoe has finally landed a dream job as a sportscaster for a major network. But she hasn’t been able to move past the recent death of her beloved father, and it’s affecting her career. A plum assignment following the daily life of sports superstar Trevor Shay might be just the inspiration she needs…

Trevor will do anything to spark life back into Haven, including letting her into every aspect of his world. The chemistry between them flames higher than one of Trevor’s home runs and faster than his dashes to the end zone. But as they grow closer, Haven stumbles onto Trevor’s closely guarded secret, one he’s hidden his entire life. And despite his protests, now it’s Haven’s turn to put everything on hold to help Trevor. Will he let her in and trust her with a secret that could blow his professional and personal world apart?

 

 

Review copy provided for an honest review

We are eight books into the Play by Play Series and each book is still just as exciting as the first. Straddling The Line really has a mix of everything a sports romance reader loves. We get lots of field action, lots of smoking sex, and cocky sexy athletes all wrapped around an original yet beautiful love story.

Haven has been suffering the past year after the death of her father. She hasn’t been able to move on and get past her grief. She has landed the job of a lifetime as a sports journalist and doesn’t have the drive to peruse it. That is until her new assignment is to write up a bio piece on Trevor. She could never turn her back on him.

Trevor is an athlete in a rare category of playing two professional sports. He is a baseball superstar as well as a football star. He rarely gives out interviews, but as a favor to Haven’s mom he agrees to give Haven a chance to do this assignment. She tutored him in college and she wasn’t a stranger by any means.

Both Haven and Trevor have things they have to work through. She is struggling to move on from her grief, and fighting the attraction she feels for Trevor. Trevor is dedicated to be the best athlete he can be and remain in the elite category he has earned. He is hiding a huge secret and isn’t able to allow anyone to get close enough to him to uncover the truth. He also feels the pull towards Haven and is teetering on the brink of falling in love with her, but continually pushes her back to keep his secrets locked up tight.

Pushing Haven away proves harder to accomplish than Trevor thought. He is able to recognize his feelings and accept that he has some changes to make. I loved the way Haven realized she was going to fight for him and try to help him. They share some very deep, heartfelt moments on their journey to claim happiness and love.

As with all the books in this series, we get a lot of actual game time. Ms. Burton writes these scenes so well you really feel transported right into the game. I love the balance of sports action and romance action. It’s blended perfectly. There are some great stories up next in this series and I can’t wait!