Release Day Review ~ Fair Catch by Leigh Carman

Title: Fair Catch
Series: Players of LA: Book Two
Author: Leigh Carman
Release Date: March 20, 2017
Category: Contemporary
Pages: 200

GoodReads ~ Dreamspinner ~ Amazon

Blurb:

Two men.

One night of passion.

They never expected to see each other again.

They were wrong.

Tobias Bennett is a quiet and unassuming man who teaches yoga and enjoys parkour. Though he is proud to be gay, an abusive relationship with a domineering man has left Tobias wary of romance, and he keeps to himself in his tidy Los Angeles apartment.

Pro football player Sullivan Archer is Tobias’s complete opposite: loud, brash, fond of the spotlight… and deep in the closet. When a hamstring injury sends Van to Tobias as part of his therapy, neither of them is expecting to come face-to-face with his one-night stand. Now they’re stuck together throughout Van’s healing process, and the close proximity will force them to deal with some hard truths. For Tobias, it’s realizing his hookup is a celebrity. For Van, it means accepting that he likes Tobias more than he wanted. They’ll both have to acknowledge that if they choose to pursue a relationship, their lives will change in big ways.

2.5 - 3 Stars

I loved the blurb and was really looking forward to this book, but it was kind of disappointing. I thought the relationship was a bit immature and annoying. Van and Toby were both stubborn and too quick to throw in the towel. The story needed more relationship time to make the love feel more believable. I love sex in books, but in this book it got in the way. Times where conversations should have been had to solve issues, the characters wound up falling into bed instead of communicating and trying to fix their problems. The writing felt choppy and some scenes felt somewhat incomplete. I thought the author could have focused much more on Van's teammates reaction to his coming out. It's just sort of an afterthought in the epilogue, and it's a shame, because I think it would have made an interesting scene. It also made his coming out a little anticlimactic.

I thought parts of the story were really unrealistic, particularly a scene with Toby's ex. I don't want to give    away any spoilers, but there was a scene that I didn't understand the outcome of. It didn't make sense and again, the scene ended abruptly and the author moved on without involving the reader in something that I think we should have seen on page.

I feel bad because this is such a negative review, so I'll give you the things I liked about the story. I loved the secondary characters, especially Toby's best friend, Leo. He was funny and unapologetically himself. He was a great support system for Toby and I adored him. There were some sweet moments in this book and I liked the characters, I just wish we'd gotten more of them as a couple.

All in all, this wasn't a horrible book, it just needed some more work, I think. While I didn't really care for this book all that much, I'd be open to giving the author another try.

*Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure, a review wasn’t a requirement.*