Title: Intended for Bristol (Second Chances #8) 

Author: L.P. Dover

Genre: Sports Romance, Adult

Expected Publication Date: December 6, 2016

Publisher: Loveswept

L. P. Dover’s tantalizing Second Chances series gets a change of scenery as the Carolina Cougars’ infamous bad boy heads to the West Coast. His best laid plans call for seduction—but a driven career woman has him begging for more.

Trying to live down his very public indiscretions, Carolina Cougars kicker Jaxon Reed feels like the most hated man in the NFL. When he’s traded away, his new teammates in California don’t waste any time making his life miserable. Unfortunately for them, Jaxon’s no easy target. As payback, he sets his sights on the quarterback’s sister: a sultry brunette who’s curvy, confident, and sexy as hell. But what begins as a revenge fling turns into so much more.

Bristol Thomas doesn’t have time for games, especially those played by her brother’s Neanderthal teammates. A talented interior designer with lofty goals, she doesn’t know the first thing about football, or Jaxon—except that he’s exactly the type of man she usually avoids. But when his deep laugh and deeper kisses break through her walls, she becomes the target of a fan who’s obsessed with Jaxon. Now she needs to know that Jaxon has her back . . . because he already has her heart.

Advance praise for L. P. Dover’s Catching Summer

“L. P. Dover knows how to create the men who make us swoon, the book boyfriends we all want.”—New York Times bestselling author Heidi McLaughlin

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review. 

Wow, it only took me 1.5 hours to finish the book, this sets a whole new record for me! 

I've always loved sports romance. Having read numerous sports-related novels such as Play by Play series by Jaci Burton, I've grown so used to the plot of a professional athlete/playboy hunk meeting the feisty right girl that righted his wayward days, and yet I'm still a softy for these cliche plots that had me gasping, bawling and swooning like a hormonal fangirl. The blurb and the cover combined attracted me to the book and I was so excited when Netgalley approved my request. I did not have high expectations for the book as 1) I've never read the series before and 2) how creative can you be with sports romance? While I was not too fond of the writing, I was surprised at the element of suspense that Dover thought of including in her plot, I thought it was both original and thrilling. However, with suspense comes mystery, and that was the one part that disappointed me most. I was able to guess the entire plot within a few minutes into the book! 

Jaxon Reed (Gosh, what a sexy name) was first introduced as a hate-able character that was disliked by his team, as much as a jerk he may have seemed, he was the one character that I was intrigued to find out more about. Despite the a**hole behaviour that radiates off him, his love for his mother was admirable and I swooned at his presence.

   

 And apparently Bristol described him as Hook's stunt double! **Instant crush** 

Unfortunately, I wasn't "hooked" from the start. I enjoyed the plot but there are parts of the story that were lacking and had the potential to be something more. I did not feel the connection between Jaxon and Bristol, their relationship was not as convincing as I imagined it to be. I was only catching fleeting glimpses of the story before it abruptly stopped and changed course, therefore I wasn't able to emotionally connect to the characters and the story just fell flat. 

I love the idea of the story, but it has so much underutilised potential that felt wasted. Anyway, I would give the series a try because I have a soft spot for handsome professional athletes!

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