About the Book: Matt Lancaster is the star quarterback at Bodine College, a small Southern Division II school with an ultra-conservative Dean of Athletics. Matt is also very much in the closet, and he thinks he’s kept his secret well hidden. Until his best friends take him to a happy endings massage parlor and request a male masseuse for him.
In walks Trevor Kim, a gorgeous, pierced, tattooed fellow Bodine student who does massages—without happy endings—to pay for school after his family kicked him out for being gay. Trevor takes one look at Matt and breaks all his own rules about mixing business with pleasure.
Matt needs to keep his scholarship, win the National Championship, and survive his asshole father. Instead, he falls in love. Trevor needs to accept that the football god is meant to end up with him rather than a perky cheerleader. It’s time for a happy ending for both of them.
Standalone
M/M Contemporary Romance
Riptide Publishing | September 11, 2017
The Quarterback was purely an impulse request. I’m a sucker for a sports romance, and this is the story of a Quarterback (duh) who’s hiding his sexuality at a Southern Baptist college. It had a good starting idea, and I was interested.
I always try to look for the strength in a book I’m reading, and with The Quarterback the strength was in how Trevor and Matt both treated their relationship. They struggled, particularly with Matt’s need to keep their romance quiet. They had fights, but they didn’t dwell on it. Trevor and Matt both worked hard to be together. The love story developed in a way that just felt good. It made me happy. That healthy bond is what I’m always looking for in a romance novel. I’m really tired of reading books that glorify unhealthy and emotionally abusive relationships, and that was NOT what The Quarterback was about. Trevor and Matt respected each other, and it was evident.
Unfortunately, I did also have some problems with the book. I think the biggest problem with this story was that I’m going to forget about it pretty quickly. Like I said, I liked Matt, and I especially liked Trevor. I thought they were good together. While I liked both of the main characters, I didn’t think they were strong enough to carry The Quarterback’s plot. There wasn’t anything special about the story. It felt like a million other books with a similar theme, ones that were more original. I kept waiting for The Quarterback to surprise me, but it didn’t end up leaving with anything permanent. I guess, in the end, I didn’t think The Quarterback added anything original.
Despite my issues, I’m still happily giving The Quarterback 3 stars. Each star is for Trevor and Matt and their sweet romance. It was Trevor and Matt that kept me reading. And maybe a star for the heat that was clearly between them.
Thank you to Riptide Publishing for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Birdie Bookworm 