Author: Devney Perry
Series: Book 1 Treasure State Wildcats
Category: Sports Romance
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
"Her name was one I hadn't spoken in years. It had rolled through my mind countless times, but I hadn't let myself say it aloud. With it came too much regret. Too many what ifs." - Ford
There isn't much I don't love about a single dad romance, throwing in second chances and football and this should have been a touchdown.....but it was just so-so.
Ford was too pushy. Sometimes it was what Millie needed, but other times he steamrolled right over her, not even listening to what she wanted or was trying to say. His actions felt purely selfish and I hated how many times he refused to understand the word no.
"We'd needed to clear the air. I'd needed to tell her my side of the story and hear hers. Yeah, I'd wanted to mend the past. But closure? 'Fuck no.' This wasn't over. The game hadn't even started yet." - Ford
Millie was a doormat. Where Ford was concerned, even with how he treated her, she turned to mush anytime he got her alone. Millie was very hot and cold with Ford. She would say one thing but then randomly throw caution to the wind in the riskiest situations. She was in a tough spot, wanting to finally be with Ford but also unwilling to risk a career she loved.
"Just. Act. Normal. That would be a lot easier to do if Ford didn't look so good. Damn him. Damn his blue eyes. Dam that sharp jaw. Damn those broad shoulders. Just...damn him." - Millie
I hated that it almost felt like a relationship of convenience. After not talking to each other for years, the only reason Ford saw Millie again was because of chance. His immediate claims of love and desire came off as fake since he hadn't sought her out, even after he was able to.
"Ford was the most determined person I'd ever met. On the field. In life. When he put his mind to something, he accepted nothing less than a win. He never gave up. Except for me. He'd given up on me." - Millie
The best part of second-chance romances is the groveling, and Ford's explanation didn't cut it. He didn't put in any of the hard work to apologize and make up for the past, other than to try and bully Millie into having a future with him. I didn't particularly like either of the main characters and was disappointed with how the book played out, so this review settled at a three out of five stars for me.
Good thing my TBR pile has plenty of other books to move on to!
Tropes and Themes: Football, Sports Romance, Second Chance, Single Dad, Single Parent, Workplace Romance, Friends to Lovers.
Blurb
Football star. Single dad. And once, a long time ago, mine.
I’ve spent the better part of a decade forgetting Ford Ellis. If he had just stayed away from Montana, I might have erased the memory of his striking blue eyes and rugged smile forever. Avoiding him was easy when the only place I saw his face was on ESPN—and a remote control could fix that problem.
Except my boss just hired Ford as the new head coach for the Treasure State Wildcats. Not only will I be stuck watching him on the sidelines this season, but avoiding him will be impossible now that we’re working together.
Maybe I haven’t forgotten Ford. Maybe I still dream about what we might have been. Maybe he hasn’t forgotten me either.
Except those maybes won’t change the fact that we were never meant to be. Maybe he was mine once. But as of today, the only thing I’ll be calling Ford Ellis is Coach.
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