Complimentary copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.This is the first book in the Play By Play series, however each book can be read as a standalone. I read the second book, Playing For Keeps, first and I absolutely loved that one, so I had big expectations. Unfortunately, this one fell a bit short.Jake is a sports blogger and columnist. He is a former college football player but had to give up his career before it even started due to an injury. He writes a popular blog called The Opinionated Sports Guy, where he will recap the latest in the sports world, along with his opinion on any issue. From the weather to whatever, he’ll cover it. So when he meets Sophie, the new girl in his building, he decides to pass on his attempts at wooing her with his fans. She soon becomes Elevator Girl (EG) since he did not learn her name right away, and the story goes from there.Sophie is an attorney, brand new to the Bay Area, working for a start up gaming software company. She’s not looking to meet anyone and even if she was, there is a certain type of guy she is definitely trying to steer clear of, the jock. She grew up in a family of football fanatics and she has no intention of becoming a football widow. When Jake’s charms begin to wear down her defenses, she is impressed that he makes time for her, rather than whatever the game of the day might be. In reality, Jake is just dvr-ing the games, watching them late at night so that he can keep up to date.When Sophie takes Jake out of town to meet his family, the wheels come off. It turns out neither Jake or Sophie have been completely honest or forthright in their personal lives and it threatens to break them apart forever. Will Sophie be able to ever forgive Jake for not telling the truth? Will Jake ever be able to prove to Sophie that his motivations were completely truthful?Play By Play introduces characters that will appear in other books, so that will help to give them a little background info as you move to the second book. While I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the other, I would still recommend it. This one just seemed a little rushed for me and I would have liked to see more development in the characters themselves. I liked Sophie as a strong heroine and the relationship with her family; I just feel that we could have been given so much more.My biggest gripe with the book is that it ended at 78% so that we could get a sneak peek at another of Ms. Donovan’s books. I understand 95%, I’ll even go with 90%, but 78%? Come on! I was expecting a whole lot more of Sophie and Jake’s exploits, so that was a serious let down. If you like football and a slow buildup with some comedic moments, this is definitely the series for you. Read this one to set you up for the next, Playing For Keeps. l loved Jake's blog posts on EG. EG is elevator girl also known as Sophie. Sophie grabs his attention in the elevator one day and he starts adding her to his football posts. His readers give him advice and encourage him on what to do next to get EG to talk to him, do things with him and like him. They even support him into telling her about the blog and himself. before he can though things go a little screwy.Sophie is a lawyer who had a bad experience with a guy and grew up in sports. Because of this she doesn't want to get serious with anyone and definitely doesn't want to date a sports minded person or so she thinks. Jake with his disarming smile and charm slowly makes his way into her heart. She loves how he listens to her. things are going great until he meets her family. they know who he is. And this implodes on Jake. Sophie walks away. but her family comes to him about something and he wants to involve sophie so she can see he isn't what she thinks. come to find out Sophie loved the blog it was her hurt that had her run.This is a book on love hitting you when you least expect it and how we aren't always true to ourselves in what we desire. A fun fun read that will have you smiling and laughing the whole time.
What do You think about Play By Play (2013)?
3.5 for this fun read. Wish it had been longer.
—bella
Cute novella. Jake and his blog cracked me up.
—bookluvr
