Rosalie & Slick's reviews posted at Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews 
 Rosalie's 4 star review 
 Football coach romance? What can get better?! I loved this plot. Blake Carpenter was an A1 football player, playing for the NFL, when an injury sidelined him. Getting injections that helped him perform ended up getting him kicked off, showing illegal drugs in his system. Not one to rat out the dr's that were injecting, he walked away...right into coaching high school football. Taking his hometown team's football program in Blanco Valle, California, from the town nothings to heroes in one season is all he has his sights set on. Until in walks his team's Physical Therapist, Annabelle Turner. 
 Annebelle knew that under the rough exterior of this gruff coach was the sexy, big-hearted man, she had seen in commercials. But getting barked at all the time, just for doing her job, grated on her nerves. Will she be able to ride the waves and find the sweetheart underneath the gruff exterior? Is risking her heart an option after a heartbreak from her divorce? 
 I loved reading about these two. Erin Kern is a new to me author, but I really enjoyed this book. It was definitely real life, and didn't seem far fetched at all. Watching Annabelle peel back the layers of the personality that was Blake was interesting. I knew he was a big softie, but actually showing that to her, letting his guard down was a win win for the readers. 
 Slick's 2 star review 
 This is one of those books I thought I would really enjoy, but it kind of missed the mark; there were some critical errors in the football terminology, I didn't really connect with either of the main characters, and a group of older women in this book reminded me of a group of older women from a different author's series. 
 A disgraced NFL quarterback comes back to his hometown and takes the job as the high school football coach. Let's just think about that for a minute; he's worth a lot of money, he left the NFL under a doping scandal and he chooses to become a coach of a team who hasn't won a season since he left AND the district allows someone who had failed drug tests to teach impressionable high school students. I found all of that a bit hard to believe and take in and while I understand some of the problems were not only his fault, ultimately he was responsible for what happened with his body. I liked Blake Carpenter even though he had an attitude, was a bit rude and full of himself; it was easy to see there was a lot going on with him he wasn't dealing with well. 
 Annabelle Turner is a physical therapist hired by the district to help keep the players healthy. In addition to her job with the district, she runs her own practice and takes care of her aging mother. She has a full plate, but finds lots of time to spend at the high school and getting all up into Blake's personal life. 
 These two spent a lot of time arguing and flirting, but I never felt the heat between them. Yes there was animosity, but never that burning heat. I enjoyed their banter and I think had they spent more time face to face without arguing it might have developed, but for me I didn't feel it and so when the love words starting flying around I really had a hard time believing them. 
 The relationship between Blake and his cousin and best friend Brandon and his assistant coach, Cameron were entertaining but I would have enjoyed seeing them in a more casual, fun setting a few times to really see their personalities come out. I also felt there were too many secondary storylines that were started and just went nowhere which was kind of frustrating. 
 While this book showed promise, for me it didn't work; it was a bit disappointing and I'm hoping that the next book in this series will be an improvement. 
 Review copy provided for an honest review.