"Honey, love is always complicated. If it was easy, there'd be no fun when you win at the end." 
 Ok... so I do realize that I've been reading this series way out of order. I started off with book 8 (Straddling the Line) and now here I am back at book 2, Changing the Game. I didn't particularly think this series was anything worth writing home about after I read Straddling the Line so I went into Changing the Game with pretty low expectations. I'm happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised by how much better Changing the Game was than I was expecting it to be. I felt like It cleared up the issues I had with Straddling the Line such as having uninspired dialogue and a lackluster plot. Changing the Game had good dialogue, developed characters, and a decent plot. I guess I just happened to start the series off with the one novel Jaci Burton must have phoned in. 
 "I think you're worth fighting for, Elizabeth. Even if I'm fighting you for you." 
 I genuinely rooted for both Elizabeth and Gavin. They were great characters. There were a lot context clues about the events of the previous book where Elizabeth was apparently the worst person ever. So, I think I'm fortunate to have started off with Changing the Game because if I had read about how awful she used to be I may have had a really hard time warming up to her. As it is, I went in fresh and I really loved Elizabeth. She was snarky and driven and I thought she made an overall great romantic lead. Gavin is a great counterpoint for her. He seems to respect smart independent women and he was respectful of her as well as a dynamo between the sheets. I will point out that towards the end of the book Gavin does turn into a major asshole idiot for a while. This isn't necessarily uncommon in contemporary romance and I was expecting the monkey wrench to be thrown into their relationship so I wasn't terribly surprised to see bad behavior. However, Gavin said something one pretty terrible thing and I wanted to leap into the book and slap him. Not cool, bro! But everything turns out for the best and he redeemed himself. 
 Ok... let's talk about the smut in Changing the Game for a minute. Holy smokes was this filled with smutty delights! Seriously... this book was probably 60% fucking. I'm not saying that like it's a bad thing since I felt that the sex scenes actually helped to further the plot rather than just existing for the sake of smut. In the beginning, Gavin and Liz are filled with excitement of new found lust and as the story progresses they begin to show more and more vulnerability with each other. The sex scenes become much more meaningful as the couple begins to fall in love and it was great to see that progression. Also it was pretty hot. Obviously... 
 Changing the Game was a pretty decent contemporary romance. It had likeable characters, excellent smut, and a plausible plot. Gavin can come be my book boyfriend any day... so long as he doesn't say anything cruel and make me want to slap him again. I'm definitely intrigued to see what all the strife was in book 1 and I was introduced to Jenna (Gavin's sister) and Ty (a hockey player client of Liz) and I seriously want to read their story. Jenna is so awesome from just the little bit I got from her in this Changing the Game. She's sarcastic and independent while Ty seems like a trickster. So they're basically my favorite kinds of romantic leads. I'm definitely going to try to fill in the gaps I have in this series. I only hope they stay on par with Changing the Game rather than reverting to the disappointment I felt with Straddling the Line. 
 ** buddy read with Sian