Vi Keeland

From New York Times & USA Today Bestseller, Vi Keeland, comes a sexy new novel. The first time I met Brody Easton was in the men’s locker room. It was my first interview as a professional sportscaster. The famed quarterback decided to bare all. And by all, I don’t mean he told me any of his secrets. No. The arrogant ass decided to drop his towel, just as I asked the first question. On camera. The Super Bowl MVP quickly adopted a new hobby—screwing with me. When I pushed back, he shifted from wanting to screw with me, to wanting to screw me. But I don’t date players. And it’s not because I’m one of the few women working in the world of professional football. I’d date an athlete. It’s the other kind of player I don’t date. You know the type. Good looking, strong, cocky, always looking to get laid. Brody Easton was the ultimate player. Every woman wanted to be the one to change him. But the truth was, all he needed was a girl worth changing for. Turned out, I was that girl. Simple right? Let’s face it. It never is. There’s a story between once upon a time and happily ever after… And this one is ours. Author's note - The Baller is a full-length standalone novel. Due to strong language and sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18

A Down and Dirty Football Novel

The Baller

This was an unanticipated read today. I started it on my phone at work and ended up reading it and finished it in less than 8 hours. It was a nice football romance, one thing I didn’t expect and was really worried was of it potentially being a love triangle. I haven’t read many and they reach me out especially when you spend the first half of the book building the couple and then shit goes down. But what I think was even more important in the books was learning to love someone new when you know in your heart you always have love for someone else. 

Honestly the concept of a him peeling his towel off turning the locker room interview was so much better than I thought it would be. Love a good reformed player who falls first and falls harder! So exciting to read the other four books in the Final Score!

Priscilla Stanfield

This was an unanticipated read today. I started it on my phone at work and ended up reading it and finished it in less than 8 hours. It was a nice football romance, one thing I didn’t expect and was really worried was of it potentially being a love triangle. I haven’t read many and they reach me out especially when you spend the first half of the book building the couple and then shit goes down. But what I think was even more important in the books was learning to love someone new when you know in your heart you always have love for someone else. 

Honestly the concept of a him peeling his towel off turning the locker room interview was so much better than I thought it would be. Love a good reformed player who falls first and falls harder! So exciting to read the other four books in the Final Score!

Ana Matti

3.5. Loved the beginning until the other POV that came on in the middle since I felt it was really unnecessary and put me off for the rest of the book. But once the other POV was gone, I was back to loving it.

Bethany Lacey

Andrea Cárcamo

** spoiler alert **
           3.5 ~ It was cute but I felt something was missing between the couple. I would have liked them to communicate better or delve into the events they still carry from their past rather than just retelling them as they are still affecting them and it is putting strain in their relationship. I also felt that the Willow's POV chapters were not necessary in the plot, even though they made us empathize with her, they didn't add anything to the story or open a dialogue with the readers.

Janina

Helena Cristina Nogueira Pereira

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Since football season ended, I'm having to restrain myself from reading every single football book I can get my hands on. The struggle is real. The Baller has been sitting on my iPad since shortly before release, however, and I've enjoyed Vi's books in the past, so I decided there was no time like the present to read this book. (And can we just take a second and give an "amen" for that hot AF cover? Down and dirty, indeed. 

This isn't the first time I've read a book that pits the football star against the reporter, but I enjoyed it every bit as much this time around. Brody was great. He had me laughing, swooning and even sweating a little bit. I liked Delilah as well. I love the whole female sports reporter thing. (Probably because it's basically my dream job.) These two had *amazing* chemistry and their banter was top notch. I enjoyed watching these two strong characters go head to head. Brody gave Delilah a lot of crap in the beginning, but she gave as good as she got and I loved that. 

I'll admit, I was a little concerned when the book started to venture down potential love triangle territory about halfway through. I suspected it was coming, but it still didn't stop me from cringing and hoping it wouldn't REALLY go there. At the risk of minor spoilers, I'll just say I was relieved at how everything went down and I ended the book with a smile on my face, so that should tell you something. 

The Baller gave me the dose of football I needed in a sexy romance with a couple good laughs, and even a few feels. I thoroughly enjoy Vi Keeland's writing style. She's definitely one of my auto-buy/auto-request authors. I can't wait to see what she gives us next! 

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Lacey

Originally posted at Booklovers For Life

I was so looking forward to reading The Baller not only because of the smokin’ hot cover, but also the awesome blurb that totally hooked me in. Unfortunately, I didn’t love it the way I expected to. I usually adore sports romances, but The Baller missed the mark for me. The writing and characters were flat, and I had zero connection with any part of the book. I tried really hard to enjoy this, I really did, and I’m probably in the minority for this, but I was disappointed with The Baller.

Brody Easton is the quintessential star quarterback – he’s gorgeous, arrogant, and a total player on and off the field. Delilah Maddox, a sports journalist, needs to interview him, but right after she fires off one of her questions, he drops his towel right in front of her and screws up her whole interview. This part was probably one of the few in the book I enjoyed – Brody’s attempt to throw Delilah off is hilarious, but Delilah isn’t a girl easily intimidated. She can hold her own against Brody, and she continues to do so even when wants to pursue a relationship with her.

I’ve read one other book by Vi Keeland and really enjoyed it, so it’s hard for me to give The Baller a low rating. I honestly thought I would love it – I enjoyed Delilah and Brody’s amusing first interview, but everything after that fell completely flat. It felt like there was no depth to Brody’s character, and Delilah’s wasn’t much better. They were two cliched new adult sports romance characters, and it didn’t feel like I really got to know them. Their romance also didn’t feel believable, at least on Brody’s part. Most of the chapters in his POV had NOTHING to do with Delilah, so I didn’t understand how or why he fell in love with her.

One thing that really bothered me about the book was the way the dialogue was written. As in, any time there was dialogue, there was ONLY dialogue, not even a ‘he/she said.’ The conversations between characters grew tedious to read, so I found myself skimming more of the book. And then, when Brody’s past reappears in the form of an ex-girlfriend, I found myself not wanting to continue reading at all.

It’s more than likely that this is an ‘it’s me, not you’ kind of read. I’m sad I couldn’t like this more, especially since I had high expectations. If you’re a fan of sports romances, hopefully you’ll enjoy this one more than I did!

Thanks to the author for generously providing me an ARC to review.

Amazon Ebook: http://amzn.to/1OsMhe6

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The Baller A Down and Dirty Football Novel