Blitzed

October 7, 2019
The lighthearted third sports romance in Martin’s Playbook series (after Fumbled) focuses as much on strong female friendship as it does on love. Brynn Sterling owns HERS, a female-centered Denver sports bar and the monthly meeting place for the wives and girlfriends of sports players (WAGS) on their new reality show Love the Player. Though Brynn values her friendships with the WAGS, she resists their encouragement to act on her feelings for NFL player Maxwell Lewis, because she doesn’t want to get sucked into their dramatic, high-profile world. Despite being one of the Mustangs’ most popular players, Maxwell is extremely shy and has been unable to act on the crush he’s been nursing on Brynn for years. When he finally works up the courage and Brynn gives into her friends’ pestering, Brynn and Maxwell realize they’ll have to help each other get over their past heartbreaks in order to move forward. What the slow-burning love story lacks in drama it makes up for with heart. Readers will be delighted by this sweet romance. Agent: Jessica Watterson, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. (Dec.)Correction: An earlier version of this review incorrectly identified this book as the second in a series.

Starred review from November 1, 2019
Martin continues her Playbook series, following Fumbled (2019) and scores again with this perfectly blended sporty-spicy/rom-com cocktail that's so good, you could name a drink after it. And Brynn Sterling, the sassy owner of HERS, the hottest female-owned bar in Denver, does just that: name drinks after her fabulous friends, the Lady Mustangs, that is, the wives and girlfriends of players for the Denver Mustangs. For many years, Brynn has had a front-row seat to the drama her girlfriends endure, which makes her reluctant to get involved with any of the smoking-hot athletes who frequent her establishment. Maxwell Lewis could be the exception to her rule, but his polite and shy demeanor keeps him from approaching. They dance around their unspoken crush for years until an explosive moment in the bar finally breaks the ice. Meanwhile, Martin provides a behind-the-scenes look at life with a professional athlete: fancy clothes, parties, the private suite at the stadium, and TV cameras filming it all for the newest reality TV show, Love the Player. Past family troubles threaten Brynn and Maxwell's romantic progress, but the support of their Mustangs friends carries them over the finish line.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2019

Wealthy businesswoman Brynn Sterling owns a bar where the football-tossing Denver Mustangs congregate with various hangers-on, but she's determined not to get involved with a professional athlete. Gentle-eyed Maxwell Lewis has a different idea, but initially he makes all the wrong moves. An own-voices romance from the author of Intercepted, which has been optioned by Starz, with 50 Cent and his G-Unit Films and Television to produce the show and La La Anthony attached to star and executive produce.

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