First we
were friends. Then we were roommates. Now I want more…
What can I say about Chess Copper? The woman
is capable of bringing me to my knees. I know this about five minutes after
getting naked for her.
No one is more surprised than me. The prickly
photographer my team hired to shoot our annual charity calendar isn’t my usual
type. She’s defense to my offense, a challenge at every turn. But when I’m with
her, all the regrets and darkness goes away. She makes life fun.
I want to
know Chess, be close to her. Which is a bad idea.
Chess is looking for a relationship. I’ve
never given a woman more than one night. But when fate leaves Chess without a
home, I step up and offer her mine. We’re roommates now. Friends without
benefits. But it’s getting harder to keep our hands off each other. And the
longer we live together the more I realize she’s becoming my everything.
Trick is…
Now that I’ve made her believe I’m a bad bet, how do I convince her to give
this player a true shot at forever?
DID YOU SEE THIS COVER!?! Seriously, I had to stop myself from drooling and when the book actually had the main character actually do a plank without clothes (don't worry, it was for a nude photo shoot for his job), I was one happy reader. I couldn't wait to meet Finn after seeing him on the cover and boy did I end up loving him!
Chess Copper has always kept her heart open to a relationship, but she's never found the right guy. When pretty boy quarterback Finn Mannus shows up on her doorstep with his teammates for a nude photo shoot, the two can't deny the strange feelings they have around each other, but they can't help but bicker. No matter how much they argue, though, Chess and Finn find themselves starting to become friends. Finn quickly can't picture his life without Chess, but he's been burned in the past and doesn't know if he can trust another woman while Chess doesn't know if Finn can settle down and truly give himself to someone else.
From the start, I had a smile on my face while reading this book. I mean, our couple meets at a nude photo shoot. Chess, from the start, is a girl who can definitely hold her own with the boys and it was so fun watching her butt heads with Finn. They bickered like an old married couple and I loved how they developed a friendship after being intrigued by each other when they first met. It was so funny how thrown off Chess was by her attraction for Finn because they are both totally not each other's types. Their hesitance towards accepting their feelings for each other led them to being friends first, which made them actually getting together that much more satisfying.
Since these two do become friends and spend time together and get to know each other, this one was more of a slow burn romance and it drove me CRAZY. But crazy in a good way! There were realistic obstacles in their relationship and I liked how Finn was so dedicated to his job as a professional football player and really didn't know how Chess would deal with that after past relationships have failed because of it. Chess was also trying to figure out how to balance a man and a career and it was refreshing for our main characters to try to decide how to balance what was good for themselves and what their hearts wanted.
Overall, I absolutely loved this book. While I haven't read the other three in this series (this can be read as a standalone), I am not going to hesitate to pick up the rest. These characters are lovable, their banter is hilarious, and their romance is swoon-worthy. I couldn't have asked for more!
CHESS
Grumbling, I toss on some black lounge pants
and my oversized Tulane t-shirt and head to the drugstore.
My head throbs by the time I get there, and my
insides are writhing. I rest my hand against my lower stomach and grab a basket
before calling James to complain.
“I swear,” I tell him as I grab a bottle of
painkillers. “It’s like this entire day has been cursed.”
He snickers. “Curse. Get it? Curse?”
I roll my eyes, even though he can’t see me.
“Laugh it up. Meanwhile, it feels as if someone is playing Battleship in my
uterus.”
“Poor Chessie bear. At least we know why you
were in such a foul mood.”
A flush washes over my cheeks. “Yeah.” Lie.
Lie. Lie. A tub of salted caramel gelato makes its way into the basket.
“Tell me you’re getting some gelato,” James
says.
I smile. “Just grabbed it.”
“Salted caramel?”
“You know it.”
I find the feminine products aisle and search
for my brand. “I’m going to go home, take a long bath with my gelato, and
forget this fucking day.” Forget Finn. “And then I’m going to go on Amazon and
buying a freaking year’s supply of tampons so I don’t have to make these kinds
of emergency runs anymore.”
A low, deep chuckle rumbles from behind me, and
all the tiny hairs lift on my arms.
“But you’ll still need your gelato,” a
familiar—fuck me, seriously?—voice points out.
My insides swoop even as my cheeks burn.
“Who is that?” James asks in my ear.
I slowly turn on one heel. “The plague,” I say,
glaring up at Finn Mannus’s smiling face.
“From asshat to plague.” Finn scrunches up his
brow. “I’m not sure if that’s a step down or a tie.”
“Who is that?” James nearly yells now.
I don’t take my eyes off Finn. “I’ll call you
back.”
James’s squawks of protest cut off as I hit the
end button.
“Are you stalking me, Mannus?”
Finn a rests his hands low on his lean hips.
“Having a healthy amount of conceit myself, I have to admire yours, but no,
buttercup. My buddy Woodson lives a few blocks away. It’s poker night. I’m
stocking up on beer.”
It’s only then I notice a twelve pack tucked
under his other arm.
“And tampons?” I ask, with a pointed look
around the aisle we’re standing in.
“Not
tonight,” he says easily. “Though we used to keep a pack of them back in
college. Light flows were perfect for stopping up bloody noses.”
A snort escapes me. “Now there’s a visual.”
Somehow, I’ve taken a step closer to him. He’s freshly showered, the golden
brown strands of his hair still damp at his temples. And I wonder if he’s just
come from the gym or practice. “So back in college you went and bought these
tampons?”
“Nah,” he says with a cheeky smile. “I’d ask
one of the girls hanging around to get me some.”
“Of course you did.” My nose wrinkles with
annoyance.
“Give me a little credit, Chess. I’d buy them
now if I had to.”
“Hmm…” I eye him, trying not to return his
smile. If only because it’s more fun when he teases. “So why are you in this aisle
now, if not for potential nosebleed needs?”
“That’s easy.” He steps closer, a warm wall of
muscle and clean scent. “I heard your voice.”
For a second I just blink. “You recognized my
voice?”
His gaze darts over my face as if he’s trying
to get a read on why I’m gaping at him. “Not to be…ah…rude, but you’re loud
when you talk on the phone.”
“Yeah, but… You recognized it.” We’d only just
met. It occurs to me that I’d recognized his both times he’d snuck up on me.
Then again, his voice is distinctive, flowing like hot honey when he’s relaxed
or hammering down like iron to rock when he’s taking command of a situation.
A soft flush of pink tints the tips of his
ears. If I wasn’t staring at him, I might have missed it. He shifts his weight.
“Was I not supposed to?”
“No. Yes.” I shake my head and laugh. “I don’t
know.”
He grins then. “You’re cute when you’re
flustered.”
“I’m not flustered.” I am.
About the Author
Kristen Callihan is an author because there is nothing else she’d rather be. She is a three-time RITA nominee and winner of two RT Reviewer’s Choice awards. Her novels have garnered starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and the Library Journal, as well as being awarded top picks by many reviewers. Her debut book FIRELIGHT received RT Magazine’s Seal of Excellence, was named a best book of the year by Library Journal , best book of Spring 2012 by Publisher’s Weekly, and was named the best romance book of 2012 by ALA RUSA. When she is not writing, she is reading.
