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bee_thebibliophile's review
3.0
I really wanted to like Tim’s story - he was fun in [b:He's a Keeper|60818515|He's a Keeper|Stacy Travis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1651088421l/60818515._SX50_.jpg|95908152] so I had high hopes for this book. Tim lived up to my expectations, but his love interest, Jordan, brought things down for me.
Tim Cheltenham is a professional soccer player who left England behind to play in the US and run away from some family problems. He’s been playing on an injury for a while and is incredibly nervous that his backup is going to take away his starting spot so he plays on it even when he shouldn’t. Tim needs surgery to fix his injury but doesn’t want to take the time off the pitch to recover so he’s relying on the goodwill from the team’s doctor to keep him playing, He has a reputation for being a bit of a player off the field, always with a new girl and never getting serious but when a certain woman from his past shows up at a team event, he can’t help imagining what a future together could look like.
Jordan Page is a sports medicine doctor who is starting a new job with the San Francisco Strikers where she’s tasked with fixing the mistakes and problems left behind by the last team doctor. She’s good at her job and knows she can make an impact but she’s also intimidated by being a woman in the professional sports world. She gets along well with her dad but her relationship with her mom is strained since all she seems to want is for Jordan to get married. Jordan was a character just wasn’t for me - she felt like a stereotypical quirky/awkward/nerdy girl with her clumsiness, social awkwardness, lack of self-confidence, frumpy clothing and refusal to hold her male co-worker accountable for his misogyny. I wanted to like her more, but she made it so difficult for me at every turn to be on her side.
Tim and Jordan have a history before they started working together - Tim stayed with her family in high school during a foreign exchange program and they both developed feelings but ended up heartbroken. They meet up again years later and they’re both still interested and end up faking an engagement to get Jordan out of a (completely unnecessary) bind with her co-worker. I felt a physical connection between these two but absolutely no emotional connection there. Things progressed fast between them and it felt really abrupt when they decided to be more than fake. I wanted more from their relationship because of their history and it just fell kind of flat.
I really like the concept of this series and I feel invested in the overhaul that’s happening. Looking forward to seeing where this series goes next!
Tim Cheltenham is a professional soccer player who left England behind to play in the US and run away from some family problems. He’s been playing on an injury for a while and is incredibly nervous that his backup is going to take away his starting spot so he plays on it even when he shouldn’t. Tim needs surgery to fix his injury but doesn’t want to take the time off the pitch to recover so he’s relying on the goodwill from the team’s doctor to keep him playing, He has a reputation for being a bit of a player off the field, always with a new girl and never getting serious but when a certain woman from his past shows up at a team event, he can’t help imagining what a future together could look like.
Jordan Page is a sports medicine doctor who is starting a new job with the San Francisco Strikers where she’s tasked with fixing the mistakes and problems left behind by the last team doctor. She’s good at her job and knows she can make an impact but she’s also intimidated by being a woman in the professional sports world. She gets along well with her dad but her relationship with her mom is strained since all she seems to want is for Jordan to get married. Jordan was a character just wasn’t for me - she felt like a stereotypical quirky/awkward/nerdy girl with her clumsiness, social awkwardness, lack of self-confidence, frumpy clothing and refusal to hold her male co-worker accountable for his misogyny. I wanted to like her more, but she made it so difficult for me at every turn to be on her side.
Tim and Jordan have a history before they started working together - Tim stayed with her family in high school during a foreign exchange program and they both developed feelings but ended up heartbroken. They meet up again years later and they’re both still interested and end up faking an engagement to get Jordan out of a (completely unnecessary) bind with her co-worker. I felt a physical connection between these two but absolutely no emotional connection there. Things progressed fast between them and it felt really abrupt when they decided to be more than fake. I wanted more from their relationship because of their history and it just fell kind of flat.
I really like the concept of this series and I feel invested in the overhaul that’s happening. Looking forward to seeing where this series goes next!
_speedereader_'s review
5.0
Jordan & Tim
If you don’t like a second chance romance, I’m not sure we’re meant to be book friends. It’s one of my favorite tropes, especially when done well and with the unique touch of missed opportunity.
Jordan & Tim knew each other in high school when Tim was an exchange student playing soccer in America. A misunderstood moment left Jordan feeling rejected and invisible for years. When she worked hard to become the top sports physician for the Strikers & comes face to face with Tim after several years, she works hard to remember her confidence.
When a member of the Strikers staff makes some inappropriate comments about female employees, Tim steps in to help Jordan & the spark they felt all those years ago returns. They begin to get to know each other as adults and realize that their chemistry isn’t the only thing going for their relationship. While they sizzle, they are also there for one another in ways no one had been before. There were years of pining & longing & when they realize that the ruse they started has turned real, they break free of expectation & begin to fall in love.
Stacy Travis has an amazing way of writing family dynamics into the core actions of her characters and He’s A Player is no different. Both Tim & Jordan are shaped by family expectations and disappointments, and together - through what starts as a fake relationship - they define what happiness looks like on their own unit.
This book, while part of a series, can truly be read as a stand-alone. However, regardless of the order, I recommend reading all of Stacy’s backlist!!
If you don’t like a second chance romance, I’m not sure we’re meant to be book friends. It’s one of my favorite tropes, especially when done well and with the unique touch of missed opportunity.
Jordan & Tim knew each other in high school when Tim was an exchange student playing soccer in America. A misunderstood moment left Jordan feeling rejected and invisible for years. When she worked hard to become the top sports physician for the Strikers & comes face to face with Tim after several years, she works hard to remember her confidence.
When a member of the Strikers staff makes some inappropriate comments about female employees, Tim steps in to help Jordan & the spark they felt all those years ago returns. They begin to get to know each other as adults and realize that their chemistry isn’t the only thing going for their relationship. While they sizzle, they are also there for one another in ways no one had been before. There were years of pining & longing & when they realize that the ruse they started has turned real, they break free of expectation & begin to fall in love.
Stacy Travis has an amazing way of writing family dynamics into the core actions of her characters and He’s A Player is no different. Both Tim & Jordan are shaped by family expectations and disappointments, and together - through what starts as a fake relationship - they define what happiness looks like on their own unit.
This book, while part of a series, can truly be read as a stand-alone. However, regardless of the order, I recommend reading all of Stacy’s backlist!!
mal_bookedatfirstsight's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.0
Sports Romances are my Kryptonite, I could eat them up all day, every day! This is only my second book by Stacy Travis and even though I devoured them both within 24 hours, I loved this even more than the first. I really enjoyed the pacing of this second-chance romance and seriously who doesn't love a fake engagement story!!
I thought it was nice to see these characters navigate family dynamics and witness some resolution within the story. I will admit that it took me a second to be on board with the fake engagement scheme because it felt messier than the other options- I understand/it was explained why they decided to do it, but sometimes, personally, I find it hard to connect with impulsive or irrational decisions.. but that's a me thing and was not the point of this romance book!
In the end, it's a sweet and spicy, second-chance sports romance... so how could I not love it!
Thank you to Stacy Travis for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
I thought it was nice to see these characters navigate family dynamics and witness some resolution within the story. I will admit that it took me a second to be on board with the fake engagement scheme because it felt messier than the other options- I understand/it was explained why they decided to do it, but sometimes, personally, I find it hard to connect with impulsive or irrational decisions.. but that's a me thing and was not the point of this romance book!
In the end, it's a sweet and spicy, second-chance sports romance... so how could I not love it!
Thank you to Stacy Travis for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!