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What\u2019s worse than playing a fake girlfriend to the all-pro defensive end for the Seattle Phantom?<\/p>\n
When the same infamous playboy is my ex-husband\u2019s best friend.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m normally great at keeping my distance from him\u2014pretending like he doesn\u2019t get under my<\/p>\n
skin.<\/p>\n
But after he punches a teammate over me, we\u2019re stuck faking a relationship to save his career<\/p>\n
and mine.<\/p>\n
If we play the game well, we could both get out ahead.<\/p>\n
I just have to remember everything about this is for show, including the reformed player act.<\/p>\n
A few blurred lines and crossed boundaries won\u2019t change things.<\/p>\n
Because falling for your ex\u2019s best friend is wrong, right?<\/p>\n
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Add to Goodreads<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 4 stars!<\/b><\/p>\n Chock-full of fun and fascinating tropes, this is a sexy and intense read that had me hooked!<\/p>\n Frenemies-to-lovers Sexy and intense with lots of light moments and a nice amount of emotion, this is a great read!<\/p>\n This is the start of a new series from Maggie Rawdon, a spin-off from her Plays & Penalties<\/i><\/a> series with character crossover that will be fun for fans, but it can easily stand alone. You can read about Harper and Alex\u2019s first meeting in the prequel novella, Defensive End<\/i>, available on the author\u2019s website \u2013 it\u2019s definitely worth it to understand some context around their relationship.<\/p>\n Harper and Alex met a few years before the start of this book (see above novella). He was an NFL star and epic manwhore, she was a quiet museum creator and friend of one of his teammate\u2019s wives. They shared wild chemistry and an easy attraction and spent an intimate night kissing and talking about anything and everything. While he wanted to take things further, she was only interested in a relationship, and he didn\u2019t feel able to give her that, so they decided to stay friends. A few months later and Harper met a man she ended up marrying. She didn\u2019t know until well into the relationship that that man was Alex\u2019s best friend and agent, but she was happy and in love, and her past with Alex wasn\u2019t really an issue.<\/p>\n Now, Harper is newly divorced from her cheating ex, and Alex finds himself in big trouble when he gets into a fight protecting her from a teammate who behaves inappropriately towards her. In order to protect both of their careers from the potential fallout, they decide to pretend to be in a relationship, claiming that Alex was protecting his girlfriend. It\u2019s the perfect solution for their tricky situation, until things start to get blurry.<\/p>\n I could get used to this. Being around her. Teasing her. Seeing her smile. I wonder if I might even be able to convince her it\u2019s not so bad.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n It\u2019s a fun set-up, and it\u2019s made all the more intense by the chemistry that Harper and Alex still share. Their relationship while Harper was married was kind of antagonistic \u2013 they kept their distance, and didn\u2019t really have much to do with each other even though Alex they did see each other quite a bit. There is never any hint of inappropriate behaviour from either of them, which I really appreciated. But now that Harper is single, and they\u2019re spending a lot of time together, it doesn\u2019t take long before they find their way back to the easy and natural friendship they started on the night that they met. And, like before, the chemistry between them still sizzles, and watching them navigate their fake romance with all of the associated hand-holding, touching, and loaded looks, brings a fantastic sense of anticipation to the story.<\/p>\n She had me for a long time, but in shattered pieces \u2013 memories and desires that I\u2019ve kept bottled up. This new reality where I get to taste and feel her, where she reciprocates the same desperation in the way she touches and kisses me\u2026It\u2019s already quickly becoming an addiction for me. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Harper is bravely creating a new life for herself, and finding her confidence after her toxic marriage, and Alex is finally getting his shot with the one who got away. Though their situation is complicated, their feelings for each other aren\u2019t \u2013 neither is their sexual chemistry (because damn!!!). Things naturally grow and change between them, and I loved watching them finally give in to their feelings and start to fall for each other.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not pretending with you anymore. I want you, nothing fake anymore. I want you to be mine.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n But as easy and inevitable as their love story is, their situation is just begging for drama, and it comes. It\u2019s an intense ride, and brings the feels, but they handle it well, with a satisfying ending, and I loved watching their story unfold.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was his wife.\u201d They have a great bunch of friends helping them along the way \u2013 Alex\u2019s teammates, and Harper\u2019s friends bring a lot to the story, and I\u2019m looking forward to getting to know them more as the series progresses.<\/p>\n I really enjoyed this book. It\u2019s sexy and romantic, with an emotional, chemistry-filled and functional romance that felt really authentic, and I loved seeing these two get their happy ending.<\/p>\n 4 stars!<\/p>\n An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Defensive End (#0.5) <\/strong>(Alex & Harper) Pick Six (#1)<\/strong> (Alex & Harper) Overtime (#2)<\/strong> (Colton & Joss) Wild Card (#3)<\/strong> (Tobias & Scarlett) <\/p>\n Maggie loves books, travel and wandering through museums. She lives in the Midwest where you can find her writing on her laptop with her two pups at her side, in between binge watching epic historical and fantasy dramas and cheering for her favorite American (and European) football teams on the weekends. She loves writing dirty athletes and smart women and has a soft spot for writing characters who banter instead of flirt.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\nReview<\/b><\/h4>\n
\nFake relationship
\nShe\u2019s his best-friend\u2019s-ex
\nHe loved her first
\nFootball romance<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWell she should have fucking been mine.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\nSeattle Phantom Football<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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\nReview<\/a>
\nFree:\u00a0 Available on author’s website<\/a><\/p>\n
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\nAbout the Author<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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