REVIEW: PLAY by PLAY BY KATE DONOVAN

Former college football star Jake Dublin’s wildly popular sports blog also details his personal life. And lately it’s all about Sophie, the pretty young woman who just moved into his apartment building. His readers know her only as “Elevator Girl,” and they’re all rooting for Jake to score.

The blog posts and banter with his followers are all in good fun, and he fully intends to come clean with the woman he’s wooing and wowing. That is, until she confides that she grew up in a house full of jocks and even dated a few. Her verdict? Never again!

Jake knows he needs to confess. But somewhere along the line he fell in love with Sophie and can’t stand the thought of losing her. So he procrastinates, and blogs, and digs himself deeper into a hole, until it all leads to a showdown that’s so nail-biting, not even the best play-by-play guy could ever have seen it coming.

Kindle Edition, 85 pages
Published September 9th 2013 by Beyond the Page

Source: received from publisher via Netgalley for honest review

Purchase this novella: Goodreads | Amazon

Our review: 

So, first and foremost I must point out that I am an objectifier and I totally judged and chose this book based on the cover. I admit it. I should probably join a support group for my doing this and it not always panning out for me, but by the end of these meager 85 pages I did enjoy this one. Yes. The cover was a definite pleasure to see.

Jake is funny. Really really funny, and as a blogger I found those parts to be some of the best. They were engaging, and I could imagine this guy really writing down this stuff about his 'elevator girl' and then being scared to death of her finding out about it. That was very original and the reason I stuck with the story. This is definitely Jake's story to tell; he's the most developed character. I like him: he's funny and smart and kind. He seems to know, even as he's messing up, just the right way to handle things.

Their relationship...didn't work out quite so well for me...and brought my rating down a bit. Some of the things they say to each other are *yes, I rolled my eyes* corny...and they moved at the speed of light. BUT I did have to step back and remember...this is a novella...and it's supposed to be fun. There is no way they can start where they did and not fly by some things in this story...so okay. After my little pep talk, I felt better. Yes, it's a rapidly moving story and has ton of novel potential. The banter and his character, alone, make it something I wish could've been more developed. But overall, it was still a pleasing read.

So Play by Play in ten words or less: Sports/Jake-centric, humor, over-the-top, sexy-lite fun. 

Courtney: 3 1/2 Stars
Shelley: 3 1/2 Stars