Completing The Pass by Jeanette Murray Pages: 229
Published by Intermix on May 17, 2016
Genres: adult, contemporary, Sports & Recreation, Romance
Source: eARC from Publisher
From the author of Romancing the Running Back and the First to Fight series comes the latest in the Santa Fe Bobcats series!
Teamwork improves the chances of scoring . . .
When the Bobcats’ fate on the field is sealed, and they would rather give their starting quarterback, Trey Owens, a break, they call in Josh Leeman: “The Backup.” But after Trey is placed on the disabled list for the season, all eyes are on Josh to lead the team. Josh’s sudden superstar status thrusts him into the spotlight, and garners plenty of attention from the ladies—except for one.
Carrington Gray is delighted to see her father released from the hospital—but not so much to see Josh at the celebration. Their mothers have long tried to set them up, although it’s had the opposite effect. But under the circumstances, Carri and Josh would rather go on fake dates to appease their mothers than rock the boat. Yet the more time these two work together on their little lie, the more they see the surprising truth . . .
Completing the Pass is the fifth book in the Santa Fe Bobcats series. The Santa Fe Bobcats series is an adult sports romance series about a professional football team. I have not read the first three books in the series, but I did read the fourth book, Romancing the Running Back, and I really enjoyed it. In fact, I liked Josiah from that book so much that one of the only things I disliked about Completing The Pass was that I hardly got to see him at all in this one. It mostly features Trey, from book one, and because I have not (yet) read his story, I didn’t have as much of a connection with him. Although, I have to say he seems like a great guy and after seeing how crazy in love him and Cassie are, I can’t wait to read his story.
After reading two of the books in the middle of the series, I can now confidently say three things. 1) These books really can be read as standalones. You will have no problem whatsoever picking up on the story and following along. There is not much story line overlap at all. 2) I can pretty easily tell that all of the books in this series are going to be good. Jeanette Murray is a very solid writer, the romances are all wonderful, and I enjoyed this one more than Romancing the Running Back! If you like one of them, you will probably like all of them. and 3) I need to read the first three books in the series. I must read where trey and Cassie’s story started, since they are the couple I have seen the most of in the two books I have read. (I don’t even know who books 2 and 3 are about. That is how little they are in books 4 and 5.) This is a series that is right up my alley.
Josh and Carington are great. I loved that they have known each other their wholes lives and that their mom’s have been constantly plotting to get them together. They have a really great bickering back and forth thing, and even though they both say they dislike each other, I never felt true hate or contempt in their words. They know each other better than anyone else, and I think they always cared about one another on some level. What I loved most of all was how Josh wanted someone to keep him grounded. He thought that when he stepped up to be a starting QB that all of the attention would go to his head, so he wanted Cari around to knock him back down a few pegs, which is really her specialty. I don’t think Josh would have really needed that because he is such a supportive and grounded guy himself. He was always there for Cari. She was the meaner one, in my opinion. I really loved both of them, but she got on my nerves the way she was consonantly fighting Josh just because it was what her mother wanted. I mean, as far as excuses go, that is a pretty lame one! But overall, I loved the lifelong bond the two of them had, and watching them together was always sweet and fun.
Bottom line: Completing the Pass, while being the fifth book in the Santa Fe Bobcats series, it is easy for a new reader to the series to pick up with their story first. It was bantering, bickering fun, and a really great story. Whether you start with book 1 or book 5, check out this series if you love sports romances.
danielle hammelef
I’ve never read sports romances before, but since I love romance and sports, this book may be a perfect fit.