The Hook Up by Kristen Callihan Pages: 335
Published by Plain Jane Books on September 8, 2014
Series: Game On #1
Genres: contemporary, Dating & Sex, Death & Dying, Love & Romance, New Adult
Source: eARC from Author
The rules: no kissing on the mouth, no staying the night, no telling anyone, and above all… No falling in love
Anna Jones just wants to finish college and figure out her life. Falling for star quarterback Drew Baylor is certainly not on her to do list. Confident and charming, he lives in the limelight and is way too gorgeous for his own good. If only she could ignore his heated stares and stop thinking about doing hot and dirty things with him. Easy right?
Too bad he’s committed to making her break every rule…
Football has been good to Drew. It’s given him recognition, two National Championships, and the Heisman. But what he really craves is sexy yet prickly Anna Jones. Her cutting humor and blatant disregard for his fame turns him on like nothing else. But there’s one problem: she's shut him down. Completely.
That is until a chance encounter leads to the hottest sex of their lives, along with the possibility of something great. Unfortunately, Anna wants it to remain a hook up. Now it’s up to Drew to tempt her with more: more sex, more satisfaction, more time with him. Until she’s truly hooked. It's a good thing Drew knows all about winning.
All’s fair in love and football…Game on
The Hook Up by Kristen Callihan was such a pleasant surprise for me. I got this book sent to me for review consideration, without anyone submitting a review request. Normally, I don’t do too many of those (except from major publishing houses). I like to vet all of my review books to try and be as sure as possible that I will enjoy the book. They normally go to the bottom of my TBR and end up getting buried. But this one caught my eye, and I put it in my normal review rotation. And boy am I glad did. The Hook Up was a great new adult contemporary romance. While the outcome was predictable, the road that this guy and gal took to get together was anything but. There were tons of bumps and roadblocks thrown at them, and not all of them predictable in the least. I found myself reading on just to see what was going to happen with them next.
Drew is the quarter back for a major football university in the south. So right off the bat, I could relate to the college campus and atmosphere that surrounded the game and the players. And I love me some college football, so that was a big plus as well. Anna is a smart and former high school outcast that wants nothing to do with the limelight. But it was clear from their very first meeting that there was a draw between the two of them. The Hook Up is told in classic New Adult Contemporary style- dual narrative between Drew and Anna. It was perfect because it let each person be the star of their version of the story.
I loved that Drew was the one that thought it was more love at first sight and Anna was the one that was stubborn beyond all reason. I got her hesitation, but holy cow was this girl stubborn. And drew kept trying and trying and Anna would take one baby step forward and multiple baby steps back. But she is such a sweet girl and through it all you could see the two of them really connecting. Anna and Drew were great characters. Just the kind I like to see in my romances. And Drew just made me want to eat him up!
The cool part about The Hook Up was that it didn’t follow the “typical” contemporary story arch. You know the one: Guy and Girl meet, they dance around each other for the first 30-50% of the book and then they either get together or make a big move, then things are going great until about 70-80%, someone messes up big time and things are off. And then they get nicely wrapped up by about 95%. Don’t get me wrong- with the right characters and the right plot line it is a formula that works well for me A LOT of the time. But it is nice to see Kristen Callihan mix it up with The Hook Up. After the characters get together you are thinking you are in for some smooth sailing until that one last bump comes along in the road. But no, that is not the case. You are up, you are down, happy, sad, frustrated, dragged left and right without warning. This book will keep you guessing and wondering just what the heck is going to happen next. I loved that about The Hook Up! If you like New Adult Contemporary romance and you like college football. Heck, just if you like books that are not cookie cutter, but still have all the satisfaction of a great romance and the happily ever after you crave- check out the hook up! I can’t wait to read the next book in this series, and check out more from this author. It was a great find for me.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
kindlemom1
I have been pretty burnt out on NA lately but I think I would actually really like this one. Thanks for putting it on my radar!
in the hammock
i like that it doesn’t fit the usual mold! thanks for the review!