What he wants he gets...

Knox Masters is a quarterback's worst nightmare. Warrior. Champion. And...virgin. Knox knows what he wants--and he gets it. All American Football player? Check. NFL pros scouting him? Check. Now, he's set his sight on two things. The national title. And Ellie Campbell. Sure, she's the sister of his fellow teammate, but that's not going to stop him. Especially not when he’s convinced Ellie is the one.

...but he's never met her before.

But Ellie isn't as sure. She's trying to start a new life and she's not interested in a relationship...with anyone. Beside it's not just her cardinal rule of never dating her brother's teammates that keeps her away, but Ellie has a dark secret that would jeopardize everything Knox is pursuing.

Knox has no intention of losing. Ellie has no intention of giving in.

I lock my legs to keep from falling over and pull out the biggest barrel I have. “Masters, there are things about me that if you knew you wouldn’t want to spend another minute in my presence.”

He considers my words, the silence taking on a heaviness and part of me already aches for what I could have if I was just any other girl at Western. “Have you killed anyone?” he finally asks. I can feel his eyes assessing me and I keep my gaze averted afraid of what

I’ll see in his moss green gaze.

“No.”

“Have you slept with my brother?”

“What?” I can’t prevent myself from gawking at Masters, who’s smiling as he asks the question. “No! God, I’ve never even met him!”

“Are you catfishing poor athletes from Auburn? Wait, don’t answer that because I don’t think I’d find that objectionable. Oh, I have it—” He snaps his fingers.

“This isn’t a joke, Masters.”

He tucks a stray piece of hair behind my ear. “Until you tell me what it is, it’s not a reason to be apart either.”

I suck in my lower lip to prevent throwing myself at him and telling him to take me.

“Why?” I ask helplessly.

“Because I like you.”

He grips me by the chin and lays down gentlest, sweetest kiss. In that kiss he tells me everything. That he wants me. That he’s willing to take it slow. That he’s not giving up.

He kisses me as if this is the only thing he wants to do for the next ten hours.

His lips barely move but I can feel everything in me surge toward him. The short wedges I shoved on this morning suddenly feel precarious. I grip his shoulders to steady myself and then find myself rising up on my tiptoes to press deeper against him. He hauls me flush against him until I can no longer touch the floor.

His one hand palms nearly my entire back while the other angles my head for better access. He may be a virgin, but the guy knows how to kiss. His tongue is finding places inside my mouth that I didn’t even know would feel good.

All the pent up desire that has been boiling in me for days comes pouring out of me. I attack him with my next kiss, biting his lower lip, sucking on his tongue. Against my belly I can feel the hard ridge of his erection.

“God,” I breathe as he abandons my mouth to trace the line of my jaw with his lips. He growls in response and pushes me back against the bookcases but I don’t even mind that the shelves are biting into my back. I just want more.

And he gives it to me. We cling to each other, feeding off of each other’s seemingly endless need until I hear a gasp and then a muted giggle. And those two faint sounds somehow manage to break through the haze of lust and bring with it the realization that

I am in a very public place. I wriggle against him and he sets me down reluctantly.

“We’re in the bookstore,” I say in a scandalized voice.

“You’ve never kissed a guy in the bookstore before?” He grins, the wicked mischievous one I’m beginning to associate with something tremendously naughty. “There’s a first time for everything.”

Knox Masters, Captain of the Western State Warriors usually has no trouble getting what he wants. But when he decided his team mate's sister, Ellie is the girl he wants, it gets a bit complicated.

She has her reasons for not dating football players. But he doesn't care. He is determined to win her over by any means necessary.

They've got chemistry, a connection, and common interests. But she's got secrets and he still has his V card. She's got her hands full dealing with her own life. She doesn't really have the time or want to be in  a relationship with a football player. But he won't settle for anything less.

They are like an addiction for each other--hard to resist the chemistry no matter how hard she tries to resist the feelings. But she has secrets and fears that could ruin it all. And sometimes in trying to protect people it only makes a situation worse.

This story is about facing fears sacrifice, not giving up, and what it means to win. 

I absolutely adored Knox! He was the All American good guy with a big heart. He knew what he wanted and wasn't  afraid to go after it. But even though he was sweet, funny, and loving, he also had a little sexy, dirty talking edge to him as well. 

Ellie was sassy, fun, outspoken, and smart. But she had some underlying emotional issues. Still she was likable and was a good match for Knox. I liked their banter, rapport, and chemistry. I really believed that they were that young couple that just fits together. Unfortunately they had some issues to deal with.

I enjoyed the side characters, His identical twin brother, Ty...yes twin heart throbs! And Ellie's brother Jack...She and Jack had such a strong bond and emotional tie. And their Warrior team mates Matty, Ace, Hammer, and Jesse made me smile so much. I loved the camaraderie and the "boys only" chats were hilarious. These guys were such a fun, if a bit clueless group when it came to women. Her room mate Riley was also such a sweet heart. I want to see her find her own love connection...maybe with a Warrior...

I am a fan of Jen Frederick's Woodland series and she made an easy transition to college football. This is an engaging, humorous, sexy, sweet NA story with college football front and center. I really enjoyed this story and the characters and getting both points of view. The big conflict got a little convoluted and dramatic for me, but it was able to reel me back in pretty quickly. But the ending still felt a bit rushed to me. Maybe I was just not ready for it to be over. I am hoping that we will get more with Knox and Ellie in future books in the series featuring the other players. 

I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Ellie is trying to start over at her new school, which means dating her brother’s teammates is a big no. But she is also hiding a secret from everyone around her, including her brother. Will her secret hurt what is building between herself and the star football player? Will everything she’s worked for come crashing down around her?

Knox has it all and is focused on his goal of being the best on the field. Ellie offers a challenge he hasn’t faced before and not even the fact that her brother is his new teammate will stand in the way. In fact, he decides her brother is the way to get closer to the girl who will hardly give him the time of day.

I was intrigued by the fact that while one party was a virgin, it was not the girl. She was no blushing beauty who didn’t know what she wanted or what to do. But I also really liked Knox’s reasoning and philosophy behind his virginity, and the fact that his team was behind him (and supported that decision) made it even more refreshing.

There is a great pull between Ellie and Knox and while he immediately calls her “The One,” she continues to keep her distance. Though Knox was ready to go all in from the get go, he understands Ellie’s hang-ups and lets her hang on to the distance...to a point.

I loved the support and camaraderie built between the team, and the way that extended to Ellie simply because she was related to a player. The personalities developing on the side of this story [provide great prospects for potential future stories. And watching that whole group try to give advise to Knox on how to win a girl was priceless.

This was such an entertaining read I found myself sneaking in reading time in every spare moment. 

I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.

It looks like I am definitely in the minority here…

HUGE fan of Jen Fredericks’ but I’m sad to say this one fell somewhat flat for me.

Sacked was a cute, lighthearted romance with minimal amounts of angst. It should have been the perfect end of summer read. The right balance of sports and romance. I’ll admit it was to a certain extent. However, overall, for me anyway, it was too sugary sweet with a hefty, hefty dose of instalove. If you’ve read any of my reviews, you know I very rarely do instalove. Not to mention, all sex and no real character depth and chemistry makes for a hard reader connection. Let’s just say, for a virgin, Knox definitely made up for his lack of sex life--lots and lots of sexy times. Did I mention lots? Due to these and a few other things, some parts dragged on for me, while other parts had me loving this book.

Classic case of a love/hate relationship

I liked all of the characters well enough, but I wasn't head over heels for them. I really needed and wanted more from these characters and their interactions. To be honest, I didn't come away from this duo feeling as though I "knew them" other than Knox was a sweetheart of a football god, a virgin, and he loved to go down on his girl. And when it came Ellie I knew her family was nasty mothertruckers, she was a true blue football fan, was wicked smart, and had a thing for our sweetheart of a football god. 

Last but not least, I’m sure Ms. Fredericks’ meant for that ending to be unique and romantic, but I just couldn’t buy what she was selling. Why, you ask? Simply put, as I stated earlier, the couple lacked depth and a real connection. We went right into “this girl will be my wife (within 5% of the book)” and skipped right over the trials and tribulations; therefore, the outcome came across as far-fetched, especially since it didn’t have the grit to back it up.

In addition, I am a firm believer that the outcome of whether or not you like a book relies on what you read before it. Unfortunately, I think Sacked would have worked better if I hadn't read it coming straight off Until Friday Night and The End Game. 

While I enjoyed other members of the team, I’m not really sure I would venture into reading this series to the finish. I am thinking, at this time, I will stick with her Hitman and Woodland Series.

Bestselling author Jen Frederick lives with her husband, child, and one rambunctious dog. She's been reading stories all her life but never imagined writing one of her own. Jen loves to hear from readers so drop her a line at jensfrederick@gmail.com.