Release Blitz, Reviews, and Giveaway: Most Valuable Playboy: Lauren Blakely
Most Valuable PlayboyLauren Blakely
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Release Date September 1, 2017
Lauren is donating 10% of all release day sales to hurricane relief efforts, as well as a portion of preorders!
Hands down, my favorite thing in the world is to score. Touchdowns.
Don’t let the fact that I’m the leading pick in the Most Valuable Playboy charity auction fool you. These days, I’m only a player on the field. I’ve kept my pants zipped all season long — and it has been long — because nothing’s more important than leading my team to victory every week. Except maybe escaping from the owner’s handsy-as-hell sister who seems dead set on winning more than a date with me at the auction.
Enter Violet and a well-placed Hail Mary.
She’s my best friend’s sister with a smile as sweet as cherry pie and a mind that runs quicker than the 40-yard-dash. After Violet saves the day with the highest bid, I don’t even give her a two-minute warning before I kiss her in front of the whole crowd and then announce that she’s my girlfriend. Which would be fine except my agent tells me the next day that we’ve got to keep up the act while he’s negotiating my contract.
Violet says she’ll take one for the team and pretend to be mine, but our boyfriend-girlfriend scrimmage quickly turns into a full contact sport. And soon enough, I want this game with her to go into overtime. The problem is — I’ve been riding the bench for years.
How can a guy like me, who finally has a chance to prove his worth on the field, convince the girl she’s most valuable to his heart?
*MOST VALUABLE PLAYBOY is a brand new standalone sports romance written in the guy’s POV!*
Okay so this combines Lauren Blakely and football--destined to be a win-win! I fell for these characters and was totally charmed by their story.
Cooper Armstrong is used to being patient and waiting for what he wants. He got a great NFL rookie contract with the Renegades, But has spent the past three years as a glorified bench warmer. The only place where he has ranked above their starting quarterback is with money brought in at the Playboy Auction for charity. In the past, he has been a player, but this is his season to shine on the field. So he has kept his pants zipped and is focusing on his game to the exclusion of any extra-curricular bedroom activities. He and his teammates are superstitious and he is willing to sacrifice his physical needs for the chance at winning and proving himself. His ability to sign a new contract depends on it.
But he is charming, handsome, funny, and will be auctioned off again this year to the highest bidder. But one woman who plans to win him does not care about his focus, streak, or vow of celibacy. And her closeness to team management brings its own set of complications. Just when he needs a Hail Mary, he is saved by Violet Pierson. He's known her twenty years as she is his best friend's little sister. She steps in to help out, but ends up with more attention than she bargained for. Their fake play leads to a fake relationship. They are quickly labeled as a couple and then due to various reasons in their lives cannot unravel the lie without risking complications.
And all of a sudden Cooper is having inappropriate thoughts and rogue bodily reactions to the girl who he has always thought of as off limits. Their little lie takes on a life of its own and they have to perpetuate it for awhile to avoid fall-out.
This is told exclusively from Cooper's unfiltered male point of view. I loved getting into his mind and seeing all his scattered thoughts--confusion, conflict, surprise, and insecurities about his growing reactions and feelings for Violet. And the poor clueless quarterback has no idea what play she is running. She is good at keeping her own feelings to herself so he has no idea what if anything she is really feeling. Fake? Real? Neither knows where the other one stands.
I adored these two together. They were friends. They had history. The had complementary senses of humor. They could be sweet, flirty, funny, and even dirty. Their surprising initial kiss leads to more practice, passion, embraces, and temptation. Their reactions are hot, intense, and oh-so-not-allowed in his situation. Not only are they pretending for those around them, but he's also having to pretend with her that he is not falling fast and hard until he can figure out where she stands.
Cooper is not just a hot jock. He is trying to be a leader and a man of integrity so his lies weigh heavily on him. He has to figure out how to salvage the situation with the least amount of damage. He is confident, cocky and funny, but also vulnerable, insecure, and has a big heart. He is loyal, thoughtful, and worried about how his choices affect others. I just absolutely adored him!
Violet is a great match for him. She is sassy, fun, loves football, and understands his motivations. But she has a hard time believing he would ever really fall for her. So her own fears and insecurities keep her grounded. Their passion and need for each other just seems to keep growing. But they also have a lot of missed opportunities and don't always manage to communicate the important things.
This is a delightful, swoony, passionate, humorous, sports romance with a combination of fake relationship-forbidden-best-friend's-sister-and friends-to-lovers romance all mixed in. Cooper is a likable hero and narrator, and he is not afraid to admit his faults of feelings at least to himself. But he is under a lot of pressure and he has a lot to lose. This is also his personal journey as the tries to fulfill his potential and embrace his role as a leader, while also finding balance.
I got attached to the side characters as well and hope this is the start of a new series surrounding this team. The wide receiver, Jones, the running back, Harlan, and the kicker, Rick are all dynamic characters that added humor and support. I loved their camaraderie and teasing. Her brother (his best friend) Trent and his wife, Holly, the team staff, and his animated agent, Ford were also were important to the story. There were a couple of people with questionable motivations and I was anxious to see how that would all play out.
This book is so much fun and so full of feels. Another total winner by Lauren Blakely! I loved every bit of it! Even though this story is full and gave me everything I needed, I already want more in this Renegade world and with these other characters. Please give us more Jones and Harlan!
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Violet and Cooper have a history, but beyond friends, they haven’t made any moves towards each other. I love this kind of build, as the foundation is there -- we just get to watch them realize it! Even before they make a deal to keep up the pretense of their relationship, the care and support they show for each other is genuine.
This new crew of characters is sure to bring the antics. As the men work on their streak, I couldn’t help but laugh at the lengths they were going to in order to keep up superstitions (and also wasn’t surprised they were single with their habits!). I hope to see more of this team in the future.
Lauren Blakely’s take on football is a match made in heaven! This was a fun all around read -- bachelor auction, football, and friends-to-lovers. There was so much to love about this that I devoured it in a day -- a feat compared to my recent usual pace. Once again, Lauren has crafted a world that I can see myself returning to again and again. This may be a new subgenre for her, but I would bet she’ll be writing more for the Renegades!
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.
The business suit woman raises a hand, offering forty-one
hundred.
Maxine’s eyes laser in on me, and she
slashes an arm through the air. “Five thousand dollars,” she says, jacking the
price up by nine hundred and staking her claim. I shudder inside.
The guy’s eyes widen, and he holds up his hands. “I’m out.”
My stomach plummets when the business woman shakes her head.
“Going once?” Sierra asks, scanning the tables, looking for
perhaps one last big spender. My eyes scan the crowd, too. Hell, maybe I’ll
find an escape hatch. A trapdoor to drop into and disappear like in a magic
act. Maybe Trent will learn to read my mind. Trent, I’ll cover you for anything you bid. Just raise that hand, name
a price, and save me.
My best friend’s expression is merely curious now as he
watches Maxine and Sierra, waiting for the verdict. My opportunity to play yard
boy slips through my fingers.
The look in Maxine’s eyes is pure satisfaction as she waits
for the final word. She winks at me, as if we have a secret. Holy shit. She
thinks I want this. She thinks I want her to win me.
A flash of chestnut brown hair in the back catches my
attention. A flurry of silver. It’s Violet, hands in the air, wildly flapping
over her head in the middle of the ballroom. She brings her finger to her nose.
And she’s tapping it, like fucking Santa Claus coming down the chimney, and
Harlan tapping his nose to signal his agent, and all the greatest solutions in
the universe at once.
My heart goes crazy.
It hammers in my chest. This is like finding an open
receiver a second before you’re sacked.
“Going twice,” Sierra says, trailing off as she waits.
I raise my arm and tap my nose, too. Violet is the only one
who knows I need to get out of this jam. She’s the only one I mentioned it to.
And she’s the only one now who can save me.
“Ten thousand dollars.”
Holy shit. Violet does not mess around with my money. Her
eyes widen, as if she’s surprised she bid that high.
My gaze finds Trent. He’s staring at his sister, slack-jawed.
Sierra’s smile is bright and wide. “Ten thousand dollars. Do
we have ten thousand, one hundred?”
The room is hushed. Maxine’s expression is blank. She must
be shocked. She probably didn’t expect anyone to vie with her to this extent.
I tap my foot, willing Sierra to close this quickly. Just slam the door shut, please, fucking
please.
“Going one. Going twice.”
I say a silent prayer. I cross my fingers. I hope.
Maxine blinks, opens her mouth, and I steel myself for a
disgustingly high counter bid.
But there’s only silence. No words come. Violet has shocked
her speechless. This type of bid wasn’t in Maxine’s playbook.
Sierra raises her arm. “And a night with the quarterback is
sold for ten thousand dollars.”
Talk about a Hail Mary.
Lauren Blakely
A #1 New York Times Bestselling author, Lauren Blakely is known for her contemporary romance style that's hot, sweet and sexy. She lives in California with her family and has plotted entire novels while walking her dogs. With fourteen New York Times bestsellers, her titles have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller Lists more than 80 times, and she's sold more than 2 million books. In June she'll release THE KNOCKED UP PLAN, a standalone romantic comedy. To receive an email when Lauren releases a new book, sign up for her newsletter! laurenblakely.com/newsletter
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