Lucas Hale built his entire life around football.
The franchise quarterback.
The GOAT.
The man everyone on his team counts on.
Recovering from a devastating shoulder injury, the veteran quarterback signs with the Lone Star Rebels for one last chance to prove he still belongs in the league.
There’s just one problem—Dr. Emery Porter.
The Rebels’ new injury specialist isn’t impressed by Lucas’s charm—or his determination to push through pain.
She’s seen the scans.
She knows the damage.
And if she clears him to play, it might mean destroying his career for good.
But the more time they spend together, the more dangerous everything becomes.
For Emery’s career.
For Lucas’s future.
And the harder it becomes to remember where professional boundaries end—and where love begins.
Because if Lucas keeps playing, he could lose everything.
And if Emery stops him . . . she might lose the man she’s fallen for.
Sometimes the biggest risk isn’t losing the game.
It’s losing what you never thought you wanted.
More than once in the book it's mentioned that he is a good man, and in fact it's the reason he is where he is,. In the tropes for this book it's mentioned that he is a golden retriever hero. He is. But he is also what all golden retriever heroes should aspire to be.
This book made me cry. More than once. While it doesn't guarantee it's going to be a five star read when that happens, I can't think of a time when this didn't mean the book was going to the top of my list. If I am invested enough in the characters to cry for them, or with them (no spoilers here) then that means the book is working.
Emery and Lucas were perfect for one another. The way their relationship evolved, which I realize is the point of a romance, was a journey I didn't want to end. She likes him from the beginning, even when she knows he is not being totally truthful about his injury, but that appreciation for him as a person is what builds them as a couple.
This book is not only going into the list of 5 star reads for this year, but it's on my list of all time favorite reads, which says something as I am not always the biggest fan of sports based books in which one of the characters is dealing with an injury. But, this one handles that perfectly and it's less a plot point of the story and more of a way to go on the journey with both of them and realize how perfect they are for one another.
I can't wait for the rest of this series.
