Avon Impulse | July 7, 2015 | Sport Romance
Love and Football, book 5
★★★★1/2
SOURCE: TASTY BOOK TOURS
Jillian Miller likes her job working in the front office for the Seattle Sharks, but lately being surrounded by a constant parade of perfection only seems to make her own imperfections all the more obvious. She needs a change, which takes her into foreign territory: the Sharks’ workout facility after hours. The last thing she expects is a hot, grumbly god among men to be there as witness.
Star linebacker Seth Taylor had a bad day-well, a series of them recently. When he hits the Sharks’ gym to work out his frustration, he’s startled to find someone there-and even more surprised that it’s Jillian, the team owner’s administrative assistant. When he learns of Jillian’s mission to revamp her lifestyle, he finds himself volunteering to help. Something about Jillian’s beautiful smile and quick wit makes him want to stick around. She may not be like the swimsuit models he usually has on his arm, but the more time Seth spends with Jillian the harder he falls.
And as Jillian discovers that the new her is about so much more than she sees in the mirror, can she discover that happiness and love are oh-so-much better than perfect?
{ add to goodreads } .
USA Today Bestselling Author, Julie Brannagh has been writing since she was old enough to hold a pencil. She lives in a small town near Seattle, where she once served as a city council member and owned a yarn shop. She shares her home with a wonderful husband, two uncivilized Maine Coons and a rambunctious chocolate Lab.When she’s not writing, she’s reading, or armchair-quarterbacking her favorite NFL team from the comfort of the family room couch. Julie is a Golden Heart finalist and the author of contemporary sports romances.
{ excerpt } .
She hurried over to the laptop on the little desk in the kitchen, pulled up Google, and searched on Seth’s name. She sank into a chair while she read. He was six foot four, and she practically weighed as much as he did. Well, not quite, but still. She let out a long sigh. He was two years younger than she was. It also seemed Seth had been busy: He was single. “Very single,” according to one of the most recent fan websites she looked at. In Google Images, she found a series of photos of him with multiple tall, dark-haired women, each more gorgeous than the last.
Jillian shut the laptop lid with an irritated “click”, got up from her chair, and hurried into the bathroom. She’d stood in front of a full-length mirror so many times, but it always showed her the same thing. She wasn’t unattractive, but she could use a little more self-confidence and a lot more toning. She wasn’t asking for physical perfection, but she’d like to make some changes. If she made a plan, started slowly and kept at it, she’d see a difference.
The biggest changes needed to start on the inside, though. Maybe if she got out a little more, she might meet a guy that was interested in her. Seth was gorgeous, but he wasn’t really in her universe. Jillian went into the kitchen, grabbed a frozen low-calorie dinner out of the freezer, ripped the cardboard lid off, and shoved it into the microwave. Dinner would taste a whole lot better if it was accompanied by half a bag of chips and some Ranch dip. But that wasn’t an option right now. She opened the refrigerator door to look for a fresh vegetable of some type.
She pushed the fridge door shut after a fruitless search and rummaged around in her apartment’s tiny pantry. She located a can of peas. Peas were good. Plus, there weren’t many calories in peas. Maybe she could fill up on them if the diet dinner didn’t cut it.
Jillian’s love-hate relationship with her body and food had started when she was little. Most of the time, there wasn’t enough to eat. She ended up in a foster home at three years old after her mother died in a car wreck, and she was moved a few times before she entered elementary school. Things got a little better for Jillian when she was placed in a more permanent foster home, but she was still so hungry. No matter how much she ate, she wanted more. When she was old enough to make her own money, she made sure there was more than enough, and that’s when the problems began. Even more than a diet or a new workout regime, she needed to focus on the great things in her life. She’d build a healthier lifestyle as a result. Even more than a diet or a new workout regime, change from the inside would last a lot longer. She wanted to build on the goals she’d already achieved and reach out for more of the things she wanted in life: A husband. A family. To belong.
{ review } .
I do love sport romances, and CHASING JILLIAN was no different. It didn't go quite as deep as I've found myself craving from books as of late, but the skimmed surface was cute and fun.
Jillian works for the NFL team, Sharks. She's been in a romantic rut -- one that I totally relate to. She's busy, but more than that, she's spent years insecure and dating was just not an option. Now she's making changes and the first? Working out.
But she can't afford a gym, so she sneaks into the Sharks' -- and just when she's managing to get through her difficult DVD, a booming voice stops her.
Seth is new to the Sharks, so he's not quite sure who this woman is in the gym. After he gets past his own startledness (not a word, shh), he quickly befriends her and helps her.
He learns through this friend process, though, that women and men are different on a few things -- something he actually learns from his sister because Jillian is too embarrassed to say. Weight and swimsuits? Not something a girl wants to necessarily share with a man.
This was a cute story. I loved that Seth fell for Jillian. He knew that if he ever wanted to get to the part of life he craved (wife, family), he needed to look beyond the models and superstars he'd been dating. When he first meets Jillian, no, he doesn't figure her to be the one for him, but he enjoys her company. They take walks on her lunch, they hang out... and slowly Seth finds himself falling for her.
I loved that the other relationships in the story helped Seth and his journey. I would love to go back and read the others in this LOVE AND FOOTBALL series simply because the men seem so down to earth and real. Sure, there are the stereotypical football players on the roster, but the ones Seth befriends, the ones who live in his neighborhood and talk about their wives and kids, the ones who are afraid of the little girl soccer team because they only have sons... I enjoyed them.
Jillian works for the NFL team, Sharks. She's been in a romantic rut -- one that I totally relate to. She's busy, but more than that, she's spent years insecure and dating was just not an option. Now she's making changes and the first? Working out.
But she can't afford a gym, so she sneaks into the Sharks' -- and just when she's managing to get through her difficult DVD, a booming voice stops her.
Seth is new to the Sharks, so he's not quite sure who this woman is in the gym. After he gets past his own startledness (not a word, shh), he quickly befriends her and helps her.
He learns through this friend process, though, that women and men are different on a few things -- something he actually learns from his sister because Jillian is too embarrassed to say. Weight and swimsuits? Not something a girl wants to necessarily share with a man.
This was a cute story. I loved that Seth fell for Jillian. He knew that if he ever wanted to get to the part of life he craved (wife, family), he needed to look beyond the models and superstars he'd been dating. When he first meets Jillian, no, he doesn't figure her to be the one for him, but he enjoys her company. They take walks on her lunch, they hang out... and slowly Seth finds himself falling for her.
I loved that the other relationships in the story helped Seth and his journey. I would love to go back and read the others in this LOVE AND FOOTBALL series simply because the men seem so down to earth and real. Sure, there are the stereotypical football players on the roster, but the ones Seth befriends, the ones who live in his neighborhood and talk about their wives and kids, the ones who are afraid of the little girl soccer team because they only have sons... I enjoyed them.
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