Book Review: The Final Score by Jaci Burton

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THE FINAL SCORE
Play-by-Play #13
Author: Jaci Burton
Reading Level: New Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Released: September 12, 2017
Review Source: Netgalley | Berkley

In the new Play-by-Play novel by the New York Times bestselling author of Rules of Contact, a star quarterback is torn between his love of the game—and the woman who may be the love of his life.

Nathan Riley is ready to follow in the footsteps of his famous football player father. He’s been drafted as quarterback for his dad’s former team, and his sports future is bright. When his friend Mia Cassidy moves to the same city, their years-long friendship suddenly sparks hot, reminding him of the one night they had together in college that he can never forget.

Like Nathan, Mia is from a sports dynasty family and embarking on an incredible new career—as founder of her own sports management company. Her friendship with Nathan means everything to her, and tossing sex into the mix again could jeopardize it all. But the chemistry between them has always sizzled, and it isn’t long before Mia realizes she wants more with Nathan than just late-night talks and pizza.

Passion has a funny way of changing the rules, and soon Nathan and Mia realize that to win it all, they’ll have to make an unexpected play for love.

This is my first book by Jaci Burton and I enjoyed it.  The Final Score is book 13 in the Play-by-Play series.  Sports books are my favorite type of book to read about.  I don't know why, I just love the world of sports and the passion of the athletes and adding romance into the mix is just my absolute favorite combination.

This book is about Nathan and Mia's story.  I was able to read this book as a standalone.  The pair have been good friends since they were in college.  While they had a drunken one night stand, Mia is firm to not repeat, go any further because she doesn't want their friendship affected.  After several years of friendship and moving on past college, the two become overwhelmed in their new fast paced lives.  Nathan tries convincing Mia to become friends with benefits.  This suggestion is a huge struggle for Mia.

While I did enjoy the book I got very frustrated with Mia.  I felt the back and forth, hot and cold way she handled things went on for too long.  The book made me want to slap some sense into her.  I didn't have a real connection with these characters even though I tried very hard to.  I'm stubborn, so I did finish the book but at times I wanted to throw it out of frustration.  In the end, it was entertaining, just aggravating.

I am rating this book 3.5 stars because I struggled a little bit reading this but I did enjoy it.  It wasn't a book I couldn't put down from start to finish but after some breaks, I did finish it.  I would recommend this book to anyone that doesn't mind a bit of angst and likes sports stories.