Review - - Catch and Release

Catch and Release

by Tracy Solheim

Milwaukee Growlers Football Romance - Book 3

Publisher: Sun Home Productions

Release Date: February 19, 2024

Reviewed by PJ

A second chance, enemies-to-lovers football romance.

He’s the pro athlete everyone wants to be.
Quarterback Trey Van Horn didn’t become the league’s MVP by accident. Years of self-discipline and iron-clad control have made him the envy of everyone in and around the game of football. But when he comes face-to-face with the one who got away, his tightly managed life is turned upside down. Now he’ll do whatever it takes to score the greatest comeback of his life.

She’s tired of being every guy’s doormat.
London Headley is on the verge of having the career she’s always dreamed of. Too bad the path to her promotion runs through the guy who broke her heart a decade earlier. So what if everything about the Milwaukee Growlers QB sets her panties on fire? She’s determined to keep things professional. Life has taught her that men will always choose something—or someone—over her. It’s going to take more than a Hail Mary to get her to buy into the fairy tale.

The only problem? Her lips don’t seem to want to follow the game plan. Not when Trey is executing an all-out blitz to prove he’s worth a second chance.

PJ's Thoughts:

Tracy Solheim's books are auto-buys for me. I've read them all. I've enjoyed them all. And, of them all, Catch and Release, the newest addition to her Milwaukee Growlers series, is my favorite. 

I had a feeling after reading books one and two in this series that Trey had hidden layers. I had no idea just how many layers and how well hidden they would turn out to be. Or, just how much I would fall in love with this man who truly believed he was cursed in loved. And then there's London, who has been taught by people in her life (including Trey) that she will never be the one chosen. I wanted to hug her, support her, cheer her on, and share honest truths, just as her best friend Lucy did. And then I wanted to do the same with Trey, side by side with his football teammates. Solheim has a knack for creating strong, supportive, straight-talking friendships and hilarious yet surprisingly nurturing bromances in this series.

I don't believe Solheim has ever written a couple that I've pulled harder for, both individually and as a couple. I loved their complex layers, their enemies-to-lovers, second-chance romance, the fiery chemistry that brought them back together, the emotional layers of their overlapping - sometimes complicated - family relationships, and the balancing of their career dreams with the risk of laying their hearts on the line. They took me on a perfectly paced, emotional ride that bubbled with laugh-out-loud humor, included a few surprise twists, touched my heart with endearing moments, offered up some satisfying steam, and had me mopping up tears more than once. I've read their story twice. I have a feeling that it may become one of my go-to comfort reads in the future. These are characters - both primary and secondary - that I just can't get enough of.