Review - - Making the Play

Making the Play

By T. J. Kline

Publisher: Avon Impulse

Release Date: September 27, 2016

 

 

Bethany Mills has devoted herself to her young son James since her husband, unable to deal with a hearing impaired child, abandoned them when James was just over a year old. With the help of her parents, Bethany returned to college to earn a degree and teaching credentials. She left Memphis, Tennessee, to teach kindergarten in Hidden, Falls, California, hoping to build a life there for herself and her son. Bethany struggles not to be overprotective as she makes every effort to see that James enjoys the normal life of an active six-year-old. Her divorce has left her with trust issues, and she avoids any but the most superficial relationships.

Grant McQuaid is a Hidden Falls golden boy, a local football hero who grew up to become an NFL star. Grant grew up on the family ranch, part of a large, lively family, but football has been his life from an early age. He is in Hidden Falls in the off season, concentrating on recovering from an injury that threatens to end his career prematurely. Grant refuses to accept the prevailing opinion of doctors and coaches that his days as a key player are over.

Grant meets the beautiful Bethany and James, an avid football fan generally and a super fan of Grant McQuaid particularly, at a local park. He is immediately interested in Bethany, but her first impression of him is that he is an arrogant, privileged athlete accustomed to having whatever—and whomever—he wants. However, James is thrilled to meet his favorite football player, and Grant is charmed by “his biggest fan.” The two bond over football, and Grant’s ability to converse with James in the child’s preferred language, American Sign Language, is a big plus. Bethany’s initial wariness slowly disappears, and Grant captures her heart as well. But she is unprepared for the media attention that comes with being part of Grant’s life. Grant knows what he feels for Bethany is special, but he fears that with his career in jeopardy and his money invested in the family ranch, he has nothing to offer her and James.

Making the Play introduces Kline’s Hidden Falls series. Bethany and Grant are likeable characters, and both her determination to protect her son and his struggles with an identity inextricably tied to his sport were believable. But it is James, all-boy and all heart-tugging sweetness, who makes this novel more than another entertaining sports romance. Grant’s family supplies interesting context and, with five brothers and a sister, offers the promise of more McQuaid stories. Readers who enjoy football romances should find this book appealing, as should fans of stories in which children have a pivotal role. This was my first book by Kline, but it will not be my last. I have noted that Dare to Fall, the second Hidden Falls book, will be released January 17, 2016.

~Janga

Review - - Rodeo Queen

Rodeo Queen
By T.J. Kline
Publisher: Avon Impulse
Release Date: November 26, 2013

Newly crowned rodeo queen, Sydney Thomas has big plans and the talented horse trainer hopes her new title will help them come true.  When a well respected stock contractor offers her a job it puts her professional goals within reach and she happily accepts his offer.  Then she meets the gorgeous, arrogant, chip-on-his-shoulder man who will be her boss and starts second guessing her decision.

Scott Chandler has no use for rodeo queens.  Experience has taught him that they are pampered, self-absorbed divas who will stomp on a man's heart then hit the road without a backward glance. He doesn't agree with his boss's decision to hire Sydney and has no intention of making things easy for her. Instead of softening his feelings toward her, the fact that she's a hard worker and seems to be a nice person only makes him dig in his heels harder.  But the fact that she's drop dead gorgeous and sexy as all get out has him more than willing to indulge his desire for her even if he still thinks she's hiding her true nature.

Just when Sydney and Scott begin to realize that there might be more than desire at the root of their growing feelings, the past intrudes on the present, putting much more than their fledgling relationship at risk.  Will they allow negative forces to come between them or will they find the strength and courage to fight for a happy ending?

I have mixed feelings about this book.  It has several elements that I enjoy:  a western theme, a strong heroine, a brooding hero, horses, sexy cowboys and a touch of danger as well as an author who knows the life about which she writes.  There's a lot of potential here for character growth, a gradual deepening of sizzling desire into a solid emotional commitment and a triumph of love over hate.  I wanted to like it a lot but there were issues that tempered my enjoyment.  Maybe I'm just used to reading about contemporary characters with more life experience and stability but I found the hero of this story very immature.  True, he's had heartbreak in his life but he had more mood swings than a 13-year-old girl and I didn't care for his treatment of the heroine nor her willingness to have an ongoing physical relationship with him in light of it. I was happy with the heroine's growth over the course of the book but I would have had more confidence in a happy-ever-after if the hero's growth had been commensurate with her's. Having said that, there are still many things I like about the author's writing and I'm sure that there are many people who will like this book much more than I did.

This is T.J. Kline's first book and, while it didn't knock my socks off, it shows enough potential for me to definitely check out her next one.

~PJ