Book Review — The Hot Shot by Kristen Callihan

“She makes life fun. I want to know her, be close to her. Which is a bad idea. She is looking for a relationship. I’ve never given a woman more than one night. But when fate leaves her without a home, I step up and offer her mine. We’re roommates now. Friends without benefits. But it’s getting harder to keep our hands off each other. And the longer we live together the more I realize she’s becoming my everything…”

• Buy THE HOT SHOT (Kindle)
• Buy THE HOT SHOT (Paperback)

WOOHOOOO!!!

This book was so good! It’s a sexy, swoony, slow burning friends-to-lovers romance with a strong, feisty heroine and a famous football player hero who was her complete opposite in almost every way and yet, even though they did their best to deny it, the sparks flew between them! After an unfortunate house fire left her homeless, they became roommates and again tried to stay friends only but when they had to pretend to be boyfriend/girlfriend for a holiday weekend, their feelings became too intense to ignore… I loved their romance!! It was funny, hot, and well-written. I highlighted so many quotes! A great romantic comedy perfect for fans of fun, sexy, light-hearted sports romance!!

So the whole thing started with a naked photo shoot. Him the naked football player with a cocky attitude. Her the no-nonsense photographer who took exactly none of his shit. But despite getting off on the wrong foot, their undeniable attraction to each other led to an intensely charged shoot.

“She isn’t the sweetly pretty or stunning beautiful kind of woman I usually spend time with. She’s severe, elegant. It would be easy for me to say she isn’t my type. But I’m fairly certain that goes both ways. And I’m beginning to think my “type” has just changed.

They genuinely couldn’t have been more opposite. As the quarterback of a world famous team, he lived in the spotlight while she preferred staying behind the lens. He was Mr. One-Night-Stand, she was looking for commitment. He was everything she was trying to stay away from, and he wasn’t looking for a relationship, but something kept drawing them back to each other and they became very close friends.

“Chess is just Chess. I don’t need to fuck her. I just want to be and not have to explain it.”
“Frankly,” he says, as we jog up the stairs. “I’m more surprised she even talks to you. I could have sworn she hated you.”
“I grow on people.”
“Like fungus.”

He might have been allergic to relationships and she might have been solidly anti-hook-up but that didn’t stop their friendship from growing. They partied together, talked, texted, confided in each other and had the best time ever on their non-dates.

“You should see your face right now,” he says. “You are in total smit.”
“Smit?”
“Yeah, smitten. Totally fucking smitten.”

I’m gonna be honest, even though I usually prefer the romance side of books, I actually really loved them as friends. Taking the romantic side off the table during this time gave them a chance to really just be who they were without any worries about anything else. There was nothing on the line to lose by showing their differences and they were able to show each other their true selves, and yet the more time they spent together, the closer they became… until eventually they just couldn’t deny that what they shared was so much more than just friendship.

“It’s not going to go away for me.”
“What isn’t?”
His expression is solemn, but when he catches my eye, the corner of his lip quirks. “Wanting you… I said I wouldn’t push you, and I meant it. But one day, you’re going to feel safe enough to let go. And I’m going to be there to catch you when you fall.”

I loved all the light hearted humor that was sprinkled throughout the book. So many of their interactions had me laughing and chuckling and this genuinely is a book that kept me smiling a lot!

“Are you going to get in this bed?”
I stand a bit straighter and huff out a breath. “That’s all you have to say?”
His lips part as if he’ll speak but then he closes his mouth before opening it again. “In the spirit of friendship, I feel I should point out that your nightshirt is transparent when backed by the bathroom light.”
I jump out of the bathroom doorway, flicking off the light as I go.
With a glare, I hustle my ass into the bed, sliding under the cool covers as he laughs low in his belly.
“Asshole.” I pull the comforter up to my chest. “You could have told me sooner.”
“The struggle was real.”

Their romance was a smoking hot slow burn. I actually loved how functional they were both as friends and as a couple. They communicated, worked through things (even the difficult things), and when the kind of drama flared up that could so easily have torn them apart, I was really impressed with the way they handled it both together and separately. Things did get a wee bit eye-roll-y at the end for a minute but it didn’t last long and things worked out sooo well in the end. I couldn’t stop smiling after reading the epilogue!!!

His expression turns tender. “I fucking adore you.”
God, my heart. I can’t take it… “You’ve grown on me too.”
“I’m like fungus that way,” he agrees happily.

You can read this book as a fully complete standalone. It is technically part of the Game On series — which is a series of interconnected sports romance standalones where each book is about a different couple from the team. But I haven’t read the previous books, so I read this totally separately, and was never confused. Also, as I mentioned, this book has an epilogue so it’s genuinely readable as a complete story if you want to just dive in. As I said, I haven’t read any of the other standalones in this series, but I have read her other rock star VIP series and I fell in love with her writing then so when this blurb intrigued me, I was excited to read it and I’m so so glad I did! It was a winner!

If you’re looking for a fun, sexy, light-hearted opposites attract friends-to-lovers sports romance with a strong heroine, a swoony hero, a lot of fun banter, smoking hotness, and a dash of angst, then definitely try this book!

Rating: 4.5 stars! Contemporary Adult Romance. Can standalone.

• Buy THE HOT SHOT (Kindle)
• Buy THE HOT SHOT (Paperback)

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Series of interconnected standalones.
Do not need to read in order. Each can be read separately.