Mirrigold: Mutterings & Musings

Rough Contact by Beth Bolden

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As ever a disclaimer that I beta read this book for Beth.

Now, onto the book itself. It’s even better than the loosely connected The Rivalry and I absolutely loved everything about this romance.

It’s a difficult one to put into a trope, there’re elements of forbidden romance, it’s obviously a sports romance, but it’s also a bit of hurt/comfort, a bit of overcoming fears, a bit of an age gap and an interracial relationship.

Overall though, it’s a beautiful story of two guys who by anyone’s reckoning, shouldn’t have anything to do with each other and most definitely shouldn’t be falling in love.

But fall in love they do, it’s a super sweet romance, fairly slow burn although the chemistry is there from the off.

Neal is cautious, rightly so, given how he was badly burned not only by the team Jamie’s trying out for to replace him as kicker, but also by the guy he thought he was in love with (and can I just state here for the record – Michael you are an absolute wanker!)

Jamie though, he’s impetuous as only someone of his age can be. He’s confident in not only his skills as a kicker, but also in his attraction to Neal and he feeling they could be really good together.

There’s a looming sense of dread hanging over the narrative which only increases once Jamie’s rival for the special teams spot overhears him talking to another player who knows he’s been seeing Neal.

I really appreciated that Beth took a particular route with this big secret – which I won’t spoiler as I think it’s better to find out from reading – and I loved how it all played out in the end.

The Epilogue is beyond cute and I loved how it nicely wrapped up the state of their relationship and professional careers with a totally solid Happy for Now most likely leading into that Happily Ever After.

#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review

View all my reviews