Book Review | Hard Pass (Trophy Boyfriends, #1) by Sara Ney

Hard Pass
(Trophy Boyfriends, #1)
By: Sara Ney

Genre: Sports Romance/ Baseball
Publisher:
Publication Date:

My Rating: 3 stars
Format: Kindle (ARC)

Blurb:

“Hard pass.”

That’s what the last girl I slept with said when she got her first sober glimpse of me. She laughed, walked out of my penthouse—and I never saw her again. It doesn’t matter that I’m a rich, professional athlete; what mattered was my face.

Beauty might only be skin deep for some—but I know better.

“Pay up.”

That’s what the last girl I spoke to said over the phone when I made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. Desperate to sell a set of rare baseball cards, she’s clever and entertaining. I’m instantly smitten, but nowhere ready to reveal myself. Thank god she has no idea who I am—or what I look like.

I’m a professional athlete–how hard can playing the love game be?

Hard Pass is the first book in the Trophy Boyfriend’s series by Sara Ney.

I’m a lover of quirky characters. I’m a lover of the unique characters that tend not to fit into the normal category. I’m a lover of the underdogs. So basically, I had every hope and reasoning for high expectations when I first picked up this book. Everything seemed to reign in my favor…..

Before we get into all that, let’s start with the fact that this novel introduces characters that are so unlike anything in the romance world. That’s the main reason I keep coming back for more! I love the fact that Sara Ney gives us quirky and slightly adorable characters. I love how they act and I love how they don’t fit the typical, sexy as sin book boyfriend, mold. Noah is a great guy with loads of potential but his self esteem and self image is lacking all because a one night stand called him a ‘hard pass’. This man is the sweetest. I literally wanted to reach into my kindle and hug him.

Now there’s Miranda, I really enjoyed her character throughout this novel. I loved the fact that she was setting out on her own and trying to accomplish her dreams of owning a business. I loved the fact that she also isn’t the run of the mill typical romance character. She doesn’t dress sexy and doesn’t think she’s god’s gift to men. She’s a normal red blooded american woman. She has her flaws and she has her insecurities.

The characters in this novel get an A+ in my book. It’s not the characters I had a hard time with. It was the story itself. I liked it but I wanted more than to just like it. I wanted to love it. I had a few issues on the matter of the chemistry lacking in moments between Miranda and Noah. I wanted more of a connection between the two. I wanted to feel their pain and relish in their joy. I wanted all the feels between them, and I felt it was lacking in that department because certain key moments were a bit fast paced. I wanted more of a slow burn igniting chemistry feeling.

I also wanted more sports! I loved those moments we got to see Noah in the spotlight. The novel is basically about this man and how he shy’s away from the media because he’s one of the top drafted baseball players in the industry. I wanted to see more of that!

Overall, If I was rating this book on two separate characters, there is no doubt in my mind it would have been a five star. But sadly, that’s not the case. I liked it, but I didn’t love it.

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Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3e8EVhp
Amazon Universal: http://viewbook.at/HardPassSN

 

Peace Love and Happy Reading,

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