Play Calling by Kate Donovan Series: Play Makers #6
Published by Beyond the Page Publication Date: August 30, 2016
Also in this series: Play Mates
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Fans of football romance will love this new book in the Play Makers series by Kate Donovan!
Daniel Riga, the controversial head coach of the Portland Lancers, has the same rule for press conferences as for anything else during football season: football only. The man doesn’t even date except in the off-season. So why are these reporters asking about some sociologist who inexplicably called him a zombie in her latest newspaper column? On the Lifestyles page, no less!
Noelle Sharpe is mortified that her words have been taken out of context, since her tongue-in-cheek point was that zombies focus on a single obsession—eating brains—but a brilliant, vibrant man like Daniel Riga should broaden his horizons past football-only. Her attempt at apologizing in print only leads to another round of jokes at the handsome coach’s expense, so she tracks him down for an in-person apology.
As frustrated as he is with this zombie nonsense, Daniel goes wild for Noelle and they end up in bed. Unfortunately, it’s football season, so he asks her to wait for him until the off-season. By now, she’s so crazy about him, and so worried she’ll cost the Lancers their season by distracting him, she readily agrees.
Zombies consume brains. That’s all they do. And Daniel Riga consumes football. That’s all he does. Or at least until Noelle Sharpe writes her way into his life and gives football some serious competition.
Cocktails and Books received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.
PLAY CALLING is the sixth and newest addition to the Play Makers series and I have enjoyed reading all of them. Each of the stories is about a different member of the Lancers football team and the characters are funny, quirky and highly entertaining. This story is a little different from the others. It is not about one of the players on the football team, it is about their coach. Daniel Riga is the new head coach of the Portland Lancers football team and during the season Daniel’s only focus is on football and trying to lead his new team to another Super Bowl. He never spends time on anything else, including dating. Daniel is intense and highly motivated but underneath it all there is a fun loving, nice guy.
Noelle Sharpe is a sociologist and writes a column for the local newspaper. She mentions Daniel in one of her columns and the whole thing is blown out of proportion. Noelle is embarrassed by all the bad publicity Daniel is getting over her column and meets him when she seeks him out to apologize. There are is an immediate attraction between them but Daniel doesn’t want any distractions from football and tries to ignore his feelings toward Noelle.
Daniel drove me crazy throughout this story because he is such a clueless guy and I do not understand why Noelle is so patient and understanding with him. Even though Daniel wanted to be with Noelle, he does not want to put the time or energy into a relationship and Noelle thinks so little of herself, she lets him make all the decisions. That said, I enjoyed the story and I liked Daniel and Noelle, but I didn’t always agree with their decisions.
I am delighted the Triple Threat are part of this story because I loved reading about these colorful characters in the other books in this series. I enjoy all the humor, wisecracking and jokes between the players. This is an fun and captivating story with many wonderful characters and of course, hot football players.
