Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: First Down
SERIES: The Guardian #2
AUTHOR: Max Walker
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 190 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016
BLURB:
Sean Drake is a closeted college football player coming up on the most important year of his life. He’s been the star quarterback at the University of Florida for three years in a row and now he was facing bright NFL prospects. All he needed to do was stay focused on the game and come out a winner. Things get harder when Sean starts being stalked by a crazy fan and finds their advances only getting bolder and more threatening.
Connor Hawk works as a bodyguard for an exclusive agency in Los Angeles. He lives life day to day, protecting celebrities and politicians for a paycheck and then finding a random guy to ease the pressure over a night. He resigned himself to living a lonely life caring only about his work. That all changes when he gets flown to Gainesville for an assignment that alters his future in the blink of an eye.
When Connor and Sean meet, their chemistry is undeniable. Both of the men must come to terms with feelings they thought they were never destined to have. Meanwhile, the stalker becomes more persistent and ends up doing something unimaginable. Now, Sean is faced with a choice that could potentially push him out of the closest in the worst way possible or he could sacrifice the one person that ever made him feel complete.
REVIEW:
I grabbed this book because it called to me after reading the blurb. I am a fan of gay football player series. I have been following several series and jumped to see if this was as good. I was not disappointed in the least!
Sean Drake is the all-American dream. He has been the star quarterback for one of the most prestigious football programs in the country since he was a freshman and is a Heisman Trophy winner. He has lead his team to SEC Championships twice. Now he has one more season before he can achieve his final goal…NFL Starting Quarterback. He just has to get out of school…oh and avoid a pesky stalker. He also has to keep dodging his best friend’s attempts to set him up because no one knows his real secret. His real secret is that Sean is totally gay, not that he has ever acted on his desires. After the stalker breaks into Sean’s apartment, his coach has had it and hires a bodyguard. Connor Hawk is a professional bodyguard from California hired to protect Sean from his stalker. He is also a proud openly gay man. He isn’t about to hide his sexual orientation after all the crap his Puritan father put him through. He succeeded when he could have just become a statistic, gay teen thrown out of his home to fend for himself. He is also not a relationship kind of guy. He learned his lessons well and trusting a guy with his heart isn’t going to happen again. But you know how these things go. Two incredibly hot alpha males with raging hormones and sizzling chemistry forced to spend every moment together, the inevitable is destined to happen. But how it happens and what comes from it is…the rest of the story!
These guys draw you in from the moment you meet them. You just can’t help but to care for them and want them to be happy. But how is a openly gay man supposed to work it out with a very closeted gay virgin? Especially when the virgin is an incredibly handsome and cut football player who has too much to lose by coming out. It was also easy to like them because of how well each character was written. You really got to “know” them and you just want the world for them.
I think one of the things I liked best about this book was that, even though both men were obviously attracted to the other, they kept their cool, got to know and like each other instead of the author “rushing” them to bed. It was a fresh change to watch them become friends, good friends. To care about what the other thought, wanted and needed. And when they did finally reach out for companionship, it was like…phew – finally! Nothing ever felt rushed or fake. You could tell that these men had true feelings for each other
If you want a well developed romantic book about two men that learned what real life and love was about and opened their eyes to the “bigger picture” this is the book for you. You don’t have to be a football fan like me to enjoy this wonderful book. I am so glad I took a chance and reached out for this book and I believe you will be too.
RATING: 
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