Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Never Have I Ever: Had a Bromance with a Teammate

SERIES:  Never Have I Ever

AUTHOR:  Willow Dixon

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  332 pages

RELEASE DATE:  March 9, 2023

BLURB:  

How could one kiss change everything between me and my best friend?

Jax has been my best friend since the day we met. We not only share our passion for baseball, but we train together, play on the same team, hang out together, even sleep in the same bed half the time.

I feel safe with him, and he gets me like no one else. Yeah, he’s gay and I’m straight, but that doesn’t matter.

Until it does.
Until one stupid dare to kiss each other leads to the most amazing, epic kiss of my life.
Until I suddenly can’t stop thinking about him, about what he awakens in me.
Until all I want is him.

Our bromance evolves into something much deeper, something that neither of us can define. I explore new territory with him and discover sides of myself I never knew I had.

But with not only our future in baseball on the line but also our friendship, how can this thing between us ever be more than temporary? A bromance between besties doesn’t have to change anything, right?

Matt and Jax’s story is a best friends-to-lovers romance between teammates who discover that a bromance between besties is exactly what they’ve always wanted but never thought they could have. Expect lots of bff banter, some serious steam, and tons of sweetness as these two oblivious jocks navigate the line between boyfriends and bros. It is the third novel in the exciting Never Have I Ever series but can be read as a standalone.

REVIEW:

Matt and Jax are two college seniors who play D1 baseball.  Matt is the star pitcher and Jax is the catcher and they are the dream team.  Well at least in baseball 😉  Jax is gay and Matt is straight and neither has any issue with it.  During the beginning of school they go to a party and they are dared to kiss each other – like for real.  They are SO competitive so of course, this kiss too becomes a competition.  And it awakens something in Matt.  He never knew kissing could be like that.  So what else has he missed?  Turns out a LOT.

As an athlete, Matt has been pushed since he was basically a toddler and he’s pursued baseball exclusively.  His father wasn’t good enough and so he’s put everything into Matt being a success and making the big leagues.  Jax loves the game – like everything about it and has had the pros as his goal for ten years.  When they start fooling around, it’s just supposed to be a bromance and helping Matt figure things out.  But somewhere along the way, it turned into a whole lot more.  But what will a real relationship between teammates do to their final college season?  Or their goals after college?  Is being a pro baseball player worth losing what they have?  Only Matt and Jax and decide.

Ok, I’m a sucker for sports romances and this is a really good one.  Matt and Jax go from besties to friends with benefits to so much more.  Matt has been living his life for everyone but himself.  He’s good a baseball, but he’s living his dad’s fantasy, certainly not his own.  Jax lives eats and breathes baseball and has his focus on going pro.  He’s out and it hasn’t been a problem but then he goes and falls in love with his best friend.  What is this going to do to their dreams?  Of course he assumes Matt’s dreams are the same as his.  Eventually after some real conversations, he figures out that he needs to start thinking for himself.  Building the life he wants, not the life he’s been shoved into.  Heck he didn’t even realize he was bi until a fateful kiss on a dare with Jax.  What else is not aware of?  Lots of stuff as it turns out!  Jax for his part is worried that his relationship with Matt will cause them both issues with going pro but he also realizes that losing Matt will probably ruin his life too.  Then there is their one a$$hole teammate who is a homophobic jerk.  Thankfully, the rest of the guys are pretty good 😉

Matt’s housemates, Eli, Finn, Beck and Alex and Alex’s boyfriend Kai make their appearances in this book and there are spoilers for the previous books, but this can be read as a standalone.  These guys all are there to support each other.  Despite Jax and Matt thinking they’ve been sneaky, once again, nobody is fooled 😉  When Matt needs to be talked down from the ledge, it’s surprising who all is there to help him with that.  Jax has a wonderfully supportive family and they help a lot too.  There is a lot of fun, humor and snarky banter and bickering.  Jax and Matt ARE like an old married couple – except with a lot more hot sexy times!

I really feel like each of these books gets better and better.  I cannot WAIT for Eli’s story 🙂  Highly recommended for fans of sports romance, best friends to lovers, college-age romances and finding your person.  Very well written.

RATING:

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