Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Ineligible Receiver
SERIES: The Package Deal
AUTHOR: Rheland Richmond and Emerson Beckett
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 468 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 28, 2023
BLURB:
A sexy and emotional story about two best friends that secretly fall in love, but struggle to keep a heartbreaking secret from tearing them apart.
When I met Greg Foster, the straight tight end for the Portland Pirates, the rookie needed a friend to bring him out of his shell. There was more to the shy twenty-two-year-old bookworm than met the eye, and I was the perfect person for the task. My roommate and best friend, Christian, was involved with the Pirates QB, so a new friend to hang out with was good.
I pushed down my attraction to him and became the best friend he ever had. We bar-hopped all over Portland and played video games in our apartments. We even loved the same indy band from Seattle.
Then we fucked up when we fell in love. And by fucked up, I mean we got married even though we knew our marriage had to remain a secret.
No one knew about us. Not even our closest friends. And every time they asked, we gave them the same line… we’re just friends.
And ultimately, the reason for that secret would tear us apart. Now, here I was three years after meeting him, and wasn’t sure how to survive without him. He was the love of my life, and I was his.
Ineligible Receiver is a friends-to-lovers and bi-awakening story and Book 5 in The Package Deal Series.
REVIEW:
Note: This is the fifth book in this series and as such contains major spoilers for the first four books and overlaps the series timeline of all of those books. I think it’s better read in order to understand the found family that these guys have formed and how/why they support each other.
Cooper and Greg are best friends. Every since Greg came to play for the Portland Pirates and was hanging out with his teammates, Cooper has taken him under his wing and they have been besties. Cooper is gay and never hidden that and they have a great friendship. Cooper lusts after Greg, but he compartmentalizes that so that they can have a great friendship. When Greg seems like he wants more, Cooper is reluctant – because he’d rather have Greg as a friend than nothing.
Turns out Greg has serious feelings for Coop, but he’s cannot come out. He’s got family stuff to deal with and a younger brother who is still at home that he worries about. So they keep their relationship secret. From everyone. For three years. It’s killing Coop and Greg isn’t doing so good either. And when things come to a boiling point, well it’s going to take a village to get them through this. Thankfully, they have just the village they need 😉
Well whew! This was quite the roller coaster ride! FINALLY we get to know what the hell has been going on with Greg and Coop since this series began 🙂 And boy is it a lot and covers a whole lot of territory. My heart broke repeatedly for both men, but especially for Cooper who put up with a lot from Greg. I understood why at the beginning and certainly with other people’s lives and safety involved, Greg’s fear was not unfounded. My chief beef I guess was that he KNEW he shouldn’t be making promises he didn’t know if he could keep, but he kept doing it. Although it wrecked him, I was proud of Cooper for standing up for himself and protecting himself even though it was a bit late in the game. Greg is in an impossible situation but he makes it worse by not being honest with Cooper. Thank god they have a cadre of friends and found family to help them both see their way through the morass of things they have to deal with.
I think this is definitely my favorite book in the series so far. Greg overcoming his family issues and the rest of the Pirates family standing beside and behind Cooper and Greg all throughout the series timeline makes me love these guys even more. This found family has each other’s backs no matter the issue. I loved how they all came together – each with their particular talents – to make sure that Cooper and Greg got the happily ever after they deserved. I am looking forward to the next book in this series and beyond. I feel like each book is getting stronger and stronger in this series and having the built-in supporting cast of the previous couples makes it just that much more fun. Highly recommended especially for those who like a really hard won HEA with some deeply emotional and satisfying moments along the way.
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