Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Starting Strong
AUTHOR: Lou Kelly
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 271 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 31, 2023
BLURB:
Can a closeted football superstar and a small-town sheriff make their relationship work?
When Kieran McKinney moves from being a third-string backup to becoming the starting quarterback for the Birmingham Hammers, he thinks all his dreams have come true. He finally has the support of his team, and he’s moved from being despised to becoming a fan favorite. But being cast as the face of a franchise comes at a cost. Kieran must work with a new, cut-throat PR specialist who’d like nothing more than to come between Kieran and Travis, and the more popular Kieran gets, the more his position places him in the spotlight. As the season progresses, the stakes only get higher both on and off the field. Will success in his career cost Kieran what he values most?
Travis Harris loves his boyfriend and he’s thrilled when the rest of the world finally catches on to what Travis has known all along: Kieran is incredible. He’s kind, talented, and drop-dead gorgeous. Now that Travis has come out to his family, there’s nothing to keep them apart, right? When the pressures of fame impact Travis’s family, their support starts to erode. Add in a national scandal, Kieran’s emotionally abusive grandfather, and too much time apart, and the strain threatens to destroy what once seemed unstoppable.
This MM Romance is a sequel to the novel Backup Plans, but it could be read as a standalone. It has a HEA and no cheating. This book features an older/younger couple, hurt/comfort themes, found family, kitten rescues, fanatic football fans and a hot couple experimenting in the bedroom!
REVIEW:
Note: I suppose this could be read as a standalone, but in my opinion it’s much better after having read the first book which sets up Kieran and Travis’s relationship and their family dynamics.
Travis and Kieran have been together a year now. Things change though when after a blissful offseason, Kieran is chosen as the starting quarterback. Everyone assumed he’d go back to being the backup after their star first round draft pick is back from the season ending injury. But nope – after a stellar training camp Kieran is the starter and the face of the franchise. OK – this is what he’s always worked for, but this means a lot more pressure and scrutiny.
Kieran is now so popular that he has little time away. Travis barely sees him and it’s causing distress for both of them. Kieran still struggles with the press and he’s been assigned a new PR person to help him. Blake is a shark. He seems to intimate that he knows Kieran is gay and he’s willing to “help him out” in any way. Kieran has no intention of coming out. He wants to make the most of the gift he’s been given and how hard he’s worked.
Being apart is really stressful on both men. There are cracks in Travis’s family. Kieran doesn’t know who he can trust. Just as Travis and Kieran are moving things along in their sex life, Kieran takes off on road trips. Then there are some scandalous photos which his PR person is leveraging for endorsement. Travis and Kieran are struggling more than ever to connect. But then outside interference undoes all the progress that Kieran has made. He’s back to feeling worthless – except on the football field. It’s terrible to watch. He gives up on being happy – he’s not in the least deserving and he’s ruining Travis’s life. Thankfully he’s got his teammate’s in his corner and it becomes obvious that he’s never going to get over Travis.
This was an excellent follow up to Backup Plans that takes Travis and Kieran’s love story forward into the challenges of being a closeted couple when one of them is a sought after celebrity. There are plenty of villains in this one – not just Kieran’s horrible grandfather. I just wanted to once again hug Kieran and tell him everything would be alright. It takes quite a while and a LOT of abuse and horrible behavior and one awful person to finally have an epiphany about being an awful person (which is actually is the biggest shock in the book) to get Kieran to recognize that he DOES have worth. And not everything that happens is his fault or his responsibility. I disliked plenty of the characters in this story, but I totally loved Kieran’s mother and Orin and Lily and Logan and Harlan and Big B and Kieran’s coach. They ALL had Kieran’s and Travis’s back. There were a couple of REALLY satisfying moments for Travis as well with those who have abused Kieran getting at least a fraction of what they had coming to them. The truth is that these two really belong together and once Kieran and Travis accepted that, they were able to work their way back to each other. Kieran is finally in a place where he accepts himself and realizes that all of his hiding has lead to the anxiety and panic attacks that he’s struggled with all his life. Normally I hate the 3rd act separation, but in this story I though it actually worked and was believable if heartbreaking to watch. But when they get back together? Perfection. Highly recommended with a swoon-worthy epilogue too 😉
RATING: 
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