Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: False Start
SERIES: Brooklyn Kings
AUTHOR: Felice Stevens
NARRATOR: Kale Williams
PUBLISHER: Good Man Press
LENGTH: 7 hours and 25 minutes
RELEASE DATE: September 11, 2025
BLURB:
A private club. Anonymous. No names and masks on. He catches my eye and we meet every week. I fall hard and fast each time we’re together. And now…I’m in love. Silly, right? I mean, I don’t even know what he looks like.
Then I discover he’s superstar college quarterback Patrick “Trick” Sloane. On his way to playing professional football. I’ll never be anything but his dirty little secret. So I leave without saying good-bye.
Ten years later, Patrick is the quarterback of the Brooklyn Kings with a wild reputation as a ladies’ man, and I’m his new personal assistant. Patrick doesn’t know I was once his lover, but I’ve never forgotten him. To complicate matters, in spite of my best efforts to keep things strictly business, we’ve become friends.
Then one night, our past catches up with our present, and old love is new again. Patrick isn’t willing to give up football…or me. I don’t want him to risk everything he’s worked his whole life for. I can wait.
But Patrick makes a bold decision that will change everything. It could either be the end of us…or a beautiful beginning.
False Start is a second chance, reunited lovers MM romance that proves ten years apart can’t stop what’s meant to be.
REVIEW:
Note: This is the third book in this series and as such there are spoilers for the first two books 🙂
Trick and Fallon meet as college seniors at a private and exclusive anonymous sex club. There are no names, they have masks on and they fall for each other over the six months they continue to meet exclusively at the club – per the rules. But then one night, Fallon leaves while Trick is asleep and never shows again. Trick is a top college football quarterback and he’s on his way to the NFL. He’s heartbroken though – coming back time after time just to leave when Fallon isn’t there.
Fast forward 10 years. Trick has been married and divorced twice. He’s been traded to the Brooklyn Kings and they are in the hunt for the SuperBowl with this new energy and new quarterback. Dev, the previous quarterback has retired. His PA, Fallon doesn’t have a lot to do. So Dev suggest that he work for Trick. Um, say what?? This is a huge surprise – and not a pleasant one for Fallon. But at their first meeting, Trick clearly doesn’t recognize him. Reluctantly Fallon agrees to try the job. But the more time he spends with Trick, the harder it gets to not tell him the truth. Then he’s encouraged to just bite the bullet and confess.
Trick is absolutely blindsided that his first love is now his PA. He does NOT want to blow this again. He has to do some fast talking and convincing to get Fallon to give him chance. But they still have the same problems. What if someone finds out that that Trick Sloane is sleeping with a man? This could all really go sideways!
Whew! Won’t it be nice when one day people won’t have to decide if they can be themselves or they can keep their jobs? In spite of feeling like so many things are regressing, these stories are important to keep this issue in front of people. Who you love should have NO bearing on anyone’s ability to do a job. While professional men’s sports seem to be hard to crack, we are getting closer to hopefully living the statement, If you can play, you can play. I wasn’t surprised at all at how things went when Trick and Fallon were in college and first falling for each other. College sports and professional football have not exactly been welcoming to queer men. Trick had his whole career in front of him. Fallon didn’t want to be the reason he didn’t succeed and the target of resentment when his sexuality would ultimately come out. The fact that Trick didn’t recognize Fallon all these years later was a little bit of a gut punch. I would have thought at least he voice sounded the same, but apparently not 🙁 The coincidences and overlap of Trick and Fallon’s circle and the couples from the previous books help Trick and Fallon find their way. I adored Trick’s parents! Fallon’s not so much. God they were awful. Too bad they were too similar to too many parents of LGBTQ+ kids out there. That rejection on top of an already incredibly painful loss was just terrible. Luckily Trick’s family had enough love to share, despite their surprise at how things played out. Fallon and Trick were wonderful together and I was so glad that Trick realized that he really wasn’t going to be able to hide their relationship very successfully. Certainly being a winner helped 🙂 I know any PR, Agent or lawyer would have had a fit with the way he did things, but it was his life, so ultimately he got to make the call.
As usual Kale Williams does a brilliant job wit performing this story. The consistency of the various characters throughout this series was fabulous and helped with recognizing the new characters. At one point, I literally thought this was a duo narration when it came to Fallon’s chapters. Mr. Williams is just so good at hitting the right emotional tone. Never does the performance fall into melodrama or overacting. Whether it’s a heartfelt intimate moment, or a nervous first meeting or a funny interlude with a surprise reveal, it’s all just spot on. This is just a great marriage of material and performance. Highly recommended.
RATING: 
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