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Thank you to Lauren Blakely and her team for the advance reader copy of The Virgin Rule Book, the first story in the Rules of Love series.
The latest release from Lauren combines some of my fave tropes. It is a sports romance, it is friends-to-lovers, it is her brother’s best friend, and it is a fake relationship tale. So much fun wrapped up into one satisfying story.
I am a member of Lauren Blakely’s review team, but I stand by my reviews remaining honest and true.
Check out the Goodreads synopsis…
“A sexy, brother’s best friend sports romance from # 1 New York Times bestseller Lauren Blakely!
Let me make a few things clear. I didn’t go to the wedding intending to dance with the best man, to dare him to show me a very sexy pic on his phone, or to accidentally kiss him in the hotel elevator after the reception ended.
But you know how it goes. Things just happen at weddings…
The next day, Crosby and I agree to put all those shenanigans behind us. The fun-loving, stupidly gorgeous, all-star baseball player might be my brother’s best friend, but he’s my friend too and has been for years, so it’s easy to move on, especially because I have a high-profile business to run.
But since he’s newly single and I’m always single, it turns out we both desperately need plus ones. We agree to “publicly date” over the next two weeks of galas, parties and events before his baseball season begins.
The only trouble is the more time I spend with Crosby, the more I keep imagining how much I want him to take my V-card.
And when I broach the possibility with Crosby, his answer surprises the hell out of me.”
Check out my more detailed thoughts below…
- Characters: Crosby and Nadia are the main characters of this sports romance from Lauren Blakely. Nadia is our heroine and she is a confident businesswoman who dominates the boardroom. She runs a successful football team in the NBA. While Crosby’s sport is baseball and he plays for the Cougars in San Francisco. Crosby is a walking relationship fiasco so we open our story with him swearing off dating for a while. He is very much a serial dater, the man who is never single. Nadia is a dichotomy of don’t mess with her boss and woman with the taste for finer things when it comes to clothes and shoes. They were both such refreshing characters and were both easily likable.
- Setting: The story is based in the San Francisco/Bay Area. Nadia is moving from Las Vegas back to San Francisco and is taking the Football team back home. If you have read Lauren’s book set in Vegas then you will remember Nadia. She also appears in My One Week Husband, as she’s Scarlett’s BFF. I am happy to report you get a little dose of Scarlett in this story and she was a welcome addition.
- Pacing: I was not one hundred percent on the pacing of this story. It took quite a lot of setup to finally get to some action. I know Lauren really wanted to lay the groundwork that these two were friends, childhood ones at that. And everything that comes with waking up one day and being like the guy I’ve known since we were ten is now very very hot to me. That being said especially cause they had such electric chemistry in bed, I wish they would have fallen into one together sooner.
- Romance: Nadia has had very poor luck dating cause say it with me ~men are trash~ and are intimidated by how much of a boss she is. She’s a virgin but you probably figured that out cause it’s in the title. But her brother Eric’s wedding is the perfect chance to spend more time with Crosby. Crosby the serial dater who has just sworn off women because he has always dated the bad girls. But Nadia is a good girl and maybe the perfect one for him. Crosby is attracted to her because of her confidence, powerfulness and brilliance in a way that no man has ever been before. They have such adorable banter, they are sure to make you giggle. Their relationship just put a big smile on my face. Crosby brings out a naughtier, more flirty side to Nadia and I loved seeing her break down her walls and be more intimate with someone. These “wedding buddies” sure had great chemistry and now that Lauren is firmly writing very heat forward books, this story was a very big treat.
The Virgin Rule Book receives four out of five stars.
You can pick up the story below…
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Thank you again to Lauren and her team for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!
