Thank you to Lauren Blakely and her team for the advanced reader copy of Winning with Him, the second story in the Men of Summer series. This story releases on August 6th!
I liked the first instalment in Grant and Declan’s story, so I was excited to spend some more time with the boys.
I am a member of Lauren Blakley’s review team, but I stand by my reviews remaining honest and true.
Check out the Goodreads synopsis…
“Grant and Declan’s romance continues in this MM forbidden sports romance from #1 NYT Bestseller Lauren Blakely!
Resisting the shortstop has never been my strong suit. I failed at it during my first spring training. It sure as hell looks like I’m about to fail at it again.
The sport I love playing with my very soul hangs in the balance. But everything my heart craves lies with the guy I’ve got to resist.
A guy who’s asking me to make the toughest choice ever.
But how do I become the man I want to be…with him or without him?
Trouble is, I can’t seem to get Declan out of my head, even if I stand to lose everything I’ve worked for my entire life…
Winning with Him is book two in the two-book Men of Summer duet, and should be read following Scoring With Him. This romance between two professional athletes spans five epic years.
Teddy Hamilton & Jacob Morgan will narrate the audiobook!”
Check out my more detailed thoughts below…
- Characters: Grant and Declan both go through a lot of character development during their time apart. Very early on in the second instalment, a decision is made and one breaks up with the other. Grant is far from the rookie he was when all of this started. He had some big growing up to do and apart from Declan, he was able to really grow. I loved the relationship between Grant and the other boys on his team. Declan had some growing to do too. He had some family stuff to work out and I loved the growth there.
- Setting: Depending on the point of view the main setting of our story switched. Grant plays for a team in San Francisco while Declan was based in New York. It made for some really interesting scenes when one was on a road trip to the other’s home stadium. Navigating any kind of relationship bi-coastal is extremely difficult and Lauren did a good job depicting this.
- Pacing: I read this story pretty quickly. I did find this story a bit long though. I had in the back of my mind the entire time that there is the third instalment in Grant and Declan’s story coming later this month. I would have rather had that as a little surprise announcement at the end of this book.
- Romance: This story for the vast majority of the book is about personal growth rather than a steamy romance. I like these guys together, I do. But once they were together for real, there was a wee bit too much sex. And I am the type of romance reader that loves reading those scenes for sure. I guess I just wish there were more scenes where they were being intimate emotionally and not just physically.
Winning with Him receives four out of five stars.
You can pick up the story below…
https://laurenblakely.com/winningwithhim/
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Thank you again to Lauren and her team for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!
