Review: Changing the Game

(Play By Play #2)
By: Jaci Burton
Publisher: Berkley Heat
Published: Aug. 2, 2011
Genre: Contemp romance/erotica
Source: Bought
Format: Paperback
Pages: 299
Rating: I freaking LOVED it! I have already read it twice.

Win at any cost. That's always been the mantra of sports agent Liz Darnell. When she carries things too far and risks losing her number one client- baseball pro Gavin Riley- Liz realizes that she'll have to work extra innings to regain his trust. It might not be too much of a stretch. She's had a thing for this player's moves since she first laid eyes on him, and by the looks of it, he wants her just as bad. And Gavin's more than ready- especially when Liz is offering herself as part of the bargain. For added thrills, he decides to throw a little curve ball Liz's way to see just how far she's willing to go to keep him as a client. But when love unexpectedly enters the playing field, neither Liz nor Gavin are ready for the biggest game-changer of all.

My thoughts...
I had been hearing great things about this book and was ecstatic when I seen it at Borders for 50% off. I was worried that with it being the second book in the story line that I would be confused and lost throughout the book but this book is perfect to read on your own. Where as the characters from this book are introduced in the first book The Perfect Play which is centered around Mick, Gavin's brother, you don't really miss out on anything that the author doesn't catch you up on. I am actually glad that I read this book first. I don't know how Mick acted in the first book but in this one he is a total asshole through out the entire book. I fear that if he was like that in the first book I wouldn't have bothered to pick up Gavin's story and I would have missed out on one insanely good book.

Instead of describing the charaters to you, let me just quote a couple parts of the book where Gavin does his take on Liz and vise verse.

"Elizabeth commanded attention. It didn't matter whether a room was filled with the hottest females around- a guy would have to be either limp-dicked or dead not to notice her. Hair the color of his favorite red sports car, incredible blue eyes, creamy soft skin, and legs a man could only hope to have wrapped around him someday. She was a walking sex bomb with a wicked brain. A lethal combination."

"When it happened, she couldn't say. God knows she'd tried to keep it from happening. But there was just something about him. Maybe it was his dark good looks, his mesmerizing green eyes, the way his dark brown hair fell over his brow, or the sexiness of his goatee. Maybe it was his lean body that he hones into shape with daily workout at the gym and playing noncompetitive sports outside his own sport of baseball. Maybe it was the way he catered to kids on the ball field, always taking the time to sign autographs or stop and talk to them. He was a big jock and worth millions, but he'd never developed a giant ego about it like many of her clients did. He was a genuinely nice guy"

You mix those two together and you have one steamy good book. I got the impression that in the first book, Liz was manipulative and bitchy but in this book you see how insecure she really is. She has this facade that is really stand offish but really she's just lonely and scared. So maybe it was a good thing that I didn't read the first book. Maybe I wouldn't have liked her so much if I had. I loved how she opened up with the other ball players wives when they were at the club and how close she was with Gavin's family. I mean, her mom took her to another room so that they could have girl talk about her and Gavin. I just really loved all of the connections that this book had but if I am being honest with myself I would have to say that the sex was the topper in this book. Not that it didn't have a good story line, because it did, but man the author really knows how to write. And with the visual that you get from the cover, what more could a girl ask for?

I loved his book and devoured it as fast as I could. I really cannot wait to read the third book in this story line that deals with Gavin's sister Jenna, and Liz's new star contract, hockey player Ty. As if getting to know a little bit about this in this book wasn't enough and seeing the immediate attraction between the two, the author adds a snippet from the next book in end.

Favorite quote...
Liz and her two new friends are out at a restaurant after a game and had a few pitchers of margaritas. She calls Gavin to come and pick them up and when hanging up tells him that she loves him. Her friends get on her for her drunk declaration of love when this entire time she has been denying it. At first she claims she didn't say it and then just laughs it off saying
"That's fucking hysterical. I'll bet he passed out from shock. Good thing the waitress is bringing another pitcher. Our ride might be delayed."