In Blind Side, Steiner delivered an adorable, fun and steamy fake dating romance, guaranteed to make you swoon with its flirtatious and sexy banter, a swoon worthy hero and a shy and smart heroine.
Title: Blind Side
Author(s): Kandi Steiner
Series: Red Zone Rivals #2
Also in this series: Fair Catch, Quarterback Sneak, Hail Mary
Published by Self-published on June 15, 2022
Pages: 408
Genre(s): Contemporary Sports Romance
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Format: eBook
Purchase: Amazon|Audible
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The hottest college football safety in the nation just asked me to be his fake girlfriend.
And I just asked him to take my virginity.
Clay Johnson has the abs of Adonis and the deadly smirk of the devil, himself. There’s hardly a day he’s not headline material during football season, and never a day he isn’t a bullseye target for every girl on campus.
He used to be the easiest of all the players for me to wrangle as the Public Relations Coordinator, but after a nasty breakup with his high school sweetheart, he’s a mess.
And a complete pain in my ass.
We meet to discuss his behavior and review media relations standards. But when he witnesses how I fall to pieces in front of my guitar-toting crush, his wheels start turning. And he cooks up this absurd plan.
He helps me get noticed. I help him make his ex jealous. All by pretending to be in a relationship.
What he doesn’t realize is that this bookworm is a virgin, and far from versed in seducing a musician. So, to sweeten the deal, I convince him to help me — not just to get my crush’s attention, but to knock his socks off once I have it.
But the more I come unraveled at the hands of Clay Johnson, the more trouble I have discerning what’s fake and what’s undoubtedly real — particularly, the way my heart flutters every time that breathtaking man touches me.
We set the rules. We put the safeguards in place.
But they say rules are meant to be broken.They probably should have added that hearts are, too.
Blind Side is a fake dating college sports romance with "lessons" and opposites attract. It is a complete stand-alone.
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Blind Side is the second book in Kandi Steiner’s Red Zone Rival series. This instalment tells Clay and Gianna’s story. Clay Johnson dreams of two things, making it to the NFL and marrying his high school sweetheart. Currently, he is at the top of his game in college, enjoying his long distance relationship with his girl and looking forward to the day she would enroll at North Boston University, where he attended college. Then the unthinkable happened. She broke up with him, shattering one half of his dream.
Giana is the PR assistant for the football team. She has a major crush on a musician, but has no clue how to gain his attention. On learning of Giana’s crush, Clay concocted an elaborate plan. A plan where he teaches Giana to land the guy of her dreams and she helps to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. Sounds simple, but then the pretending became a reality.
Blind Slide was an adorable, fun, emotional and steamy read which grabbed my attenti0n from the first page. There were so many things to love about this story. The characters, the banter and the romance all combined had me glued to the pages.
Clay makes the perfect book boyfriend, which makes him a keeper. When he turns on the charm, no one was immune a fact to which Gina can testify. He read her romance books to garner pointers on her tastes and he went out of his way let her know she was special. I loved his humility and his willingness to be there for those he loves, however he needs to learn to set boundaries so not to be taken disadvantage of.
Giana’s shy and sweet personality endeared to almost everyone with whom she came in contact with. She’s pretty good at her job as a PR assistant despite her sense of intimidation when in the presence of the footballers. A loner by nature, which made her list of friends totally non-existent. She showed tremendous growth throughout the story.
Giana and Clay were absolutely fantastic together. I loved their dynamics and had fun watching their relationship develop. Their feelings for each other grew slowly. Perfectly timed, which made them believable as a couple. They shared an intense chemistry, and, without a doubt, they belonged together. Without realizing it, they brought out the best in each other. If only they would look beyond the surface and recognize what’s been staring them in the face.
Giana and Clay’s interactions with each other were fun, sexy and laced with lots of emotions. They both have their share of issues, with Clay’s issue being the biggest of all. Poor guy didn’t know how to handle it and the blow back almost damaged his relationship with Giana. Also, his refusal to communicate with her about said issues only helped to make the situation worse.
Now I wasn’t a big fan of the conflict introduced in the last quarter of the story. The backlash and the impact it had on Giana tore me up. It pained me to see her go through all of that hurt all due to selfish individuals, which was undeserving. Clay’s grand gesture at the end, although cheesy, made up for it.
If you like contemporary sports and new adult romance with witty humor, the Blind Side will make the perfect addition to your reading list. I am looking forward to reading Quarterback Sneak, which is ready and waiting on my kindle.
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About Kandi Steiner
Kandi Steiner is an Amazon Top 5 bestselling author and whiskey connoisseur living in Tampa, FL. Best known for writing “emotional rollercoaster” stories, she loves bringing flawed characters to life and writing about real, raw romance — in all its forms. No two Kandi Steiner books are the same, and if you’re a lover of angsty, emotional, and inspirational reads, she’s your gal. An alumna of the University of Central Florida, Kandi graduated with a double major in Creative Writing and Advertising/PR with a minor in Women’s Studies. She started writing back in the 4th grade after reading the first Harry Potter installment. In 6th grade, she wrote and edited her own newspaper and distributed to her classmates. Eventually, the principal caught on and the newspaper was quickly halted, though Kandi tried fighting for her “freedom of press.” She took particular interest in writing romance after college, as she has always been a die hard hopeless romantic, and likes to highlight all the challenges of love as well as the triumphs. When Kandi isn’t writing, you can find her reading books of all kinds, planning her next adventure, or pole dancing (yes, you read that right). She enjoys live music, traveling, playing with her fur babies and soaking up the sweetness of life.
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Great review Nadene, I’m not usually a NA fan but this sounds good!
So many things I like about this book. College football and a fake dating trope! Terrific review, Nadene
They sound great together and I like that he made a grand gesture after she had to go through so much at the end.
I don’t usually read sports romances but I like the sound of this one.