QUARTERBACK DRAW - Jaci Burton
Play By Play , Book 9
Berkley
ISBN: 978-0-425-26300-6
February 2015
Contemporary Romance

Barbados and New York, Present Day

St. Louis Traders' quarterback Grant Cassidy has done photo shoots before, and has even dated a few supermodels.  So shooting the swimsuit edition of a popular magazine in Barbados should be a piece of cake.  Then he meets the model he's paired up with and realizes just what a challenge this will be.  Grant has always enjoyed the company of women, but never before has he felt the sparks he does when Katrina Korsova steps into his arms.

As the guardian to her two teenage siblings, Katrina has little time for fun or even for herself, as she has focused completely on her career and providing a home for Leo and Anya.  She's worked with – and frozen out – some of the most handsome men in the world, so why is she having such a hard time brushing off Grant?  Worse than the zing she feels for Grant, though, is the fact that she finds herself telling him about her siblings, something she never does.  She does have some fun with him while in Barbados, but her sensible mind is telling her that it's a good thing they live so far apart.

When his first preseason game brings Grant to New York, he insists on seeing Katrina, as well as spending time with her siblings.  He understands being focused on your career, but Grant figures it's time Katrina learned to have a little fun as well.

Katrina has been the guardian of her siblings since she was seventeen years old, and her single-minded determination to care for them in a way that leaves her completely independent has narrowed her world a little bit in QUARTERBACK DRAW.  Meeting Grant upends her world, and she's still undecided whether it's for the best or not. Katrina's father abandoned their family shortly before her mother's death, and he hadn't been the best husband to begin with, so Katrina decided it would be best for her to go it alone.  She's never had a problem with her life, until Grant showed up.  He's handsome, and charming, and before she knows it, Katrina has opened up to him about her life.  Seeing him with her siblings disarms her even more, especially when the sullen, moody teenagers start to change before Katrina's eyes.  For Grant, meeting Leo and Anya only makes him respect Katrina more, and even though she's skittish about defining what they have as a relationship, Grant can't stop himself from falling.

Though part of the Play by Play series, this books stands well on its own, with only a few connections to the previous books.  However, in QUARTERBACK DRAW, we meet Grant's family, which includes three brothers all involved in sports, and younger brother Tucker's book will be the next one released.  The fun, sweet and sexy romance as well as the likable characters make QUARTERBACK DRAW a winner.

Jennifer Bishop