Her Fake Blitz

by Gia Stone

Everything he ever needed was found in the one person he never expected.

Cane Clayburn has been a force to be reckoned with as the Texans Star Quarterback. Multiple surgeries have caused rumors of doubt about his future. He knows he still has it. What he doesn’t know is why he is so attracted to the reckless reporter.

Upcoming sports journalist Alex Manelli is making headlines. Her spin on the Texan Star Quarterback being a “Has Been” rather than a “Comeback King” is her best piece to date. She prepped profusely for her exclusive interview with Cane Clayburn. What she didn’t prep for was lack of oxygen in the room.

Things were supposed to be professional. They were supposed to be at odds. Their egos were not supposed to push them into a place they never expected to be.

Will the two continue their explosive path of opposite desires or will they collide into the most powerful move on and off the field?

Gia Stone’s latest romance sets fire to the Football Romance genre with witty dialogue and sizzling characters who jump off the page.

Genres: Sports

221 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 16, 2024

Reviews

[Eloise Archangelo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not going to lie- the start of this book was rough.

There were pieces of Her Fake Blitz that I loved, and things that I really disliked too.

Getting into what I thought could have been improved- pacing. I've been seeing a lot of pacing issues in new romance novels lately, but this books start took things to a new level. By page 20 these 'enemies' that already kind of liked each other were having sex. By page 30 they were having sex in a restaurant bathroom.

I love smut as much as the next romance reader, but the smut in the first 75 or so pages felt like it didn't belong. The pacing of Alex and Cane's relationship felt so off.

The push and pull and 'cheating' that wasn't really cheating was too much for me. I also thought Cane was too presumptuous. On date 1 or 2 he was like, "you're my girlfriend and you'll have my 7 babies for me." He also arranged to have a talk with Alex's dad about their 'relationship' before they'd even been on a date.

Her Fake Blitz made me feel like I was missing something. That sort of trope doesn't work with this kind of novel.

You also couldn't go 2 pages without at least 1 sports metaphor in there and yet the whole football career/sports reporter side of the story still fell flat. Cane's football career felt more like a prop that served the story than an integral part of things.

I'll leave my issues with this book there.

What I did like was how their relationship developed as we got further into the book. I loved that change in these characters didn't happen overnight and I loved that Alex called Cane "corn fed"

I loved that certain parts of the story still managed to tug at my heartstrings for these characters and I think that Alex's character was built out nicely as the story went on.

This book wasn't without its issues but I still had some fun reading it.

Thank you to the author for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[Nora · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have some mixed thoughts about this book. The premise is cute. Professional football player falls for sports reporter. Some of the back and forth reminded me of the scene in Friday Night Lights at the roast where Coach Taylor’s wife is roasting him about how much he cares about the team. Quirky football puns. I did have a hard time wrapping my head around the nickname Cornfed for Cane… I had always known it was a nickname for midwesterners but didn’t realize it had Texas affiliations too 😂. My mixed thoughts stem from the beginning of the book. Cane comes on so strong with his perusal and Alex keeps saying no but does the dirty away? It kinda felt a bit like they started dating because Alex got tired of telling him no. Once mutual feelings started to develop, the book really seemed to pick up!

[Alston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alex is a sports reporter who write salacious articles about cane clayboune aka corn Fed who is a quarterback in NFL. Their love story started from an article that Alex wrote that was missing some facts so “corn fed” comes to her office. What begins as a casual hookup quickly turns into a relationship. The book is mostly single POV from Alex with sprinkles of thoughts of “corn fed”. I do wish it was a full dual pov so reader can better understand why “corn fed” had the viewpoints about relationships the way he did. It’s great real world love story of a girl with commitment issues gets with a guy who falls in love with her fast. Quick read, lots of spice, couldn’t put down.

[Jaclynn Darnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to rate this higher but there were some things I didn’t love about this book. The pacing was off to me. It seemed really fast, but also not at the same time because of the amount of back and forth Alex went through. There were times as well I didn’t love how Cane was almost too pushy with her. I loved the spicy scenes and think this book has great potential but not necessarily executed the best.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Texas
NFL Football Player
Sassy Journalist
Sports Romance

I love the banter in this book. They really have a spark from the first interview. It’s a little stalkerish how he kept saying she was his girlfriend after their first date.
Overhaul it’s a cute quick read. A great read for Fall because that is when Football season happens!

[Vanessa Villagomez-Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third Gia Stone book that I’ve read. I like way she weaves sexy scenes into heart pulling scenes. Character development is on point. I’m not that into football but this story got me interested!

[Aussie · Rating 4 out of 5]

i adore the banter in this book.. and the characters was amazing ! i couldnt get enough of this story and i cant wait till i read more from Gia