⭐️ 5/5 🌶️ 4/5
This book? Fucking epic. The blurb warned me about darkness, and hell yeah, I got the bones breaking, blood spilling, and rage-fueled chaos… but I also laughed, giggled, blushed, and felt so freakin much! 🥹
Kerian is a whole walking contradiction—murderous rage wrapped in awkward, clueless affection. The man literally tried every trick in the book to fuck Zander out of his system, only to fail so spectacularly each time that I cried laughing. Watching his game plan backfire over and over again? Comedy gold. This psycho tried convincing himself it was just sex. Babe, no. You’re whipped. Fully, totally, and royally fucked. 💀
And Zander? My sweet, soft, needy golden retriever jock baby. Kerian calling him “Dimples”? Dead. Every blush, every smile Zander coaxed out of him had me squealing. The way Zander brings out the humanity in Kerian—the patience, love, and real growth—it’s so fucking satisfying. 😍
Kerian, who’s never dated, never heard or said “I love you,” who learned about love from TV, let Zander see him. Bloodied, beaten down, vulnerable. And still he reached out. Fought for Zander and for their relationship. That’s fucking courage. That’s love. ❤️🔥
And can we talk about that adorable miscommunication where Kerian gave Zander three days of radio silence because he was psyching himself up to say “I love you”? Baby, what?! The poor man didn’t even know that kind of silence usually means a breakup. I was screaming. 🤣
Also, Kerian staying at Zander’s sweet, loving home and realizing—this is what family should feel like? That shit broke me. 💔
This book gave me everything. Heat, humor, heartbreak, healing. Zander is the sunshine to Kerian’s storm. Opposites attract? More like soulmates colliding. 💞
And finally, let's talk about the ending. This is actually the first sports romance I’ve read where the MCs are both pro NFL players, out and proud, married as hell, and not forced to hide their relationship like it’s some dirty little secret. They’re publicly accepted—by their teammates, coaches, and even the goddamn fans. No last-minute scandals, no dramatic press coverage, no bullshit drama after college—besides the jerks Justin and Easton, who can choke. 🖕🏻
And sure, okay, maybe it's not exactly realistic given how conservative the NFL tends to be. But you know what? I don’t fucking care. Thank God for that ending! I'm so emotionally drained from all these “realistic” sports romances where the characters have to stay deep in the fucking closet for 95% of the book, just to maybe—MAYBE—get a half-assed HFN by the end. Like, no thanks. I want the full goddamn fairy tale, and Blitz’d fucking delivered. 👏🏻🌹✨️
Let my boys have their epic love story. Let them win, both on and off the field. Let Kerian be a fucking groomzilla, stressing about flowers and venue colors, and Zander just rolling with it like the precious golden retriever baby he is. 😂
They earned their happily ever after—and so did we, babes... so did we... 🙂↕️🥹
This is my first Lee McCormick & R.S. McKenzie book, and I need more immediately. I want Russ and Asher’s story yesterday. And Luca, Colton… all of 'em. Gimme everything. 🫴🏻
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Quotes:
Zander Braithe doesn’t know what he did when he kissed me. He doesn’t realize that pressing his lips to mine gave me every right to figure out where he lived, every right to track him down. Every right to do whatever I wanted. It wasn’t my fault if the fucker signed a check he wasn’t ready to cash.
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I mean, I wouldn’t be gay. Maybe bi? Kerian-sexual?
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“Close your mouth and suck, Braithe. If you’re a really good boy, maybe I’ll let you come tonight.”
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“I’m the only one you do this with. Only me. Do you get it? If I catch you with anyone else, I'll fucking kill them."
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"I don't need anyone cheering me on but you, Dimples."
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"Did I just see you put your fucking dick beaters on my boyfriend?"
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"God damn it, Zander. I never said I was done. I'm not trying to treat you like shit. I was trying to figure out how to tell you I fucking love you."
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RC and MCs:
🏈 MM
🏈 Kerian Slade and Zander Michael Braithe
🏈 Kerian: Blond hair, blue eyes, 6ft4/193cm
🏈 Zander: Dark brown hair, brown eyes, dimples, 200pounds/90.7kg, 6ft2/188cm
Genre, tropes, and all things my safety fam needs to know:
🏈 MM dark sports contemporary romance
🏈 Football quarterbacks x football quarterbacks
🏈 Rivals-to-lovers
🏈 Grumpy/sunshine
🏈 Bi-awakening
🏈 Golden Retriever MMC
🏈 Sociopath MMC
🏈 J/P obsessive MMC
🏈 Mine mine mine
🏈 Touch him and die
🏈 Only soft for him
🏈 Hot jock in lingerie
🏈 First time vers
🏈 Topping from the bottom
🏈 Opposite attract
🏈 Angst: Medium
🏈 Vibes: Dark, intense, funny, adorable, sweet, steamy. All the feels!!
🏈 OW/OM drama: No
🏈 Cheating/sharing: No
🏈 Third act breakup: No
🏈 Ending: HEA!!! A truly well-deserved one!!
🏈 Epilogue: Yes
🏈 Series structure: Interconnected standalone
Spice and kinks:
Degradation, praise, feminization (lingerie), exhibitionism, spit play, semi-public sex (night club bathroom, pizza restaurant, car, mall's dressing room), cum play, rimming, coming hands-free, breeding (1 scene), mutual jerk-off session, light Dacryphilia, snowballing, dry humping orgasm, cum as lube
CW/TW:
Extreme violence, mentions of past abuse, mentions of neglectful/abusive parents, homophobia (not from MCs), panic attacks, obsession/stalking