War Paint

by Devyn Morgan

Successful, suave, and artistic, Alfred Karanov is the leading dancer with Frederickstown Corps de Ballet. With his heart tired of casual flings, he steels himself for a life of professional solitude.
Handsome and sweet Brent Dixon, the starting wide receiver for the Frederickstown Vultures, hones his performance for his football expansion team. Solitary pursuit of perfection is all he can afford, because pro players don’t come out of the closet.
His will falters when it comes to his neighbor, though. If he comes out for a guy who’s “the one,” perfect and sublime in every way, he’ll wreck his career. Maybe. Or maybe he’ll serve as an example for closeted players throughout the league.
Devyn Morgan dishes out another hot serving of toothsome athletes in love with art, sport, and each other in this heartwarming, sizzling HEA gay romance.

Genres: Sports, M M Romance, Romance, LGBT, Audiobook, Contemporary

ebook

First published September 23, 2017

About the author

Devyn Morgan is a contemporary man with a love of contemporary romance! He grew up in several different states due to his parents' careers, which instilled in him a love of travel and seeing new places. After finishing college, he traveled around the globe for two years in search of romance, experiences, and adventures. In that time, he came up with more story ideas than he could ever use, so he started to write gay fiction.

He currently lives in the eastern US with his partner and a dog, but he still considers himself a free spirit.

Reviews

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved War Paint by Devyn Morgan. Alfred and Brent are perfect for each other. Alfred is a leading dancer for the Fredrickstown Corpse de Ballet, and Brent is a wide receiver for the Fredrickstown Vultures. They are perfect for each other because Alfred is a major fan of the football team the Vultures and has a crush on their wide receiver Brent Dixon, and Brent on his free days loves to go to the ballet no matter where his team is currently playing. He always sneaks off to catch a ballet performance and when he sees Alfred perform he is utterly captivated and smitten. And when the coaches for the Vultures decide to have their players cross-fit by adding dancing classes into their training regiment, Alfred and Brent are paired up as dancing partners. But Brent has just transferred to the Vultures, and he hasn't come out to anybody in Fredrickstown yet, and Alfred is out and proud. But with them both being public figures with fans it's only a matter of time before Brent will be outed even if they are super careful about their relationship. Now Brent will have to decide on whether to come out or not. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book.

[Snjez · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not what I expected.
The MCs were likable, but they came out pretty shallow. There was no depth to their story, their interactions were kind of awkward and the scenes where they were together often felt unfinished.
And the epilogue ... ugh.
I liked the premise but not the execution.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very sweet, slow burn romance about Brent, a football player and Alfred, a master ballet dancer. Living beside each other and meeting when Brent's coach degrees that they cross train by taking dance lessons, the two reinforce their already steadfast attraction. Alfred loves football and Brent loves ballet. The two dance the dance of passion as they slowly learn about each other and love fills their heart Fear of homophobia keeps Brent from coming out as he Plays in the NFL. Alfred is out, but quietly so. An excellent story with an HEA. I would recommend this book for anyone to read. I voluntarily read and reviewed this ARC book.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly! All my reviews are honest! Anyway...

It was so nice to read a true romance without a religious overtone threading it's way through the plot or the lives of one of the characters. There wasn't even any blatant homophobia displayed by family members, teammates or acquaintances.

There was a slow seduction set to music and dance with an appreciation of the male form in all aspects of ballet and football. I loved the caresses, the conversation and the care they took for each others comfort.

Totally a feel good story that gives one hope for the future. I loved it.

[Fay MMBookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars.. A beautiful book of love and ballet and coming out to a team of football players. The shyness of Brent toward Alfred was beautiful and sweet. Nothing matched these two for chemistry like Swan Lake. The amazing descriptions of ballet dancing moves where beautiful.
Brent played for the Fredericktown Vultures football team. Hiding who he was deep in the closet but never finding the one he'd come out for..yet.
Alfred was a ballet dancer who loved his football and particular team and player who he'd been crushing on. Being two different sports there was very little chance of meeting in person..something says famous last words. Lol

[SoCalBookReviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dancer Alfred And Football Player Brent...
I love these types of stories. The whole opposites attract type, and men who don't fit there stereotypes at all..
This was a good story with some ballet, some football, more of a coming out for both men once they find their "one". Not a whole lot of romance and very limited sex scenes in this book. Which to me made the story more believable. It's a sweet fun book for sure.
Audio - Well... This is where the story kind of fell flat for me. This narrator tends to "read" the story without a whole lot of emotion added to it. I just liked the idea of this book dancer/athlete so I really wanted to like the audio but for me it was just Meh...

[Denise GremoryKohta · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved it. This isn’t your typical m/m sports romance. First off it didn’t focus on sex first then the romance. In fact there was very little sexy times in it. What you get is the emotions and thoughts of two guys who don’t fit their stereotype at all. That right there sold me on it. Don’t get me wrong, I do like some serious sweaty action but it wasn’t needed. Brent met someone who was worth coming out for and Alfred saw a guy he could take the risk and trust. It was cute reading how they danced around it at first too. This is how it should be for sports players.

[Tena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brent and the rest of his newly formed football team are strongly encouraged to participate in cross-training through dance, to improve their performance on the field. This is how his journey with Alfred begins. The story is helped along by the fact that Brent is a secret fan of ballet, that he is the secret crush of Alfred, and that they end up living right next door to each other. All serendipity aside, though, this is truly a heartwarming story of opposites that not only attract but are good for one another and fall deeply in love.

[John Hulbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful

Simple, but beautiful. These two men have a lovely connection and it is such a sweet fun read. I loved this. Very much enjoyed the story without ever feeling like it was rushed.

[Kobie · Rating 2 out of 5]

not sure I'll finish this. at 37% and there is "going backward in timeline when POV changes." that's a pet peeve, so... also, there's some insta-love and dumb coincidence that wasn't necessary. DNF 48%. nice idea, not my idea of well executed.

[Gaby · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the overall idea was cute, a ballet dancer and a football player both interested in each other’s sports, but the writing was weird and the relationship appeared out of nowhere 🤷🏻‍♀️ it was just meh

[Heidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Shelley Chastagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brent and Alfred are super sweet together. I liked their chemistry in and out of the bedroom. I liked that Brent's first thoughts were that Alfred could be his 'one' and the one worth coming out for. It made me laugh that ballet was Brent's guilty pleasure and football was Alfred's.
Terrific weekend book.
Adult read