Review: Draw Play by Tia Lewis

Note: This ARC was provided by Give Me Books Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

Well, hello, Tia Lewis, and welcome to my radar. This is the author's debut release (I'm basing that part of my statement on a bit of poking around on her website and on Goodreads) and it was definitely a good one! Funny enough, I had read another sports romance with football also being the sport of choice earlier in the day and I must say that Draw Play held my attention far longer, if you think from start to finish is far enough. This was a fast-paced love story but one that never felt rushed and it had two main characters who drew my interest from the get-go, even if the heroine did get my nerves a bit in the beginning. Two opposites who are thrown together by their respective needs: a recipe for disaster or for something more?

Jake Jennings is floored when his coach informs him he needs a tutor. He's been maintaining his 2.0 GPA as an English Literature major well enough on his own, but his coach wants him to stay focused and not risk slipping. His tutor, however, seems to have quite a few preconceived assumptions about him simply because of the sport he plays. She's either looking down her nose at him or making snarky comments. They clash from the moment they meet and even when he tries to keep things easygoing between them, he ends up saying something that triggers negative reactions from her. Claire McKinnon may not be his type and she pushes his buttons like no other, but there's no denying he's very intrigued by the bookish beauty.

Claire McKinnon has a 4.0 GPA and as a pre-law student, she spends most of her time buried in textbooks and case studies. News of her not getting her usual job at the library has her panicking, what with it being her source for financial aid. When her adviser informs her that she's been assigned to tutor and will get double what she used to, Claire can't quite believe it. Unfortunately, the caveat is that the person she's tutoring is Jake Jennings, and while she may not know him personally, the fact that he's part of the college football team has her wary. One nightmarish experience with a football player in high school was enough, but the more time she spends with Jake, the more she realizes he isn't anything like she thought he'd be...

Jake and Claire may come off as opposites, but they both have experiences in their past that have made them cautious, Claire when it comes to guys and Jake when it comes to his mother. This book could have been nothing more than a fluff read, one that was more about sex than it was about substance. Fortunately, the author has given readers a story that had some meat to it and it's backed by characters who are neither shallow nor boring. Claire was a tad quick to judge Jake and his actions more than once, but I do get why she was the way she was, what with her experience back in high school. Jake was a good guy who proved that not all football players are shallow, immature manwhores. Draw Play gets 4.5 stars. ♥

Release Date: 05 September 2016

Learn more about Tia Lewis.

Purchase Draw Play on Amazon.