Review: Melting Into You by Laura Trentham (Falcon Football #3)

Note: This ARC was provided by St. Martin's Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Everything about the moment felt unique. Different. New. A strange premonition halted the grind of his erection against her core. His life teetered on a precipice of change. He had spent the last years comfortable but far from happy. Was change such a terrible thing?

Memories of broken trust and betrayals and abandonment hammered at him. The warm darkness of her eyes smothered his worries, and he leaned down to take her lips in a slow, mind-numbing kiss.

Ten years ago, Lilliana Hancock punched in her V-Card when she hooked up with Alec Grayson and the deed was done as soon as he sent her away. She went on to finish college away from Falcon, Alabama, but then she's called back home after her father passes away and inherits Hancock House. She soon discovers that Alec is part of the local high school's coaching staff, but while she may remember what happened between them that one time, it's clear that he has no recollection whatsoever. With the idea that he's every bit the cocky and arrogant football player he once was, she can't help but get her hackles up whenever the assistant coach is around. She's still attracted to Alec, but Lilliana can certainly resist the man...can't she?

In the three years since she's been back in Falcon, Alec Grayson has yet to make sense of why Lilliana Hancock hates him as much as she does. Not that it matters that much. Alec has kept people at a distance ever since his fledgling career in professional football ended with a dirty tackle. People he thought he could rely on left him high and dry and those who were supposed to be closest to him broke his trust. Now, he prefers to engage in as professional a manner with others. However, Lilliana pushes his buttons, and it's not helping that she stars in his dirtiest fantasies. If he wants to keep his sanity, he knows staying away from the spirited artist is best...but the more he stays away, the more tempted he becomes to get closer.

Oh wow. What a way to close out a series. I've loved the Falcon Football series from the time I was introduced to the small town of Falcon in Slow and Steady Rush (Robbie Dalton and Darcy Wilde) and that affection was solidified with Caught Up in the Touch (Logan Wilde and Jessica Montgomery). With the release of Melting Into You, not only does the series get a more than fitting end, but fans of the series (like me!) finally witness the culmination of the tension-filled non-relationship that Alec Grayson and Lilliana Hancock have had going since the beginning. It was clear that these two would end up giving in to the obvious attraction that they've been trying to deny exists but one everyone else in Falcon has noticed.

Alec has been one of those supporting characters that comes off a certain way, but you know that the man has his reasons for being the way that he is. Trust is something that's been used and abused in his life as a football player and he's learned the hard way that once the status and stature is taken away from you, your so-called friends and people who claim to love and adore you disappear just as quickly. Being an assistant coach to the Falcon High School football team allows him to still be part of a sport that he loves, a sport that's become part of his identity, but he prefers to be alone, and it isn't until he and Lilliana act on their attraction does he start to realize that maybe it's time for him to open himself up to her and other people.

The side story involving one of the team's star players, Hunter Galloway, is integral to the transformation that happens with Alec as well as his relationship with Lilliana. Giving and becoming more than what's expected of him is all part of Alec's evolution, but it's a process that plays out in a heartwarming manner filled with ups and downs. Both Alec and Lilliana make changes in their lives in this story, changes that are necessary for them to move forward, not just as individuals but as a couple with hopes for a future together. his was my favorite among the three novels, and that's saying a lot since I loved the first two . I'm highly recommending you read the Falcon Football series and I'm giving Melting Into You five-plus stars. ♥

Release Date: 03 November 2015

Date Read: 31 October 2015

Learn more about Laura Trentham.

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