Down by Contact by Santino Hassell

Down by Contact by Santino Hassell
Published by InterMix on January 16th 2018
Genres: Adult, Romance, LGBTQIA
Goodreads

Two rival football players begin a game with higher stakes than the Super Bowl in this steamy romance from the author of Illegal Contact.

Simeon Boudreaux, the New York Barons’ golden-armed quarterback, is blessed with irresistible New Orleans charm and a face to melt your mama’s heart. He’s universally adored by fans and the media. Coming out as gay in solidarity with his teammate hasn’t harmed his reputation in the least—except for some social media taunting from rival linebacker Adrián Bravo.

Though they were once teammates, Adrián views Simeon as a traitor and the number-one name on the New Jersey Predators’ shit list. When animosity between the two NFL players reaches a boiling point on the field, culminating in a dirty fist fight, they’re both benched for six games and sentenced to joint community service teaching sullen, Brooklyn teens how to play ball.

At first, they can barely stand to be in the same room, but running the camp forces them to shape up. With no choice but to work together, Simeon realizes Adrián is more than his alpha-jerk persona, and Adrián begins to question why he’s always had such strong feelings for the gorgeous QB…

I received a copy of this for review from the publisher, this does not influence my thoughts on the book or this review.

I’m a huge fan of Santino Hassell’s romances and especially the first book in this series so I couldn’t wait for this companion sequel. As usual, Hassell’s books only improve and this sequel is better than the first.

Simeon is the star quarterback of the New York Barons and recently came out. When he and his former teammate, Adrián of the New Jersey Predators, get into a brawl on the field, they’re both suspended and required to do some community service. These two football players haven’t been friends for years, but being forced to work together forces old feelings to remerge.

Down by Contact is the classic hate-to-love trope and I AM HERE FOR IT. I love complicated tropes and exploring the fine line between loathe and love and it was just amazing. As usual, Hassell creates really complex and complicated characters and that’s definitely the case with Simeon and Adrián. The characters weren’t easy to like all the time, but you definitely rooted for them to work out their differences.

If you’re looking for a great sports romance series, I highly recommend The Barons. The first book in the series was very different but definitely just as good.

Overall, Down by Contact definitely held up to my high expectations. It was an extraordinary sequel to an already amazing series!