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    The Perfect Play
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    The Perfect Play
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    The Perfect Play
    Ebook372 pages5 hours

    The Perfect Play

    By Jaci Burton

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    New York Times bestselling author Jaci Burton presents a story about love and the games people play in the first irrisistible novel in the Play-by-Play series...

    The last thing event planner Tara Lincoln needs is the jet-set lifestyle of a football pro like Mick Riley; even though their steamy and passionate one-night stand proved that Mick is an all-star-both on the field and in the bedroom.

    Tara played the game of love once and lost big, and she doesn't intend to put herself out there again, especially with a certified heartbreaker. But when Mick sets his mind to win, nothing will stop him. And he has the perfect play in mind to catch this sultry vixen.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Group
    Release dateFeb 1, 2011
    ISBN9781101478653

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    Reviews for The Perfect Play

    3.5/5

    20 ratings35 reviews

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    • 3/5
      This was a typical sports romance. There was really nothing unique or out of the ordinary to this story. Pro football player who is tired of the glamorous life and manipulation by his agent meets event planner at a party. Tara is the typical beautiful but doesn't see her herself as such love interest. She is also a single mother of a teenager. There is some standard miscommunication that almost derails their relationship, but they are able to come out on the other side with plans of marriage and a happily ever after. It was any easy read, but I don't know that I am interested enough to pick up the next book. I'll just wait and see. 2.5 stars.
    • 2/5
      When this book was first published, I wanted to run out and get it for the cover alone. Who can pass up a HOT guy on the cover of a book? Not me that is for sure.
      However I am glad that I waited on purchasing this one. The writting was good, and the characters were likable, though the plot and the story got on my nerves.
      I did not like how whiney and selfish Tara came across. As a single mother myself, yes, I have put my kids before everyone else, including myself. But with Tara saying it all the time, and not really doing it, i mean she is running her own business that she admits takes up a lot of time, she got on my last nerve. I find it hard to believe that with her son being almost 15 she didn't have time to date, nor make sure she focused on her sone while dating. I have three under the age of 10 and found time to take care of them, work and find an amazing man for us.
      Mick is a pro football player who you can just tell is getting really tired of the limelight, he is ready to settle down even if he doesn't realize it. He meets Tara at a football "ball" and they hit it off right off the bat, enough so that she sleeps with him the first night. Tara takes off the next morning and he has his agent find her for him. He pursuses Tara throughout the book, because just when you think she is coming to her senses, she turns tail and runs again. Yes, they get their happy ending, but not without a lot of work on Mick's part.
    • 2/5
      The Perfect Play...How about the perfect man? Even with all the faults, I really did love Mick. The cover is perfect and drew me in. I actually bought the first three books in the series since they were on sale because of the covers. I was hoping they would be similar to The Off Campus series by Elle Kennedy.This was my first Jaci Burton read, and I thought it was only ok. The writing was not my favorite, the book did not seem edited as there was a ton of grammatical errors. They started to get a little bit distracting.I also found the story to be pretty boring. I know there was issues with alcohol and past child abuse thrown in, but this was only really a quick conversation and it was over. It really did not bring much to the story at all.Some things were too repetitive and Tara apologizing non-stop was overdone. I found myself skipping over everything and only reading the actual dialogue between the characters. I just did not love it.I will read the next book, but it is not something I am dying to grab for right away. Kinda disappointed.
    • 3/5
      This story could have been a lot better if it were shorter. I felt that things dragged on during the middle and I started getting bored. Mick was an absolute sweetie and I wanted to knock some sense into Tara. I don't understand how blind she was to Mick's feelings for her. Her constant doubt, stubbornness and need for independence was so frustrating. I also felt there were too many sex scenes and I ended up skimming the rest in the book. Not a bad read, but not great either.
    • 4/5
      I liked the story and the plot. Loved Mick. Tara got on my nerves a bit. Overall a great romance :D
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed this book, but there seemed to be something missing. I was reading about the spark between Mick and Tara, but not feeling it.
    • 3/5
      3.5 Stars

      This was a good read... not much angst or conflict, just some misunderstandings that were cleared up easily enough. And that's fine sometimes... you can only take so much angst, and sometimes a good old fashioned boy meets girl (with some serious steam thrown in) is just what is needed! I love football players. *sigh*
    • 5/5
      This was such a cute and hot and heavy romance that I fell in love with from the beginning. I loved seeing these two together. Both characters were engaging and full of life. It was quite fun to see the build of the relationship. I also was intrigued by Tara's brother and the brotherly bond he forms with Mick. Mick's family was simply fabulous. But there was one character I had issues with. Liz who is Mick's agent treats Tara horribly and even though I loved this book, I am reluctant to read the second book because of the way that she treats Tara. But I couldn't get enough of Mick and Tara. Jaci Burton has won me over with this one
    • 5/5
      This is the first sports themed book I read and I loved it. I don't even think it is because I love football either. There was something endering about the Mick and Tara...even Nathan. Really looking forward to the next one!
    • 4/5
      This was a nice, solid start to the series. I wasn't sure if I'd really like Jock Lit :) but this was pretty decent. BOth characters have some dimension (she does much more than the male protagonist). It's a little in the hard to believe category but not outrageously so. The writing is delicious and hot... but good grief, Mick should not talk during sex. Really great hot descriptions and wonderful writing and then he opens his mouth and basically says "oh, yeah, baby, do me." Sigh. Can't have everything. Read it to get addicted to the series and know that the next two books are even better.
    • 3/5
      I appreciated the maturity of this sports romance. At times, I felt like it dragged, and there were times the teenaged son of the main character felt like he was 11 which was distracting. Overall, I enjoyed the read enough to continue with this author. (It was my first Jaci Burton).
    • 4/5
      Good book, good story and compeling characters. Will be reading the second for sure. :)
    • 5/5
      I loved this book!!!! You scored a touchdown on this one, Jaci. Characters to fall in love with, sizzling sex scenes, what more can a reader ask for?
    • 5/5
      This book is about Mick Riley who plays football (as if you didn't know from the cover shot) he finds a girl he wants to chase after .........read more of my review on my blog iloveladyporn.com
    • 4/5
      Hot Hot Hot....Very Hot!If you're in the mood for some sexy alpha male, smart, sensitive and with principles, this is the book. After all, who doesn't like a gorgeous football player falling for a "normal" woman?
    • 4/5
      A quick read, great love scenes, and the ending was cool. I think it was a tad bit abrupt, but perfectly acceptable. I wonder if Mick will hire Liz back, especially since I have a feeling she'll end up as his in-law.
    • 2/5
      The Perfect Play (Play-by-Play Series #1) This book was difficult to rate. I read it and enjoyed it, but I also had a lot of complaints.First, it was a hot read. I don't think anyone can disagree about that. BUT. It was a little... too much, you know what I mean? Every time they met, it was more touching than talking. It's like most of the story was about the sex, and frankly, there wasn't much story.Girl meets famous boy - boy meets girl.Girl is afraid to share her secrets and commit - boy is afraid of the same.Girl shares - boy shares.Everything is solved but we have more pages to fill so we add all kind of issues of the boy's manager trying to separate them, but boy makes sure she understand he had nothing to do with it and he loves her. Girl being afraid and refusing the guy even though she loves him.They get back together.THE END.That pretty much describes the plot of this entire book. Take down all the sex scenes and you have about, what, 150 pages of actual story?...I also really disliked Tara's way of thinking. She has a gorgeous lover who is simply the best and planes the most awesome dates for her and thinks of her of the world, and she refuses to accept love because she is independent and doesn't need a man in her and her son's life? Really? More so, they've been dating for months and yet the both of them talk as if they doesn't do relationship (then this is all just sex, right?) and believe it's going to break off, but they chase one another all the time. What is it with that?Also, one moment Tara is set upon leaving, the next (literally) she gets into Mick's car and has sex with him. Freaking make up your mind. Another thing that bothered me was the Football scenes, but only because I don't understand any of the terms and so I was left with understanding Mick and Nathan were running with a ball....Anyway, good writing but I felt the plot lacked big time and wasn't really all that interesting. Half way through I wondered what was going to keep the plot moving, and when I realized it's the whole 'I'm afraid of love' shit I got angry. Will read the next one regardless.
    • 3/5
      Very cute book. Smutty with just the right amount of romance. Or should I say romantic with the right amount of smut?

      In any case, we all need a Mick in out lives.
    • 3/5
      2.5 stars. Cheesy, repetitive and predictable, but the sex sure was hot.
    • 2/5
      It was a really long football romance drama. I always like Jaci Burton's paranormal series but its a good transition to contemporary romance.
    • 4/5
      I really struggled with the first few chapters of this book. I had to work hard to suspend disbelief when it came to the actions and opinions of both main characters. I'm glad I persevered because the novel turned out very well, but the overall conflict still bothered me somewhat.

      I liked that both Mick and Tara had baggage - it wasn't just one or the other. The chemistry between the two was off the charts, but there was a lot of emotional depth there, too.
    • 4/5
      Wavering between 3 and 4 stars on this one. It's more like a 3.5, but I gave it the bump.

      I knew it was an erotic romance. I knew it was going to have lots of sex, and it was GOOOD sex. However, I didn't feel like I got enough of Mick and Tara outside of the sex stuff, to know why they really fell in love. Well, I knew why Tara fell, Mick was great to her, and he was also great to her kid, what's not to love. But I didn't really get why Mick was so drawn to her. Not that she wasn't nice, but we weren't really shown enough of them interacting outside of the(really hot) fucking. I dunno, maybe I'm asking too much, lol!
    • 3/5
      I felt like the first half of the book was filled with football references to every day life,and the whole book was filled with copious amounts of sex.

      I actually liked this one OK minus the football references in the beginning, and allll the sex. I felt like the football references were overkill, we get that he's a football player ok? There's no reason to beat us over the head with it. Also all the sex, it was like they couldn't be within 15 ft of each other without needing sex, that's a LOT of sex, and it really wasn't needed.

      I did like this book, and hoooo baby is that cover sexy or what?
    • 4/5
      Over all, the book was really good. There was ALOT of sex. My only problem was the dirty talk, you would have thought they were porn stars. Do people really talk like that? I know I don't. And I'm not very fond of the P-word, which was used alot during the sex scenes. But other then that, I really liked the book, had a hard time putting it down.
    • 4/5
      Sweet and sexy. Very likeable characters who are realistically flawed.
    • 2/5
      The beautiful cover persuaded me to buy the book and the summary sounded interesting enough, but man what a disappointment. Tara annoyed me as a character, she kept refusing Mick, for what I felt were bogus reasons. She was a single mother, but was the perfect single mother. Not too controlling not too lax. Mick was also the perfect man, understanding, generous, great lover. So most of the book is two perfect people having perfect, steamy sex all the time. There was no drama, no emotional growth, no angst. This is an erotica, so I don't know why I'm surprised. Then Mick's parents are introduced and gosh darn they are perfect too. Really aggravating how perfect and nice everyone was. The only bad guy was Elizabeth, Mick's agent, and I didn't understand why she wanted to break up the perfect couple up, maybe just to give the author some thing else to write besides sex scenes. I almost gave up on the book 3 times, but that damn beautiful cover kept me going.
    • 3/5
      The Perfect Play
      3 Stars

      Synopsis:
      Tara Lincoln has been unlucky in love and has no intention of becoming involved again, especially with a certified heartbreaker like football pro, Mick Riley. But Mick has his heart set on Tara and will allow nothing to get in his way. Can Mick and Tara overcome their differences?

      Review:
      It is necessary to preface this review with a disclaimer that I am not a huge fan of either contemporary romance or books that revolve around sport. I read this book because one of my Goodreads challenges required reading a book with an athlete hero.
      As suspected, this book suffers from the customary flaw of most contemporary romances, i.e., what little conflict exists between the couple is based on a series of misunderstandings that could have easily been solved if they actually had a proper conversation instead of falling into bed at the drop of a hat.
      The plot is predictable and the sex scenes are excessive and contribute absolutely nothing to the romance.
      The characters, however, have definite potential. Mick is seriously sexy and caring, and Tara is single-minded and sweet, although she does have a tendency to over-analyze and whine every so often. The secondary characters are the real gems in the book, especially Mick’s brother Gavin (who has some of the best dialogue) and Mick’s agent, Liz whose bitchiness seems to conceal her softer side.
      In sum, fans of erotica, sports romances and football will probably find this book entertaining. I may read the next book if only to find out how Liz redeems herself.
    • 3/5
      Best. Cover. Evah. Sadly, the book didn't live up to the promise of the cover. It was okay but not great. I kept getting the feeling that I knew what the author was trying to get to but it hit just shy of the mark many times throughout the book. There were some good parts but (and I can't believe I'm saying this), there was too much sex. Tara and Mick had sex in just about every encounter - and sometimes it was a bit jarring - like when they were will out of breath afterwards and all of a sudden they're having a deep and meaningful (D&M) discussion - it just kind of felt out of place. I also felt Mick's "secret" (which I won't give away here as it is spoiler-y) was inconsistent - sometimes it was troublesome and other times it was no big deal. It was by no means awful but I just didn't love it and I really wanted to.
    • 4/5
      Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: Hot and determined quarterback chases reluctant single mother. This is a love story filled with lots of football references/metaphors and several hot sex scenes.Opening Sentence: Sweat dripped down Mick Riley’s face and arms.The Review:The Perfect Play is just your everyday romance story: Boy meets girl. Boy jumps girl’s bones. Girl runs from commitment while boy chases. More bone jumping. Girl eventually falls in love with boy. They live happily ever after. Though the story is typical, Jaci Burton masterfully wealds her tale in such a way that even someone that only likes paranormal romance (*cough* me) can enjoy.This is the story of two unlikely people falling in lust with one another. Mick Riley is living the good life being one of NFL’s top quarterbacks. He has money, fame, and lots and lots of women throwing themselves at his feet. During one of the many parties hosted for his team, he spots a beautiful woman unlike any he has known before. He is drawn to her like a moth to a flame, and boy does he want to burn! Tara Lincoln is a single mother and event planner. Her life is too busy for romance, but when Mick Riley, superstar, offers her a night of wild passion, she finds that she can’t resist. That doesn’t mean that she is willing to have it go any further than a one-night-stand, no matter how much Mick would wish it otherwise.Mick seems to be a man with two faces; one is the image his PR lady pushes and one that he has around his family. These two different personas are what drive the wedge between him and Tara. Mick’s character shows depth and relatability. He is as tenacious on the field as he is off of it. When he decides that he wants Tara, he lets nothing distract him from his goal; making Tara his. Even the sexual scenes reflect the inner resolve on Mick’s part. But Mick has secrets. Is he willing to let Tara all the way inside his walls or will his past mistakes cost him the most important game of his life?Tara is a little whiny. Usually, we see the man playing hard to get in these situations, not the woman. She constantly looks for excuses to dump Mick even as she thoroughly enjoys his body. She hides behind her son and uses him as a shield against intimacy, which she gets called on a few times throughout the book. As much as I hated her excuses, they were all validated by her past experiences and overt assumptions about Mick’s character. In every relationship, there is going to come a point where you have to trust your partner and take what they tell you as truth, or the relationship is doomed to end. Throughout the whole book, Tara struggles with trust and commitment while Mick tries everything he can to hold on to what they have together. Can she reconcile what she believes Mick to be with the man she has come to love? Can she put on her big girl pants and take the amazing gift she has been offered?One of the obstacles the couple faces in this book comes in the form of Mick’s PR manager, Elizabeth Darnell. Liz is in charge of maintaining the playboy persona for Mick no matter what. She rallies against their relationship and causes strife between Mick and Tara on several occasions. Mick, for the most part, doesn’t see the growing tension between the two women and allows things to get to a breaking point. Mick stands at the crossroads, where he must choose a path between his career and his woman. Will Liz be the catalyst that Tara is looking for to end things with Mick? Will Mick allow Liz to continue running his life for him or will he take hold and run the play himself?Yes, this book is full of hot and steamy sex scenes. Yes, it is also full of football metaphors. Yet, by combining the two, Ms. Burton creates two wonderful and lovable characters that will make you glad you came along for the ride. The road to love is filled with potholes and this story is no exception. This is the beginning of a wonderful new series that helps reiterate that happily-ever-afters are found in the most unlikely of places, on and off the field.Notable Scene:“It’s like a sea of white,” Tara said as he put the car in park. The lights from his car cast out over the fog.“It’s better in the daytime when the fog first starts rolling in. But I still like it up here. It’s quiet. Good place for thinking and for being alone.”“And for parking?” She slanted him a quizzical look.“Well, we are parked, but I didn’t bring you up here for that.”She unbuckled her seat belt and turned to face him. “I kind of like the idea.”“Of what? Making out in my car?”“We could start with that, and see where it goes.”“I think you’re using sex to avoid having an honest conversation.”She paused. “Isn’t that a woman’s line?”They looked at each other, and both of them laughed. Tara kicked her heels off and crawled over the console. Mick had to admit he like watching her maneuver in that tight skirt as she straddled him. He pushed the button and slid the seat back as far as it would go, giving her room. She settled over his lap and laid her hands on his chest. “So we’re having role reversal. Does this mean I get to seduce you?”He’d lost all train of thought since all the blood in his head had rushed to his dick. “Honey, you’re sitting on my cock. I’m pretty sure you can do whatever you want with me.”FTC Advisory: Penguin/Berkley Heat graciously provided me with a copy of The Perfect Play. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. The only payments I receive are hugs and kisses from my little boys.
    • 5/5
      MICK...makes me think "OH MICKEY YOUR SO FINE" =)This book went straight to the top as one of my favorties. Mick is super sexy, super caring with a secret that made me fall even more in love with him. I fell in love with him when the cover first came out, who wouldn't ;)Tara - WOW, what a strong woman and the way she grew up and the results were amazing!!! I can relate to most of her feelings and thoughts about Nathan.I read this book on the coldest night of the year yet and it definitely kept me warm =)