Synopsis
Talon Gold is a lot of things: good at football, bad at love. Obsessed with scoring, refuses to play by the rules. Cruel. Relentless. Brilliant. Intoxicatingly attractive.
Despite his demanding reputation and propensity for being the most arrogant a-hole ever to strut Pacific Valley University’s picturesque campus, everyone wants a piece of him: coaches, scouts, and pretty little fangirls with pouty lips and perfect top knots.
But Talon … he only wants a piece of me.
And four straight years of infuriating rejection means I’m almost positive he’d take a night with me over a national championship trophy.
But I’m no fool—he only wants me because he can’t have me. And with graduation approaching, time is running out. He’s more desperate than ever, pulling out all the stops and doing everything in his power to get in my good graces.
They say, “Don’t hate the player, hate the game.”
But to that I say, “Why not both?”
I have my reasons…
Sorry, BMOC. This victory? Not going to happen.
Review
I love a good sports romance and that’s exactly what I got with Hate the Game by Winter Renshaw. Although a little light on the sports scenes, this story focuses on Big Man on Campus and football star, Talon, and design student, Irie.
For four long years, Talon has wanted Irie and for four long years, Irie has been rejecting his advances. It’s not until senior year, they share a class together and as fate would have it, they’re forced to pair up as study partners. This gives Talon the chance he’s wanted to show Irie he’s not the man she thinks he is and that they’d be so great together.
Talon has a bit of a reputation as a manwhore sports star and has every girl (other than the heroine) falling over themselves to be noticed by him. What people don’t know is he actually isn’t as big a manwhore as they think and instead he is a decent, hard working, focused athlete trying to figure out his life post-college. Irie is just as decent, hard working and focused with a great opportunity to start her design career on the horizon. Therefore, Irie really doesn’t have the time to put up with BMOC Talon or his advances. Both the hero and heroine have a lot going on in their lives, past and present, and from this they have developed into strong characters. Talon and Irie are actually quite perfect for each other and the journey to get them to see that was delightful.
I really loved the banter between Talon and Irie. It was lighthearted, fun and kept the pace of the story moving along nicely. There wasn’t a whole lot of drama involved which I was quite happy with because it made the story very easygoing and a nice change from the usual drama-heavy stories I read.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this story to anyone who enjoys New Adult/College-based contemporary romance and/or sports romances that are light on sports details. I found Hate the Game to be really enjoyable and a great introduction to Winter Renshaw’s writing style. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of her works after this.
Get your copy now!
Bookishly Nomes 
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