Taking a Shot (Play by Play) [Audiolibro] [CD de audio]

I have enjoyed Jaci Burton's books in the past...I really liked the second book in the series, Changing the Game (A Play-by-Play Novel), and thought Elizabeth's character arc was really strong. I have come not to expect much in the way of serious plot or emotional angst in Burton's books, but they're entertaining and sexy, so I preordered Taking a Shot. This book takes a lack of conflict to a new level. Sure...the sex is hot, but the characters are totally uninteresting. The heroine's "problem" with the hero was that he plays sports, and so do her brothers. Meh. That's not a problem. A problem is being hurt by a sports figure in the past or something. In this case, it was honestly that she was secretly into music and not sports. I found myself thinking: What? Who cares? he's attractive and funny and your family loves him, so what is the problem? And that's just the thing. There wasn't a problem. I got to 20 pages from the end and realized that I had never once cared whether these two really ended up together--in part because there was never any doubt that they would.

The sex is hot, so it gets 2 stars, but that's the last time I spend 9.99 on a Burton book.

3.5 Stars. I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the first two. I liked Jenna, and I loved Ty; but I wasn't completely sold on the two of them together or their romance.

Jenna was the kind of 'left out' sibling in her family. The guys sports achievements and careers seemed to always come ahead of her needs. She winds up running the family bar after her Dad's heart attack. Ty was an absolute dream. He was was very attentive to her, and put her first. He liked Jenna from the very beginning; and was always interested in her wants and needs. Unfortunately, Jenna only wanted a sexual affair with Ty, and that's where the story broke down for me. It was all sex, almost all the time, right up until the end and the (finally) I Love You's. The sex scenes were hot, but didn't grab me or move me; probably because the relationship didn't move forward for the longest time. It was sex with no sense of commitment. For a long time, it was just two people hooking up for sex, and that's not sexy (or romantic) to me. I need to feel like it meant more between them and didn't get that until near the end of the book. The real 'relationship' didn't begin to develop until the last quarter of the story.

It was great to see everyone from the first two books, and hear what there was going on for them in their lives. Gavin and Liza are still going strong; and Tara and Mick's wedding scene was very nice. I like the attention to family in this series; and the warmth of the familial relationships. It was a pretty good read, but just not great. Since this family has run out of sports figures to have romances, Burton is moving on to the cousins. Next up is the Riley's cousin Cole in Playing to Win (A Play-by-Play Novel), another pro football player.

I love this series! Read them all. Great stories and am so highly anticipating the next one that I've preordered it!!