Title: First and Forever
Author: Lynn Painter
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 320
Genre: Romance
My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
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First and Forever
Duffy DiStefano is one of the biggest Coyote football fans, and she goes to every game whenever she can. During one match, the Coyote mascot gropes her, and Duffy reacts by pushing him down the stairs while the crowd boos her.
Connor Cunningham is one of the star players of the Coyote football team. When news breaks that the mascot has been harassing women, Connor tries to help repair the team’s reputation. He asks Duffy out on a date, and the two quickly start having a good time together. Before long, Connor is even spending time with Duffy’s brothers and father.
Review
I love Lynn Painter’s books, so when this one was recently released, I knew I had to read it too, and it definitely didn’t disappoint.
It’s another sports romance. I’ve been reading a lot of sports romances lately, and I honestly thought I was starting to get tired of the genre. But apparently not, because I absolutely devoured this book.
The story follows a fake-dating trope. Duffy pretends to date Connor to make her father happier. After losing Duffy’s mother a year earlier, her father is struggling with both grief and his own illness, so Duffy believes this fake relationship might cheer him up a little.
What Duffy doesn’t know is that Connor also has his own reason for fake-dating her. He’s using the relationship for positive PR for his football team after everyone discovers that the team mascot had been sexually harassing women during games. Of course, not telling Duffy the real reason behind the fake relationship was a huge mistake. But aside from that, Connor was actually a decent guy. He spent a lot of time with her family, genuinely cared about her, and was always there for her. The only real red flag was keeping the truth from her.
I’m not exaggerating when I say I finished this book in just a couple of hours. I was completely obsessed with it, and that’s one of the main reasons I gave it 5/5 stars. The banter between the two main characters was amazing, and honestly, good banter is probably one of my favorite things in romance books.
If I had to point out one thing that felt a little strange, it would be how much attention was given in the first few chapters to Duffy fainting. Apparently, she faints pretty easily whenever she gets nervous or has a crush on someone—especially celebrities. Because of that, I expected it to become a bigger part of the story and happen a few more times. But after the beginning, it was barely mentioned again. I thought it was going to play a much larger role throughout the book.
Overall, though, this was another Lynn Painter book that I really enjoyed. The banter was fantastic, and it was one of those books that you simply can’t stop reading—the kind of story you become completely obsessed with.