A review by thisgingerlovesbooks
Making the Play by Robin Bielman

4.0

Author Robin Bielman

Publication date: may 7 2019

Goodreads rating: 4.50

My rating: 4.5 stars!

I was given an arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.

Before I came across this book, I had never heard of Robin Bielman before. So I genuinely had no idea what to expect from this author, but I was so pleasantly surprised!

Heartthrob is the first book in the American Royalty series, and I can’t freaking wait to preorder book two and three!

From what I understand (and Robin feel free to correct me here if I’m wrong) each book can be read as a stand alone, the first book introduces us to Finn and his brothers Ethan and drew, but the story itself is about Finn. The second book, whilst still featuring Finn and drew is about Ethan, the third is about Drew.

Okay, now we’ve got that little info dump out of the way let’s get back to talking specifically about Heartthrob.

Here is the synopsis featured on goodreads and amazon:

He likes a challenge…

Here’s the deal: I’m the best center fielder in the major leagues. I’m also the guy who cost his team the championship game and acted very unsportsmanlike. So, when the team hires a social media manager to repair the damage to my reputation, I don’t argue. But then I meet Chloe Conrad, and I suddenly understand what people mean when they say they have an instant connection to someone. Which means I’m in serious trouble. Chloe’s a smart, sexy distraction I can’t afford, but one date can’t hurt, right? Only she turns me down. And just like that, it’s game on.

She’s sworn off love…

Finn Auprince is the hottest player in the major leagues. Look up “It Factor” in the dictionary and there’s his handsome face. He’s also my biggest client and I don’t care how easy it is to talk to him or how fun it is to manage his social media accounts, I will not give in to his charms. Then one drunken night, I tell him about my curse: all my previous boyfriends have found their soul mates while dating me. One more heartbreak, and I’ll never recover. But Finn doesn’t believe in curses—he believes in me. Professionally and personally. He sets out to prove the universe isn’t against me, and that his one true love isn’t waiting around the next corner.

The problem is…can we play the game of love and both come out on top?

***

I know absolutely NOTHING about baseball, I won’t lie to you. I’m from England and assume it’s like a game of Rounders. I’m not usually a massive fan of sports romances, but recently I’ve been very drawn to them. (I have to thank Rachel Van Dyken for that!) And when I came across this book on netgalley and read the description, I was instantly intrigued by it. Like I said earlier, I’d genuinely never come across Robin and her books before so I didn’t know what to expect going into this book. I loved it though, I didn’t need to actually understand baseball even though it’s a massive part of this book, I just had to understand Chloe and Finn’s love for the game and that was pretty easy to do because they’re both so passionate about it. Even though I didn’t understand their sporty jargon, I felt compelled to read on anyway, I was so connected with both characters that their excitement for a game I know nothing about rubbed off on me. Both Finn and Chloe were so easy to relate too! They were well fleshed out, and their families were an absolute joy to read about through their eyes. There’s so much love in these books. Love for parents, love for friends, love for siblings, and of course the romantic kind too. It was just really heartwarming, and funny too. I love romance books that are full of humour, and Heartthrob is definitely one of those books. Of course the book also has some heart stopping moments, and a little heartbreak but let’s be honest, there’s no point in writing a book if your just going to give the characters an easy ride, readers would get so damn bored! Personally I think robin nailed it with this book, I felt all kinds of feels whilst reading it and truly believed in the connection Finn and Chloe shared. I’d love a follow up book to be honest!

I will definitely be recommending this book to absolutely anyone who will listen to me. Just as soon as I catch up on my sleep because I’ve stayed up until 3am for a couple nights in a row now reading this book! I loved it. I can’t wait to continue the series! And I’m also going to have to check out some more of robins books because I’m seriously loving her writing!