Home Field Advantage (Milwaukee Dragons) – ARC Review

Home Field Advantage
by Liz Lincoln
Release Date:  July 16, 2019
Publisher:  Loveswept
Book #3 in the Milwaukee Dragons series
Number of pages:  300
Kindle Edition
Source: ARC from Net Galley
Contemporary Romance/Sports M/F
Rating: XXX
Read 6/28/19 to 7/2/19

 

Is the Dragons’ new wide receiver: A) a fallen NFL star looking for a comeback, B) the sexy player your boss wants you to write an exposé on, or C) the former love of your life?

For Milwaukee Dragons beat reporter Natalie Griffith, he’s clearly D) all of the above. Three years ago, Natalie’s bombshell report on her ex-boyfriend’s off-the-field scandals landed her the job she loves, but she still feels guilty about destroying his career. Now Quinn Lowry’s back, and he’s taking over her locker room, flashing his charming smile and reminding her exactly how hot they were together.

After two years out of the league, Quinn is sober and on the field again. He’s worked his ass off and he’s not going to blow his second chance, not even for the woman who broke his heart—twice. Having Natalie around is the last thing Quinn needs while he’s trying to prove he deserves to stay on the team.

Maybe one final night together will give them both some much-needed closure. But with Natalie’s boss pressuring her for another headline-grabbing scoop, can she admit to herself that she’s falling for Quinn all over again?

Maybe someone was listening to me when I complained about the covers in this series.  For the first two books, the models were put into extremely awkward looking poses. Amazing bodies, but so awkward.  Finally, here’s a cover with a relaxed pose and an amazing body. Yay! It’s the little things that can make me happy.

This story was a slow starter for me.  To be quite honest, I don’t know if that was the book’s fault or my fault.  I started reading it the night before my son came to visit from out of town, 2 days before a big family barbecue so everyone could see him and his wife and celebrate their upcoming baby.  So I’ve been super busy, which cut into my usual reading time.  Plus, extra tired.  The good news, I fell asleep with relative ease the last few nights.  The bad news, less reading time.  So even though I felt this story was slow to start, I was still interested in what was happening.  I enjoyed the characters and the set up of their story.  But man, I wanted them to give into their chemistry already!

The concept of this story was excellent.  The author did a great job with having some scenarios where Quinn had to struggle his inner demons, situations that he was put into through no ill intent but that were bad for him nonetheless.  While Quinn’s demons are a more outward and obvious thing, Natalie has plenty of demons of her own.  One of the biggest being her own guilt over an in-depth story she wrote about Quinn’s struggles with his addiction.  Natalie puts on a tough front for the world, she has to since she’s a female sports reporter, but she has just as many insecurities as the next person. 

As is usual with couples around the world, Quinn and Natalie were never the best at communication.  No matter how long they were friends before starting their relationship back in college, there were vital issues Natalie didn’t share with Quinn.  Would it have changed how he was living his life and dealing with pressure?  Maybe, maybe not.  But it would have at least helped him to understand that his struggles were have a greater impact on her well-being than he could outwardly see.

Natalie and Quinn not only have great chemistry, they also have a connection that is natural.  Well, at least after they decide to stop avoiding each other and have it out a bit.  There’s no doubt the pair belong together.  They just need to accept that fact for themselves and learn to trust each other with everything.

Although this story was a slow starter for me, the last half of the book breezed by.  I’m really hoping we get Matt’s story next.  Having already met him and his wife in previous stories, it will be interesting to see how they got where they are in this book. And how they’ll overcome their difficulties.

3.5 stars

**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**