Not My Romeo (The Game Changers) – audiobook review

Not My Romeo
By Ilsa Madden-Mills
Narrators: Savannah Peachwood & Eric G. Dove
Release Date: August 18, 2020
Publisher: Montlake
Book #1 in The Game Changers series
Number of Pages: 349
Ages 16 and up
CW: child abuse, spousal abuse, murder,
grief, cheating
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We start off with a lie on Valentine’s Day.

My blind date isn’t the studious guy I expected: he’s a drop-dead gorgeous player with sinful amber eyes. Somehow we end up at his penthouse. I blame the gin and tonic.

The next day I learn he’s Jack Hawke—bad-boy professional quarterback with a murky past. The NDA he has me sign should be a warning that he isn’t a regular person. Please. I sign it Juliet Capulet, so goodbye, famous football player with abs of steel, and good luck tracking down this small-town librarian.

But Jack keeps showing up in places I least expect him. Just when I’m sure he’s gone, he waltzes into my community theater and wins the part of Romeo to my Juliet. How’s a plain, mostly innocent girl like me supposed to resist a man like him?

Is Jack my real Romeo… or will this gorgeous football player only break my heart?

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This book gave me all of the warm fuzzies I am looking for when reading a romance. The way Elena and Jack meet had me slightly nervous and on edge, but I enjoyed every minute of their mistaken identity banter and internal dialogue. It hooked me in from the beginning and I loved the whole ride.

Jack is so very broken. He had a traumatic childhood and doesn’t trust easily, if at all. The one long-term girlfriend he had recently turned their relationship into a series of lies and fodder for the gossip pages. He’s not comfortable with attention or speaking to crowds so his silence only makes him look worse in the eyes of the public. It’s refreshing for him when Elena, who doesn’t watch television or keep up with sports, has no idea who he is and speaks to him with honesty. She was sassy and blunt and didn’t fall at his feet like other people tended to do. He was intrigued.

From the beginning, it’s obvious how Jack is going to screw things up. While I was waiting for that to happen, the author wove a touching and beautiful love story. Not only were Jack’s insecurities addressed, but so were Elena’s. She hasn’t had an easy time of it lately either yet feels she always has to put on a brave and happy face in her small town. Jack is keyed into her true emotions from the first time they meet and doesn’t let her get away with saying she’s fine when she’s not.

Once Jack makes that mistake you know is coming, I was gutted. But I knew he’d figure it out with time and distance. And once he did, his method of apologizing was swoon-worthy. I loved it all.

The only issue I had with this book was the male narrator for the audiobook. I’m not going to hold that against the book itself, but fair warning to those of you who are going to use that format. He just didn’t fit for this type of character for me and I found myself wishing the female narrator was narrating the whole book.

5 stars