e-ALC, 07:19:15
Narrated by: Aidan Bissett & Saylor Curda
Release Date: May 12, 2026
Published by: Books on Tape (Berkley)
Read from: April 25-26, 2026
Stand-alone
Source: PRH Audio App (I received this ALC free from the publisher and their app. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Grief, Death of a Parent, Dementia, Chronic Illness, Medical Content, Terminal Illness, Sexual Assault, Sexual Harassment, Injury/Injury Detail
For Readers of: Adult, Audio, Billionaire Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, DEAR, Dual Narrators, Dual POV, Fake Dating, Favorites, Most Anticipated, Romance, Sports (Football)A football star and a diehard fan entangled in a PR stunt—that only one side knows is fake—might be the right play in this new romantic comedy by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lynn Painter.
Duffy Distefano loves three things: her dad, the family cat, and Minneapolis Coyotes football. So when she gets booed out of a game and becomes the internet’s villain, she is distraught—and disgruntled. All she did was shove Coyote Carl away when he made a move on her, but everyone else just saw a woman attacking their team’s beloved mascot. Eager to clear the air, Duffy agrees to an interview on a hit morning show. She doesn’t expect a co-guest to join her—especially not the Coyotes’ star tight end.
When MVP Connor Cunningham gets tasked with damage control to help his team out of their PR nightmare, he thought that meant saying a few words on the team’s behalf. Instead, he finds himself in a highly amusing verbal sparring match with a recently wronged fan on live TV. Duffy pelts him with fiery jabs but is also clearly diehard about the Coyotes—color him intrigued…and attracted.
The interview instantly goes viral, and the public is obsessed with them. A strong push from the Coyotes’ PR team to ride the wave results in Connor asking Duffy out. Despite his distaste for PR stunts, he’s surprised to discover being with Duffy is much easier than he thought, and somehow it doesn’t feel fake to him. Harboring this secret can only blow up, but all he knows is that if he messes things up with Duffy, it’ll be the greatest fumble of his life.
*MY THOUGHTS*
If I had a nickel for every time I read a book about a REAL female fan of football, I’d have 2 nickels… That isn’t a lot but it’s more than I thought there would be lol There’s been trainers, and those that bet on the teams and so much more, but there was never just FANS, so me reading two in a row just had me hype lol
This was adorable. This is another one again where I sat thinking that I need the delulu that she had too because how in the world didn’t she think he liked her? From the beginning he fell HARD. No one acts that good lol And she trippin anyways. Because no disrespect to wives or girlfriends, but if JC, QB1, 26, Coop, literally ANYONE from my favorite team has to act or fake date me, I would say yes faster than you could blink. Idk what made her think he didn’t actually like her.
When they finally got it together, they were so cute! I loved watching the two of them together. They went on some of the dumbest dates and had so much fun together. She tried to give him the slip there too. Which Idk why because why in the world would you try to get out of that? I would have been looking for the smallest sign that showed he liked me LOL Which again like the other one, I was confused on why she was trying to prove that they couldn’t be together.
*SPOILER ALERT* Their third act break-up was dumb. I was so mad at her for blowing that up out of proportion. They were literally doing the same thing to each other! Granted it was for different reasons, but it was still close to the same thing. There should have been no reason for her to get mad, besides the fact that he agreed to it. But even besides that, she was also getting his help by finally being able to go back to the games and not being shunned in the community anymore lol So basically that whole situation didn’t make sense. I was disappointed. I hated that he had to get hurt for her to get her act together. */END SPOILER* (Highlight the paragraph to see the spoilers if you want to see them!)
Her family was the cutest. From her brothers to her dad, they were so cute! Her dad especially. I’m not gonna lie I worried about him the entire book. I liked that they were mean to each other but you could tell no one else could do that to them lol It really did feel like a real family with a girl who grew up with all those boys who now has to take care of herself lol I was glad that Connor got to experience that type of family love.
This was a lot of cute ass nonsense lol I LOVED her family and her love of the game. I loved Duffy’s ridiculousness and literally all of it. I really hope Painter writes some more sports romances. The two she’s written so far have been some of my favorites of the year. And that’s hard as its my favorite sub trope. I can’t wait to see what else she has in store for us!
Overall, I give this
