Blind Side

by Kandi Steiner

[Nadz@Totally Addicted to Reading]

In Blind Side, Steiner delivered an adorable, fun and steamy fake dating romance, guaranteed to make you swoon with its flirtatious and sexy banter, a swoon worthy hero and a shy and smart heroine.

Blind Side is the second book in Kandi Steiner's Red Zone Rival series. This instalment tells Clay and Gianna's story. Clay Johnson dreams of two things, making it to the NFL and marrying his high school sweetheart. Currently, he is at the top of his game in college, enjoying his long distance relationship with his girl and looking forward to the day she would enroll at North Boston University, where he attended college. Then the unthinkable happened. She broke up with him, shattering one half of his dream.

Giana is the PR assistant for the football team. She has a major crush on a musician, but has no clue how to gain his attention. On learning of Giana's crush, Clay concocted an elaborate plan. A plan where he teaches Giana to land the guy of her dreams and she helps to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. Sounds simple, but then the pretending became a reality.

Blind Slide was an adorable, fun, emotional and steamy read which grabbed my attenti0n from the first page. There were so many things to love about this story. The characters, the banter and the romance all combined had me glued to the pages.

Clay makes the perfect book boyfriend, which makes him a keeper. When he turns on the charm, no one was immune a fact to which Gina can testify. He read her romance books to garner pointers on her tastes and he went out of his way let her know she was special. I loved his humility and his willingness to be there for those he loves, however he needs to learn to set boundaries so not to be taken disadvantage of.

Giana's shy and sweet personality endeared to almost everyone with whom she came in contact with. She's pretty good at her job as a PR assistant despite her sense of intimidation when in the presence of the footballers. A loner by nature, which made her list of friends totally non-existent. She showed tremendous growth throughout the story.

Giana and Clay were absolutely fantastic together. I loved their dynamics and had fun watching their relationship develop. Their feelings for each other grew slowly. Perfectly timed, which made them believable as a couple. They shared an intense chemistry, and, without a doubt, they belonged together. Without realizing it, they brought out the best in each other. If only they would look beyond the surface and recognize what’s been staring them in the face.

Giana and Clay’s interactions with each other were fun, sexy and laced with lots of emotions. They both have their share of issues, with Clay’s issue being the biggest of all. Poor guy didn’t know how to handle it and the blow back almost damaged his relationship with Giana. Also, his refusal to communicate with her about said issues only helped to make the situation worse. 

Now I wasn’t a big fan of the conflict introduced in the last quarter of the story. The backlash and the impact it had on Giana tore me up. It pained me to see her go through all of that hurt all due to selfish individuals, which was undeserving. Clay’s grand gesture at the end, although cheesy, made up for it. 

If you like contemporary sports and new adult romance with witty humor, the Blind Side will make the perfect addition to your reading list. I am looking forward to reading Quarterback Sneak, which is ready and waiting on my kindle.This review was originally posted on Totally Addicted to Reading