Ballers and Babes, Book 1
From the publisher:
When the hot new quarterback desperately needs a fake girlfriend he turns to his best friend’s sister, only to find that she may turn out to be the woman of his dreams even though she’s been right there all along…
When I enter the Most Valuable Playboy charity auction, my goal is simple―be the player who goes for the most dough. But when trouble shows up at the auction, I need a whole new play.
Enter Violet―she’s my best friend’s sister and she’s my close friend too. With a smile as sweet as cherry pie and a mind that runs quicker than the 40-yard-dash, Violet saves the day with the highest bid. I don’t even give her a two-minute warning before I kiss her in front of the whole crowd and then announce that she’s my girlfriend.
Which would be fine except my agent tells me we’ve got to keep up the act while he’s negotiating my contract. Violet takes one for the team and pretends to be mine, and soon our boyfriend-girlfriend scrimmage quickly turns into a full contact sport.
But falling for her wasn’t in the playbook…
“A Lauren Blakely book is a guarantee of a good time.” ―Meghan Quinn, New York Times bestselling author
Cooper doesn’t mind being auctioned off for charity. In previous years, the NFL star was the top money draw, and he had interesting one-night stands with the winners. But this year he is in trouble. There is a local radio talk show host who has been talking about him in terms that make him very uncomfortable. Cooper is panicking that she might win him in the auction, and he really needs to avoid that.
Violet is Cooper’s best friend’s sister, and the three of them have been friends for most of their lives. Violet is at the auction to do hair for the players, so when Cooper realizes what is afoot with the auction, he begs her to bid on him with his own money. Once Vi sees what’s happening, she’s happy to step up, and she wins the auction. To really seal the deal, Cooper kisses her in front of the crowd and announces that she is his girlfriend, hoping to keep that talk show host at bay.
Cooper’s contract is up for renewal at the end of the season, and his agent thinks he needs to keep Violet as his girlfriend to help with the negotiations. Since she won him at the auction, Violet’s hair salon has been super busy with people trying to catch a glimpse of the football star, but her landlord is giving her a hard time about a new lease. They come to an agreement; they will fake-date until his contract is signed and her lease is renewed. But of course, pesky feelings get in the way.
This was a super flirty read with terrific banter and some steamy sex. Another hit for Blakely!
2/2025 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
MOST VALUABLE PLAYBOY by Lauren Blakely. Sourcebooks Casablanca (February 18, 2025). ISBN: 978-1464228865. 336p.
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