Review: Slamdunked by Love (One-on-One #2) by Jamie Wesley

Revenge is supposed to be sweet…

Caitlin Monroe is ready to confront her past. Years ago, her father ditched her mother for the NBA, leaving her pregnant and alone. Now he’s a big-shot coach, and Caitlin’s ready to take the so-called “family man” down. But on her way to the team gala, her car dies, and it’s her father’s sexy new star player who comes to her rescue.

Brady Hudson wants nothing more than to put his past behind him and concentrate on winning the championship for his new team. But when he finds himself the recipient of unwanted attention—attention that could destroy his career—he introduces the beautiful woman he saved on the side of the road as his "girlfriend."

Brady needs to focus on his job. And Caitlin isn’t about to date an athlete whose career is riding on her father—though he is a convenient way to get the dirt she needs. But sometimes love has other ideas, and it’s not long before their pretend relationship becomes a liability neither can resist. ~ Goodreads 

Source: e-arc provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review 

Review:

Caitlin and Brady have a fun *meet cute* moment early on in Slamdunked. Although Brady is supposedly an arrogant NBA basketball player and playboy, I liked him immediately. He is arrogant (I would say confidant) as far as his playing skills go but it was portrayed as a flaw and a central theme to be addressed in the story and I liked that. He's cocky - but nice and Caitlin is strong enough to stand up to him.

Caitlin is on a mission to humiliate her birth father for abandoning her family when she was young. Unfortunately, that mission interferes with the growing attraction she feels to Brady – since he’s also Brady’s coach.

Both Brady and Caitlin have major trust issues but start to build a friendship as well as a romance. I really liked these two together. They’re smart, funny, sexy but It definitely wasn’t all about the sex.

Slamdunked is just as much about Brady learning to share the spotlight with his teammates as it is about the romance and to tell the truth – I may have liked that storyline more. A lot of romances take place within the sporting world but don’t really bother with team dynamics past the dude bro back slaps and locker room talk but Brady’s interactions with his teammates made me really interested in the game – which I normally could care less about.

As much as I liked the romance and both Brady and Caitlin, I was disappointed in the latter at times. She knew the betrayals Brady had dealt with in the past and still stayed on her path to destroy her father, even if it would crush Brady. I get her motivation, and of course she has character growth, but that was borderline cruel and if I were Brady I would have made her grovel a bit more. But it all works out and I was satisfied with the conclusion.

Despite that one quibble about Caitlin, I would recommend this one for readers who enjoy lighter, sports themed romances. This was a fun one!