The Playmaker M/M Romance
Dreamspinner Press
November 18, 2016
188
Reviewed by: Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team
Hunter Davis is a star football player and he isn’t lacking for endorsements. His team has accepted the fact that Hunter is gay, but he keeps a low profile and doesn’t risk bad publicity. Hunter’s only problem is his lack of organization and his habit of perpetually being late for everything. His agent, Garvin, has finally gotten tired of having to pick him up and ensure he arrives to his appointments in a timely manner. Garvin put his foot down and insisted that Hunter get an assistant, someone who can keep him on track.
Hunter has an offer from a designer to pose for underwear, but Garvin refuses to work on the deal for Hunter until he agrees to an assistant. Hunter wants a female, someone who knows football and someone he won’t find himself attracted to. Unfortunately, one of the women thinks football is barbaric, another refuses to cook any meat since she is a vegan, the third woman offers him her body. Refusing these three women would turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to Hunter.
Montgomery (Monty) Willis is out of a job and living with his sister and her partner. Monty goes to an employment agency and hears about Hunter’s trouble finding someone to be his assistant. Monty offers to be that assistant in spite of the fact he knows nothing about football or who Hunter Davis is. The only thing that Monty likes about football is when the players bend over in their tight uniforms.
Hunter is less than happy with Monty, but gives him a month’s trial. He needs someone and can’t help but find Monty cute to look at. Monty is a take charge kind of guy in spite of that fact that he is small in stature and not very tall. Monty doesn’t hesitate to tell Hunter that his style in clothes is that of an old man and makes time to take him shopping. Monty doesn’t that Hunter is color blind, so keeping his wardrobe in two basic colors makes life easier for him. Monty takes care of that situation. He also takes care of the situation when Hunter is photographed for a sports calendar in the nude. He sees the photographer took shots of Hunter totally exposed and managed to get them all deleted.
Monty also steps in when Hunter’s father and all his friends come for a party at Hunter’s house. They eat everything in sight and leave the place a pig sty. His father treats Monty as his personal servant. Monty takes matters into his own hands when he shuts all the circuit breakers ultimately causing everyone to retreat to someone else’s home. He has no idea if what he did will cause him to be fired, but he couldn’t let anyone disrespect Hunter or his home. Happily for him, Hunter was amused, not angry.
Little by little, Hunter and Monty reveal secrets to each and Monty becomes more and more important to Hunter. Hunter has not had any real relationship since he was a senior in college when something happened with the boy he loved. Things seem to be going well for the two men until an innocent game of football in Central Park is made to look dirty. Hunter just wanted to teach Monty something about the game, but being gay every move was determined to be dirty. Had he had not been gay and with a woman, no one would have thought twice about it. How sad when something innocent can be turned ugly because you happen to be gay.
I loved Monty and his determination to protect Hunter was heartwarming. I also loved Hunter, a strong football player who off the field is quite different. If Hunter and Monty became lovers, would his football career be at risk? If it was, who would Hunter choose? Mr. Grey always gets me to see the other side of the coin, star athletes are rich and seem to have everything in life they want, but they still have to live in the real world. Sometimes it is as difficult for them as for any of us.