The Hot Shot by Kristen Callihan (Game On #4)
Publication Date: April 18, 2017
Contemporary/Sports Romance
Self Published

Reviewed by Kini
First we were friends. Then we were roommates. Now I want more…
What can I say about Chess Copper? The woman is capable of bringing me to my knees. I know this about five minutes after getting naked for her.

No one is more surprised than me. The prickly photographer my team hired to shoot our annual charity calendar isn’t my usual type. She’s defense to my offense, a challenge at every turn. But when I’m with her, all the regrets and darkness goes away. She makes life fun.

I want to know Chess, be close to her. Which is a bad idea.
Chess is looking for a relationship. I’ve never given a woman more than one night. But when fate leaves Chess without a home, I step up and offer her mine. We’re roommates now. Friends without benefits. But it’s getting harder to keep our hands off each other. And the longer we live together the more I realize she’s becoming my everything.

Trick is… Now that I’ve made her believe I’m a bad bet, how do I convince her to give this player a true shot at forever?

I read the previous books in this series and I was really excited to get this one as well. There is a note in the beginning that this book runs parallel to Dex and Fiona’s story from The Game Plan. I read that when it first came out and can only remember bits and pieces, so if you haven’t read it or it’s been a while, you’ll be able to read this and enjoy it fully.

Chess, full name Chester Copper, is definitely a prickly heroine. She and Finn meet at the calendar photo shoot. The guys show up and are behaving badly and she doesn’t take any of their bull. She is attracted to Finn and has a connection with him and is able to get him to calm down during the shoot.

Finn doesn’t find Chess immediately attractive and describes her as being severe. Of course his opinion of her changes and fairly quickly. Finn is living his best life as a star quarterback and doesn’t have a lot of romantic entanglements. He doesn’t want to fall for Chess, as he doesn’t fully believe in love. He’s jaded because of his prior experiences. But when he does fall for Chess, it’s pretty darn hard.

They end up in a close proximity situation. Chess needs a place to stay and of course Finn’s is the easiest place. They start out as friends but when Finn asks her to be his “lady-beard” for the holidays to show his family that he is okay and to get his mom to stop pressuring him, things heat up very quickly. I did enjoy the way Finn fell for Chess first. I always love that in my books.

“The door opens, and I stiffen. But it’s Chess. And it isn’t a fluke, the way my pulse kicks up whenever I see her. Because it does it again, and all my sense attune themselves to her as if she’s my True North.”

Overall this story is good. It was a little bit of a slow burn as sexy times happen a little later than one might find is typical. It is told from dual POV. Chess really holds out on her feelings for Finn. Chess had something happen in her past that she was using as her reason to not get too attached and I either missed it or it was never fully fleshed out. Looking back, I would have liked more to this to fully understand her better. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’m going to stay mum on the details.

The conflict was handled fairly well, and the resolution felt authentic. The HEA felt fitting. There is some overlap with characters from other books, so if you’ve read them you will enjoy the little glimpses at them.

Grade : B-

Author Site l Goodreads
Amazon l Nook