Getting tangled up in a scandal when the season had just begun wasn't a good look for Jax. This caused him to work on his PR to smooth things over, which in turn gave him the push to start working on a project that he had been thinking of setting up for a while now—a camp for disabled kids who were interested in sports, which is how he gets in touch with Lucy, asking her to help him with the project. Even though it wasn't his fault, he held a lot of guilt over what happened to Tyler, his best friend, that ended his NFL dreams. He was also dealing with a lot of doubts and conflicts regarding his future in the NFL and what he wanted to do going forward. But in spite of it all, he was sure about one thing, and that was Lucy.

Lucy just got out of a relationship that she was in for all the wrong reasons, and she feels the guilt and the judgment from her family for it. She had dreams of moving away from her town, but given how her brother's situation had impacted her family, she hadn't had the chance to do so. Now she wants to work hard and save up so she can leave her town to explore what's out there. I liked how dedicated she was to her career and how much time and effort she put into helping every single patient.

Lucy had despised Jax, who was her brother's best friend, ever since a tragic accident ruined her brother's chances of getting into the NFL, and thereby permanently affecting her entire family. But when they confront each other, Lucy realizes that there might have been more to the story that she wasn't aware of, and once things get cleared up, the two slowly start forming a friendship.

As the two spend time together, they realize how easy it is to be with each other, and when they aren't at odds with one another, they actually feel an attraction. However, with Lucy being his best friend's little sister, he tries his best not to go there, but as their bond and feelings for each other grow, Lucy is the one he sees his future with, and he doesn't want to give up on that without trying.

There was a lot going on with both of them, like Jax's PR situation, the chaos with his father, his injury, and doubts about his future, and with Lucy about how her family would react to them being together, especially her brother, and what the future would look like for them being from two different worlds, and how they'd make it work. But Jax was persistent even when Lucy was doubtful about their relationship, and he got her to eventually trust him and take that leap of faith to try.

There was a lot of character development in both their cases, and this relationship really made them reflect on what they wanted from life and where they saw their future taking them. These were questions that they had both been pondering over for quite some time, but developing feelings for each other is what put things into perspective for both of them to understand where they would go as a couple but also what their individual journey would be like.

This book was a closed-door romance, but the tension building between Jax and Lucy leading up to that point was definitely exciting to read.

I really loved Jax's family and how close and supportive they were throughout the book. They got together when Jax was going through a rough time and helped him get through it and made him see reason when he wasn't able to. I also loved how they all readily accepted Lucy and made her feel like a part of their family. They also collectively sided and supported her plans to help Jax out when he was way in over his head about the whole situation with his team.

I do have some questions that were left unanswered about their father and the revelation that came to light, which wasn't entirely gotten into, but given how the book ended, it makes me feel like we'll be revisiting that and getting into it in the future books. Maybe.

Thank you to Samantha Chase and Valentine PR for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.