The Right Swipe/ Alisha Rai/ 386 pgs

This is the start of a new series for Rai, though I discovered it's tangentially related to her first series. It can be read as a standalone. Rhiannon Hunter is the creator of a successful dating app who is looking to buy a more traditional online dating company. Rhi has trust issues because she used to work for a different dating app company and became involved with the CEO of that company. When things went sour in their relationship, the CEO spread nasty rumors about Rhi and she was forced to leave the company. Samson Lima is a former pro football player who left the game abruptly due to the NFL's injury and concussion policies (fiction predicting the future with Andrew Luck's retirement?). Samson is the new spokesman for the company Rhi wants to buy and just happens to be related to the owner. You can see where this is going and it's a great ride. Samson is one of those gentle giants, very sweet, very loyal, very patient. Rhi is tough on the outside (because she has to be) and super smart. A wonderful romance and a great start to a new series!

This Heart of Mine/ Susan Elizabeth Phillips/ 370 pgs

This is in the same series as Phillips' Nobody's Baby But Mine and in fact it has almost the exact same premise as that book. Despite that, I really loved it. I thought it was funny (at times LOL funny) and I was rooting for these characters to find the love they deserved. Kevin is the quarterback for the Chicago Stars and he's got a reputation as a player. Molly is the sister of the Stars owner. She's a children's book writer but has a troublesome little reckless streak running through her. She also has a crush on Kevin. When they end up at a family cabin on the same night, an "incident" occurs. Molly ends up pregnant. Kevin, fearing he'll be traded but also a good guy at heart, marries her. There is a ton of stuff going on in the book but it's all just absolutely wonderful. If you haven't already, I urge you to read it!

Wild Cards / Simone Elkeles / 344 pgs.

"Told from two viewpoints, Derek Fitzpatrick, kicked out of boarding school, must move with his stepmother to her childhood home in Illinois, where he meets Ashtyn Parker, who may be able to achieve her dream of a football scholarship with bad boy Derek's help."

Its nice to read a story about a girl football player who is strong, but the story is realistic enough to show that she is not the "star" player and does not have some inhuman super powers that makes her the best player.  The tension and comments back and forth between Derek and Ashtyn provide some humorous moments.  The harassment and teasing that Ashtyn faces for being the only female football player is cringe-worthy, and only makes the reader want to cheer for her more.  Recommended for High Schoolers.

All American: two young men, the 2001 Army-Navy game and the war they fought in Iraq / Steve Eubanks / 276 pgs

All American follows the lives of two military academy graduates, Chad Jenkins (West Point) and Brian Stann (Naval Academy) and their role in the famous 2001 Army v. Navy game when Army beat Navy 26-17.  Reading the stories of what these teams saw and felt during the football season after September 11th is enough to give anyone goosebumps.  The book is not just about football (in fact, only a short part of it is) but about what these men experienced once they graduated and delved immediately into two wars.  It goes through each of their careers with one immediately going into combat and the other one being held back due to some accusations brought against him by a female officer.  You learn what officers go through in combat and training missions, multiple deployments, and what they experience after they get out of the military with one becoming a famous MMA fighter and fighting in the UFC.  Highly recommend this book.

This Heart of Mine / Susan Elizabeth Phillips 370 p.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips continues the Chicago Stars series with the story of Molly Sommerville, sister to Phoebe, owner of the Chicago Stars (It Had to Be You). Author and illustrator of the Daphne the Bunny books, Molly nurses unrequited love for Kevin Tucker, Chicago Stars daredevil handsome quarterback. When she gets restless, her hair suffers. Her sister fears what Molly will do now. In the past she's pulled fire alarms, gave away $15 million, and now staying under the same roof as Kevin, who knows what will happen in this contemporary romance. Add a birth mother searching for her son, an aging campground cum B&B, and characters like Benny the Badger and Celia the Hen and Phillips melds laughs with romance.