BOOKWORM REVIEW: Blind Side by Kandi Steiner

October 12, 2022

BOOKWORM REVIEW: Blind Side by Kandi Steiner

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
SPICE: 🔥🔥🔥.5

This book is more than just about fake dating. More than just a virgin and a big man on campus. Giana and Clay's story draws you in with their individual charm and keeps you turning the pages with their chemistry and resilience.

Clay is nursing a broken heart. His long-time girlfriend just broke up with him after she transferred to his university. Now North Boston University's top safety must learn to deal, especially when his ex is on the sidelines, cheering for his team every week. When his sour disposition lands him in hot water with NBU media specialist Giana, they eventually find that a fake relationship might benefit them mutually and help them get what they have been coveting.

Giana had always felt small and invisible. The seemingly underachieving middle child in a sea of overachievers, she highly doubts that her musician crush will ever notice her. When Clay offers her a pretend relationship with him to capture her crush's attention, she finds herself agreeing to the offer.

Can these two get what they want without blurring the thin line between fake and real?

I love these two so much. Even with their tiff at the beginning of the book, their connection with each other caught my attention. Kandi Steiner is a master of subtle details that draw emotions from her readers, and she was on par with getting us to slowly fall in love with Giana and Clay.

I adore Giana. She is just so pure, and I feel like she must be protected at all costs. And Clay is the cinnamon roll hero fit for that job. He is charismatic and thoughtful, a man who puts everyone else before him. While he may be a gentleman on the streets, he is most certainly a dirty talker in the sheets, and I love every bit of it. Giana got it right: he is a great book boyfriend.

What stopped this book from being a full five for me is the abrupt ending. I wanted to get a similar closure between Clay and his ex as we did with Giana and her crush. It is still a solid read that had me cheering for these two lovebirds wholeheartedly.

This book can be read as a standalone, but it does have characters from Steiner's previous book Fair Catch. Riley and Zeke are as adorable as ever, and it was great to read about them again. I cannot wait for Holden's book. It looks like he may not be married to football alone for long.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The hottest college football safety in the nation just asked me to be his fake girlfriend.

And I just asked him to take my virginity.

Clay Johnson has the abs of Adonis and the deadly smirk of the devil, himself. There’s hardly a day he’s not headline material during football season, and never a day he isn’t a bullseye target for every girl on campus.

He used to be the easiest of all the players for me to wrangle as the Public Relations Coordinator, but after a nasty breakup with his high school sweetheart, he’s a mess.

And a complete pain in my ass.

We meet to discuss his behavior and review media relations standards. But when he witnesses how I fall to pieces in front of my guitar-toting crush, his wheels start turning. And he cooks up this absurd plan.

He helps me get noticed.
I help him make his ex jealous.
All by pretending to be in a relationship.

What he doesn’t realize is that this bookworm is a virgin, and far from versed in seducing a musician. So, to sweeten the deal, I convince him to help me — not just to get my crush’s attention, but to knock his socks off once I have it.

But the more I come unraveled at the hands of Clay Johnson, the more trouble I have discerning what’s fake and what’s undoubtedly real — particularly, the way my heart flutters every time that breathtaking man touches me.

We set the rules. We put the safeguards in place.

But they say rules are meant to be broken.
They probably should have added that hearts are, too.

Get Your Copy → https://amzn.to/3CrBccv

Add to Goodreads → https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60633773-blind-side

MEET KANDI STEINER

Kandi Steiner is an Amazon Top 5 bestselling author and whiskey connoisseur living in Tampa, FL. Best known for writing "emotional rollercoaster" stories, she loves bringing flawed characters to life and writing about real, raw romance -- in all its forms. No two Kandi Steiner books are the same, and if you're a lover of angsty, emotional, and inspirational reads, she's your gal.

An alumna of the University of Central Florida, Kandi graduated with a double major in Creative Writing and Advertising/PR with a minor in Women's Studies. She started writing back in the 4th grade after reading the first Harry Potter installment. In 6th grade, she wrote and edited her own newspaper and distributed to her classmates. Eventually, the principal caught on and the newspaper was quickly halted, though Kandi tried fighting for her "freedom of press."

She took particular interest in writing romance after college, as she has always been a die hard hopeless romantic, and likes to highlight all the challenges of love as well as the triumphs.

When Kandi isn't writing, you can find her reading books of all kinds, planning her next adventure, or pole dancing (yes, you read that right). She enjoys live music, traveling, playing with her fur babies and soaking up the sweetness of life.

Kandi Steiner may be coming to a city near you! Check out her "events" tab to see all the signings she's attending in the near future: www.kandisteiner.com/events