ARC Review: Game On by Collette West

Game On is the third book by Collette West about the guys of the New York Kings baseball team. Each of these books are standalone and can be read by themselves, though the characters are connected and some of the backstory will be missed by reading individually. I hadn't read any of the books in the series before Game On, but I didn't have any problems understanding what was going on. While I didn't have any problems with that, I did have some issues with the characters and the story itself.

Bruce "Jilly" Gillette has always been a loner. He is a successful pitcher for the New York Kings, but prefers to keep to himself rather than deal with the publicity and fame that being a pitcher has brought him. After the team decides that his image needs a revamp after his latest heartbreak, they set him up with a winner from a dream date contest. The winner turns out to be none other than his former high school friend and crush Hailey Halpert. Hailey and Jilly rekindle their friendship and decide to give dating a try. But Hailey has a secret that could ruin everything if found out.

Jilly was so sweet. He was a really great guy, and I loved that he was a bit awkward. He wasn't the best with girls or how to talk to them, and I found his character endearing. I loved that he really put his heart on the line with Hailey, even if he didn't spell it out completely. He was really trying, even if he didn't go about it the best way. Hailey on the other hand annoyed me at times. I never really connected with her character and I just didn't understand a lot of her actions. I felt like she should have been able to be more honest with Jilly and didn't get why she hid so much from him. These two had history and a great friendship, and they clearly had a lot of chemistry as well. But their communication was a huge issue, and it never got better. I understand that a lot of that was part of the plot, but honestly after several times of miscommunication or the characters just flat out not talking I was over it.

Besides the constant communication problems, I also felt as though this book was choppy and disjointed. It would often times seem to skip around a bit and I thought that it could have used smoother transitions. Several times it would go from the characters being really upset with one another to flirty and fun, and then right back. It just didn't flow well, and was kind of hard to stick with at times. I also thought that the story felt rushed while also feeling really slow. It is hard to put into words, but Jilly and Hailey reconnected and next thing you know after four years of not even talking to one another they are a couple. But then their actual relationship progressed so slowly that they weren't really together until the last couple chapters of the book. It was just kind of confusing and hard to ever really get into this story. I am curious to go back and read the previous two books, but I think for the most part this one just had a few too many things that didn't work for me. If you have read the previous books though, I think you will definitely want to read this one especially because Jilly was really great.

**ARC Provided by Tasty Book Tours**

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