Review: Challenging the Center by Jeanette Murray

Blurb

From the author of Completing the Pass… 

Michael Lambert is known as the calming influence on the Bobcats team. Baby Bobcat behaving badly? Call in Michael, and watch him work his magic. So it’s no surprise when his agent calls to ask him to watch out for an athlete. The real surprise is…it’s not a teammate. It’s a woman. 

Katrina Kelly has seen some success on the tennis circuit, but she’s hit an all time low, thanks to a sex tape released by her ex. She’s become persona non grata on the tour, and between injuries and sponsors dropping her, she’s hit the rock bottom, both professionally and personally. But seriously, sending her to be mentored by a football player? This is not going to end well… 

As Michael gets to know Kat, he realizes her sex tape doesn’t come close to defining who she is, and that she’s scared to death of losing her career. Kat sees past the stiff exterior Michael puts on and begins to enjoy the man he is outside of the favor he’s performing. But when their fledgling relationship is tested, will they turn to each other for help, or break apart under the challenge? 

Kindle Edition, 243 pages

Expected publication: August 9th 2016

Review 

Welcome back to Santa Fe home of the

Bobcats! Challenging the Center is the sixth book in this football series and honestly I just can't get enough of the men that make up this team. Not only are they hot but are generally really great guys who fall hard when they finally found their perfect match. 

Micheal is the teams mentor for helping out the baby bobcats. Keeping these young men in line off the field isn't hard to do but when his agent asks him for a favor he reluctantly agrees. Micheal is expecting a teenager with an attitude a mile long but surprise his new job is to keep up and coming tennis star Kat out of the spotlight but this job is harder then he thought it would be. 

Kat has been the spotlight and after her sex tape went live she is asked to lay low for a while. She is sent to Santa Fe to be mentored but she doesn't feel like she needs it. So what if she likes to have fun? Their isn't anything wrong with it but the attention is making her not only loose her sponsors but making her look like the wild child she actually isn't. Giving Michael a hard time is on her list of things to do but when the attraction between them starts to heat up will she finally get it together or will she take him down with her? 

The first thing that really jumped out at me from the beginning was the fact that this book is about two athletes with different careers who are in the spotlight. I thought this was a nice touch because they can relate to one another on that level and Michael and Kat really bonded over that which was great. 

My first impression of Kat was that for a woman in her mid twenties she acted like a lost teenager from the beginning. As the story started to progress she changed a bit and I started to enjoy her character a lot more. I like how she explained why she was the way she was and the whole difference in their professions. I learned a lot more about tennis and how it worked which was different for me since I never had a interest in the sport before. 

Micheal was a dream and an all around good guy. Even though Kat tended to give him a hard time he still wanted to look out for her and help her out. Right away I could see the attraction these two had and finally when they had their first kiss the sparks between them just flew. I really enjoyed how they came together and while their was a bit of conflict it wasn't like let's break up and get back together stuff. Nope they stuck it out and stood by one another as a team which was really awesome. 

In true Murray fashion there were plenty of sexy scenes that were just hot!! This wasn't the focus of the book but it did help me see how much this couple not only cared about one another but actually burned for one another. 

Challenging the Center is truly a great installment to the Bobcats series and you won't want to miss it. Not only are you reading about a new couple falling in love but the many appearances by previous characters and what is going on with them. Their a few surprises. *winks* 

I'm looking forward to continuing this series and seeing who will be the next Bobcat to fall in love. Pre- Order Challenging the Center today!