"Not My Match" was a delightful slow burn, friends-to-lovers romance between physics grad student Giselle Riley and NFL wide receiver Devon Walsh. Despite being surrounded by people, Giselle and Devon both seemed lonely when the story began, and I think that was a big part of why they were so drawn to each other. Giselle was in a particularly tough spot, wracked with guilt over betraying her sister Elena (the female lead of book #1) with her ex, Preston, and essentially homeless after a fire drove her out of her apartment. All she wanted was to get her life back on track, but it seemed like she couldn't catch a break.
There was an obvious spark between Devon and Giselle from the start, but Devon kept pushing Giselle away and trying to keep her in the friend zone. Not only was he struggling with past abandonment issues, his best friend Jack (the male lead of book #1) had made
Giselle off-limits in an effort to protect her from the guys on his team. Giselle had a lot of bad experiences with men, so I understood where Jack was coming from, but Devon was a good guy and didn't seem to be nearly as much of a player as his reputation suggested. He took care of his family and went out of his way to look after Giselle while Jack and Elena were away on their honeymoon, even though that made it more
difficult for him to fight his feelings for her.
Giselle was kind of the "bad guy" in the previous book of the series, but surprisingly, I really liked
her after I got to know her better. Given more context and an understanding of her side of the story, Giselle seemed to have been a victim of Preston's manipulations just
as much as her sister Elena was. That's not to say that everything Giselle did was right, but she was truly remorseful and genuine in her desire to repair her relationship with Elena.
There were a number of emotional moments in this story, but plenty of funny scenes as well. Much of the humor was thanks to the book's charming secondary characters, including Giselle's pot-smoking landlady Myrtle, the students from her Intro to Physics class, Corey and Addison, and Elena's best friend Topher (who also appeared in book #1). My favorite, however, was Elena and Giselle's mama Cynthia, whose passive aggressive prayers at Sunday lunch made me laugh out loud. Finally, I enjoyed Devon and Jack's teammate Aiden and hope that he will get a story of his own in the future.
There were a number of emotional moments in this story, but plenty of funny scenes as well. Much of the humor was thanks to the book's charming secondary characters, including Giselle's pot-smoking landlady Myrtle, the students from her Intro to Physics class, Corey and Addison, and Elena's best friend Topher (who also appeared in book #1). My favorite, however, was Elena and Giselle's mama Cynthia, whose passive aggressive prayers at Sunday lunch made me laugh out loud. Finally, I enjoyed Devon and Jack's teammate Aiden and hope that he will get a story of his own in the future.
Overall,
I loved this heartwarming, funny, sweet yet steamy story and highly
recommend it for all contemporary romance readers. I look forward to whatever Madden-Mills writes next.
*Review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.
About "Not My Match"
Not My Match, an all-new sports romance full of smoking hot chemistry from Wall Street Journal bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills, is available now!
Wall Street Journal bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills delivers a smart and sexy romance about a professional football hottie and the girl he’s sworn to never touch.
Homeless and heartbreakingly innocent, Giselle Riley walks into my penthouse and chaos follows.
I shouldn’t have invited the girl genius to live with me, but it’s clear she needs my help—not only for a place to lay her pretty blonde head but in finding real love, which she’s not going to get with the crazy men she picks up online.
Too bad she’s a twenty-four-year-old virgin and I’m a bad boy wide receiver. She’s off limits for a hardcore player like me—and we’re just friends.
Instead, I’m her matchmaking service, no matter how jealous it makes me when I tag along on her dates.
I can keep my self-control. Right? No way will I give in to everything inside me that dreams of a girl like her in my world.
I may be the best wide receiver in the country, but how could I hold on to a girl like her?
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