Review: Homecoming King by Penny Reid

Homecoming King by Penny Reid

Series: Three Kings #1

Genre: Contemporary Romantic Comedy

Release Date: December 14, 2021

Rex “TW” McMurtry’s perpetual single-hood wouldn’t bother him so much if all his ex-girlfriends didn’t keep marrying the very next person they dated, especially when so many of those grooms are his closest friends. He may be a pro-football defensive end for the Chicago Squalls, but the press only wants to talk about how he’s always a groomsman and never a groom. Rex is sick of being the guy before the husband, and he’s most definitely sick of being the best man at all their weddings.

Bartender Abigail McNerny is the gal-pal, the wing-woman, the she-BFF. She’s dated. Once. And once was more than enough. Privy to all the sad stories of her customers, ‘contentment over commitment’ is her motto, and Abby is convinced no one on earth could ever entice her into a romantic relationship . . . except that one guy she’s loved since preschool.

The guy who just walked into her bar.

The guy who doesn’t recognize her.

The guy who is drunk and needs a ride home.

The guy who has a proposition she should definitely refuse.

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Review

Too good to be true. The perfect fake dating, slow-burn romance!

I’ve been in a weird reading mood lately, and this book was EVERYTHING I needed to get out of it. You know when you love a book so much, that all you want to do is gush about it? That’s all I want to do about Homecoming King. It’s hard to write a coherent review, but I’ll try.

Abby works as a bartender in a bar, she had a very tough experience with love, and she hasn’t dated in a very long time (and doesn’t want to date). She’s very independent, guarded, so brave, and vulnerable at times, and she has a great sense of humor. I laughed a lot at the way she defused certain situations. Hilarious! She had a crush on Rex from preschool to high school, but she was too shy to act on it. She hasn’t seen Rex in years, well, except on TV when she watches his team’s games. Until one day, out of the blue, Rex walks into her bar…

Rex is a grumpy, gentle giant and a famous football player. Brooding all the time, sexy as hell and so freaking cute! His vulnerability and kindness were so sweet. He’s struggling with the sports news about him because it’s never about the sport and always about how the women he dated ended up marrying the next guy (the real reason why he’s struggling with this is the sweetest thing EVER!). Considering the synopsis, I was a little worried that Rex would end up being a womanizer, or something along those lines, but he’s definitely NOT. I loved him!

These two together were fantastic, their banter, their chemistry, their character growth… amazing. I couldn’t put my Kindle down! They were so cute together! The way Rex slowly opened up to Abby and how Abby started to trust Rex was PERFECTION. There were a lot of hilarious moments, but there were a lot of emotional ones too. Rex and Abby’s backstories were done exceptionally. The writing was great and the story flowed perfectly. The slow burn almost killed me, the steamy scenes were incredible. My Kindle almost burst into flames! These two together were delightful.

I loved this one so much, I feel like I’m not making it justice. You need to READ it if you’re looking for a beautifully written, slow-burn, fake-dating to fake-marriage romance with great humor, insane chemistry, wonderful characters and so many swoony moments. For sure, one of my top romance books of 2021! Highly recommend it! I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.

Rating

                                   

Author

Penny Reid is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Best Selling Author of the Winston Brothers, Knitting in the City, Rugby, and Hypothesis series. She used to spend her days writing federal grant proposals as a biomedical researcher, but now she just writes books. She’s also a full time mom to three diminutive adults, wife, daughter, knitter, crocheter, sewer, general crafter, and thought ninja.

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