I was so looking forward to reading The Baller not only because of the smokin’ hot cover, but also the awesome blurb that totally hooked me in. Unfortunately, I didn’t love it the way I expected to. I usually adore sports romances, but The Baller missed the mark for me. The writing and characters were flat, and I had zero connection with any part of the book. I tried really hard to enjoy this, I really did, and I’m probably in the minority for this, but I was disappointed with The Baller.

Brody Easton is the quintessential star quarterback – he’s gorgeous, arrogant, and a total player on and off the field. Delilah Maddox, a sports journalist, needs to interview him, but right after she fires off one of her questions, he drops his towel right in front of her and screws up her whole interview. This part was probably one of the few in the book I enjoyed – Brody’s attempt to throw Delilah off is hilarious, but Delilah isn’t a girl easily intimidated. She can hold her own against Brody, and she continues to do so even when wants to pursue a relationship with her.

I’ve read one other book by Vi Keeland and really enjoyed it, so it’s hard for me to give The Baller a low rating. I honestly thought I would love it – I enjoyed Delilah and Brody’s amusing first interview, but everything after that fell completely flat. It felt like there was no depth to Brody’s character, and Delilah’s wasn’t much better. Brody is boring and tediously crude – all he talks to Delilah about is sex. They were two cliched new adult sports romance characters, and it didn’t feel like I really got to know them. Their romance also didn’t feel believable, at least on Brody’s part. Most of the chapters in his POV had NOTHING to do with Delilah, so I didn’t understand how or why he fell in love with her.

One thing that really bothered me about the book was the way the dialogue was written. As in, any time there was dialogue, there was ONLY dialogue, not even a ‘he/she said.’ The conversations between characters grew tiring to read, so I found myself skimming more of the book. And then, when Brody’s past reappears in the form of an ex-girlfriend, and that ex-gf ALSO gets chapters in her POV, I found myself not wanting to continue reading at all.

It’s more than likely that this is an ‘it’s me, not you’ kind of read. I’m sad I couldn’t like this more, especially since I had high expectations. If you’re a fan of sports romances, hopefully you’ll enjoy this one more than I did!

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