Time Of Possession

World-building is something that is discussed frequently among romance readers.  Yeah, we're in it for the romance, the characters, the happy ending - but a good book, a solid book, is going to transport us to another reality.  When the world-building is solid, more often than not it adds to the strength of the characterizations.

Where Jami Davenport has succeeded with her Seattle Lumberjacks (American football) series is with the world-building.  I've liked some of the romances better than others, but man - I get sucked into the world every single time.  The author does a good job with the "football stuff" without info-dumping a bunch of "inside baseball" jargon in the text.  My issues with sports romances and athlete main characters is typically when the sport, a very important aspect of that character's life, is either dismissed entirely (Why yes I am Super Hunky Quarterback but it's not like I need to watch film, practice, be at the training facility at all hours of the day - I have plenty of time to screw your brains out!) or is addressed and just flat-out wrong (research is thy friend).

Davenport has avoided these pitfalls.  Her heroes have jobs, so we see them working at it while trying to juggle the romance.  They talk like guys, act like guys, and the football stuff has a nice, authentic feel.  What I love about her football heroes is that they remind me of guys who could be playing in the league.  Brett Gunnels, hero in Time Of Possession is a career back-up quarterback, drafted dead last (Mr. Irrelevant), and is constantly downgraded because he's "too short."  He's like Frank Reich, Drew Brees, Tom Brady and every back-up who sat behind Brett Favre in Green Bay rolled into one.  And naturally he lands in the soup when the starting quarterback gets knocked out for the rest of the season and he finds himself getting distracted by the guy's very attractive, and already engaged, sister (our heroine).

I read this story for a First Look over at Hero & Heartbreakers - a post to make all you football geeks swoon.  On the Wendy Scale, I rated it a B-.  I loved Brett, I loved Estie, I loved their romance - heck I even loved all the pets they had running around in this story.  My only quibble was that the author may have bit off more conflict than the story could contain - namely Brett's past military service, which sometimes got lost in the shuffle.  Still, it was a very enjoyable read that once again sucked me back into Davenport's world.  If you like sports romances you really, really need to be reading this series.