Changing the Game (A Play-by-Play Novel Book 2)

Before you get started, you will need to be prepared. I advise the following. A glass of wine, a cold shower and a man on stand-by.

Sex. Sex, sex, sex. Sex.

Ok, now that I got that out of my system... Where should I start?

I have to admit, I wasn't crazy about the idea of Elizabeth being the heroine in this book. I hated her in The Perfect Play and I would have been okay with never seeing her in another book again. So, while I was excited about Jaci Burton's next book in the Play by Play series, I was skeptical about Elizabeth.

Well, from the very first chapter, I got a completely different impression of her. She seemed truly remorseful for what she did to Mick and Tara. Her shields dropped for brief moments and her hard exterior began to chip away. Through the course of the novel, the reader sees Elizabeth transform from a cold, calculating business woman to a caring, compassionate and emotional lover. But despite her allowing Gavin to reveal the most intimate and personal side of her, she still has reservations about her relationship with Gavin.

Of course, Gavin made his brief debut in the first book and I knew instantly that I was going to love him. I'm a baseball fan by nature and I was so excited to see a smoking hot baseball player as the hero in a steamy romance novel, especially since Hunter Pence came to the Phillies. But I digress. Gavin is smoking hot, passionate and insatiable. He knows what he wants and what he wants is Liz. And despite her facade, he can tell that she wants him, too. Once he gets her where he wants her, it doesn't take long to move things along.

Keeping her feelings bottled up creates more problems for Liz than she expects. Gavin's brother is still pissed at her and is convinced that she's out to do the same thing to Gavin. His constant badgering is leaving Gavin with doubts and without her honesty about her feelings, Liz doesn't give him much to contradict Mick.

This book starts out as hot as the last one left off, but Jaci Burton manages to weave a story full of emotion and drama throughout. The characters leap off the pages and come to life as they struggle with the same issues many people have first hand experience with. The passion between Gavin and Liz ignite this story and made me fall in love with both of them. Even after the climax (of the STORY!!!), when all of the issues came out and everything was laid out, I couldn't be mad at the characters. It was well written and I just had to keep rooting for them.

I really enjoyed this book! I loved watching Liz lose herself in Gavin and when she realizes that she is failing in keeping their sexual relationship strictly “no strings” her heart betrayed her by falling deeper in love with him.

I love Liz’s character. She has to be tough as nails to be successful in “the all-boys club.” Liz made some mistakes in the last book and she’s been paying for them ever since. No matter what she does, it never good enough for Mitch, Gavin’s older brother and the slighted party in Liz’s huge blunder.

Luckily Gavin is more forgiving and seems to be falling for Liz; completely oblivious to the fact Liz has loved him for years. I love how he supported her and stood up to his family, but he just never seemed to be able to defend her to Mitch. Gavin made a huge d-bag move, but completely made it up to Liz at the end of the book and I’m happy to report; they got their happily ever after.

I love sport romances and I am especially enjoying Jaci Burton's Play by Play series. Book 1 was great, book 2 is even better! Gavin and Elizabeth are off the charts smoking hot. I did not like Elizabeth in book 1, but after getting to know her character on a deeper level, I couldn't help but love her. The chemistry and rapport between Gavin and his "Lizzie" was just - wow.

His family loves her, except for Mick who is still pissed at her, but Gavin has trouble labeling what he feels for her. This is one of those stories that I will read again! I actually listened to it on Audible this first time, but plan to buy the paper edition, it was that good.

I look forward to reading the rest of this series and meeting more of the Riley family.

This book focuses on the relationship between sports agent Elizabeth Darnell and MBL player Gavin Riley. Elizabeth wronged Gavin's brother Mick in the first book, The Perfect Play which resulted in Elizabeth being fired by Mick. This book opens with Elizabeth avoiding Gavin because she's afraid he's going to follow in big brothers footsteps and fire her too. When Gavin finally corners Liz, sparks ignite. (unknown to Gavin, Liz has been in love with him for years) In this book we see a whole new side to Liz and as their relationship unfolds, the reader is treated to some VERY hot sex scenes.

Jaci is a master of romance. They Play by Play series is one of my favorite. I've read the first three books in this series and Changing the Game is my favorite. There are 6 more books to come in this series and I can't wait!

This is the story of professional baseball player Gavin Riley and his Sports agent Liz Darnell. Liz has loved Gavin for years and when offer to stay with Gavin the post-season she gives in. Liz was fired by Gavi's brother so the conflict plus there personal baggage leads to some interesting twist. This author writes very adult romances so be prepared lost of steamy scenes. Already download in her newest book Taking a Shot (A Play-by-Play Novel) and already pre-ordered Playing to Win (A Play-by-Play Novel) due out September 4, 2012.

If you enjoy this genre I would also suggest; Time Out (Harlequin Blaze),Chasin' Eight: Rough Riders, Book 11 and Squeeze Play (Richmond Rogues, Book 1).

Ruthless sports agent Elizabeth Darnell lost a major client Mick Riley (see The Perfect Play) that potentially could mean other players would leave her agency too. Determined to keep her stable intact, Elizabeth goes all out to insure no one else dumps her. This includes the man she secretly loved for several years Mick's younger brother, Gavin. Love means little to her as she and her parents love each other but they remain estranged from her and she refuses to do anything about it.

However, she breaks her rule of never getting personally involved with one of her clients. She and Gavin share a heated night that has both wanting more. However, each wonders if sex in the bedroom will impact their professional relationship especially when neither is fully satiated as Gavin begins to realize he loves his agent.

The latest Play by Play sports romance is a fun contemporary (see The Perfect Play) as the Riley brothers relate to the agent differently. The three prime players are developed but the Changing the Game personal relationship between Elizabeth and Gavin never feels as if it fully evolved outside the boudoir. Still readers will enjoy the heated romance between the agent and her client.

Harriet Klausner

Liz & Gavins story fits them. Their characters are written well. Pretty good story. But soooo much sex??? No, that doesnt have to be a bad thing....But the two of them only knew about 4 words.......Really? The sex talk was enough to make me want to scream! Dont you know any other words???? The writing, very good. The story, very good. The characters, terrific. Consistent. Well done. But there is a l o t of sex. And you will skim thru a lot of it. If it was a stand alone, I would give it a 3. But since the first book was really good. The characters stayed true to the series. I bumped it up a bit.

I love this series. I find it amusing though that the author wouldn't just use the real names of the sports teams in St Louis. Maybe because I live just out of St Louis and root for those teams I find it strange. StL Rivers? StL Ice? eh. Ok, but with such a prominent roll that StL plays in the story, why not use the real names? The book was addictive. I didn't want to set it down. I love that the characters continue throughout the series. Gavin is by far my favorite character so far. And I like his mom! :)

Good romance story and the erotica not too bad compared to others in this series - one can skip over those parts if they offend as it is a good sports related story. This one about a baseball player with his pro football brother in the background.

I love this series. I find it amusing though that the author wouldn't just use the real names of the sports teams in St Louis. Maybe because I live just out of St Louis and root for those teams I find it strange. StL Rivers? StL Ice? eh. Ok, but with such a prominent roll that StL plays in the story, why not use the real names? The book was addictive. I didn't want to set it down. I love that the characters continue throughout the series. Gavin is by far my favorite character so far. And I like his mom! :)

Good romance story and the erotica not too bad compared to others in this series - one can skip over those parts if they offend as it is a good sports related story. This one about a baseball player with his pro football brother in the background.

Elizabeth Darnell is one of the best sport agents in the business. She knows how to get the best deals for her clients and how to get them the best PR so that they can get even better deals in their respective sports. What she has never done is get the best for herself in her personal life. She has been in love with her client Gavin Riley for years and she has done everything to make sure he has never known that.

Gavin Riley is a baseball player that because of Elizabeth and her genius PR ability has become very popular as a baseball star. Elizabeth and Gavin share a kiss that has changed the whole dynamics of their relationship. Now Gavin is looking at Elizabeth in a whole new light and enjoying what he is seeing. He always knew she was sexy but he never let it affect him before now. Gavin is seeing a completely different side of Elizabeth, one he never saw before. He is also enjoying the challenge she is presenting him with.

Gavin and Elizabeth are playing a game and if they are not careful they might both lose this one. The attraction between them now that it has been let lose is heating up very quickly and if they are not careful they will both get burned. The new relationship they are suddenly finding themselves in is not going to be easy as there are those that would rather see them fail than for Gavin and Elizabeth to find the happiness they just might have a chance at. Only time is going to tell if they are going to win this game they have found themselves in or if they will face the ultimate loss. If they are not careful their professional relationship will end up blowing up in their faces.

This is another excellent story by this author. The story line is fresh and the story comes alive as each page is turned. The characters are well written and human with all the fallacies that normal people face in real life. Reading as the characters navigate the relationship that they find themselves in is amazing and will keep the reader drawn into the story until the very end. This is part of a series but can be read as a stand alone though the reader would get more of out the story by reading the first one first. This just wets the appetite of the reader so that they will be clamoring for the next one in this series. This is worth picking up and reading.

Right off I love the connection between Elizabeth and Gavin. I knew it was gonna be a great read and great sex from their first encounter. Was not disappointed and anyone who likes a good story with some really really hot kinky sex, read this series!!!

Overall I have really enjoyed the first three books in the series but this one is definitely my least fave. Never thought I`d say this but I thought there was to much focus on sex and not enough on the progression of the relationship. Also got irritated by some inconsistencies. For instance, are Liz`s eyes green or blue? Every time the author mentions them, they change color. Perhaps this is nitpicky but it tells me no one took much time to proof the book.

I would have like more story an less sex....After a while it just turns you off.....I got tired of the over sexual words and not pages of how turned on sexual they were...I wanted a good story...Not what they were doing in the car, floor, walls...Sorry but it just really got where I was turning the pages to try and move on to the story...

I loved the hot & steamy scenes. I loved Liz & Gavin as a couple. The dialogue in the story made me laugh. I felt sorry for Liz. I loved the baseball theme of story. I loved the ending. This series is really good. Great job Ms Burton.