{ARC Review} On the Line by Liz Lincoln

** I received an advance review copy in exchange for an honest review, however it does not influence my review, nor was I monetarily compensated **

Title: On the Line
Series: Milwaukee Dragons #1
Author: Liz Lincoln
Release Date: April 17, 2018
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Sports Romance

Is this man: A) a super-hot NFL player, B) the guy you’re sexting, or C) your new boss?

If you’re Carrie Herron, the answer is all of the above. First Carrie starts exchanging steamy text messages with the sexy single dad she meets in line at the grocery store. Then she lands a job—and a bedroom—as the live-in nanny for the daughter of the Milwaukee Dragons’ newest star. But when Carrie shows up for work and realizes that they’re actually the same guy, she has no choice but to try to keep things professional. After all, Seth Chamberlain is her boss now. Her chiseled, charismatic, oh-so-tempting boss. . . .

After getting traded from Houston to Milwaukee, Seth’s having a tough time keeping his head in the game, let alone setting up his daughter in a brand-new city. So if the only nanny his daughter will tolerate while he’s on the road is the gorgeous, cosplay-loving redhead he’s had his eye on, well, so be it. Surely he can resist Carrie until football season is over. But with her knowing glances and kissable lips driving him wild, Seth must decide whether he’s ready to put everything on the line.

What we liked

♥ The flirtationship between the MC's. It was funny and cute.

♥ Even though we don't understand football (and by default, football jokes), we did enjoy some of the football banter between the guys.

♥ Awkward guy-you're-sexting-turns-out-to-be-your-potential-employer trope

♥ The h, who is the new nanny, and the H's daughter share an interest in comic books. We love that she was reading Ms. Marvel.

♥ Comic convention and cosplaying

♥ Every time the H called the h "Darlin" in his southern accent. *Swoon*

♥ The teasing and close calls before finally some sexy times just past the halfway point in the book. We love that slow-burn.

♥ Collarbone kisses. We're suckers for those.

♥ The way the h learned/explained about football helped us understand football a bit without confusing us. Thanks, girl.

♥ The fact that it was more heavily centered around family than football, and the romance didn't overshadow it either.

♥ It accurately depicted the struggles of uprooting your life (family, friends, job) to a different state and starting new and over.

What we didn't

• The whole attraction/libido spike while in the grocery store scene, discussing menstruation and maxi pads did not flow well (no pun intended).
• Whenever line of thinking went something like "he smells male" (yes, that is an actual line in the book) . . .Umm, what? What does that even mean? How does "male" even smell like? Sweat? Cologne? Sandalwood? Couldn't you just say some sort of manly scent instead?
• A bunch of "beautiful women" caught the H's eye but looked away quickly because he was "only interested in a woman he couldn't have but can't stop thinking about" aka the h. Then the one time he brings the h to the club with him and his buddies, and all of a sudden he "couldn't help stare" at the leggy woman talking to his teammate?? Oh, but it's okay because the H takes the h home and they have sex for the first time.

The guys

Seth // Professional football player and devoted dad. Kind of resembles Thor, but he favors Iron Man. Uses football metaphors to gravel and win Carrie (the h) back.

Marcus // The tall, dark, and handsome football player on Seth's team. He seems cool and enjoys ruffling Seth's feathers, which brought us laughs.

Lem // Another one of Seth's teammates and old college buddy. He's a good friend, teammate and husband of Sarah.

The gals

Carrie // Science and comic book nerd, who cosplays. She's a teacher who works/gets along well with kids. She's also the hot new nanny to Seth's daughter.

Maddie // She's Seth's 12 year old daughter. She's into comics, cosplaying and has a Funko Pop! collection. A pretty cool and smart preteen, and is accurately portrayed as a typical 12 year old. We remember those times. Wish we had a cool Funk Pop! collection, though.

Sarah // Wife of Lem, Seth's teammate and old college buddy. She's kind of a supermom, watching her kids and helps Seth's daughter. 

Jessa // Holy hell, she wasn't even present in the book (nor in Maddie or Seth's lives for that matter), but she was terrible. How could anyone treat their daughter the way Jessa did?

Lust factor

3.5 flames