The Ex Effect by Karla Sorensen

The headline could write itself:

Matthew Hawkins, star defensive end, comes out of retirement to play for the Washington Wolves. 

Which is perfectly fine by Ava Baker—it makes her job as publicist for the team easier. 

There’s only two problems. This particular football player was her first crush. 

The bigger problem: Matthew Hawkins was once engaged to her older sister. 

It’s been ten years since Ava has seen Matthew. He’s bigger, better looking, and best of all—completely single. Despite his history with her sister, the attraction between Ava and Matthew isn’t so one-sided anymore. 

It’s hot enough to burn down the entire city of Seattle. 

But this headline is far more complicated to write. And not just for the press or what it means for her family— because once her heart is involved, there’s no predicting the ending.

Well, let’s see ... I’m a wife and a mother. If the things that I write bring a smile to someone's face, then I've done my job. I am obsessed with Outlander (both the books and the show). I’m almost exclusively a romance reader, which means some people will never consider me a literary snob. If I could meet one historical figure, it would be Jane Austen. I received my Bachelors in Public Relations and worked in health care marketing before I had my babies. I hate Twitter. I do it, but I hate it. Also, if you want to get on my good side, bring me wine and I'll love you forever.

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This story was SO good!! It has a love triangle of sorts so you should like that in a romance. In addition the hero, Matthew was once the heroine, Ava's sisters fiancée until she cheated on him and dumped him. That said our heroine was 14-18 when they dated and it was 10 years before. The sister is kinda a mean girl in the story so its not like they are very close either.

Typically I do not like sibling/exes/romantic partners storylines but the author really made it work and it was so long ago and Ava was so young that it was not really an issue for me here.

The story starts with Matthew being traded to Ava's team. She is PR director for the Wolves Football team and now works with Matthew as he just signed a two year contract. They have not seen each in 10 years when her sister broke his heart.

The two form a new friendship and there is a very real forbidden type of romance her. As the two fall in love, Ava has a hard time facing her family and that is what this story really is about. She needs to face them as an adult and take responsibility for her choices and who owns her heart.

It was a wonderfully written and romantic story told in dual POV and I highly enjoyed it.