Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A sports agent’s first official client is the man she dumped years ago in college. After two years of hard work as an underling, Nora Mackenzie is finally being promoted to full-time sports agent. She’s worked hard, kept quiet, and allowed men in the office to call her Mac—a nickname she hates—all to show she’s a team player and “one of the guys.” Unfortunately, her boss instructs her to sign Derek Pender, a football player coming off an injury, who happens to be the man she heartlessly dumped in their senior year of college. Derek signs with her for revenge, seeing it as his opportunity to pay Nora back for callously breaking his heart eight years earlier. He insists she be at his beck and call: answering his emails, running his errands, cooking dinner for his dates. He also refuses to let her explain why she broke up with him without warning or explanation. Nora feels she has no choice but to acquiesce to Derek’s humiliating demands, since she’s worked too hard to let him ruin her dream job. She hopes he’ll thaw and they might become friends, but Derek’s bad behavior is designed to hide the fact that he’s still in love with her. Nora’s characterization is uneven, veering between anger at how she’s treated in the male-dominated field to immature bickering and bantering with Derek. Although Adams likely meant for Derek and Nora’s interactions to have an enemies-to-lovers vibe, the characters instead seem juvenile and stuck in the past. The novel is fueled by a string of tropes—second chance romance! married in Vegas! only one bed!—each randomly deployed to keep the book going despite thin characterization and wan plotting. Haphazard and undemanding. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Nora Mackenzie just landed her first client as a full-time sports agent— unfortunately, he's her ex-boyfriend, NFL tight end Derek Pender. Derek is less than thrilled when he learns that his new agent is the woman who broke his heart in college. He decides that if Nora really wants to be his agent, she must work for it. Derek puts Nora through the wringer for a bit, and they travel to Vegas after she lands him an amazing endorsement opportunity. But one fun night together ends with Derek and Nora married, and their relationship becomes a media sensation, putting Nora's job in jeopardy until Derek agrees they should not annul the marriage right away. This keeps them in closer proximity than either is expecting, and their time together makes them aware of their feelings for each other. When a new scandal threatens their second chance, Nora and Derek's new foundation is rocked, and they must learn to rely on each other without losing sight of their own goals. VERDICT Fans of Sarina Bowen and P. Dangelico will love Adams's (Practice Makes Perfect) newest laugh-out-loud and heartwarming tale.—Ashli Wells

Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Adams (The Cheat Sheet) dazzles in her latest, a saucy second chance rom-com. Quirky Nora “Mac” Mackenzie struggles to make a name for herself as a sports agent. After working her way up through the male dominated corporate ladder, she finally has a chance to represent legendary NFL tight end Derek Pender. There’s just one problem: eight years ago, Nora walked away from Derek, her first love, without explanation. Never one to back down from a challenge, she’s determined to be the best agent ever to him. Meanwhile, Derek, at a crossroads following a career-threatening injury, is still heartbroken from Nora’s abandonment. The pair agree to a list of rules to help them keep things professional, a comically flawed endeavor that goes disastrously awry during a work trip to Vegas, where the pair get drunk, get married, and post the whole thing to Instagram. Derek proposes a radical damage control tactic: they stay married and convince both Nora’s bosses and the public that they are deeply in love. Adams injects the fun of fake dating with some serious emotion as the pair revisit their past and bond in the present, validating each other’s struggles and realizing they each love who the other has become. Determined Nora and swoony Derek prove a perfect match. Agent: Kim Lionetti, BookEnds Literary. (Apr.)