PRINCESS AND THE PLAYER

A football player and an artist find true love after a one-night stand.

On Tuck Avery’s 35th birthday, his best friends surprise him with a trip to Manhattan’s most exclusive sex club. Tuck is happy for the distraction: It’s also the anniversary of his father’s death, and he's worried that he might be aging out of professional football. He meets a beautiful young woman, and the two have a night of anonymous, sizzling sex in a private room at the club. Ten weeks later, Francesca Lane is experiencing multiple crises: A vengeful boss just fired her from her job as a tattoo artist and she realizes she’s pregnant from her one-night stand with the mysterious stranger. Having grown up bouncing among foster homes, being left behind over and over, Francesca decides to keep the baby. Coincidentally, she discovers that her mystery lover has been living in her apartment building for years. They’ve never crossed paths before because he has his own private elevator to the penthouse. Tuck can’t believe his luck—the woman he can’t stop thinking about has been right under his nose all along. Francesca decides to keep the baby a secret from Tuck despite the fact that her roommates, several other building residents, and even the doorman know about her pregnancy. Eventually, Tuck and Francesca can no longer resist each other, and they begin a passionate affair that lasts for months. The book steams merrily forward with this common sense–defying plot. Tuck, a wide receiver who can sight and catch a football from anywhere on the field, somehow fails to see the baby bump right in front of him. Increasingly more dramatic storylines are introduced, perhaps with the goal of creating a chaotic, happy whirlwind of a book, but instead it feels tired and sloppy.

A contrived plot and underdeveloped characters keep this one on the bench.