1st Time Love by Sapphire Knight

I was sent an ARC copy of this book and voluntarily read and reviewed it. 1st Time Love was a good story. A typical nerdy girl and hot, popular boy premise. Kadence was clever, witty and fun and Tyler was hot, athletic and surprisingly sweet most of the time. Knight has a good, solid story with 1st Time Love. The characters are fun and relatable and watching their story unfold is enjoyable. The plot line wasn't over the top and everything was fairly believable. There were a couple of things that I was unimpressed with or left wanting more of, but nothing that took away from the overall story and feeling of the book. Knight was descriptive enough to allow the reader to imagine themselves in the story but not so much that it bogs the reading process down. Everyone loves a story with a happy ending and this one was no different. I look forward to reading more in about the Owen's brothers in the future.

Spoilers will begin.... now.

At first glance, I'll be honest, there's nothing particularly special about this cover. It's got a hot, shirtless guy on it, but let's be serious, most romance novels these days come standard with a half naked man blessed with a rock hard set of abs on the cover. I think it could have done a little more to match the theme of the story itself, because for those that do judge a book solely on it's cover, there's not much to go on.

The author started almost every chapter with a quote, mostly about football, but there are some other sports quotes and such in there. I think this was a nice touch and while it didn't really do anything for the story line, it was fun to read them. Also, dependent upon which of the two main characters started each chapter (as in their POV), we got a different chapter graphic which was a nice touch. It isn't until late in the story we find out the meaning behind Kadence's graphic.

I like that we started the book with a couple parts in each character's point of view, getting to know a little bit more about them and their separate lives before they're brought together. Kadence Winters is bit of a book nerd, which let's be serious, most of us can relate to. She'd rather sit at home and be introduced to her next book boyfriend then to go out and party it up like her best friend, Brianne. The fact that these two friends are so opposite in their personalities is also a fun notion. You really don't see either one of them try to push the other to be someone or something they're not. They accept and love each other as they are.

Tyler Owens, is a star football player, typical jock and certainly seems like your normal every day college douchebag at his first introduction. Luckily, we find out that Tyler is not a douchy as his introduction depicts and he's actually a really sweet, yet horny college football player. The dynamic between Tyler and his brothers is fun and I really enjoyed the moments we got to see between them. There's something going on with their family farm and we'll get to that later, but there also something that was left open with one of his brothers and I'm hoping the author answers that question in a subsequent book.

In a classic boy meets girl moment, the two run into one another, literally. She's annoyed (even though it was pretty much her fault) and he's apologetic. When they part, she's gushing to herself about how attractive he is and he's wondering why he's never noticed her before. Then some more boyish thoughts that I'm pretty sure are controlled by his nether regions. Tyler's thoughts pretty much launch him into the typical 'all boys think about is sex' dynamic and at first, Kadence just seems like another conquest to him.

Once Kadence ends her little freeze-out routine she's got going, however short it actually is, her and Tyler end up hanging out more and more and they actually make a pretty cute couple. They tease each other and we get to see a whole other side to Kadence. What I didn't like though is that every time she goes out with him, she seems to change her style just to fit him. It just bothered me. She goes from her jeans and tees to tiny little clothes.

And then we're privy to the information that Kadence's father is a football star. It's hinted at throughout the story and she mentions it a few times in her inner monologues. But she never broaches the subject and never reveals who her father is. I felt like all the skirting around her father's identity was kind of anticlimactic in the way it ended up being revealed.

In the end, we get that coveted happy ending that we always hope for. Tyler ends up being not the typical hormone driven jock we think he is. He is sweet and caring towards Kadence. I think it was a suitable ending for the pair, but I wish we saw more of Kadence's interests and life. We're very privy to everything happening in Tyler's and for Tyler, but we don't get that same coverage for Kadence and that is kind of a bummer. All in all, I really do recommend that you pick up 1st Time Love. It's a cute story with a happy ending.