Jane aka Coughy019's Reviews > Illegal Contact

** spoiler alert ** Tropes: rivals to lovers, forbidden relationship, secret relationship, sports
Feels: 4/5
Steam*: 4/5
Kinks: n/a
Angst: low
HEA: yes
Pairing: MM
Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: bad parents, sex with others after MCs start having sex, homophobia

Patrick Whitt and Malik Tucker have known each other since they were teens. Patrick was wealthy and had unsupportive parents who were neglectful. Malik was poor but had loving parents and siblings, though his bio dad abandon the family and his stepdad was great but died young. They attended the same football camp in summers, but Malik was basically on a scholarship there. They always gave each other s*** and we're rivals. They both ho pro in the NFL and are on rival teams.

One day they're at a party and they both end up hitting on the same woman and it escalates into MFM threesome. The morning after, they bicker/banter and touch each other. This starts a back and forth over the next few months where they sometimes flirt and sometimes hook up with each other when they run into each other. For the first few months they are also having sex with other people (it's casual, no angst over this - but still, not my cup of tea for a romance). After a few months, they get obsessed with eachother and find themselves not wanting to hookup with others, then getting possessive and insisting on exclusivity and being boyfriends.

They secretly date and fall in love. They have to keep it secret because they're on rival teams and they're concerned about what this would mean for their jobs. But they can't keep it a secret forever.

This is a sweet low angst story. There's a warm network of friends and family around them, and there's a bunch of humor that comes out of those interactions. The banter and bicker relationship that they have, and their shared history and Life experiences are nice to watch. They're in a position where they understand each other and are very supportive of each other. Tucker is a caretaker and Patrick needs that because his parents haven't shown him a lot of love or attention. I liked it.

Only minor complaints: the book was broken down into labelled parts, saying, this part is from the timeline of book 1 in the series, this part is from timeline of book 2. I found that made the book/timeline feel a bit artificially split and made me unsure if there was supposed to be a certain mentality that I went into that phase with. It just seemed unnecessary to Patrick and Malik's story in particular, it just made it more obvious to people that there was stuff they were missing if they hadn't read the other books, which isn't really smart book should be more standalone so that the average reader can enjoy it peacefully. I had already read the other books. Also I didn't personally love the sex with others and there was some slightly cheesy / cringey dialogue at times.

Some notable moments:

"“Yeah, I’ve heard he’s a dick.” “That’s an understatement.” He was arrogant, annoying, and, unfortunately for me, sexy as fuck. Luckily, the second he opened his mouth, I typically forgot how much I wanted to bone him—if for no other reason than to make him come his brains out so he remembered for the rest of his life that I gave him the best orgasm he’d ever had."

"“No more games.” I let my lips linger just a breath away from his but didn’t give him what he wanted. When Patrick tried to kiss me, I held him back, eased away so I was just out of reach. “No more games,” I said again. “If you want me close, that means you’re fucking mine for real now.”"

"Atwood sauntered into the room with a bold-ass smile on his face. He must have been at the podium for the press conference. “Don’t worry. They asked me how I felt about you and Whitt—I told them if I could get dicked down by the Royals WR coach, you should be able to have some fun with their cornerback, too.” My mouth dropped open. He hadn’t really said it like that, had he? “Atwood! In my office!” Coach called, and yep, he really fucking had."

*FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink.

**Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers.