Reviewed by JustJen
Title: Gasping for Air
Author: T.S. McKinney
Series: Game Day #2
Heroes: Trystan/Dakota
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 456 Pages
Publisher: Painted Hearts Publishing
Release Date: April 20, 2017
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: How far will Trystan go to win the heart of the man he loves? All the way.
Trystan Matherly is conceited, arrogant, and rich. He has plenty of money, athletic ability, and gorgeous looks to keep the men forming a long line just to be with him. Choosing his next lover has been as simple as down-selecting to the hottest candidate.
Until Dakota.
With his sad eyes, full lips, and perfectly sculpted swimmer’s body, Dakota is just the kind of lover Trystan wants. After only one look, he knows he has to have him. Too bad Dakota seems to be totally oblivious to all his charms.
Dakota Jacobson is lonely, tired, and depressed. He’s at Alabama Temple to complete his degree, not to put up with idiots. He works diligently to be as invisible as possible. He doesn’t need friends and he sure doesn’t need lovers…especially not football titans that think they rule the world. Nope; been there, done that.
Until Trystan.
With his sexy eyes, arrogant smirk, and muscled physique, Trystan is just the kind of lover Dakota never intends to have…again. Too bad Trystan refuses to allow him to be invisible.
Review: This is the follow up continuation to Touchdown where we first met Trystan as Alexander’s snarky open-minded friend who played a hand in Alexander meeting his now boyfriend. When we left off in that story, Trystan was lusting after one of the guys on the college swim team, Dakota.
I loved Trystan from the get go. He has a warm way about him, which shows through in all his teasing and snark. He is a football superstar used to getting what he wants, but he’s pretty humble at the same time. He has a bit of a reputation as a player, but that’s just because he hasn’t found anyone he wants to truly care about. That all changes with Dakota. What stars out as a mission to make Dakota notice him, turns into much more. Trystan is a bit relentless in his pursuit of Dakota, whom he nicknames “Guppy.” Every time he called him that, or teased him about going to the “Aquarium,” brought a smile to my face.
Dakota, on the other hand, puts up a good front, but there is so much more to his story. He is hiding and has a big secret holding him back. He has been trying to lay low and fade into the woodwork. But, Trystan doesn’t make that easy, and eventually it all comes to the surface. Dakota’s life was left in ruin and he is just trying to get through school and move on. He doesn’t ever want to experience anything like what he went through again and sees Trystan as someone with the same traits he is running from, so he denies him over and over.
But, Trystan’s persistence pays off in the end, but not before we go through everything with Dakota again when it all comes back to haunt him. This was a long story, but I absolutely loved these guys and wasn’t ready to let them go. Trystan made me smile time and again and I just wanted him to wrap Dakota up in a big warm blanket and be happy together. It does take a good portion of the book before we finally get to the bottom of everything with Dakota, but Trystan makes it quite an entertaining journey.
This brings out a lot of emotions and is definitely a more difficult and darker read than Touchdown. We meet the guys in Touchdown, but this can easily be read as a stand alone story. It was great seeing Alex and Lincoln again, and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again in the next installment.
Overall Impression: I really liked it!
*I received a copy of this book from the author in return for a fair and honest review.*
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