This novel had a lot of heavy themes for a romance novel. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, college football scandals, redemption. But it is the perfect backdrop to highlight the fierce bond that develops between two people who are falling in love while trying to heal themselves. The author shows that bringing baggage into a relationship isn’t always a deal breaker, as long as those involved are actively working on unpacking. And their partner gives the other person room, patience and unconditional understand to save themselves.

Elizabeth Spaur builds a wonderful story of a broken and defeated couple, and their rise above adversity to find love and happiness when it’s least expected. Bootleg Love Affair will draw you in from the very beginning and ensure that you remain fixated till the very end.

Boyd “Boomer” Hale is a heartfelt and delightful wounded hero, who will capture your heart and never let it go; and Delilah is the reformed mean girl, who just wants to move on and live a normal life, with no interference. Together this unlikely pair find something neither anticipated or believed was possible, but their chemistry and devotion will definitely inspire those more cynical readers.

I loved the inclusion of the cheeky, movie buff parrot Monty too! His commentary added some much needed and certainly welcomed, laughter and joy to what otherwise could have been a very intense story. Bootleg Love Affair is an absolute winner and was well-written and realistic. Thank you Ms Spaur for a great book!

This is a tough review for me. I don't know what number book this is in the series, but I was pretty lost in the beginning. I've only read one other, and there's definitely been at least a couple of books in between. I'm not sure if this is meant to be a standalone or not, but it does not work well as one. There's an ongoing story that I knew about from the other book, but so much has evolved from that point that it was very difficult to follow. There were so many characters that were also lost on me for the same reason. If this was meant to be a standalone, the author does not do a good job of keeping you in the loop. The story of Boomer and Delilah on their own I enjoyed, but I almost quit reading in the beginning because it was so hard to follow along. I hate not giving a more positive review, but like I said it was tough to follow along having not read the entire series up to this point

A quote (from ARC):
"She hadn’t been looking for him, but he’d become a safe place for her. The safest place she’d ever known."

Elizabeth Spaur is a new author for me and I really enjoyed reading “Bootleg Love Affair”, featuring one of the most delicious wounded heroes I’ve read recently.
I was amazed how Spaur wrote a character afflicted by the lingering, debilitating effects of a traumatic brain injury, showing how he’s coping with it and the way it’s all interwoven throughout the story. It’s original, convincing, well researched and well written, and I loved it!
Boomer, the hero, is a “tall, well-muscled brick wall” full of vulnerabilities. I loved how the author smartly showed the way he thought and the reasons behind his acts, wit and humor often mitigating his pain. He’s a bit alpha, protective, but in a good way, very respectful, he doesn’t smother the heroine.
Delilah is a great heroine, too, strong and sassy, yet a bit broken.
The parrot, Monty, is another novelty in romance novel, such an intelligent bird, and having a pet which is a movie buff adds laughter to the plot.
The main and secondary characters are all incredibly likeable and the suspense plot was engaging.

This is book 5 of the Gridiron Knight series. It can be read as a standalone, but there were some elements of the story that background knowledge would have been helpful. I have read the first two in the series so I was aware of a few of the characters, but I did get a bit lost with parts of the story. However, this did not take away from the wonderful and emotional story of Boomer and Delilah.

I was really surprised with how emotional I got reading this book. Boomer and Delilah meet for the first time by bumping into each other at their therapist’s office. They are both there to recover from very traumatic events in their lives. And what they both went through was absolutely horrible, to say the least. This resulted them being extra cautious with relationships, especially the romantic kind. But with the rest of their circle of friends finding love, they start hinting about setting them up. To ward off any attempts, Delilah offers Boomer a proposal to pretend to date. What starts off as a friendship of sorts, develops to so much more. Boomer was amazing with Delilah, especially with his own brutal past. He allowed her to feel safe for the first time in a long time. The flashbacks that Delilah suffered through were heartbreaking and gut-wrenching but the determination that she had to try to heal was inspiring. The storyline was intense at times and so sweet at times and definitely kept me invested.

Overall, I really enjoyed this latest book in the Gridiron Knight series.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.

The story of Delilah and Boomer. Both stuggling with PTSD after events in their life, they agree to fake date to stop their well-meaning friends setting them up with other people.

There is a lot going on in this book, and it is fairly intense at times.