“Hard pass.”
That’s what the last girl I slept with said when she got her first sober glimpse of me. She laughed, walked out of my penthouse—and I never saw her again. It doesn’t matter that I’m a rich, professional athlete; what mattered was my face.
Beauty might only be skin deep for some—but I know better.
“Pay up.”
That’s what the last girl I spoke to said over the phone when I made her … over the phone when I made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. Desperate to sell a set of rare baseball cards, she’s clever and entertaining. I’m instantly smitten, but nowhere ready to reveal myself. Thank god she has no idea who I am—or what I look like.
I’m a professional athlete–how hard can playing the love game be?
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Hard Pass is the newest release from Sara Neys latest series “Trophy Boyfriends”. It’s not your quintessential jock sports romance & I think that’s why I liked it that little bit more. It was different, it delved into the human-psyche and boy was it super endearing.
Miranda is a spunky chick who knows what she wants in life & how she’s going to get it. Noah is already at the top in his career but his insecurities prevent him having the same semblance of life as his team mates do.
Together Miranda & Noah navigate an awkward albeit humorous journey to their HEA. I definitely think this will be a great series & I cannot wait to see what Trace “Buzz” Wallace story will be like.
Overall a quick and adorable read. Would definitely recommend
A wonderful kick off to a new series for Sara Ney!
Hard Pass is the first in the Trophy Wife series. This series is another sports romance based series for Ms. Ney, but it does take one a slightly older role. The Trophy Wife’s are centered around Chicago’s MLB team the Steamers. We kick off the series with Noah and Miranda’s story.
Noah is a driven 24 year old professional ball player who knows his worth on the field, but not as a person.
Miranda is a recent college graduate bent on opening her own design firm. She needs capital to do so, which leads her to selling her grandfather’s prized baseball card collection, one card at a time.
The internet listing for the card brings these two together, but their relationship takes off through their texts.
Noah has been hit hard by women looking to use him for his money and his position. He’s scared from being turned down and rejected one too many times. He’s convinced he isn’t worth anyone’s time and withdraws into himself.
He’s so worried about how he’d be perceived that he dents his outrageous playboy friend, Buzz, out to meet Miranda for the card deal.
Miranda is a bit of a reserved creature herself, but she has sass. Buzz manages to insult her and disgust her in less than 10 minutes. Based off this interaction Miranda begins to second guess her decision to sell more cards to Noah.
Our characters begin a lovely twisty climb into the plot line full of mistaken/hidden identical, drawing people out of their shells, and learning what their self worth is.
I loved that this novel had a bit of Beauty and the Beast to it. Noah is the reclusive, growly beast. Instead of holding Miranda hostage, the Beauty is drawing the Beast out one classic collectors card at a time.
This story had some amazing dialogue, a love hate relationship with Buzz, and two lead characters that will steal your heart. Noah definitely stole mine.
3.5-3.75 stars. Hard Pass is the first book in the Trophy Boyfriends series by Sara Ney. This is Miranda and Noah’s story. Noah is a pro baseball player. He is a bit of a shy, loner and has a complex about his looks, based on his past experience with women. Miranda is recently graduated and wants to open her own design business. Miranda’s grandfather left her his valuable baseball card collection that she plans on selling to raise money to start her business. When she places an ad online selling her cards, Noah sees the ad and jumps at the chance to own a piece of his sport’s history. He texts her and the two have an instant chemistry. Over time, as they text about the cards, their conversations lead to an attraction and eventually meeting up and dating.
This book was a very light, easy read. The meet cute and the texting were fun and were my favorite part. I liked the story, but there was not much to the story beyond the meet cute. It felt more like a novella than a full book. I never felt like the couple grew fully comfortable with or got to know each other super well. This book has the familiar feel of Ms. Ney’s Jock Hard series. The characters are no longer in college and are supposed to be a bit more mature, but I didn’t quite feel like they were. Still, I liked Noah and Miranda. Noah was sweet and shy. He had a complex about his looks and thought he was ugly. Miranda never thought that and was attracted to him right away. I did find it a little odd that he never told her about his insecurity about his looks, when it would have explained his behavior more. Still, I thought they were a cute, sweet couple and there is little drama between them.
Overall, this was a cute, low angst read. I enjoyed Miranda and Noah’s relationship. I like Ms. Ney’s writing and this was a fun start to a new series. I look forward to what she comes up with next.
I have to say that I adored how Sara Ney characterized the hero; he’s not the typical professional athlete when it comes to women. In fact, he has had such bad luck and has been horribly treated by several that his view on the fairer sex is not only negative, but it has completely altered how he interacts with them, which doesn’t leave women with a very good impression of him, but I can’t say that I blame him for his jaded attitude, and I can see why it weighs on him to the point that he’s lost self-confidence even though he’s a pro baseball player, even though he’s built, and even though he’s loaded.
I also enjoyed the fact that Ney took Noah and Miranda’s relationship slowly. Sometimes, a slow burn frustrates me, but in this couple’s case, because of Noah’s shyness and the way he views women, Miranda had to help him see that not all women are superficial and that sometimes it just takes the right woman to help him understand just how amazing he is.
Ney’s humor and sarcasm thrives in Hard Pass. There were a lot of laugh out loud scenes mixed in with the steam and the sweet, and the chemistry between Noah and Miranda is both entertaining and electric.
Hard Pass is the first book in Sara Ney’s newest series, Trophy Boyfriends, and the fact that she uses a play on words when it comes to the title, starting with one idea that was said in passing to Noah and then changes drastically as the book moves forward and Noah meets Miranda and understands that he doesn’t care what other women think about him…all that matters is what Miranda thinks and it’s clear she sees all of him, which is all he needs to be happy.
4 Poison Apples
I did enjoy this overall. I’m giving it 3.5 out of 5 stars. This review is for an ARC, and reflects my honest opinion.
Noah was a sweetheart, and my heart went out to him. I’d definitely date him over the other baseball players, at least from what I’ve seen. I thought Miranda was the perfect match for him; she was kind, understanding, and didn’t let him hide. I also liked how ambitious she was; I wish we saw more of her working since her career was interesting to me. She was a little sassy/sarcastic thing, and I was here for it!
While I liked this, I also felt like the drama around Noah’s looks was overblown, both in the summary and the book. This was definitely a slow burn until it wasn’t. One time when I stopped to take a break, I saw I was about halfway through, and not that much happened. However I did think this was an interesting, and fast, read. I would have liked a little more baseball, and seeing Miranda hanging out with her friends, especially Chloe. I hope she will end up in a future book, maybe with Trace (Buzz).
I am so in love with Noah that he made this story perfect for me. I loved how in this story it was the hero dealing with insecurities from a past relationship not the heroine. He was shy and slightly awkward when he wasn’t on the field and I loved every second of his character for that!!!! Miranda is in need of money so she’s selling her grandfathers prized card collection and Noah wants them and wants them bad but she can’t reconcile the Noah she meets from who she thinks he is.
This is book 1 in the new Trophy Boyfriends series and it’s off to a great start.
As a sports romance, it has a twist. A twist which made the story more relatable, unique and not your typical sport romance!
Behind the humor and romance there’s a bittersweet poignant story that begs the question…what would be a hard pass in a relationship.
These are not your typical characters and I really loved their style, how they were developed and the story they had to tell.
This author hit a real home run with this story. I was so engrossed that before I knew it I finished!
Easy and quick read this is a perfect beach day read!
What I like the most about Sara’s books is how she always writes characters with whom you can relate. They aren’t over the top, super alpha or super pricks. They have flaws, insecurities, but they are strong and they love with all they have. It’s usually borderline normalcy, well, expect some 80 millions dollars contracts (yeah, I’m talking to you Noah!).
Noah or Baseman, he is a professional baseball player and very unlucky with love. He is very insecure with his appearance, specially after the last woman he was with said to him: hard pass, on his looks after she wasn’t drunk anymore. He wish he could find love, but he is not gambling anymore, so he is reclusive and all professional. Until he met Miranda.
Miranda inherited some high value baseball cards from her grandpa, now she needs to sell them so she can open her dream business. That’s how she met Noah, well she thought she did at least. She talked to him on the phone, but when was time to pick the card he sent his friend Buzz (Wallace) – stop here, Buzz is the freaking best! -, he was that much afraid to face a woman.
But Miranda liked him more through the phone than in person, and when she met Noah in person, without really knowing who he was, she liked him instead of the fake Noah. Confusing… yeah, but read! As they started to get to know each other better and the secret had been revealed, they were so cute with each other, I loved how they were just there and support one another. It was that good that they could be themselves together. Until the press came along.
That’s when Buzz came in and fix everything together! I love how he became real friends with Noah and like a brother to Miranda. Honestly I’m super excited for his book! It’ll be so good and funny.
I wish the ending was a little longer and showed more their future ahead, because I loved Noah and Miranda. They were perfect together and they deserve all the good things in the world. This book is not your typical sports romance and I loved the heck out of it!
I love a good Sara Ney book and Hard Pass didn’t disappoint & it was super cute!
Hard Pass is not your typical sports romance and thats what I loved most about it.
Noah is shy, a little awkward and lacks confidence which was such a nice change of pace from the over-confident, cocky alpha male. I’m my opinion that made him even more swoonworthy! Mix that with Miranda’s sassiness and you get the perfect connection.
Hard Pass had me laughing out loud and totally hooked, I couldn’t put it down. A total homerun!
4 There’s More Than Meets the Eye Stars!!
I love a great sports romance and I know that when I open a Sara Ney book I’m going to get a story that is engaging, fun, sexy, possibly quirky and heartfelt. Hard Pass hits all the right buttons for me and I loved reading Noah and Miranda’s story.
One of the things I loved the most about this story is that our Hero, Noah, while a professional baseball player and is a total stud on the field, he’s sensitive and somewhat guarded with his heart thanks to a woman that hurt his feelings basically telling him he’s not good looking enough for her! So he’s not a typical athlete which is a breath of fresh air.
And our heroine Miranda is a girl that has ambitions, is smart and beautiful and needs to raise money so she’s selling her prized baseball collection which is one Noah REALLY wants… and so begins their quasi relationship and I loved every single exchange they had!
This book was such a fun and delightful read. It’s very light on angst and full of laughs and chemistry that just can’t be denied. These two are perfect for each other because they both see more than what’s on the surface and most importantly they support each other in all their dreams and goals. When you add in fantastic secondary characters that I can’t wait to see more of and this book is everything I want and need from a Sara Ney book!!!
Sports Romance by Sara Ney? Give it to me, like yesterday! It’s a no brainer.
Miranda and Noah are super sweet their story is fun, flirty and funny.
With fantastic secondary characters (gotta love the man-child that is Buzz) and low drama, this book is a quick and delightful read.
Super pumped to read more from this series!
4.5 stars
Hard Pass by Sara Ney is the first book in her Trophy Boyfriends series and it was a sweet and fun sports romance with all kinds of feels. Noah is a professional baseball player who is a bit shy and reserved. He had some comments made about him that have stuck and make him second guess himself. I loved Noah. He was truly a nice and likable guy. When he meets Miranda, he is smitten. But how to win her heart? Miranda was sweet and caring. They had amazing chemistry and their story was a captivating slow burn.
Read and reviewed for Sultry Sirens Book Blog.
Happy reading!
Hard Pass was a quick read thats low angst and a lot of fun. Sara Ney has some of the best sports romances, so I was really excited to read this one.
Noah is a professional baseball player with a bit of self esteem issue when it comes to his looks. He’s super confident in his athletic abilities, but when it comes to the ladies, he’s had some bad experiences that have really messed with his head. He’s a little awkward and cynical, and not at all interested in a trophy girlfriend. Miranda is very goal oriented, and clear on what she wants and expects. She’s not going to just settle for anything less.
The flirty banter between these two is perfection. After a series of misadventures that resulted from Noah trying to conceal his true identity, they really hit it off. Of course, it’s not all smooth sailing after that, and they have to learn to navigate some pitfalls that come with dating a pro athlete.
Hard Pass is full of fun banter, some awkard celebrity induced situations, an annoying best friend that will really grow on you, and just enough steam. A perfect summer read.
This was a great quick read! I loved Noah and Miranda!! This book pulled me in right away! I pretty much read it in one sitting! My only complaint would be I wished it was longer! Not that I felt it needed to be, I just wasn’t ready for the book to be over!! I would definitely recommend this book!!
Received an arc for a honest review
NO SPOILERS!
Hard Pass was a sweet, sexy, funny, and swoon-worthy standalone sports romance, and a fabulous way to kick off the Trophy Boyfriends series!
The storyline and characters were fantastic, and I loved Sara Ney’s prose and hilarious sense of humor. I loved Noah and Miranda. They were amazing and I loved their personalities and chemistry together. I also loved their banter and interactions with each other, and thoroughly enjoyed their love story from beginning to end. The secondary characters were a blast as well, and I really liked their addition to the story.
Hard Pass was a MUST READ standalone sports romantic comedy from Sara Ney, and I would highly recommend Noah and Miranda’s sweet, sexy, hilarious, and swoon-worthy story! I can’t wait to see what Sara has up her sleeve for the rest of the Trophy Boyfriends series!
‘Hard Pass’ is the first book in the new ‘Trophy Boyfriends’ series by the amazingly talented author, Sara Ney. She is one of my all-time favorite authors, so I was anxious to get my hands on this one. While I found it to be cute, sweet and funny, it fell a bit short for me. I really liked it and enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it like I was expecting to.
Miranda has big dreams of starting up her own company but unfortunately, she is a little strapped for cash. In order to come up with the necessary funds, she must sell her late grandfather’s old and rare baseball cards. Enter Noah. He’s a rich, professional athlete who’s had an eye out for some of these particular cards. It turns out the cards are in mint condition too, so he makes her a generous offer to which she can’t refuse. But what he doesn’t expect? To find himself instantly smitten with this beautiful, smart and intriguing woman.
I think the reason this fell a bit short for me was because I couldn’t really connect with Noah. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great guy. He was real, honest and kind, but I prefer my boys a little more bad, cocky and mean. In the end though, I found this to be a really enjoyable read. It’s definitely a solid start to this new series. If you’re looking for a cute, sexy and fun sports romance, then please be sure and snatch this one up. 4 stars for Miranda, Noah and Hard Pass!
Hard Pass is a great read. I haven’t read all of Sara’s book but I have read a bunch and this one is currently my favorite by her. Noah is a baseball player. He has low self-esteem and struggles sometimes. He doesn’t want to fame of it, he just wants to play ball. He is sweet guy. Miranda is a nice sweet girl. She’s trying to sell baseball cards that her grandfather left her so she can start her own business. Their path crosses when Noah contacts her to buy baseball cards. I loved that we got o read their text messages. Their banter is funny. There are a lot of twists in this one. I really enjoyed reading this one.
4.5 Stars!
Hard Pass by Sara Ney Is a fabulous start to her new series. It is a funny, sexy, quick read with sass, an interesting twist and great characters.
I love that it is told in alternate POV because author Sara Ney writes a great male perspective.
The banter between Miranda and Noah is witty, sarcastic and fun. Their interactions are awkward but filled with chemistry. It is sweet.
Noah is insecure even though he’s a big time baseball player. My heart hurt for him. Miranda is sassy and knows what she wants. Their introduction and subsequent “meeting” is funny. They are so relatable. I felt like I knew them and I was embarrassed for them at times but in a “omg that did not happen” way not in a bad way. Kind of like when you hang out with friends and can’t believe they just did or said something so you cover your face.
I loved the friendship and banter between Noah and Buzz. Buzz is a perfect sidekick. I’m looking forward to his book.
Noah and Miranda’s HEA is not easily found but it is worth the trip!
Truthfully this book had me at Sara Ney and she didn’t disappoint. As I traveled down this story, I had many chuckles along the way with several cringe worthy moments as well. I am easily embarrassed for others. I can’t help it. Lol
Love the “Beauty and the Beast” undertones to this story. Eek one of my favorite fairytales. Mixed with a sports aka baseball troupe, it makes for a perfect foundation.
I always felt that the only person who thought our hero aka Noah was a “Beast” was himself and some horribly mean girls from his past. Ugh yes I wanted to hurt them. Good thing I believe in karma.
Miranda aka Randi is such an interesting heroine and she NEVER sees what Noah is talking about. She is a little upset about some of the deception but as she gets the details her heart hurts for him.
Ugh I didn’t want this story to end and I am hopeful that other characters will be getting their own stories. Wink.
Happy Reading Everyone! XOXO
I could not have been more excited to get my hands on a new Sara Ney sports romance. This is her sweet spot y’all. I mean, in my humble opinion. Sports romance is my very favorite trope and Ms. Ney can write the heck out of them. So I was stoked to dive into this one!
And? I was sucked in immediately. I wasn’t really sure how I felt about all the things that were happening, but I knew I wanted to keep reading about them. I was addicted. Intrigued. Hooked by the fun meet-cute and the decidedly offbeat personalities of Noah and Miranda.
I love a wounded hero. I love an ugly duckling. One of my favorite things in any given story are the flaws and how – sometimes against all odds – two people love each other for the very flaws they are ashamed of. I was primed to love the crap out of this story. But this one actually fell a little short for me. I kept waiting for Noah and Miranda to take root in my heart. They were sexy and spicy and fun! But, that connection I was waiting for never really fired up for me. I would have liked a little more fire from Noah, I think. Or maybe a deeper dive into the why of him.
That said, I did love Miranda’s spunk. She was the realest thing about this book for me – a perfect mix of humanity, insecurity, pluck, and quirkiness. I loved her for being so patient with Noah (especially because I was decidedly not patient with him). I loved her for continuing to push things forward even though it took a lot of courage. I just really loved her.
Honestly, there’s a ton of goodness packed into this book. While I wish I would have connected more with the romance, I definitely went all-in for the bromance. I wasn’t sure what to make of Buzz at first but, much like Miranda, I adored him for the lovable buffoon he was in the end. He was like a giant, overly-excitable golden retriever. Obnoxious and slobbery, but pure heart of gold. I can’t wait to get my hands on his story.
In the end, this was a little bit of a mixed bag for me, but I am super excited to see where this series goes from here. Hard Pass was a solid start to an exciting new series – I can’t wait for more! ~ 3.5 Stars