★★★★★ " This is the BEST fake dating book I've ever read with so much angst it's impossible to tear yourself away from Clay and Giana's story!" — Lisa Icard, ARC Recipient ★★★★★ "I am so in love with the Blind Side! Kandi Steiner delivers her sexiest, most DELICIOUS story to date , but still with her characteristic heartfelt charm and soulful chemistry. It's angsty, it's emotionally resonant, it's adorable, and it's so darn sexy! Hands down a favorite Kandi read!" — The Romantic Rush Blog ★★★★★ "This is not your average Fake Dating, this is 5 chili peppers of "I'll teach you" spice and I most definitely am here for THAT. " — Lil Turner, ARC Recipient ★★★★★ " I was so glued to this story, I couldn't leave it out of my hands or get it our of my head. I devoured this book! Clay and Giana were that addictive... Their story had everything: angst, jealousy, steam, tears and one hell of an insane chemistry." — Clary, ARC Recipient ★★★★★ "I felt their chemistry from their very first interaction in the book. The author was not lying when she said this was her steamiest book to date because goodness gracious I ate it UP." — Caitlin, The Love Librarian ★★★★★ " This is Kandi Steiner, football-loving, fake dating perfection! " — Kathryn Mitchell, ARC Recipient ★★★★★ "This has to be the steamiest and hottest romance Steiner has written, and I couldn't help but binge read it all in one sitting. " — Carly Wilson, ARC Recipient ★★★★★ " The best fake dating romance I've ever read. " — Leah, ARC Recipient ★★★★★ " The spice was OUTSTANDING! Miss Steiner outdid herself with this one." — Read.Teach.Repeat. ★★★★★ " If I could give this book a 100 stars I would! I've loved all of the Kandi Steiner books I've read but this is by far my favorite." — Emily Schaeffer, ARC Recipient ★★★★★ "I didn't expect a fake dating sports romance to have my stomach in knots but Queen Kandi Steiner can't give us a book without throwing some angst in there! I seriously couldn't put this book down. I kept trying to go to sleep but I had to know what happens next. Kandi has a way of writing that really puts you in the story and makes you feel every single emotion the characters do. Her addictive writing style makes you want to ignore life and just jump into the pages of her books! " — Kate Reads Romance ★★★★★ " 5+ golden (& steamy) stars for my new book boyfriend, Clay." — Holly Perkins, ARC Recipient ★★★★★ " Stayed up until 1:30 am reading and promptly woke up (without an alarm) at 6am to devour the rest of the book. So, that should tell you something." — Heather Brown, ARC Recipient
Features & Highlights
The hottest college football safety in the nation just asked me to be his fake girlfriend.
And I just asked him to take my virginity.
Clay Johnson has the abs of Adonis and the deadly smirk of the devil, himself. There’s hardly a day he’s not headline material during football season, and
never
a day he isn’t a bullseye target for every girl on campus.
He used to be the easiest of all the players for me to wrangle as the Public Relations Coordinator, but after a nasty breakup with his high school sweetheart, he’s a mess.
And a complete pain in my ass.
We meet to discuss his behavior and review media relations standards. But when he witnesses how I fall to pieces in front of my guitar-toting crush, his wheels start turning. And he cooks up this absurd plan.
He helps me get noticed.I help him make his ex jealous.All by pretending to be in a relationship.
What he doesn’t realize is that this bookworm is a virgin, and
far
from versed in seducing a musician. So, to sweeten the deal, I convince him to help me — not just to get my crush’s attention, but to knock his socks off once I have it.
But the more I come unraveled at the hands of Clay Johnson, the more trouble I have discerning what’s fake and what’s undoubtedly real — particularly, the way my heart flutters every time that breathtaking man touches me.
We set the rules. We put the safeguards in place.
But they say rules are meant to be broken.They probably should have added that hearts are, too.
Blind Side is a spicy fake dating college sports romance with "lessons" and opposites attract. It is a complete stand-alone.
Customer Reviews
Rating Breakdown
★★★★★
30%
(5.3K)
★★★★
25%
(4.4K)
★★★
15%
(2.6K)
★★
7%
(1.2K)
★
23%
(4K)
Most Helpful Reviews
★★★★★
4.0
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Sports romance, fake dating!
Blind Side is the latest sports romance from Kandi Steiner and I had a fun time with this one! Clay Johnson is a college football safety and he fake dates Giana Jones, the PR Assistant Coordinator for the team.
When the story kicks off Clay just broke up with his highschool girlfriend after 5 years together. After he gets into some minor trouble over a sports interview not going well, Giana is tasked to get him back on some light media training. When they meet up, Clay overseas Giana not-so-secretly crushing on the musician playing in the local coffee shop and he comes up with a plan to help them both out. Clay and Giana will fake date, to help her gain the attention of the musician and help Clay get his ex’s attention again. Clay will also be an angel during the media interviews and in return, help Giana learn to flirt and get a guy’s attention since she’s never dated before.
This story had such delicious times, I loved Clay and Giana together and when their fake dating turned into some “teach me” lessons…yes please! 🔥 They also connected on a deeper, emotional level and I liked seeing Giana push Clay to put his own wants over trying to help others all the time. Clay has a complicated relationship with his mother, who was a single mom to him growing up and is a struggling addict. My heart ached for Clay in those tough moments and choices. But I loved Giana, her energy was so much fun and she is a glasses-wearing, book lover! I loved how her favorite smutty reads were incorporated into the story with excerpts from them and Clay even reading her highlighted parts of her favs so he knew how to please her/would know what she wanted to try out.
Thank you to Valentine PR for an e-ARC. All thoughts in this review are my own.
3 people found this helpful
★★★★★
5.0
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Those lessons!
I picked up this book because everyone was talking about it. Most people came for the fake dating, or sports romance. While I was interested in the fake dating, I was obsessed with the experienced/inexperienced trope with a side of praise. It was such a turn on for her “lessons”.
Giana is such a sweet, quirky, shy, smut reading girl, but she doesn’t want to be treated like a princess. Clay is a sexy sweet man who not only guides Giana, but does he’s research. He knows exactly what Giana needs and isn’t afraid to give it to her. I loved watching their love develop and how quickly what they thought they wanted disappeared.
My heart goes out to both characters dealing with the struggles of home life and challenges they face while growing into adults.
★★★★★
5.0
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I am obsessed
Beautiful cover and even better story! I couldn't put this book down. The chemistry between Clay and Giana was off the charts! I loved how the relationship built up and was believable. I enjoyed it very much!
★★★★★
5.0
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HAAAAWWWWWTTTT! Fantastic!
Where can I get me a Clay?!?! I seriously want one. Wow. Clay is emotionally supportive, caring, and so much more.
Clay has just broken up with his highschool sweetheart. He is miserable. And he is making everyone else miserable. This includes Giana, who is just trying to do her job, wrangling football players for media events. When he notices she has a crush on the local rockstar-wanna be, he offers to help get him to notice her. His plan, if done right, includes getting his ex to notice him and want him back. What is his brilliant plan? A fake romance. Giana isn't really interested until she notices that her crush is suddenly paying attention to her while she is conducting a business meeting with Clay.
As the relationship between Clay and Giana heats up with Clay tutoring Giana in all things relationship related, Clay finds himself caring less and less about his ex. When did dating Giana stop being fake for Clay? Family drama threatens Clay's stability. Will it tear him and Giana apart?
This book is almost too HAWT to read. The pages might catch fire. DANG!! But it is so worth the danger. It is that good. The way Clay notices and cares about Giana. The strength Giana finds deep inside that helps power Clay when he need it. So much about this story to love.
★★★★★
4.0
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Sweet, steamy and such a fun fake dating romance!
4.5 STARS
College sports romance WITH fake dating and a virgin. It’s my favorite tropes wrapped up with two characters I genuinely liked and respected.
I enjoyed their relationship and the way it grew and the way it challenged them to grow.
It’s such a fun story with some really great scenes between the characters. They were entertaining, sweet, emotional and sexy together.
I loved how strong Giana was and how much more confident she got, I loved Clay’s attitude and his kindness. I love that these two college students got into a ridiculous situation together and it made them better people.
They are so adorable, sweet and sexy together!
The secondary characters are tons of fun and add serious moments as well.
I loved the first book in this series of interconnected standalone’s as well so I was familiar with a lot of the secondary characters (football players) I don’t think you have to read Fair Catch to enjoy this, but I highly recommend it as it’s a great story, too and it will enhance your enjoyment of this book in my opinion.
I loved it! Fun, full of heart, laughs and steamy times that had me hot and swooning.
★★★★★
5.0
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This Book, These Two...
OMG this book, these two, I loved everything in these pages, EVERYTHING. I loved the deal, I loved the lessons, I loved the relationship, the realization, the angst, and the fix! I loved how us romance readers are ode to by the author. That Clay get’s it and read her books to get an idea of what Giana likes. I just loved it all! This book was steamy, it was fun, it was easy to read and just kept my pages turning. I LOVED every second of reading it so much that once I got to about 70% in I made myself to take a break so I could prolong the story a little bit longer!
Perfect story for anyone who likes smutty collage, fake relations ship, sport romances.
★★★★★
5.0
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Loved!!
“Teach me how to kiss, how to make a man feel good,” she whispered. “Teach me how to do it all.”
——————————————————
⭐️: 5/5
🌶: 5/5
——————————————————
Giana is a quiet, introverted virgin whose job requires her to be loud and assertive towards huge, athletic men. She’s working on it, and while she’s not as confident as she needs to be, she’s definitely better than she was when she first got the job. And who is she definitely nervous around? Her crush, heartthrob local musician, Shawn.
Clay is a confident, athletic football player who is currently nursing a broken heart. His childhood sweetheart, Maliyah, has dumped him out of the blue. And to make matters worse? She just transferred to his college, and she’s going to be a cheerleader, so they’re going to run into each other all of the time. Clay just needs to figure out how to win her back.
Clay comes up with a perfect plan. He and Giana will fake date each other, and then they will both get what they want. He will make Maliyah jealous and win her back. Giana will get lessons on how to win Shawn’s attention and start dating him. What could go wrong?
Clay and Giana were so sweet. I absolutely adored watching those two slowly, but surely fall for each other. I mean, Clay reading Giana’s romance books and learning from them? MY HEART. There were twists and turns, but they got there in the end. If you’re looking for a fake dating romance involving a hotshot football player and a shy, virgin PR assistant, go ahead and add Blind Side to your TBR.
★★★★★
5.0
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Fake dating perfection
Blind Side is a fake dating romance between a star football player and a shy bookworm heroine. When I first start reading it, I knew this was going to be something different from Kandi Steiner, but in the best way.
Clay Johnson and Giana Jones strike up a plan to fake date so Clay can reunite with his ex and Giana can grab the attention of her dream guy. When Giana realizes how inexperienced she is, she asks Clay for an addition to their deal- lessons to ensure she feels confident when the time comes. These lessons start to blur the lines between what’s real and what’s fake.
Clay and Giana’s chemistry was perfect from the very beginning, even when everything was fake. The buildup was perfect and I couldn’t wait for the breaking point. Besides the fake dating scheme, there’s plenty of emotions and heartfelt scenes revolving Clay’s personal life.
It plays a big role into the story and how his relationship with Giana progresses. It did hurt my heart after how perfect everything was and then the conflict didn’t feel fully necessary. My emotions were running high towards the end as I felt for what both characters were going through after seeing their relationship develop. Nevertheless, the book went in a direction I enjoyed and Giana got the romance novel worth ending she deserves.
This is Kandi’s steamiest book yet with such a fun plot. I love dating romance, but the lessons aspect took it to a different level. Clay respected her completely and ensured he never crossed a line, especially when he realized he was done pretending. He also read her romance books and reenacted them- what a guy. Their emotional and physical connection made everything so much better.
If there’s something I can always count on Kandi Steiner to do, it is writing an angst filled romance. This is one of my favorites from her yet because of it’s uniqueness, addicting plot, spicy scenes, chemistry filled couple, and all the emotions I felt while reading. Clay is nothing like the typical football star I expected, and Giana shocked me with her learned confidence. If you’re debating reading this, here’s your sign to dive in.
Also, after that epilogue, I am so excited for the next book.
