Down by Contact by Santino Hassell is a good fit for those seeking a heartwarming and emotional romance that explores themes of identity, acceptance, and the power of vulnerability.

I did like this book but sadly I am choosing not to review or rate properly due to the author scandal.

Loved Down by Contact and the other books in this series when I first read them, but will no longer support this author.

Honestly, I read this and liked it. While it was not the author's best, it was fun. "Hassell" excelled at sexual chemistry, and that applied here. However, I did not review this as I did not get to it until the scandal had broken.

Zach and Griffin found in each other in college and quickly fell in love. But while Zach loved Griffin, he also loved football and coming out was not an option. When Griffin couldn’t take being a secret anymore, he left without a word. Now Zach is a professional football player and while his career dreams have come true, he has never stopped missing Griffin.

When Zach arrives at training camp for his second professional season, he’s determined to keep his spot. But Zach was not expecting to be selected to be part of a reality show that follows players around during training. He certainly wasn’t expecting Griffin to be the cameraman assigned to him. The attraction is still there, but Zach’s not sure he can ever forgive Griffin. Zach also is still struggling with coming out and when the TV producers make Zach a target, his career and his relationship with Griffin are both tested.

When this book opened I was drawn into both Zach and Griffin’s lives and with dual POV, the book offers an inside look at both men. This is a second chance romance as Zach and Griffin were in love in college and when Griffin felt that Zach would truly never come out, Griffin left. But he didn’t just leave; he left without a word and no further contact. Griffin was completely in love with Zach and a strong part of him felt that he was doing what was best for both of them, but he has also regretted it ever since. I appreciated that the author doesn’t draw this part out. In the earlier chapters the guys get it all out in the open and try to move forward as they have to work together. We are then told they both still have feelings for each other, but it all read as muted.

The football aspect, as well as the reality show aspect, didn’t work out for me. Zach was a football player in name only. We only see him working out with trainers a few times and talking to the coach and other than that, there is no football in the book and it’s not until the halfway point that Zach’s position is even mentioned, although in passing. The reality show scenes itself were predictable and Griffin became an unreliable character with each passing scene. He learns early on that the show’s producers are looking to exploit Zach, yet he doesn’t say anything and then is surprised when they follow through. Then, he bounces back and forth between talking to Zach, the coaches, and the producers and the conversations surrounding the show were overly convoluted, while the actions of the reality show moved forward in the most predictable manner. It’s all standard reality show fare, yet none of the characters see the deception coming.

The show, also, wasn’t very interesting. Zach says he’s just a regular guy and he is. There is mostly only Griffin with one camera filming Zach work out and unpack from his move. Then, when things start moving along in a somewhat contrived manner, you had to wonder just whose side Griffin was on. He said he was looking out for Zach, yet that wasn’t always made clear as he was also trying to keep his job. The book primarily moved from one conversation to the next and while talking between characters can certainly be a plus, we were given the run down on what had happened and what was going to happen and there was minimal movement, which became frustrating.

This book is also a spin off from Kennedy’s Homeruns series where Zach’s brother was an MC in one of the books. If you have read that book, there are links back to that storyline and while it didn’t affect the overall story here, it could be just another hindrance to a book that already had issues. This is the start of a new series and there is a possible set up to feature two side characters and their introduction also didn’t flow well into the rest of the story. The end story with the reality show just sort of fizzled out and while I liked the reunion angle between the men, the remainder left me cold.

Sadly after somethings came to light about this author I will not be reading and reviewing this title.

Read it in one sitting! Why did I do that? Why?!?! After waiting for it for a long time I devoured this book and now I'm feeling a bit lost so I think I'm going to read it again and slowly this time around.

In Down by Contact we are back with our faborite Barons, this time is Simeon's turn to get his HEA and he did find out but with someone so unexpected, his formee teammate Adrián, Adrián has been very vocal about his dislike for Simeon and after some back and forwars bickering the whole thing explodes into a fight during one of their games, as a punishment they are forced to share a 2 month coaching job at a summer camp in the city.

I loved both characters, Simeon so unapologetic about who he is, he is out and he is proud and Adrián coming to terms with those thoughts and feelings that he's had for a while now towards Simeon.

I thinl Adrián was the ome whi had to overcome the most especially coming to terms with his sexuality and realising that we are complex human beings and that we don't always have to follow conventional rules and that the heart wants what the heart wants.

The were so many heartbreaking moments during this book and they were si well balances with the happy sexy moments that my heart was in a state of happiness and interest the whole time.

Had every intention of reading this one and then the scandal with Hassell broke and this has been sitting in my netgalley queue ever since. I'm now trying to clear out old reviews to improve my rating and to just plan stop avoiding it. I appreciate getting the approval but I am never going to read this one as I can't support this author in any way.

DNF - the onlne antics of the author makes this an auto DNF for me. I'm not sure how many more characters I need to get this to go through so I'm just typing now. DNF DNF DNF

MM. Check.
Football. Check.
Enemies. Check.

Yep, all the things are there. And I am so here for it. This book checks all my boxes and left me satisfied.

I read all of this book but I did not enjoy it as much as the first book in the series. There were too many stories within the story and it was hard to keep track of what was going on.

I had read this book and really loved it. We all know what happened with this author, and so I rather refrain from reviewing it. I know we can sometimes separate the art from the artist, but I think in this case you can't. We really can't keep excusing for the sake of product or an art when the person surpasses the "poopy" bar.

I was really sad to hear all the controversy around Santino Hassel. First book on the series was really good and I was very excited about the series.

BUT

No matter how good an author is, the fact that he/she is taking advantage of people and arranging schemes to deceive/get some money of it is reason enough for me to refuse promoting or recommend said author's books.

Seeing the issues surrounding Santino Hassell's behavior on- and offline, I have decided not to review this book.

In light of recent events involving Santino Hassell and Riptide Publishing, I won't be reviewing this book.

Illegal Contact was the first book I'd read by Santino Hassell, and I loved it. I couldn't wait to read Down by Contact as soon as it hit my kindle.

Adrián and Simeon have been at odds since Simeon left the New Jersey Predators team for the New York Barons. When all hell breaks loose between them at a preseason game, they are forced to work together on a joint community service project teaching football to a group of kids at a community center.

I have to admit right up front that I had a very hard time with Adrián and what he said through much of the book. He spewed so much hatred that I honestly had trouble getting into the book in the beginning. I really didn't see a way for Hassell to redeem Adrián at all. On the other hand, I absolutely adored Simeon and really wanted him to find a man to fall in love with and make him happy. I figured out pretty quickly Adrián was gay or at least bi and that was part of the reason he made such an ass of himself when it came to Simeon. It still took me over half of the book to start to like him.

I did love how well both men connected with the kids they were working with at the community center. Yes Simeon seemed to connect better with most of the kids, but Adrián started to really enjoy working with the kids and making connections the longer they worked with the kids. I think seeing Adrián with the kids is what helped start to turn my feeling around for him. Honestly his snarkiness never really goes away, but I quickly learned it was a bit of a defense mechanism for him.

While it did take me a bit longer to buy Adrián and Simeon as a couple, I will say the sex between them was smoking hot! I did love how they really couldn't keep their hands off each other. I also love that both Simeon and Adrián really wanted to protect the other from anything coming out about them before Adrián was ready. I will say I didn't agree with how Simeon tried to protect their secret, but got his reason for doing it at the time. I also loved seeing both men go big in their declaration for each other. OMG I think that was honestly when I fell in love with Adrián.

I absolutely loved Santino Hassell's voice and his in-your-face story telling in Down by Contact. While I only found Santino Hassell's books recently, I have to say he has become an auto-buy author for me rather quickly. I highly recommend his books.

Rating: 4 Stars (B)

Due to the recent news regarding the author, I have decided not to read and review this book. I hope this is reasonable in light of the recent allegations.

I really enjoyed this book but at this time will not be posting publicly.

We will no longer be reviewing this title..........

I enjoyed this installment of the Barons series, although not as much as the first. The "voice' in this book seems different from Illegal Contact. Further, the two characters voices were a little too similar for me, while that can be believable since they are both men in the same profession, it sometimes made it hard to distinguish between the two.

Overall an enjoyable story, though.