Sunny Shelly’s Review: Focused, by Karla Sorensen

Title: Focused

Author: Karla Sorensen

Genre: Sports Romance

Release Date: January 7, 2020

If you’ve ever seen your teenage crush ten years later, and he turns out to be a complete jerk, then you know how Molly Ward feels.

The last time she saw Noah Griffin was the regrettable day that she decided to climb into his bedroom window and turn her unrequited crush into something more.

That day was bad enough, but things are about to get worse.

Noah has become one of the best football players in the country, and he’s just landed on Molly’s front step.

As a new addition to the Washington Wolves roster, Noah’s presence is the key to Molly’s promotion in the front office.

The problem is, Noah wants nothing to do with Molly, and his surly attitude is making her job very difficult.

But he’s got another thing coming if he thinks Molly will be intimidated by one grumpy football player, no matter how much he hates being around her.

Once these two go head to head, their mutual dislike explodes into undeniable chemistry. But with what they have at stake, they just might detonate everything else along with it.

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 5 Stars

I can’t believe one scene in The Marriage Effect led to an amazing story like Focused.

From start to finish, Noah and Molly were a fantastic opposites-attract, enemies-to-lovers couple. He’s a grumpy football star, completely focused on his career to the detriment of everything else in his life. She’s a rising star in the marketing department at the Washington Wolves, and her promotion hinges on being Noah’s handler during the filming of a docuseries about his adjustment to a new team. They have a history and they hate each other, so that no-fraternization clause in her contract shouldn’t be an issue at all. Right?

So Molly and Noah’s history: When she was 16, they were neighbors, and she had a crush on the college football star, and even snuck into his room one night. Needless to say, neither Noah’s dad or Molly’s brother/guardian took too kindly of what almost happened between them. It was a bit from The Marriage Effect, but it’s covered in Focused, so no worries if you haven’t read TME. (But you totally should!)

Now it’s 9 years later, and as they film the series, Molly gets through Noah’s gruff exterior in a way no one could have predicted, breaking through The Machine and getting to the guy inside. The guy who has shut everything and everyone else out. The way he falls for her just sneaks up on him and it is MARVELOUS to have been able to read it all happening along the way. The guy who has blinders on is completely blindsided by a scrappy girl he never expected to bring him to his knees.

Focused is a standalone/start to a new series about the Ward Sisters, who are the younger siblings of Logan from the Washington Wolves series. It’s sweet, it’s emotional, and I’m not afraid to admit that I cried as Noah realized how empty his life was without Molly in it.

I received and advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

Well, let’s see … I’m a wife and a mother. If the things that I write bring a smile to someone’s face, then I’ve done my job. I am obsessed with Outlander (both the books and the show). I’m almost exclusively a romance reader, which means some people will never consider me a literary snob. If I could meet one historical figure, it would be Jane Austen. I received my Bachelors in Public Relations and worked in health care marketing before I had my babies. I hate Twitter. I do it, but I hate it. Also, if you want to get on my good side, bring me wine and I’ll love you forever.