Rating: 4 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Victoria needs money. As a college student, she takes everything on herself. Finances with her mother have always been fragile and when those finances threaten Victoria’s sister’s ability to get aid for college, Victoria comes up with a plan. She puts up a flier advertising that she will lose her v-card on camera and needs a partner. Victoria never expected Mike to answer her ad. Mike is the catcher for the college baseball team and, since Victoria works for the team, they are forbidden to date. But they both need money and becoming business partners seems ideal. However, there are also feelings between them, as well as feelings between Mike and his best friend, Jonathan, the star pitcher of the team. Jonathan has a crush on both Mike and Victoria and then Jonathan gets involved in the videos as well.
Then there’s Tyler, Victoria’s ex-stepbrother. He adds to Victoria’s family angst and the two of them have always had a contentious relationship. But now Tyler is involved in the group project as well and Victoria finds herself saying yes to all of them. But Victoria also wants a happily ever after on her own terms and now she has no idea how to choose. What’s a good girl to do?
Here’s me again reviewing another debut author, as I often find myself trying new authors. This book was more than a solid effort and in some ways was more than I expected. There are four points of view in the book and it was an effortless transition from one to the next and I appreciated that, as multiple POVs are a favorite of mine.
The book opens with Victoria. She is a college student and takes on everything. With demanding courses, she also works for the baseball team and tries to be everything to her younger sister and fill in the gaps that their mother leaves. A financial situation has Victoria once again trying to fix everything and she thinks that “selling” her virginity will bring in the money that is needed.
Then there is Mike. He’s the catcher on the baseball team and, due to an injury, he knows he has no chance of a professional baseball career. He knows Victoria from the clubhouse and is attracted to her, but Mike is also in love with his best friend, Jonathan, who is the pitcher for the team. But Mike has self esteem issues and thinks he can’t possibly be good enough for either of them.
Jonathan knows he’s a good pitcher and a baseball career is all he has ever wanted. He gets nervous before games and Mike has calmed him from their first conversation. Having never been attracted to a man before, Jonathan does not realize that he is in love with Mike. He does know that he is wildly attracted to Victoria.
Then, there is Tyler who is Victoria’s former stepbrother. They have never gotten along, Tyler gets on all of Victoria’s nerves, but there is more going on, of course.
There is a lot more emotion in this book than I expected. The relationships between Victoria, Mike, and Jonathan are built upon as the base of the story and it was great reading as they navigate the videos and the way their relationships are changing. Then Tyler is brought in, which adds another layer to an already full story.
This is a long book and at times the middle portion lagged and then I felt there wasn’t enough time to devote to Tyler to make him really stand out. I felt the book could have been just as good, possibly better, with more depth for Victoria, Mike, and Jonathan, if Tyler wasn’t added in here and I never got a complete sense of how he was going to fit in with all of them going forward. I also felt like his story wasn’t fully tied up at the end, there wasn’t enough detail devoted to all of his actions throughout the story, and the story with his father and Victoria’s mother needed more to make it fully come together for me.
The book is sex positive with Victoria enjoying her OnlyFans account and acceptance of the complicated relationship in general. Expanded Roster offered complex relationships and emotions with characters taking chances and I will definitely look for more from this author.
