ARC Review: The Blueprint by S.E. Harmon

Blurb:

Kelly Cannon is satisfied with his life. He has friends, a wonderful family, and a great job. But his love life has reached a new level of pitiful. Why? Well, his heart decided to break all the rules. Don’t fall in love with a straight guy. And definitely don’t fall in love with your best friend.

NFL standout Britton “Blue” Montgomery has pressure coming at him from all sides. From his father, who’s only interested in Blue’s football career. From his coaches, who just want him to play without getting injured again. From the fans. From his agent. And from his mother, who has popped up on the radar after leaving his family years before. And now his relationship with Kelly is on shaky ground, and that frightens Blue more than anything.

When Kelly admits he’s in love with Blue, bonds are tested, and Blue has to decide what’s really important. He doesn’t want to lose the number-one person in his life, but the cost to keep Kelly close might be more than he’s willing to pay.

It’s a good thing his nickname is the Blueprint—it’s time to draft a new set of plans.

Jewel's rating:



I have a weakness for self discovery stories, the best-friends-to-lovers trope, and banter. In my opinion, SE Harmon nails all three, here. I love her style of storytelling and relationship development, too. It wasn't an easy road, for the MC's, but I liked it.

Britton "Blue" Montgomery is a veteran NFL player. He works hard, plays hard, and knows what he wants. Well, career-wise, anyway. He's never really been in the market for a relationship, preferring to play that field, too. Finding sex isn't difficult when you're a rich, built, tight-end in the NFL, after all, but trusting that someone is interested in you and not your status, is tough.

Kelly Cannon is a physics professor. Geeky and academic, but with the twist of piercings and tattoos. He's a bit unconventional in the class room, but he loves his job (most days) and his life (again, most days). He teaches, meets friends at the local pub, goes to Blue's home games and has what he wants. Mostly. He's also in love with his best friend...but doesn't see any way that could end well.


Blue and Kelly have been practically inseparable since they were 12 years old. They each have the other's back. They speak their minds and tend to be pretty open and honest with one another. The one exception was Kelly's feelings toward Blue. I mean, Blue knew Kelly loved him, but didn't know Kelly was in-love with him. For Blue's part, he wasn't honest with himself about his feelings toward Kelly, so he sent all kinds of conflicting signals Kelly's way, being possessive of Kelly, wanting more and then backtracking several times. Blue just had all kinds of trouble finding his feet, sexually speaking, and it really showed.

I thought I'd be bothered by how Blue kept backtracking, but I kind of got it, here. Blue does not shift gears quickly, at all, and though - once he started seeing Kelly in a sexual way - he acts on his curiosity, he has a lot of trouble reconciling his feelings for his best friend with the expectations of his father and the NFL. You could say he has some trouble getting out of his own way, but once he finally made the decision to move forward, I trusted it. He took the time and thought it out and made the decision.

Though I trust Blue and Kelly's HEA, here, I would have loved to have gotten an epilogue, just to seal the deal, further. I see other story opportunities, here though, with other MC's, so maybe we'll get to see them happy and settled in a future book. That is my hope, anyway!

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ARC of The Blueprint was generously provided by the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

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