Illegal Contact by Santino Hassell

Narrated by Alexander Cendese & Eric London

I’m a fan of sports romances generally and was excited to have the chance to review Illegal Contact, which features characters who play NFL for the fictional New York Barons. It’s smart, sweet, sexy – and recommended particularly for those who enjoy a slow burn romance.

In many ways, Illegal Contact reminded me of The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata (another romance that I also recommend – although that one is M/F and Illegal Contact is M/M) and I mean that in the most complimentary of ways. Both books feature a slow burn romance against the background of NFL football, both involve an employee/employer relationship burgeoning into romance and neither require a lifelong love of sport in general or football in particular to enjoy.

Illegal Contact is different of course. It’s very much its own book. For one thing, the heat factor is much greater (not a complaint) and, as it is an M/M romance featuring a closeted character, coming out publicly is an issue that must be addressed one way or another for a HEA to be achieved.

Barons tight end, Gavin Brawley, is under house arrest for the next six months after being charged and convicted regarding a very public assault. There’s a story behind it (naturally) but he’s a 6’5” very burly dude and even though the other guy hit first, Gavin is held responsible given his size, his profession and his celebrity. He’s suspended for the NFL season and, apart from very occasional visits to see his agent, he is stuck in his West Hampton mansion on his own for half a year, wearing a monitoring device on his ankle to ensure his compliance. It’s not a poor little rich boy story. From a very practical perspective, as he is not allowed to leave the property, he needs help so that whatever he needs can be brought to him. So, his manager convinces him to hire a personal assistant.

Noah Munro is a gay social worker who was fired after going to the management of his last place of employment to advise that one of the managers was sleeping with clients. As Noah had, himself, slept with said manager (consensually), his revelation was seen as more a result of jealousy rather than any misconduct on the manager’s part (where have we heard that before, ladies?) and now he’s out of a job. Noah’s BFF, Jasmine, has a contact with the Barons and encourages Noah to apply for the role with Gavin.

Gavin is bisexual but not out; the NFL is not all that LGBTQ-friendly and he and his advisors see him coming out as a career-limiting move. Gavin knows he has only a few more years left to play before his body gives out. He loves football. He grew up in foster care and group homes, and football was his ticket out of poverty. When the story begins, football is all he knows. He is completely unsure how he will manage without football for six whole months and it’s eating at him that he’s letting the team down by not being available this season.

Gavin has an admitted anger management problem. It was football which provided the outlet for his aggression but even that wasn’t quite enough – obviously, given the assault charge. He has a temper and yes, there was the assault, but he is not routinely violent. He can be brash and abrasive – but Noah gives back as good as he gets and soon a friendship develops between the pair.

Noah doesn’t at first know of Gavin’s sexuality but there is mutual attraction from the get-go. Neither intend to act upon it.

Gavin appreciates Noah’s “take no shit” attitude and Noah begins to see the man behind the (poor) image he has in the media. Part of Gavin’s image problem is addressed by Noah starting up a Twitter and Instagram profile for him and showing the fans that Gavin has a lovely smile and is more than a brawler. Noah helps Gavin with some charity projects, and as they work together, friendship becomes more.

Issues around the power differential, potential sexual harassment and the fact that the men are holed up together basically alone for six months are addressed head-on and I appreciated this very much. So many times, a boss/employee romance glosses over these issues and, especially in today’s environment, it’s frankly not good enough. Noah calls Gavin on some of his behaviour, Gavin realises it, apologises and stops it. Excellent. It was that sort of thing which made me believe in the long-term viability of this pairing.

The physical part of the relationship only commences after a strong friendship is established and I loved that there was plenty of time to build up to the sexy times. The intimate scenes are hot, earthy and are not gratuitous.

A warning for some listeners, Gavin has a couple of hookups with another guy before he starts the relationship with Noah. There is no cheating. But some romance listeners dislike heroes bumping uglies than anyone other than the – in this case – other hero. It didn’t bother me however (see previous: there was no cheating).

The other thing I very much appreciated about the book was that the problem with concussion and brain injury in the NFL was specifically addressed and not dismissed as unimportant.

The narration is told in a dual POV format, with Alexander Cendese performing the sections from Gavin’s perspective and Eric London performing Noah’s. Both narrators were very good. I’ve heard Mr. Cendese before narrating some Patricia Briggs so I expected as much from him. But Eric London was a pleasant surprise.

Both narrators delivered a creditable female character voice. It was no Greg Tremblay but it wasn’t bad either. Mr. Cendese and Mr. London gave Noah and Gavin identifiable voices and, for the most part, I was able to distinguish between the protagonists easily without relying on dialogue tags. All of the cast members had a distinct sound – although some of those sounds weren’t always pleasant to my ears and at least one felt a little caricature-y – but I appreciated the effort made. And, to be fair, I expect what sounded not-entirely-pleasant to me will not even be a blip on another listener’s radar.

Gavin is a somewhat brusque, generally less-sophisticated guy and Mr. Cendese portrayed him exactly that way without ever making him seem like a Neanderthal. Similarly, Noah is a more of a lover than a fighter and a definite social justice warrior (not a pejorative) and Mr. London nailed that performance as well. Both narrators showed they could portray either character well however.

Illegal Contact was a definite win for me on all levels.

Kaetrin