Release Date: 19 March 2019
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Even one-night stands deserve a second chance in New York Times bestselling author Rachel Van Dyken’s novel of sporting desire.
What else can a virgin do when she’s ditched at the altar? Seattle heiress Mackenzie Dupont is treating herself to a single-girl honeymoon in Mexico and a desire to relinquish her innocence to a gorgeous one-night stand. Fake names. True pleasure. But when she wakes up alone, Mackenzie realizes just how much anger is left in her broken heart.
Suffering a tragic personal loss, pro soccer player Slade Rodriguez has his reasons for vanishing without a goodbye. Right or wrong, he’s blaming the beautiful and infuriating stranger he never wants to see again. They’re both in for a shock when Mackenzie shows up as his new personal assistant. And they both have a lot to learn about each other. Because they share more than they could possibly know, including a common enemy who’s playing his own games. And he’s not afraid to get dirty.
Now there’s only one way Mackenzie and Slade can win: to trust in each other and to stop hiding from the lies they’ve told, the secrets they’ve kept, the mistakes they’ve made, and the attraction that still burns between them.
My Review 5 STARS
**My thanks to the author for providing me with a free copy for an honest review**
This is the first book that i have read by this author, although i have wanted to try her books for quite a while, i have just not found the time before. The author will certainly be on my required reading list from now on though.
This story captivated me from the first page when Mackenzie is left at the alter by the man that she thought had been her best friend.
Fast forward six months and we get the first meeting of our other M/C, Slade Rodriguez on a plane where a malfunction causes the pair to a close encounter that carries on for the rest of the day giving both characters a chance to be a different them for a change.
Both character that have a recent past that changes the way that they look at the world, however it is only Slade that uses it to shelter himself, whereas Mack still has her tender and warm-hearted self still helping people.
There are some good supporting characters, believable bad guys trying to make things harder for the pair to reach that HEA, but in the end the strength of both character wins though.
Excerpt:
I was kissing her
again.
Maybe it was because
it had been months since I’d had a decent kiss, since I’d jumped into the arms of anyone who didn’t know me by name.
I could be Hugo
for a few days.
Hugo seemed spontaneous.
Hugo seemed relaxed.
Hugo seemed fun.
I sure as hell needed
some fun.
I broke away from
her kiss and trailed my fingertips down her chin. “So, now that we’ve established the plane didn’t crash and we’re here side by side, what did you have in mind?”
Ashley grinned up
at me, her eyes a bit hesitant as she looked from me to the ocean. “Well, I’ve never gone cliff diving, I heard there’s a great place close by.”
My eyebrows shot
up. “No offense, but you don’t seem like a thrill seeker.”
She laughed. I decided
I liked the way her laugh relaxed me, made me respond with a smile and a need to kiss her again. “I’m not, trust me.” She sobered a bit. Her lips turned down.
I wanted nothing
more than to press a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth just to see if it would it make it decide to smile in my direction again.
“But it would be
fun, I need fun.”
I sighed heavily
and looked at my feet. When the hell had I ever looked away like that? “That makes both of us.”
“Great!” She walked
ahead of me into her penthouse suite, which matched mine even in color. I suddenly wondered what she did for a living. I mean I could afford it because I had been the highest paid soccer star in Europe for the last ten years.
The place was around
three grand a day.
I eyed the large
master suite as she ran around and then held up her hand. “One sec, I’m going to change into a suit, alright?”
“Great.” I smiled
reassuringly. It would give me time to look around, not that I was stalking her, but I could never be too careful. I was still surprised she didn’t recognize me. And I knew when she did, this little facade, this freedom I felt in my chest, the easy way she
let me breathe around her? It would go to hell, and I’d need another escape.
I thumbed through
a few of the magazines on the table, and dropped the last one down just in time to hear the sliding bathroom door open and see a goddess emerge.
A one-piece swimsuit
covered her body. It had a plunging neckline that showed off two generously sized breasts, and I immediately regretted not telling her who I was.
Because clothing
tended to get pulled off, not put on, when I was in the room.
I eyed the scrap
of material she called a swimsuit, my eyes raking over her muscular legs, her curvy body.
“Unless you’re jumping
naked, you should change too,” she pointed out, then cleared her throat and looked away like she was insecure. Damn, the woman could make a man cut his own heart out for a taste of her special brand of sin.
I peeled my shirt
off over my body and shrugged. “Ready.”
Her eyes went so
wide I had to fight not to laugh.
I knew what she
saw.
I had Instagram
pages dedicated to my eyes alone, don’t even get me started on my abs.
Eight.
Tight, packed abs,
all tanned and golden like I was the sun god himself.
“Uh, right.” Her
cheeks brightened as she clasped her hands together. “Let’s go!”
I checked her out
the entire time she walked ahead of me, and when she caught me staring I just shrugged and said, “Next time wear more clothes if you don’t want me to look.”
“You should talk,”
she fired back.
“Misunderstanding.”
I grinned. “I wanted you to look.”
She slapped a hand
against my bare chest.
I laughed, and then
grabbed her hand and kissed her fingertips. “You ready to jump off a cliff with a stranger you’ve kissed twice?”
“Once,” she corrected
with a whisper. “I kissed you, you kissed me, we’re even.”
The doors to the
elevator opened as I whispered under my breath. “Not for long.”
***
About the Author
Rachel Van Dyken is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and #1 New York Times bestselling author known for regency romances, contemporary romances, and her love of coffee and Swedish fish. Rachel’s also recently inked a deal for her Wingmen Inc. series—The Matchmaker’s Playbook and The Matchmaker’s Replacement—to be made into movies. A fan of The Bachelor and the Seattle Seahawks (not necessarily in that order), Rachel lives in Idaho with her husband, a super cute toddler son who keeps her on her toes, and two boxers. Make sure you check out her site, www.RachelVanDykenauthor.com, and follow her on Twitter (@RachVD).
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