Hello readers! Today I'm excited to participate in the blog tour for Skin in the Game by Jackie Barbosa as I adored this story! This tour is hosted by Entangled Publishing. Thank you for allowing us to participate!
Skin in the Game by Jackie Barbosa
Publication Date: May 27th 2013 by Entangled Brazen
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
About the Book: Angela Peterson was always the quiet, shy kid growing up in Harper Falls, crushing on the high school quarterback and honing her football strategy skills. Now grown up and coaching the high school team, she’s shocked when that same sexy quarterback returns to Harper Falls asks her back to his hotel room. And then tries to steal her job.My Thoughts:
Injured NFL quarterback Cade Reynolds is in Harper Falls to take over as interim head coach, and he never thought the tall, blond bombshell he propositioned would offer up any resistance. Not to a repeat of the amazingly wild night they shared and certainly not to his coaching position.
But the Harper Falls High Eagles are Angie’s team, and even the hometown hero won’t take that away from her, no matter how hot he is. As the two engage in a battle of wits and wills, this is one game neither is prepared to lose.
Unrequited love is one of my favorite types of romances, and this is what we have between Angie and Cade.
Cade Reynolds is a famous NFL star quarterback, sidelined since his shoulder injury. When his old high school football coach calls in a favor, he can't say no. This man was his mentor and a father figure all in one. When he shows up back in his hometown, Harper Falls, he can't believe it when he lays on one of the most beautiful women he's ever seen. She's more than just a beauty though, this woman has brains. Something he learns by eavesdropping. She's the high school's resident math teacher. And as if that wasn't enough she's a sports fan, who quickly recognized him. Coming home seems to be paying off!
Angie Peterson can't believe her eyes when she looks over at Cade
Reynolds. He was the star quarterback, and popular homecoming king in high
school, and Angie's unrequited crush.
Sure they had some meaningful conversations about football & he was
duly impressed when she came up with some brilliant strategies for the game,
but he never really noticed a geek like her back then. Her talent for strategy
and working out plays only went so far.
And yet here he is in her hometown coffee shop eyeing her like she's a
dying man's last meal, with hunger and lust in his eyes!
When one thing leads to another they share a night of passion, one
that Angie feels sure won’t be repeated.
What she doesn’t count on is Cade being the hotshot stand-in head coach
for her team. She’s worked hard as
assistant coach, but now that doesn’t seem to make a difference when Cade steps
in and takes a spot that should’ve rightfully been hers. Angie doesn’t care if he is a celebrity NFL
player, she’s not about to go down without a fight! Let the sparks fly people,
and the fun begin!
I loved that with all this drama things never got frustratingly
out of hand between Angie and Cade. Cade
remained a sweetheart and a gentleman throughout the story and Angie was,
thankfully, pretty levelheaded as well. These
two had some smoking hot chemistry and fire in the beginning that had to be
reigned in, because of their situation, but they could hardly keep their hands
off each other even so!
As his mouth captured hers, she
stiffened with surprise of indignation, maybe both. It didn’t matter. He
deepened his onslaught, not sure if he was trying to punish her or subdue her
and not really caring which it was…..When she melted against him with a groan
of surrender and met the stroke of his tongue with her own, he wanted to pump
his fist at the sky and shout with triumph.
Skin in the Game had a sweet romance with enough spice to get your
heart racing, and an ending that put a big fat smile on my face. This is my
first read by Jackie Barbosa, but it won’t be my last!
It seems that we get a second story in this world with Angie’s
best friend, Rachel, and Cade’s best friend, Warren. Rachel is a physical therapist and Warren is
a NFL quarterback with a serious injury who seems to have lost hope in a
recovery. I can’t wait to read that
story!
A
copy of this was provided by Entangled Publishing in exchange for an honest
review. Thank you!
4 Suns
About the Author: I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be a writer when I
grew up, but there were plenty of times when I wasn’t sure I ever would be. As it turns out, it just took me about twenty years longer to grow
up than I expected!
On the road to publication, I took a few detours, including a
stint in academia (I hold an MA in Classics from the University of Chicago and
was a recipient of a Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities) and many years as a
technical writer/instructional designer for a data processing company. I still hold
my day job in instructional design, but my true passion is writing steamy
romances–both historical and contemporary.
I learned to believe in love at first sight when I met the man of my dreams twenty years ago and to believe in happily ever after when I married him. I live in Southern California with my husband, our three children, and an ever-changing menagerie of pets. Connect with Jackie through:
You just commented on my review of The Sea of Tranquility, but I didn't know if you'd see my reply. Here is what I wrote: "Rachel, you have mentioned more of my favorite books. I love The Opportunist and Dirty Red! You might say that I'm obsessed. Are you on Facebook? If so, are you in The Opportunist Group? Fun stuff goes on in there."
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