Author: Christy Hayes
Publication Date: March 26, 2014
Genre: Romance, Contemporary Fiction
Tutoring college athletes at Southeastern State University is more than a job for Jenna Peterson; it's a way for her to pay it forward after long-ago tragedy struck too close to home. SE State's golden boy, Zach Chamberlain, isn't the first jock Jenna's tutored with cover-boy good looks, and he won't be the last. When he asks for her help with statistics, Jenna assumes he's as egocentric as the other athletes on her roster. A wildly inappropriate and lacklustre kiss at the worst possible time do much to disprove her theory.
Zach will do anything to save face in front of his family, and he uses Jenna's bleeding heart and unfortunate circumstances to enlist her help over the holidays. Jenna begins to realize Zach is more than a pretty face as his storybook life begins to unravel. When a sprig of mistletoe provides the perfect opportunity to affirm his skill, the searing kiss pits the play maker against the rule maker in a kiss to the end. When secrets are revealed and the game's on the line, will they follow the script, improvise, or throw the book out the window?
Christy Hayes lives outside Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband, their two children and two dogs. She has a journalism degree from the University of Georgia and is a member of Romance Writers of America and the Women's Fiction Chapter of Romance Writers of America. She's been writing seriously since 2004 and made the decision to indie publish in 2011.
Publication Date: March 26, 2014
Genre: Romance, Contemporary Fiction
Blurb:
College senior Zach Chamberlain's charmed life has always gone according to script:
Eighteen Date the prettiest girl in high school, check.
Football scholarship to a division-one school, check.
Heisman contender, check.
Buy engagement ring, check.
On track to graduate with honors, check.
There's just one glitch. His girlfriend is in love with his younger brother and breaks up with him in the middle of his senior season. Shocked, betrayed, and embarrassed, Zach turns to the only woman he can trust: his nerdy tutor.Tutoring college athletes at Southeastern State University is more than a job for Jenna Peterson; it's a way for her to pay it forward after long-ago tragedy struck too close to home. SE State's golden boy, Zach Chamberlain, isn't the first jock Jenna's tutored with cover-boy good looks, and he won't be the last. When he asks for her help with statistics, Jenna assumes he's as egocentric as the other athletes on her roster. A wildly inappropriate and lacklustre kiss at the worst possible time do much to disprove her theory.
Zach will do anything to save face in front of his family, and he uses Jenna's bleeding heart and unfortunate circumstances to enlist her help over the holidays. Jenna begins to realize Zach is more than a pretty face as his storybook life begins to unravel. When a sprig of mistletoe provides the perfect opportunity to affirm his skill, the searing kiss pits the play maker against the rule maker in a kiss to the end. When secrets are revealed and the game's on the line, will they follow the script, improvise, or throw the book out the window?
Kayla's Thoughts:
I absolutely loved the first book A Kiss By Design. But I have to admit that I might have loved this second book just a teensy bit better. I think one of the reasons has got to be the main girl featured. Jenna. She just reminds me of myself, and while I do not tutor athletes or major in Biology and stem cell research, I have always surprised people by my thoughts, feelings, or even actions, making true the phrase expect the unexpected. And that is exactly what Jenna does with Zach. She forces him to throw what he knows and is familiar with out the window. She forces him to look inside of himself and re-evaluate himself.
At the end of the last book, Zach was devastated with the initial breakup of him and Emily and the thought of Emily and Dylan becoming a couple. He is more shattered than anything about the fact that his familiar world is crumbling around him. This book kind of delves more into his feelings on the subject and how he is going to cope with it. And...well...he copes a bit better than he realizes.
This book is a fight between the two characters but also an internal struggle inside themselves. As much as they want to deny it, the two are more alike than they think. They both have these environments that hold no surprises. They are comfortable. They have planned against the inevitable, and no one can take this away from them. But love is a fickle mistress and will take them to a place they never expected.
They will try to contain their feelings, denying them, but life will throw them for a loop.
At the end of the last book, Zach was devastated with the initial breakup of him and Emily and the thought of Emily and Dylan becoming a couple. He is more shattered than anything about the fact that his familiar world is crumbling around him. This book kind of delves more into his feelings on the subject and how he is going to cope with it. And...well...he copes a bit better than he realizes.
This book is a fight between the two characters but also an internal struggle inside themselves. As much as they want to deny it, the two are more alike than they think. They both have these environments that hold no surprises. They are comfortable. They have planned against the inevitable, and no one can take this away from them. But love is a fickle mistress and will take them to a place they never expected.
They will try to contain their feelings, denying them, but life will throw them for a loop.
Verdict:
Okay, so throughout this book, Zach gives a nickname to Jenna. I don't want to give it away, but I have to say that it made me squeal every single time. It was just so cute, and that, paired with the denial of their growing feelings for one another, just made it that much more intimate and...well, I couldn't stop smiling each time the name came up. In fact, I still can't stop smiling when I think of it.
We get to see the real Zach in this story. The one behind the persona he exudes. He truly is a sweet guy. It just has taken him a bit longer than most to find his true self.
We get to see the real Zach in this story. The one behind the persona he exudes. He truly is a sweet guy. It just has taken him a bit longer than most to find his true self.
Links for Book:
Author's Bio:
Christy Hayes lives outside Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband, their two children and two dogs. She has a journalism degree from the University of Georgia and is a member of Romance Writers of America and the Women's Fiction Chapter of Romance Writers of America. She's been writing seriously since 2004 and made the decision to indie publish in 2011.
Christy writes romance and romantic women's fiction from her little basement office in the South. She's cooked up all kinds of trouble for her flawed characters when she's not driving her kids to one sporting event or another or walking her pesky rescue mutts through the neighborhood.
Thank you for your time and the lovely review!
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