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Review

This book is a fantastic collaboration between two amazing authors, and the result is a fun, intelligent romance that is original, full of quick wit, fantastic banter, epic quotes, and a hot romance, but still with a lot of heart. I loved it.

Annie is a hermit. She lives a quiet life, working as a social media expert for a media firm – her job is to turn around negative publicity for celebrity clients. She mostly does this from home, keeping to herself and revelling in her quiet and solitude. But her alter-ego is the Socialmedialite – an anonymous entertainment blogger with a wildly successful and much-loved blog, she comments on all things celebrity. Her blog is the only place she is brave and feels free to act however she wants, and say whatever she wants, and it is there that she publicly comments on Ronan Fitzpatrick.

Ronan is an international Rugby player – a ‘hooker’. From Ireland, he has escaped to New York after an incident which left him suspended from his team and harassed by the media who have painted him a reckless and violent bad boy. Sick of all of the lies about him, when he reads the less than positive blog post written about him, he responds directly to the Socialmedialite with a scathing comeback, sparking a private, vicious debate. But even though he despises all things celebrity, he is desperate to get back to the game he loves so he is willing to do anything to improve his public image. So when his agent employs the help of a media firm to help turn things around for him, he reluctantly agrees to go along with it.

When Annie and Ronan are paired up to work together, Annie is mortified that the man she is privately arguing with is the same man she needs to work closely with in order to improve his image. Ronan is thrilled. He sees beyond Annie’s quiet, bookish exterior, and is immediately intrigued and attracted. He decides that he wants her, and he goes all out to have her – having no idea who she actually is.

Annie does her best to resist – she’s attracted to Ronan but she has issues with relationships, and she also feels that it would be unprofessional to get involved with a client. But when circumstances push them together, she slowly starts to give in, and that only makes him push harder.

Ronan’s pursuit of Annie is absolutely sensational! Rude and crude, and seemingly with no shame, he makes no secret of the way he feels, and what he wants from her. And the banter, flirting and texting sexting is awesome!

“Dearest Annie,
Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
I’m using my hand
But I’m thinking of you.
– Ronan
P.S. Just to clarify, I’m using my hand to write this note…get your mind out of the gutter.”

Oh how I love that man! He’s an outgoing, arrogant and smutty bastard who is funny and sexy, and the chapters from his POV are absolute gold.

“I wanted to high-five the fuck out of myself then do a victory dance. But I didn’t, because, you know, manly.”

But he’s also an absolute sweetheart who is generous, patient, and deeply caring about those that he loves. He is utterly charming (when he wants to be), and I loved that he so freely opens up about his feelings.

“I feel like I could lose myself and find myself in you, Annie” I murmured close to her ear.
She swallowed. “Don’t say things like that.”
“I can’t help it. Believe me, I’ve tried. You make me feel everything.”

His outgoing nature starts to bring Annie out of her shell, and things between them progress very quickly. I loved watching them fall for each other, although I must confess, the insta-infatuation moves very quickly into love. To be honest, I was surprised when the ‘L’ word made its first appearance. But Ronan’s openness and no-nonsense manner makes it all feels very natural. He’s a man who knows what he wants, and the way he wants Annie is absolutely gorgeous.

“I feel…very protective of you. Irrationally so? Yeah, maybe. But it’s just the way it has to be. I promise you, once you realize all I want to give you, you’ll like it. Hell you’ll love it. This is us, and this is permanent.”

And did I mention the sex? Yeah, this book is hot! Ronan is a dirty talker, and there’s a lot of sex talk before they make it anywhere near a bedroom! He’s also a bit of a kinky bastard – no BDSM, but Ronan likes control – and he’s lucky that Annie revels in it. The sexy time is steaming, but there’s a lot of feeling between them as well, and I liked the amount of emotion that was put into those scenes.

“I don’t always want you to be tied up. I want you free. I want you wild. I want you brave. I want you any way I can get you.”

But it’s not an easy road for them, and parts of the story got a little frustrating for me (view spoiler). And then there is Annie’s big secret, what will happen when all is revealed?

I really enjoyed this book. The writing is fantastic, and it’s amazing to think that this book is written by two different authors. They’ve done a wonderful job bringing two such different characters to life and blending their story together so seamlessly.

Funny, sexy, romantic and heartwarming, I loved it.

4 stars.

 

The Rugby Series