Decker: Changing the Play, book #1 in the Boston Tomcats series, is live!
A fantastically fun and funny sports romance that is full of chemistry and heat, with a gorgeous romance!
Amazon (free in KU)
Audiobook will release in March
Audiobook will be duet-style narration by Connor Crais and Mackenzie Cartwright, featuring Ava Lucas and Ron Butler.
Blurb
#12 Johnny Decker. Star quarterback for the Boston Tomcats. Two-time Super Bowl MVP…a decade ago. Nickname: Decker the Panty Wrecker.
I get tackled for a living by men who are built like rhinos. I could take the wings off a fly with a football from 30 yards away. (I wouldn’t, but I could.) Being a veteran quarterback means I’m a mentally alert, fine-tuned athletic machine who can make split-second decisions.
It’s my job to anticipate what’s going to happen next and adapt. But I couldn’t have anticipated the death of our beloved team owner.
His estranged daughter Hannah Strong is a finance nerd from New York. She knows less than nothing about football. Know what she didn’t anticipate? Inheriting the Boston Tomcats.
She’s stubborn, uptight, infuriating, and wrong about absolutely everything—from pizza to how to run my team. And I don’t want to talk about how good she looks in a skirt. Or daydream about how good she’d look out of it.
Really, I don’t.
I’m not Decker the Panty Wrecker anymore—I’ve changed.
I can’t stop arguing with her.
Or thinking about her.
I thought I had a winning play.
But Hannah Strong changed everything.
Review
4.5 stars!
I loved this book! A fantastically fun and funny sports romance that is full of chemistry and heat, with a gorgeous love story, and I loved it!
I’m a big fan of Kayley Loring, and this book is co-written with audiobook narrator, and first-time author, Connor Crais, and they do a wonderful job with it! The writing is seamless, witty and funny, with great banter, and so enjoyable to read.
Hannah Strong is a financial whiz with a good life in New York City, but her whole world changes when her estranged father dies and she learns that she has inherited his beloved Boston NFL team, and is now its new owner. She knows nothing about football, in fact she has a deep hatred of it, seeing as it was her father’s whole world, and the reason he practically ignored her for her whole life. But she is stubborn and determined, so she packs up and heads to Boston to see what she’s in for.
Johnny Decker is the champion quarterback for the Boston Tomcats. He lost a mentor and friend when the team owner passed away, and he is highly unimpressed when his daughter comes to town to take over the team. She knows nothing about the sport he is so passionate about, and he doesn’t want her coming into his team and messing everything up.
It’s not the greatest of beginnings for them, and Johnny can instantly see that Hannah is way out of her depth. She’s aware of it too, but she sets to work learning as much as she can about football, and about the team, and Johnny respects that. He starts to help her out, and their bickering turns to flirty banter, and the chemistry between them begins to sizzle.
HANNAH: I just wanted to say thank you for last night again and please keep the fact that you kissed me between us.
DECKER: Hmmmm. I’m pretty sure you kissed me.
HANNAH: You tricked me!
DECKER: How did I trick you?
HANNAH: I’ve become acquainted with your “panty wrecker” reputation. You somehow duped me into making me crash my face into your face.
DECKER: I’m afraid that was all you, darlin’. The panty wrecker you’re referring to was the old Decker. New Decker was a perfect gentleman last night.
HANNAH: Gentleman. Right. (face with rolling eyes emoji)
DECKER: It’s true. The old Decker would have taken you out longer. We both would’ve been drunker. We still wouldn’t have made it inside your place. I just would have held your back down on the console with one hand while I enthusiastically removed your panties with the other. It’s also possible Old Decker would have made you put those wrecked panties in your mouth to cover the screams from all the amazing orgasms I would have given you in that back seat.
HANNAH: I see.
DECKER: But that didn’t happen, now did it?
HANNAH: No. It did not.
DECKER: Because I’m a new Decker. I’ve learned to control myself because I’m focused on football. You hate football, so I understand why you don’t have that same kind of control around me. Which is why you crashed your face into my face. And why I have no doubt you will do it again.
HANNAH: I’m not sure what you’re talking about. But I am absolutely positive you need to get over yourself.
DECKER: See you at the office, Hannah. (winking face emoji)
HANNAH: (raised middle finger emoji)
Things escalate from there, very quickly taking a turn for the sexy, and oh my holy God, these two are on fire together! For the sake of their careers, they agreed to keep things quiet, but their bantering and bickering continues to be epic, and I loved the fun dynamic between these two so much!
“We need to remember to keep up appearances. By which I mean I will act like I still find you arrogant and condescending, and you need to pretend to still be annoyed and aggravated by everything I say and do.”
“Trust me, I won’t be pretending.”
“Trust me, neither will I.”
Their feelings for each other develop beautifully and naturally, and I loved watching the shift between them. It’s very real to their characters, and they maintain the playfulness, fun and openness that is such a huge part of their connection
“It’s been a while since I was anyone’s boyfriend, but I’m pretty sure I’m good at it.” He kissed my forehead. “I want to be. For you.” His body stiffened. “Fuck, that was cheesy. Forget I said it.”
I laughed and then remembered we were trying to be discreet and lowered my voice. “Nope. I’ll never forget it.” I got on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek.
“Whatever.”
It’s a gorgeous romance, full of steam, fun and teasing, but it’s also incredibly heartfelt, and I loved watching these two fall so hard for each other.
“I love you.” It was surprisingly easy to say.
I thought it would be a big, difficult moment. But she gave me a small, dreamy smile and, on a pleasant sigh, said, “I love you too.”
It wasn’t hard for either of us because every part of us already knew the truth about how we felt about each other. We weren’t speaking something new into existence. We were just naming something that was already there.
But the romance between the team owner and her superstar quarterback is tested by their professional relationship. They’ll be challenged in ways they never could have expected, and though there is some angst and drama, I loved watching them work through it all to find their HEA.
I freaking love this book! It’s fun, laugh-out-loud funny, and gorgeously romantic, with characters that you can’t help but adore – all of the things I love about Kayley Loring’s books. I will admit that some of the football stuff went way over my head. I’m Australian, and my knowledge of the NFL comes exclusively from reading sports romance books, so I’m pretty freaking clueless. There were parts of this book where I had no clue what things meant, but I understood enough that it didn’t impinge on my enjoyment of the story at all.
This is a really strong start to the Boston Tomcats series, and I can’t wait to read more.
4.5 stars!
An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Boston Tomcats
Decker (#1) (Decker & Hannah)
Buy: Amazon
Untitled (#2) (Dash)
Coming soon
About Kayley Loring
Before writing steamy romantic comedy novels, Kayley Loring got a BFA in creative writing from a Canadian university and had a fifteen-year career as a screenwriter in Los Angeles (under a different name). She mostly wrote PG-13 family comedies that studios would pay her lots of money for and then never make into movies. In 2017 she decided to move to the Pacific Northwest and write about all the fun stuff that she wasn’t allowed to write about in those PG-13 scripts. Now she’s breathing cleaner air and writing dirtier words. It’s an adjustment she’s happily getting used to.
Rest assured that her funny sexy sweet romances have no cheating or cliffhangers, and always have HEAs!
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About Connor Crais
Connor Crais is a classically trained actor living in the Midwest with his wife, two kids, and rescue greyhound. He has been both a stage and television actor, and before plunging into the romance genre, he had been narrating commercials, audiobooks, and explainers for well over a decade from his home studio. From alphas to bosses to cocky sports stars (a particular favorite), he loves sparring with beautiful, sassy heroines (and their talented narrators) but also loves winning them over and reaching that happily ever after. He is excited to now create those stories as an author.
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