Dash: Rushing the Play
The second book in the Boston Tomcats series by Kayley Loring & Connor Crais is live!
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU
Free in Kindle Unlimited
Coming soon in audio narrated by Connor Crais & Emma Wilder featuring Mackenzie Cartwright & Evan Parker
Blurb
#99 Dash Taylor. Rookie defensive end for the Boston Tomcats. 285 pounds of fast-twitch muscle. Nickname: Big D.
I’ve been sacking quarterbacks since junior high and causing trouble since I was born.
My college coach thinks I have a bad attitude, so he makes me take ballet lessons as punishment. If I don’t turn things around on the field next season, he’ll bench me. I have no idea what ballet has to do with football, but it turns out the real punishment is that the beautiful dance teacher refuses to get involved with me.
Two years later, we cross paths again, and it’s not the other team’s offensive line who brings me to my knees—it’s a hundred-pound ballerina.
She doesn’t think I’m boyfriend material, and I used to think that too.
I’ve been a beast on the field and in the bedroom, but now I’m going to prove that I can be a man for her…and for our surprise baby.
I thought I was all about the smash and dash.
But getting Charlie Bardot pregnant changed everything.
Review
5 stars!
OMG, this book! This book took me by completely surprise – I dove in and thought it was going one way, and it went somewhere completely unexpected. It’s fun, laugh-out-loud funny, sweet, sexy, emotional and so, so romantic, it’s such an entertaining read, and I absolutely loved it!
Dash Taylor is a rookie with the Boston Tomcats NFL team – big, arrogant, and obnoxious, I was pretty much immediately turned off by his attitude. We meet Dash in college, where his coach is trying to deal with Dash’s hot-headedness, so he sends him to ballet classes to increase his flexibility and learn humility, grace and control. Dash is unimpressed. He does start to take a bit of an interest when he meets his young teacher, Charlie, who tempts him in every way possible, but she wants nothing to do with him. But there’s definitely something there between them, and they have an ’almost’ moment before going their separate ways.
It’s two years later when Dash and Charlie run into each other again. She’s moved to Boston as a professional dancer, and it’s clear from the first glance that all of the chemistry that existed between them in college is still very much there. Their night together rocks both of their worlds, and Dash knows that there’s more between them than just one night, but Charlie doesn’t believe that he’s cut out to be anybody’s boyfriend. And so, Dash goes on a mission to ‘woo’ Charlie, proving that he’s not just a beefed-up, cocky and aggressive a-hole. And he has his work cut out for him.
“Dash. Come on. You’re not that kind of guy.”
He shook his head. “Oh, Charlie, Charlie, Charlie. What are you doing? Is that a challenge? Big mistake. I’m going to boyfriend material the fuck out of you.”
Okay, that was cute. “That doesn’t even make sense.”
He smirked. “Oh, yes it does.”
It’s a fun set-up, and up until this point, I was fully supportive of Charlie and her decision. Dash is a cocky d-bag, I wouldn’t want him as a boyfriend either. But he very quickly proves Charlie – and me – wrong, bringing the charm and humour, and calming his cocky ways. And when Charlie discovers that she’s pregnant, Dash declares himself all in, and then things get really awesome.
We were going to get better at this dance. Knowing when to spin out and give each other space, when to twirl in and hold each other close.
This book is so much fun. I loved watching Dash and Charlie find their way forward together. Dash goes through such a huge shift in this book – calming down, finding his gentler, friendlier side, he genuinely tries to be a better person for Charlie and their baby, and it’s a wonderful journey watching the change in him. Charlie is fantastic through it all. She’s smart and sensible, and she handles their situation so well, but she’s also patient and accepting of Dash and all that he is trying to be, and she’s right there by his side, encouraging and supporting him all the way.
She didn’t change who I was. She just made me better at being me.
Their relationship shifts and changes with them as they grow closer and start to build a life together. It’s so natural between them, and I loved how honest they are with each other as they embrace everything that’s happening in their lives, and figure it out together.
There is a bit of drama, but it’s minimal, and works to bring the feels to their story. But mostly, this is a really fun read that made me laugh so much. Dash is freaking hilarious, and the banter, text messages, conversations with Charlie, with his brothers and with teammates, and all of the little things you do to prepare for your baby are all so entertaining.
DASH: Hey, baby. Is it too early to start talking about baby names? Because I think Wolverine would be a really cool name for a boy.
DASH: Or Wayne. After Bruce Wayne. But not Bruce because I knew a guy in high school named Bruce and he was a dick.
CHARLIE: Are you texting me about names for our child while reading a comic book on the toilet?
DASH: Uhhh…no?
The love story is gorgeous. It’s sexy as all hell, and I loved their passion for each other, how hard they fall, and how easily they embrace all of the massive changes coming at them. I loved the honesty between them, and the fun dynamic they share, and though they go through a lot, they do it sensibly and functionally, and I loved watching them find their HEA.
“It took a while to get here. But it was worth the wait.”
Characters from the previous books appear, and there’s a very small intro to the hero of the next book. I’m love this series, and the writing combination of Loring and Crais, and I can’t wait to see what they bring us next.
I loved this one! 5 stars!
An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Boston Tomcats
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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