Title: The Striker’s Chance
Series: N/A
Author: Rebecca Crowley
Genre: Contemporary
Landing the PR contract for North Carolina’s new soccer team could take Holly Taylor’s career to the next level. Her task? Make Kepler “Killer” de Klerk, an athlete with a party-hard reputation, a star. But revamping the sexy footballer’s image while battling her unwanted attraction to him is easier said than done.
The car accident that derailed Kepler’s European career also gave him some much-needed perspective. He’s ready to give up on fame and focus on the game he loves. The last thing he needs is a headstrong brunette pushing him back into the spotlight, even if butting heads with her is the most fun he’s had in ages.
The more time Holly spends with Kepler, the more she sees how different he is from his tabloid persona. But when she’s offered her dream job for a price, she finds herself torn between the career she’s spent years building and the man she doesn’t want to give up
Thoughts: When I saw this book posted to chose to review I really debated about reading it. First the cover didn’t really grab me, second the title of the book didn’t make me want to see what a striker was. That being said I decided to give it a try when I read the blurb. This is very much a case where the blurb really intrigued me.
I love sports heroes, and to read one where the hero didn’t play the normal sports of football, baseball or hockey and wasn’t a MMA fighter intrigued me. When I started reading it and discovered the hero was from South Africa I knew I had to finish this book.
In my house the Springboks are a huge deal. They are the South African National Rugby team. Because we follow South African Rugby I’m very familiar with the attitudes and feelings of their professional athletes, and Kepler fits the mold perfectly. When it’s revealed he won’t have a sponsor on his cleats, and instead has the South African flag I got it. When his tattoo was revealed I knew why. I loved how the author really brought the flavor of South Africa alive in Kepler in so much that he spoke Afrikaan’s.
I loved Kepler from page one, and the more we got to know him, the more I wanted him to get his HEA. His love of the sport comes through on every page, as well as his loathing of publicity. All he wants to do is play the sport. He’s grateful the team took a chance on him. But he wasn’t prepared for Holly. The more time he spends with her, the more he likes her and wants a relationship with her. But that is impossible.
Holly has landed her dream account. This is the account that will propel her business into the stratosphere. All she has to do is change the image of one soccer player. To bad he makes all her girly parts stand up and scream do me. This is something she doesn’t want. The more time she spends with him, the more she discovers he’s nothing like what the tabloids have claimed.
There was a couple of things that bothered me but not enough to have me stop reading.
I really enjoyed this story. The relationship between Kepler and Holly was believable and one that kept me reading long after I should have been asleep. If you like sports heroes, and want to read about a sexy South African Soccer player then you won’t want to miss this one.
I’m hoping we’ll get more books about the other players on Kepler’s team.
Grade: B
