Summary
The king of the gridiron is about to get sacked by a beauty queen with a grudge as big as Texas.
Cash King rolls into Ryder, Texas looking for a little TLC and an ego boost from the townspeople who call him their favorite son. But that ain’t happening. Which is just the cherry on top of the crap sundae that is his life.
His football career is hanging by a thread.
His mom isn’t speaking to him.
His hometown is out for his blood.
And Tiger Lyons, the girl he did wrong in high school, is supervising the renovation of his new home … and living in his pool house.
How’s the league’s premier quarterback supposed to rehab his battered body and regain his starting position, when the woman who still owns a piece of his heart—and now hates his ever-loving guts—is in his face 24/7?
Excerpt
Homecoming is stupid as hell.
Yet, here I am, anticipating my name being announced as homecoming king.
It’s not the title I want. It’s the girl, the future homecoming queen, Tiger Lyons. Yes, that’s her real name.
I can’t talk, my name is Cash King.
With a name like that, I’m destined to be a pimp or a professional athlete. And believe me, I’m doing everything in my power to make the latter happen.
Ms. O’Donnell, our principal climbs the stairs to the stage. Not long now. Then I’ll have the girl I can’t get out of my head, the one I think about even while on the football field, in my arms. I’ve had a serious crush on her since I first noticed girls.
She’s everything, and I’d do anything to be with her, but two things keep that from happening. First, Tiger’s dating Brad Watson, the town’s golden boy, and has been since our sophomore year. Honestly, I don’t know how she’s tolerated that tool for two years. I can barely stomach him for two minutes.
The second and biggest reason is that she and I are not in the same league. Oh, I’m good-looking enough, and if it weren’t for the fact that I was a member of the King family, I’d take her away from Brad faster than he can say second string.
The name King in this town, though … let’s just say that my family isn’t only from the wrong side of the tracks. We blew the tracks to hell, stole the scrap metal, then beat the crap out of someone with what was left. Good ol’ dad and my uncles … pieces of shit.
But it turns out the same characteristics that make the men in my family scary as hell and regularly in trouble with the law—size, aggression, being cunning as fuck—also make a pretty damn good quarterback. But no matter how good I am at football, no parent wants a King boy dating their daughter.
“Is this thing on?” Ms. O’Donnell says into the microphone. “The time has come to crown Ryder High’s new homecoming king and queen.” She dramatically displays a white envelope, then slides her finger under the sealed flap.
My pulse revs and surges in my veins when she clears her throat, then explodes into overdrive when she announces, “Tiger Lyons and Cash King.”
Review
(audiobook) It was a delicious surprise. I loved both main characters. They had a real personality, and they faced interesting challenges and struggles, bringing the common romcom plot to another level.
On one hand, you have Tiger, ex-beauty queen who decided to use more than her face to do good, but whom everybody thinks is stupid. On the other hand, there’s Cash, the injured football star who spent his life running away from his poor upbringing. They have a past, as friends–a relationship that was ruined by a single misunderstanding during homecoming. Reunited, they have to overcome their own shortcomings to be able to revive their past friendship. All of that felt quite real. Definitely compelling.
There’s a villain in the story. Though he’s really putting obstacles in their paths, the real opponents in the story are the characters themselves.
There were several funny moments and playful conversations. The atmosphere wasn’t too heavy despite the serious character developments. With all that plus the steamy romance, the author added two powerful messages about doing good for other people, and ignoring prejudices. And the bad guys always get what they deserve.
Both narrators were good, but I felt they didn’t exactly match the characters in the way they expressed their emotions. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t sweep me away as much as I wanted. Still a good audiobook, missing greatness by a thread.
Quickie
- Series: standalone
- Hashtags: #romcom #small town romance #sports romance #second chance #enemies to lovers #beauty queen #football player
- Triggers: some misogyny
- Main couple: Tiger Lyons & Cash King
- Hotness: 4/5
- Romance: 4/5
- + I liked following Cash’s struggles with his career
- – a whole town that condescending? yuck
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