Hard to Handle (Play Hard #1) by K. Bromberg-Review & Excerpt Tour
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 30, 2020
At first, the request seemed simple—sign a new athlete to the agency.
Then I found out the new athlete was none other than the most wanted man in hockey today: Hunter Maddox
Gifted. Sexy. At the top of his game. And the only man who has ever broken my heart.
If signing him will help save our family business, I’ll swallow my pride and do what’s asked.
But when it becomes clear his uncharacteristic antics off the ice are a hint of something deeper, keeping things strictly professional between us becomes more than complicated. But I know better than to cross that line.
I’ll never date a client. Not even for him.
***
Win the Stanley Cup and do it before time runs out.
Not a small feat, but it’s what’s motivated me since the start of my career.
And time is running out.
Enter Dekker Kincade.
Feisty. Dogged. Damn gorgeous. The one I let get away.
I have no idea why she’s traveling with the team, but hell if resisting her is going to be easy.
But I have a job to do, and I refuse to lose sight of that end game. Even if she confuses me. Even if she sees parts of me I’ve hidden from the world.
I can’t lose focus. Not even for her.
••••••••••
REVIEW: HARD TO HANDLE is the first instalment in K. Bromberg’s contemporary, adult PLAY HARD erotic, romance series. This is thirty-two year olds, professional hockey player and New Jersey Lumberjacks team captain Hunter Maddox, and sports agent Dekker Kincade’s story line.
Told from dual first person perspectives (Hunter and Dekker) HARD TO HANDLE follows the second chance romance and relationship between professional hockey player and team captain Hunter Maddox, and sports agent Dekker Kincade. Hunter Maddox is all about the game of hockey including the drive for the Stanley Cup. With his contract up for renewal Hunter comes face to face with his former ‘friends with benefits’, sports agent Dekker Kincade, the woman who walked away three years earlier and broke his heart but there is more to Dekker’s appearance than a friendly hello. What ensues is the rebuilding romance and relationship between Dekker and Hunter and the potential fall-out as Dekker struggles between head and heart, and Hunter’s current attitude is affecting everyone both on and off the ice.
Dekker Kincade and her three sisters work for their father’s KSM agency, and Dekker’s current assignment is to procure professional hockey player Hunter ‘Mad Dog’ Maddox but Dekker knows that to face Hunter Maddox means to potentially lose her professionalism in the face of lust, love and the man who had stolen her heart. Hunter Maddox is slowly spiraling out of control. A once, well oiled, self contained hockey machine, Hunter’s antics in public and on the ice hide a deeper, emotional fall-out that he keeps hidden to himself. Angry at the world, Hunter begins to take out his frustrations on his teammate, his family and the woman he loves.
The relationship between Hunter and Dekker is one of second chances: a rekindling romance that was destroyed by Dekker’s need to run, something she continues to do with each encounter with our story line hero. Dekker is the one woman whom Hunter is unable to forgive but the woman he knows has stolen his heart. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.
We are introduced to the Kincade sisters: Lennox, Chase, Brexton, and their father Kenyon Kincade; Maddox’s parents Gary and Carla Hunter, his brother Jonah, agent Finn Sanderson, and several members of the team: Callum Withers, goalie Katzen , Frankie, Maysen and Coach Junger.
HARD TO HANDLE is a story of family, relationships, struggles and love. A story of sibling rivalry, parental control, loss, grief, guilt and acceptance. The premise is emotional and real; the characters are edgy and dramatic; the romance is provocative and intense.
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sandy
how it clings to his body, despite the chill of the ice his skates are standing on. He has
his warm-up pants on and is without a helmet, his hair curling at the ends from thesweat.And all I see in his eyes is anger I didn’t put there. Or maybe I did. Rejection can do that
to a man . . . but there’s something more here. Something I walked in on that doesn’tmake sense.
“Don’t give me that look, Kincade,” Hunter mutters as he skates over to the penalty box
where his electrolyte drink sits.
“What look?” I ask.
He half laughs, half snorts and meets my gaze across the distance. “Disappointment.
Disproval. Disdain. I’m the king of all of them, so save your breath—or in this case—your
glare, because it’s not going to work with me.”
“Are we working on emotions that start with the letter D today?” I ask. A hint of my
embarrassment and anger over how I acted last night creeps into my voice, but I mask it
with sarcasm. “If that’s the case, I’m more than impressed with your answers thus far.”
He clenches his jaw in response and then skates back over to line up more pucks so he
can shoot them. And he does, one after another, each shot taken with laser precision and
a healthy dose of fury behind it.
He goes through the first ten lined up and then stops to catch his breath.
His talent and skill are undeniable, but so is the beer bottle in my hand.
“Just because you’re the captain and star of this team, doesn’t mean management won’t
frown upon this,” I say, unable to let this go.
“Screw the management.”
“No one likes a player who’s hard to handle and honestly, Hunter, you’re becoming hard
to handle.”
“No one likes unsolicited advice from someone who has no bearing on his career,
either,” he counters, the rebuke stinging but deserved.
The problem is, I do care about him. Doesn’t he get that’s where my hostility stems
from?
And only a crazy person would say that, Dekker.
I put my hands up in surrender to both him and my own thoughts. “You know I only
want the best for you.” I take a few steps in his direction in the first row of the stands.
I’m close enough to catch the hitch of his movement and to see uncertainty flicker in his
eyes. It’s almost as if he needs to talk but doesn’t see me as someone he can trust. I hate
that. “What is it, Hunter?”
“Nothing. It’s . . . never mind.”
But I see it, and he knows I see it. The question is what do I see, though?
New York Times Bestselling author K. Bromberg writes contemporary novels that contain a mixture of sweet, emotional, a whole lot of sexy, and a little bit of real. She likes to write strong heroines, and damaged heroes who we love to hate and hate to love.
A mom of three, she plots her novels in between school runs and soccer practices, more often than not with her laptop in tow.
Since publishing her first book in 2013, K. has sold over one million copies of her books and has landed on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestsellers lists over twenty-five times.
In April, she’ll release The Player, the first in a two-book sports romance series (The Catch, book 2, will be released late June), with many more already outlined and ready to be written.
She loves to hear from her readers so make sure you check her out on social media or sign up for her newsletter to stay up to date on all her latest releases and sales HERE
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Wonderful review, Sandy. Looks like an emotional and intense story line.
Great review, Sandy. Looks like a good start to a new series.
Another wonderful review, thanks Sandy
Great review, can’t wait, thanks Sandy
Fantastic review thanks Sandy.
Another great review and excerpt.
great review, sandy. looks very good.
Terrific review, Sandy. Looks like an emotional story line. Thanks.
Thanks for the fantastic review and excerpt, Sandy.