Release Blitz: Winner Takes All by Erin Kern (Review + Excerpt + Giveaway)
They’re playing for keeps…
Winner Takes All
Champion Valley #1
Erin Kern
August 30, 2016
Forever
Mass Market & eBook
$6.99 USD (MM) / $6.99 USD (eBook)
Book Summary
Money. Fame. Endorsements. Blake Carpenter had it all—before his professional football career spiraled out of control. Determined to rebuild his life, he takes on coaching the high school team in his Colorado hometown. Despite a few fumbles, Blake knows he can lead these boys to victory. As long as he can keep his eyes on the prize and off the team’s distractingly gorgeous physical therapist.
Annabelle Turner knows all about the scandal that cost Blake his NFL career, and she’ll be damned if she’s going to let his mistakes hurt her team. What she doesn’t count on is the intense attraction that turns every heated run-in they have into a wildly erotic competition. Point by point, play by play, kiss by kiss, they try to keep things professional for the good of the team. But when the score is this close—and the passion this fierce—it’s anybody’s game . . .
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My Thoughts
*ARC provided by Publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review*
In Winner Takes All, injured and disgraced NFL football star Blake Carpenter returns to his hometown to coach a losing high school football team, with the purpose of proving he still has what it takes to play the game…and win, even if he isn’t actually on the field executing the plays himself. Annabelle Turner is a physical therapist who has been working with the team Blake now coaches…and he isn’t at all happy to have her around. Yet the more they see each other, the more they start to realize there is more to each other than meets the eye, and that who they are on the surface isn’t who they are inside.
I’m a huge football fan. Mostly college ball these days, but in my own high school years, I was at every football game to cheer on my friends. So it’s always with a bit of nostalgia that I pick up a football romance book, and while I’m always a little bit leery of reading a new author, I can never quite ignore that little pull that tells me to take a chance.
I’m so glad I took a chance on reading this book! Erin Kern not only wrote a great story, but two equally dynamic and fantastic characters. The more I read on these two, the more I wanted to know about them. My heart went out to them both for different reasons, but Blake? Man, I wanted to just hug the heck out of him, mostly because I deal with people a lot like him on a daily basis. Good people with problems they struggle to deal with on their own but can’t quite bring themselves to admit they need help with, at least not right away. It takes a while to build trust, and this story, this man, is a perfect example of that, and it’s because of his struggle that I really loved and appreciated Annabelle and who she becomes to Blake.
If you’re looking for a romance with some depth and real issues people struggle with, take a chance on Winner Takes All by Erin Kern. It’s a great story with a fantastic underlying message that hit me straight in the heart.
Love, love, love!
Final Analysis
An Excellent Read!
5 “I’m Gonna Need It In Print” Stars
Book Excerpt
The parking lot was almost empty as Blake left the field-house after the team’s win. He strolled toward his truck, keys dangling from one hand and his gym bag in the other. As he approached, he noticed a figure leaning against the driver’s side door.
A petite, luscious figure in a pair of tight jeans and a Blanco Valley High hooded-sweatshirt.
Just the sight of Annabelle turned his body on high alert. Over the past week, Blake hadn’t been able to get their kiss out of his mind. Not only the feel of her lips pressed to his, but how perfectly her body fit with his. Each one of her curves had molded seamlessly against his harder and bigger one, as though they were two pieces of the same puzzle.
And look at him with all the lame metaphors.
Blake approached the truck, twirling his keys around in his hand. Because if he didn’t keep them busy, he’d yank her away from the door and kiss her again.
“Hi,” she greeted when he stopped in front of her.
He tossed his bag in the bed of the truck. “Hey,” he replied. “You’re here awfully late.”
“I wanted to hang around and congratulate some of the kids. You guys played a good game tonight,” she told him.
“Thanks.” And why did her praise have to mean so much to him? The parents and the school district was what mattered. Not some hazel-eyed opinionated goddess.
Annabelle scraped the toe of her tennis shoe along the ground. And for some reason Blake found the movement endearing.
He was turning into such a pussy.
“Blake,” she said on a sigh. She pushed away from the truck and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry,” she told him. “About before.”
“For what?” he wanted to know. “The kiss or the apology?”
She blinked at him and inhaled a deep breath. “For the way I acted afterward,” she clarified. “To be completely honest, I’m not sorry for kissing you. I thought that maybe…” Her words trailed off. “I thought I had taken you off guard and acted inappropriately. I didn’t want you to think I was being too forward. The sorry just kind of popped out before I could think.”
Blake pocketed his keys. “You did take me off guard. But that didn’t mean I didn’t like it as much as you did. I think we both know I did.” She’d been pressed up against him hard enough to feel the evidence between his thighs.
As though sensing his thoughts, Annabelle’s gaze dropped down, lingering long enough to elicit a reaction. “I think it’s safe to say we both liked it. A lot,” she added. “Probably too much, actually.”
“And how much is too much?” Because that was part of his confusion.
One of her shoulders moved. “To be honest, I’m not sure. I’m still trying to figure that one out.”
“Maybe we should try it again, just to see,” he suggested.
Giveaway
Ten (10) mass market copies of WINNER TAKES ALL by Erin Kern
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Erin was born in Houston, TX. but spent the majority of her life in the Bay Area. She married her high school sweetheart and began her writing career while being a stay-at-home mom to her daughter.
Her first book, Looking for Trouble, was on the Amazon top 100 for four months, and on the indiereads.com top ten for four weeks. The second book in the Trouble series, Here Comes Trouble, was also a top seller on Amazon. Erin currently lives in North Texas with her husband and two children.
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