RISKY PLAY (Red Card #1) by Rachel Van Dyken-Review, Guest Post, Excerpt & Giveaway Tour

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About the book: Release Date March 19, 2019

What else can a virgin do when she’s ditched at the altar? Seattle heiress Mackenzie Dupont is treating herself to a single-girl honeymoon in Mexico and a desire to relinquish her innocence to a gorgeous one-night stand. Fake names. True pleasure. But when she wakes up alone, Mackenzie realizes just how much anger is left in her broken heart.

Suffering a tragic personal loss, pro soccer player Slade Rodriguez has his reasons for vanishing without a goodbye. Right or wrong, he’s blaming the beautiful and infuriating stranger he never wants to see again. They’re both in for a shock when Mackenzie shows up as his new personal assistant. And they both have a lot to learn about each other. Because they share more than they could possibly know, including a common enemy who’s playing his own games. And he’s not afraid to get dirty.

Now there’s only one way Mackenzie and Slade can win: to trust in each other and to stop hiding from the lies they’ve told, the secrets they’ve kept, the mistakes they’ve made, and the attraction that still burns between them.

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REVIEW: RISKY PLAY is the first instalment in Rachel Van Dyken’s contemporary, adult RED CARD sports, romance series. This is thirty-year olds, professional soccer player Slade Rodriguez, and heiress / sommelier Mackenzie Dupont’s story line.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Mackenzie and Slade) RISKY PLAY follows the building but contemptuous relationship between thirty-year olds, professional soccer player Slade Rodriguez, and heiress Mackenzie Dupont. Growing up as part of the Dupont Wine Dynasty didn’t protect Mackenzie from humiliation when her fiancé walked away, leaving a heart broken Mackenzie to pick up the pieces of her life. Needing time away, six months later, Mackenze went on her honeymoon alone, only to meet the man with whom she would fall in love but a man who, hit it and quit it, their first night together. Enter professional soccer player Slade Rodriguez. What ensues is the building but acrimonious relationship between Slade Rodriguez, and the potential fall-out as both Slade and Mackenzie’s pasts are determined to destroy our leading couple.

Mackenzie Dupont worked side by side with the man she was going to marry but when her father refused to let the man go, Mackenzie went in search of other employment only to come face to face with her one-night stand. Slade Rodriguez’ life fell apart while on vacation in Puerto Vallarta but blaming the woman with whom he would fall in love would cause all kinds of problems for our story line heroine.

The relationship between Mackenzie and Slade begins as a vacation affair that quickly turns into a one-night stand. Waking up alone, Mackenzie struggled with what happened and why. Slade Rodriguez’ call from home found our hero destroying what little self-esteem Mackenzie had left when he vanished in the night without explanation or good bye. The $ex scenes are passionate and intimate, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are introduced to a colorful and energetic cast of secondary and supporting characters including high-profile sports agent Matt Kingston; Slade’s on and off the field nemesis Jagger Kozlov, as well as Mackenzie’s mother and father, and Mackenzie’s ex-fiance Alton Davis.

RISKY PLAY is a story of family, friendship, betrayal, power and control. The character driven premise is fast paced with a little bit of fun, snark, heart break and romance. The characters are charismatic and animated; the romance is sweet, sassy and seductive. I did have to question the number of times our heroine had tears in her eyes, wet cheeks, or was about to cry- she should have been dehydrated by the end of the story; and thirty year old virgins are only found in romance story lines 😉

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Why Sports Heroes Make the Best Book Boyfriends by Rachel Van Dyken

Hey everyone! I’m Rachel Van Dyken, author of over eighty (holy crap) books in multiple genres, one of my favorites being, sports romance! My latest book, Risky Play, is about two broken main characters who find themselves on a last minute holiday to Puerto Vallarta.

Pro Soccer player Slade Rodriguez is trying to lay low after finding out his girlfriend and his ex teammate hooked up behind his back, for over a year. Licking his wounds he changes teams and moves to Seattle, but isn’t ready to settle down yet. Needing time to himself, he gets on the first jet out. He sits next to Mackenzie Dupont on a plane and is immediately intrigued, especially since a few hours into the plane ride, they have single engine failure. She asks him what one thing he would do different. And they kiss. Once the plane safely lands, to protect his own identity, he gives her a fake name, Hugo. What he doesn’t realize is she’s famous in her own right, so she does the same thing. After all, she’s running away from a broken engagement. What follows is a whole lot of steaminess and taking chances with a complete stranger assuming that it’s just that, a one night stand, a two night stand. Whatever it is, Mackenzie’s obsessed with “Hugo’s” intense golden gaze, the eight pack helps, and the fact that he seems genuinely interested in everything she says. He promises the universe he’s going to keep her, but sometimes the universe is against us. Tragedy strikes and they go their separate ways only to meet again in Seattle, this time, sparks fly and not the good kind The “I want to kiss you, then strangle you, then kiss you again” kind.

I love writing sports romances because I think it adds this extra layer of pressure from the press to act a certain way. Not only does Slade have to deal with paparazzi but he has pressure to perform, to lead his team to the championships after training with another team. I think it brings in so many details from behind the scenes that we never think about when watching sports on TV. I’m fully dedicated to interviewing real athletes (and my last sports romance I interviewed NFL players). This time I wanted to focus on a sport that isn’t as huge here as it is internationally and really do it justice. These athletes eat, sleep, and breathe their sport, there isn’t a lot of time for a personal life and if you do have one, the balance is always going to be a struggle (not to mention the fact that Slade is still mourning). In this book, I wanted to introduce a really strong female character that wouldn’t let Slade project all those feelings and basically Mackenzie is the type of girl that doesn’t put up with his crap. I think it’s important to have strong female characters that women can look up to. I love that during the entire journey my heroine doesn’t give up. She knows her worth and demands that Slade recognize it too.

All in all it was such a fun book to write, I can’t wait for everyone to read it!

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Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When she’s not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor.

She keeps her home in Idaho with her Husband, adorable son, and two snoring boxers! She loves to hear from readers!

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