Foreplayer (Rookie Rebels 4) by Kate Meader-a review

Foreplayer (Rookie Rebels 4) by Kate Meader-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 29, 2020.

She’s got game everywhere but the bedroom. Enter the player who knows exactly how to grade her curves…

After a very public breakup and a viral post that declares him the villain, power forward Cal Foreman is taking a timeout from women and relationships to focus on hockey. When Chicago Rebels captain and old friend, Vadim Petrov, “volunteers” him to help train Vadim’s sister Mia, Cal figures he can do a favor for a pal and get ready for the season with his new team. But the imperious Russian would slice a skate blade through Cal’s internal organs if he knew what lessons Mia really wants.

Yeah, not that kind of stickhandling.

Hockey phenom and Olympics hopeful Mia Wallace needs help seducing the man of her dreams. That man is most definitely not Cal Foreman: notorious playboy, thorn in her side, and her brother’s bestie. But surely a guy with his reputed skill set has a few tips on how she can nail her target—which makes him the perfect foreplayer.

Cal knows Mia sees him as merely the warm-up act in her grand plan to win another man, but as they spend more time together, he wonders if that’s enough.

If they could be more.

And if he could convince her he’s worthy of the starting line-up… in her heart?

•••••••

REVIEW: FOREPLAYER is the fourth instalment in Kate Meader’s contemporary, adult ROOKIE REBELS erotic, hockey romance series focusing on the members of the professional hockey team the Chicago Rebels. This is team forward Cal Foreman, and twenty-four year old, women’s hockey player Mia Wallace’s story line. FOREPLAYER can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary. Mia Wallace is Vadim Petrov’s sister (So Over You-Chicago Rebels #2). The Rookie Rebels series is a spin off from the author’s Chicago Rebels series-several characters cross over for back story and cohesion.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Mia and Cal) FOREPLAYER follows the building relationship between Chicago Rebels forward Cal Foreman, and twenty-four year old, women’s hockey player Mia Wallace. Two years earlier Mia’s chance at a professional hockey career was derailed when a college scandal imploded leaving Mia struggling for a direction in life. When an opportunity to try-out for Team USA came to fruition Mia found herself approaching her brother’s teammate Callum Foreman for training both on and off the ice for Mia had been lusting after her brother’s agent, a man Mia knew little about. As Cal begin ‘instructing’ Mia on how to seduce her mystery man, Cal found himself falling for his teammate’s sister. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Cal and Mia, and the potential fall-out as secrets from the past are about to upset the status quo, forcing Cal to take steps to defend the woman with whom he is falling in love.

The relationship between Cal and Mia is a teammate’s little sister relationship; a forbidden affair that would be supported by the people in charge but a relationship with too many past heart breaks and secrets that had to be overcome. When Callum reluctantly agreed to help Mia with her seduction of another man, our hero had no idea that the man in question was about to destroy Callum’s heart. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

Once again, there is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including several members of the Chicago Rebels previously introduced in the author’s CHICAGO REBELS hockey series incuding team manager Dante Moretti; Chicago Rebels owners-Harper DuPre, Violet Vasquez, and Isabel Petrov; team members Theo Kershaw, Reid Durand, Gunnar Yates ; Coach Lindhoff, sports agent Tommy Gordon; Commissioner of Women’s Hockey Selena Fabien; and two of Callum Foreman’s exes Tara and Bethany. Reid Durand’s story line is next in Dear Roomie.

FOREPLAYER is a story of betrayal and vengeance; heart break, secrets and lies; family, friendships, relationships and love. The character driven premise is inviting, profound and relevant to the current atmosphere in sports; the characters are stubborn and dynamic; the romance is sensitive and spicy.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Kate Meader

Originally from Ireland, USA Today bestselling author Kate Meader cut her romance reader teeth on Maeve Binchy and Jilly Cooper novels, with some Harlequins thrown in for variety. Give her tales about brooding mill owners, oversexed equestrians, and men who can rock an apron or a fire hose, and she’s there. Now based in Chicago, she writes sexy contemprary romance with alpha heroes and strong heroines who can match their men quip for quip.

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Good Guy (Rookie Rebels #1) by Kate Meader-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

Good Guy (Rookie Rebels #1) by Kate Meader-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

GOOD GUY
Rookie Rebels #1
by Kate Meader
Release Date: July 30, 2019
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, romance

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / iBooks / Google Play

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 30, 2019

He’s a Special Forces veteran making his pro hockey debut. She’s a dogged sports reporter determined to get a scoop. She’s also his best friend’s widow…

Fans can’t get enough of Levi Hunt, the Special Forces veteran who put his NHL career on hold to serve his country and fight the bad guys. So when his new Chicago Rebels bosses tell him to cooperate with the press on a profile, he’s ready to do his duty. Until he finds out who he has to work with: flame-haired, freckle-splashed, impossibly perky Jordan Cooke.

The woman he should not have kissed the night she buried her husband, Levi’s best friend in the service.

Hockey-stick-up-his-butt-serious Levi Hunt might despise Jordan for reasons she can’t fathom—okay, it’s to do with kissing—but her future in the cutthroat world of sports reporting hangs on delivering the goods on the league’s hottest, grumpiest rookie. So what if he’s not interested in having his life plated up for public consumption. Too bad. Jordan will have to play dirty to get her scoop and even dirtier to get her man. Only in winning the story, she might just lose her heart.

•••••••••

REVIEW: GOOD GUY is the first instalment in Kate Meader’s contemporary, adult ROOKIE REBELS erotic, hockey, romance series-a spin off from the author’s Chicago Rebel series. This is former Special Forces Green Beret and Chicago Rebels newest rookie Levi Hunt, and sports reported Jordan Cooke’s story line. GOOD GUY can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the original series is revealed where necessary. There is a slight cross-over with the author’s HOT IN CHICAGO firefighter series and the appearance of Kinsey Taylor-Almeida as Jordan’s best friend.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Jordan and Levi) GOOD GUY follows the best friend’s wife scenario as former Special Forces Green Beret Levi Hunt becomes the oldest rookie on the professional hockey circuit with the Chicago Rebels. Five years earlier Levi Hunt lost his best friend Josh Cooke to a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, leaving his wife Jordan a widow at twenty-three. Fast forward to present day wherein Levi Hunt has returned to the game that he loves, a game that will bring him face to face with the woman he has loved since the day they first met. Enter reporter and journalist Jordan Cooke. What ensues is the building relationship and romance between Jordan and Levi, and the potential fall-out as words said in anger trigger too many hard feelings between our leading couple.

Levi Hunt knew the moment he saw Jordan Cooke, he had fallen in love but Jordan fell for Levi’s best friend Josh, a man who would lose his life all too soon. Levi would soon discover that Jordan’s latest assignment was Levi himself, an assignment that would both push and pull our couple together and apart. Jordan Cooke knew getting the coveted story about Levi Hunt could make or break her sports reporting career but getting the real story meant going against everything she believed including the potential to destroy the man with whom she was falling in love.

The relationship between Jordan and Levi is one of second chances of a sort. Levi is a bit of a loner; a quiet but powerful hockey play who has been in love with his best friend’s wife for as long as he can remember but keeping his distance meant keeping away from the woman that called to his heart. Jordan knows that to get her story she is going to have to get close to our story line hero but getting close is about to backfire when her fellow reporters sense something else between our leading couple. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including several members of the Chicago Rebels previously introduced in the author’s CHICAGO REBELS hockey series, team manager Dante Moretti; Chicago Rebels owners-Harper and Isabel Chase, Violet Vasquez, and their significant others, as well as the introduction of several members of the sports media; hockey players Theo Kershaw and Ford Callaghan, and Special Forces support team member Elle Butler.

GOOD GUY is a story of family, friendship, heart break and betrayal; a story of loss, love and second chances. The premise is entertaining and captivating; the romance is seductive; the characters are colorful and energetic.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

“Was this night worth your time? Don’t you have a boyfriend who’d like to see you once in a while? Or a life that doesn’t revolve around work?” They stepped into the elevator and he slapped at the lobby level button. Stab. Slap. He was angry and he didn’t know why. He hated not knowing something.
“This is my life, Hunt.” She giggled, the sound going straight to his dick where it proceeded to tease, caress, and kiss the traitor wide awake. “God, playing video games with you guys is gold. And then when your pal showed up proving you’re not such a cold-hearted, friendless Terminator type after all and that you might have a personality underneath that hard-ass demeanor? Icing on the cupcake.”
He opened the door to his building, ushered her out, and tried not to enjoy her bobbing pony-tail.
“So is it true?” she threw out over her shoulder.
“Is what true?”
“The Disney ice cream cake thing?”
“Where are you parked?”
“Around the corner. You don’t have to—”
But he was already eating the ground with every stride like it had offended his honor.
“Levi, what is your problem?”
“Nothing. Just making sure you get in your car and leave.” He was pissed and horny and only now realizing that he had no idea what Jordan’s car looked like.
“Here I am.” She stood by a Honda Civic, two cars back.
Retracing his steps, he tried to get his emotions under control which should not have been a problem. Emotion-wrangling was his bag. Controlling the narrative was his forte. At least, he’d thought so until he met Jordan again.
“I don’t have a boyfriend.” She pushed her key into the lock.
“Say again?”
“You seem to be under the impression that I had someone I could be spending time with tonight instead of enjoying Erik’s weird winking and odes to herring, or Theo’s conspiracy theories as to why Chicagoland has so many mattress stores, or your curmudgeonly ways with hints of Tin Man.” She hummed If I only Had a Heart from The Wizard of Oz.
He passed over the Tin Man reference, probably because he was inexplicably relieved at the implication of her other statement. “Don’t have an opinion on your dating practices. Just something Kershaw mentioned.”
“And you believed him?”
“I didn’t not believe him. Strange thing to make up.” Especially with the graphic detail of naked photos. If she wasn’t seeing someone, then what was all that about?
She opened the door a couple of inches but still stood there. Pertly perking. “You know, the sooner you cooperate the sooner I’ll be out of your hair.”
“I’m doing everything management has ordered.”
“Under sufferance.”
“What you see is all you’re getting.” He was done here. Done with her teasing scent and dick-springing laugh. Done with trying to negotiate a truce between his hands and his cock. Just. Done. “Safe home now.” He turned to walk back, but didn’t get far.
“Coward.”
He pivoted. “What?”
“You’ve never liked me for some stupid, God-knows-what reason and now you can’t be man enough to sit still for a few questions.”
He ignored the last part which was half—okay, all—true, and focused on the first part. “I’ve liked you fine.”
She took a step toward him, then another until she was right in his space. She looked up at him, her expression filled with fury and spirit. Typical, maddening, heart-stoppingly gorgeous Jordan. “Admit it. You can’t stand me. When I kissed you five years ago—”
“We’re not talking about that.”
“When I kissed you five years ago,” she insisted, her voice rising with each word, “it was as if I ripped out a piece of your mind! You didn’t like me. You certainly didn’t think I was right for Josh and then when we had that moment, when we were at our lowest, we were drawn to each other. You hate that of all people, it was me who made you go to this fragile, needful place. It happened and you need to get over it so we can do this interview and you never have to see me again!”

Kate Meader

Originally from Ireland, USA Today bestselling author Kate Meader cut her romance reader teeth on Maeve Binchy and Jilly Cooper novels, with some Harlequins thrown in for variety. Give her tales about brooding mill owners, oversexed equestrians, and men who can rock an apron or a fire hose, and she’s there. Now based in Chicago, she writes sexy contemprary romance with alpha heroes and strong heroines who can match their men quip for quip.

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Then Came You by Kate Meader-Review & Excerpt

THEN CAME YOU (Laws of Attraction #3) by Kate Meader-Review & Excerpt

 

THEN CAME YOU
Laws of Attraction #3
by Kate Meader
Release Date: May 7, 2019
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, romance

 

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 7, 2019

In the courtroom, they’re rivals. In the bedroom, they’re . . . divorced. But could the road trip from hell lead to a second chance at love?

Aubrey Gates is the hottest divorce lawyer in Chicago, a barb-tongued stiletto with legs that go on for miles. When her cool gray eyes meet mine across the battlefield, I want her like I’ve never wanted anyone or anything. Then I remember who she is: the woman who brought me to my knees. The woman who destroyed my faith in relationships.

The woman I used to call . . . wife.

And she needs a favor from me, Grant Lincoln.

It seems my ex forgot to mention the demise of our marriage to her dear old grammie, and now we’re both expected to attend her ninetieth birthday party. In Boston. And because it isn’t already awkward enough, Aubrey and I are driving there together from Chicago. That’s more than a thousand miles of tension, heartbreak, and barely concealed lust.

A little piece of paper might say we’re over, but this road trip is the true test. I intend to get my wife back . . . and I won’t stop until “I do.”

••••••••••

REVIEW: THEN CAME YOU is the third (and final ?) instalment in Kate Meader’s contemporary, adult LAWS OF ATTRACTION erotic, romance series focusing on three friends and law partners: Max Henderson, Lucas Wright and Grant Lincoln. This is formerly married divorce attorneys thirty-one year old Grant Lincoln, and thirty-year old Aubrey Gates’ story line. THEN CAME YOU can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous instalments is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Grant and Aubrey) using present day and memories from the past, THEN CAME YOU focuses on the second chance relationship between formerly married divorce attorneys: thirty-one year old Grant Lincoln, and thirty-year old Aubrey Gates. Over two years earlier Grant and Aubrey’s marriage fell apart, slowly spiralling out of control when grief and loss formed the elephant in the room. Fast forward to present day, wherein Aubrey’s fear of flying finds her former husband Grant Lincoln offering his services to drive from Chicago to Boston for the Thanksgiving holiday, and Aubrey’s Grandmother’s ninetieth birthday. Along with Aubrey’s psychotic cat, Grant and Aubrey trek cross-country while Aubrey refuses to acknowledge the struggles of the past. What ensues is the rebuilding and rekindling relationship between Aubrey and Grant, and the potential fall-out as Aubrey’s detachment and refusal to talk about what happened and why, push Grant, one final time.

Aubrey’s childhood of privilege never included the unconditional love of two adoring parents. Believing herself unworthy, our heroine struggles with what was and what will never be. Grant Lincoln has never stopped loving our story line heroine but convincing Aubrey they are both entitled to a second chance is harder than Grant could have ever imagined.

The relationship between Aubrey and Grant is a rekindling romance between two people whose life together will forever be changed. Aubrey and Grant blame themselves for what happened and why but sometimes there is no explanation for tragedy or loss. Never forgetting about the woman that called to his heart, Grant is hoping that their time together will trigger the love they once shared. The $ex scenes are intimate, passionate and seductive, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and energetic secondary and supporting characters including Aubrey and Grant’s large extended families as well as Aubrey’s mother Marie-Claire, her father Jeffrey and his girlfriend Mercedes, and all-knowing grandmother Libby; Grant’s fellow business partners and attorneys Mac and Charlie (Down With Love #1), Lucas and Trinity (Illegally Yours #2).

THEN CAME YOU is an emotional and heart breaking story of family, friendship, love and loss; of pain and remorse; of second chances and moving on from the past. The premise is impassioned, sensitive and revealing; the romance is realistic and spirited; the characters are charismatic, flawed, and animated. THEN CAME YOU is an introspective on life, loss, acceptance and love.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Down With Love
Ilegally Yours
Then Came You

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

 

 

My second dirty martini appears before I’ve finished my first. I turn to find him at the end of the bar, and my breath catches just as it did that first day I saw him in the lecture hall. How does he do it? More to the point, how dare he do it?
He raises his beer bottle—Budweiser, Grant doesn’t care for anything crafty—and gives me that slow, shy smile, the one guaranteed to heat me from the inside out and make my panties slip an inch or two. These days, it takes more than that for the full-scale underwear drop. I’ve become more circumspect in my old age.
I raise my glass back and shift my thigh so my skirt rides up a little. It’s deliberate, an invitation. In a few seconds, the seat beside me is host to the most excellent ass I’ve ever had the pleasure of fondling. To think those gorgeous buns were all mine for the exploring and gripping and biting—
Hold up there, Gates.
There will be no butt-grabbing or ass-nibbling shenanigans with your ex-husband!
But said ex-husband has always had a way with words. “Want to screw ourselves stupid in my hotel room?”
I almost choke on an olive. A resounding clap on the back coughs it up from my throat, whereupon I deposit it on a napkin. First off, I give it an accusing glare as if that spherical blob is to blame for the less than sophisticated response to what I just heard.
“Ever heard of foreplay?”
He raises an eyebrow. “Seven hours in the car with your whining cat. All the foreplay I need.”
I laugh my head off. The muscles in my belly constrict, questioning this burst of energy, and I realize it’s been a long time since I let loose like this.
“All right, all right, let’s try again,” he drawls. “Waiting for someone?”
“Yeah, my date. He’s stuck in traffic.”
“Not a boyfriend, then?”
I give him a look, then a sharper one at his Budweiser bottle, playing like he’s beneath me.
“He’ll be here any moment. Weather, y’know.”
“Probably a good idea not to have him pick you up at your place.”
“Oh?”
“He would’ve had to take you, there and then, just inside the door. Lift that skirt and slip in deep and true.”
Just like one of our dates back in ancient times. I abstain from picking up my martini because my hand will shake all that precious alcohol onto the bar.
“I already told you there’d be no funny business, Grant. It’s just too complicated.”
“But you’re not denying that it’s crossed your mind.”
“Hard not to. Sex was never an issue between us. You’re still reasonably attractive, and I’m not dead.”
If anything, he’s become hotter in the last year. Perhaps it’s the slight sadness I imagine in his eyes whenever we meet. Melancholy shouldn’t be so sexy.
“So the only thing in the way is a boatload of history, recrimination, bitterness, and failure.” He sips his beer, a knowing lift to his eyebrow, all while keeping his eyes on me. “Just reasonably attractive, Bean?”
I shake my head. “Confidence was never your problem, Georgia.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I lost a little faith at one point.”
And there it is again, that wall between us that’s impossible to scale.
“Is this the point where I should apologize?”
“No,” he says immediately. “I’m not saying that to make you feel guilty, simply telling you where I’m coming from. We know each other too well to sugarcoat it.”
He’s right. But our familiarity with each other’s quirks and tics doesn’t make it any easier. If anything, it’s a millstone around our necks. We had something wonderful and it burned to an ash of regrets. 


 

Kate Meader

Originally from Ireland, USA Today bestselling author Kate Meader cut her romance reader teeth on Maeve Binchy and Jilly Cooper novels, with some Harlequins thrown in for variety. Give her tales about brooding mill owners, oversexed equestrians, and men who can rock an apron or a fire hose, and she’s there. Now based in Chicago, she writes sexy contemprary romance with alpha heroes and strong heroines who can match their men quip for quip.

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Illegally Yours (Laws of Attraction #2) by Kate Meader-a review

ILLEGALLY YOURS (Laws of Attraction #2) by Kate Meader-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 22, 2019

Rule #1: Never fall for your client.
Rule #2: Never fall for your client’s fiercely protective, smoking hot sister-in-law.

I’m the kind of guy who believes that everyone deserves the best legal representation money can buy—which just so happens to be me, Lucas Wright. Give me your henpecked, your cuckolded, your irreconcilable differences yearning to break free! And if you’re the bad guy in your marriage, that’s cool too. Your green is as good as anyone’s.

Tell that to Trinity Jones. It’s my job to destroy her sister—the soon-to-be ex-wife of my a-hole of a client—and Trinity’s “big sis” instincts are dialed up to the max. I admire that. I admire her. But she won’t stop me from representing my client to the best of my ability.

Not even if my chemistry with Trinity is undeniable. Not even if we can’t keep our hands off each other. Not even if she injects life into a heart assumed to be long dead.

Because when faced with a choice between love and duty, the job will always win—or at least that’s what I thought before I met Trinity . . . and suddenly conflict of interest never felt so right.

•••••••••

REVIEW: ILLEGALLY YOURS is the second instalment in Kate Meader’s contemporary, adult LAWS OF ATTRACTION erotic, romance series focusing on three friend and law partners: Max Henderson, Lucas Wright, and Grant Lincoln. This is twenty-eight year old, divorce attorney Lucas Wright, and thirty-four year old, sommelier Trinity Jones’ story line. ILLEGALLY YOURS can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Lucas and Trinity) ILLEGALLY YOURS follows the building relationship between twenty-eight year old, divorce attorney Lucas Wright, and thirty-four year old, sommelier Trinity Jones. Lucas Wright doesn’t do relationships but meeting sommelier Trinity Jones’ at Max Henderson’s bachelor party made our hero sit up and take notice but trouble is about to follow Max and Trinity when Max discovers that Trinity is the sister in law of the man he represents in an upcoming divorce battle. Ethically and morally Lucas knows he should either step aside, or ask permission to date his clients soon to be ex sister-in –law. With permission granted, Lucas and Trinity embark on a romantic relationship one that is doomed when Lucas is unable to remain impartial when Trinity reveals the truth. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Lucas and Trinity, and the potential fall-out when secrets are revealed, and Trinity, by her need to take care of everyone she loves, becomes the enabler as her sister struggles to move on with her life.

The relationship between Lucas and Trinity is one of immediate attraction although Lucas’ smart British mouth gets him into a bit of trouble with out story line heroine. Discovering that Lucas is her sister’s soon to be ex-husband’s attorney knows that to cross ethical lines could place Lucas on the road to disbarment but the heart wants something more than a passing fling. Both having suffered painful childhood drama, Lucas and Trinity become kindred spirits as they recall heart break from the past.The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense.

We are reintroduced to Max and Charlie (Down With Love #1), as well as fellow divorce attorneys and business partners Grant Lincoln, and Aubrey Gates: Trinity’s sister Emily Carso , and her soon to be ex-husband Brian, and their children Chase and Arianna ; and fellow co-workers and Trinity’s friends Gideon and Pete.

ILLEGALLY YOURS is a story of secrets, family, heart break and love. The premise is inviting and spicy; the romance is spirited and moving; the characters are sassy and sexy. ILLEGALLY YOURS is an energetic and passionate look at two people willing to cross the line for something more.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one DOWN WITH LOVE

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Kate Meader

Originally from Ireland, USA Today bestselling author Kate Meader cut her romance reader teeth on Maeve Binchy and Jilly Cooper novels, with some Harlequins thrown in for variety. Give her tales about brooding mill owners, oversexed equestrians, and men who can rock an apron or a fire hose, and she’s there. Now based in Chicago, she writes sexy contemprary romance with alpha heroes and strong heroines who can match their men quip for quip.

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Down With Love (Laws of Attraction #1) by Kate Meader -a review

DOWN WITH LOVE (Laws of Attraction #1) by Kate Meader -a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 7, 2018

Sparks fly when the hot-shot divorce lawyer meets the high-powered wedding planner. The only question is, what kind?

If you ever get married, remember my name: Max Henderson. In my line of work, you acquire a certain perspective on supposedly everlasting unions. . . .

1. Pre-nups are your friend.
2. The person you married is not the person you’re divorcing.
3. And I hope you didn’t spend much on the wedding because that was one helluva waste of hard-earned cash, wasn’t it?

But some guys are willing to take a chance. Like my brother, who thinks he’s going to ride off into the sunset with the woman of his dreams in a haze of glitter on unicorns. And the wedding planner—the green-eyed beauty who makes a living convincing suckers to shell out thousands of dollars on centerpieces—is raking it in on this matrimonial monstrosity.

The thing is, Charlie Love is not unlike me. We’re both cogs in the wedding-industrial complex. As the best man, I know her game—and I can play it better than her. But after one scorching, unexpected kiss, I’m thinking I might just want to get played.

•••••

REVIEW:  DOWN WITH LOVE is the first instalment in Kate Meader’s contemporary, adult LAWS OF ATTRACTION erotic, romance series focusing on three friend and law partners: Max Henderson, Lucas Wright, and Grant Lincoln. This is divorce attorney Max Henderson, and wedding planner Charlie Love’s story line.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Max and Charlie) DOWN WITH LOVE follows the acrimonious relationship between divorce attorney Max Henderson, and wedding planner Charlie Love. Max’s brother James has thrown him for a loop with the announcement of his upcoming wedding to Gina Torres, a woman his brother has known for only three months. Enter wedding planner Charlie Love, a woman who pushes all of Max’s buttons, buttons he admits come with hard and fast rules about love and marriage. What ensues is the building relationships between Charlie and Max, and the potential fall-out as Charlie and Max are unable to reach a harmonious impasse with regards to love and a happily ever after.

Max is an embittered divorce attorney who has seen it all, and the one time he thought he had found his own happily ever after destroyed his faith in marriage and love. Meeting Charlie Love, the woman currently starring in all of his fantasies and real-life drama finds Max thinking about forever but a forever that is quickly shut down when another impending divorce drops onto the horizon affecting his relationship with our story line heroine.

The relationship between Max and Charlie is one of immediate attraction; a palpable sexual attraction that does not go unnoticed by friends and family but an attraction that is tempered by their opposing views on love, and their inability to meet somewhere in the middle. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are introduced to Max’s brother and his fiancé Gina Torres, as well as Max’s very well-to-do parents Susanne and Jack Henderson; Charlie’s foster parents Donna and Frank Sullivan; whiskey sommelier Trinity Jones; as well as Max’s law partners Lucas Wright and Grant Lincoln. Lucas and Trinity’s story line is next in Illegally Yours.

DOWN WITH LOVE is a sexy and spirited story line with flirty characters and a provocative romance. The premise is inviting, realistic and spicy; the characters are flawed and struggle in their opposing views of marriage and life.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

Kate Meader

Originally from Ireland, USA Today bestselling author Kate Meader cut her romance reader teeth on Maeve Binchy and Jilly Cooper novels, with some Harlequins thrown in for variety. Give her tales about brooding mill owners, oversexed equestrians, and men who can rock an apron or a fire hose, and she’s there. Now based in Chicago, she writes sexy contemprary romance with alpha heroes and strong heroines who can match their men quip for quip.

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Hooked on You (Chicago Rebels #3) by Kate Meader-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway Tour

HOOKED ON YOU ( The Chicago Rebels #3) by Kate Meader-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway Tour

HOOKED ON YOU
Chicago Rebels #3
by Kate Meader
Release Date: May 7, 2018
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, hockey, romance

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca /Amazon. uk / Amazon.au / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo /iBooks / Google Play

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 7, 2018

The steamy Chicago Rebels series returns with this racy and sassy tale of embittered hearts, second chances, and going for the goal—on and off the ice.

Violet Vasquez never met her biological father, so learning he left his beloved hockey franchise—the Chicago Rebels—to her is, well, unexpected. Flat broke and close to homeless, Violet is determined to make the most of this sudden opportunity. Except dear old dad set conditions that require she takes part in actually running the team with the half-sisters she barely knows. Working with these two strangers and overseeing a band of hockey-playing lugs is not on her agenda…until she lays eyes on the Rebels captain and knows she has to have him.

Bren St. James has been labeled a lot of things: the Puck Prince, Lord of the Ice, Hell’s Highlander…but it’s the latest tag that’s making headlines: washed-up alcoholic has-been. This season, getting his life back on track and winning the Cup are his only goals. With no time for relationships—except the fractured ones he needs to rebuild with his beautiful daughters—he’s finding it increasingly hard to ignore sexy, all-up-in-his-beard Violet Vasquez. And when he finds himself in need of a nanny just as the playoffs are starting, he’s faced with a temptation he could so easily get hooked on.

For two lost souls, there’s more on the line than just making the best of a bad situation… there might also be a shot at the biggest prize of all: love.

•••••

REVIEW: HOOKED ON YOU is the third and final full-length instalment in Kate Meader’s contemporary, adult THE CHICAGO REBELS erotic, romance, hockey series focusing on the men and women of the professional hockey team the Chicago Rebels. This is team co-owner Violet Vasquez, and team captain Bren St. James’s story line. HOOKED ON YOU can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary but I recommend reading the series in order for back story and cohesion. For fans of Kate Meader there is a slight cross-over with the author’s Hot in Chicago series with the cameo appearance of Alexandra and Eli Cooper (Playing with Fire #2).

SOME BACKGROUND: Upon their father’s death, estranged sisters Harper Chase, Isobel Chase and Violet Vasquez inherited the ownership of the struggling NHL hockey franchise-the Chicago Rebels. With only months remaining in the current season, the sisters are tasked with turning the team into a play-off bound franchise or risk loosing everything, including their father’s legacy, one piece at a time.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Violet and Bren) HOOKED ON YOU follows the building relationship between The Chicago Rebels co-owner Violet Vasquez, and team captain Bren St. James. Months earlier Violet hit on the stranger in a bar not realizing the stranger was the Chicago Rebels troubled captain, and essentially her new employee. With the death of her absentee father, Violet inherited one-third of the mantle of ownership of professional hockey’s struggling Chicago Rebels, and subsequently, along with two half-sisters she knew little about. But when troubled team captain Bren St. James found himself in desperate need of childcare for his two young daughters, Violet reluctantly stepped in knowing Bren didn’t feel the same way about her as she did about the handsome Scot. What ensues is the building relationship between Bren and Violet, and the potential fall-out as Bren’s past comes looking for a second chance forcing Violet to step aside to protect her heart and Bren’s future with his beloved daughters.

Bren St. James’ personal life had spiralled out of control but close to a year of sobriety finds our hero looking towards the future with the children he loves, and the woman that calls to his heart. Violet Vasquez had no plans to stick around past the current hockey season; falling in love was never on the agenda, but having her heart broken meant moving on was more of necessity than previously planned.

All of the previous story line couples and characters play secondary and supporting roles. We are introduced to Bren’s daughters, nine year old Franky, and eleven year old Cat, as well as Violet’s mother, whose own history with Violet’s father was nothing more than a one-night stand.

HOOKED ON YOU is a story of family and friendship; struggling against the demons from the past; romance and love. The premise is entertaining, encouraging and captivating; the romance is hot, erotic and intense; the characters are broken, colorful and real. HOOKED ON YOU is a sassy, sexy and heart-warming story; an energetic conclusion to an addicting series.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
In Skates Trouble
Irresistible You
So Over You
Undone By You (2.5)

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

She blew out a breath that was half growl, picked up a can of Italian wedding soup, and examined the ingredient list like she was studying for a test. Why wasn’t she taking this opportunity to get under his skin using those taunts that tripped off her tongue like sensual ninja knives?
“Have I offended you in some way, Violet?”
Keeping her chin dipped, she shook her head, but it was a shake of disbelief, not of disagreement with his question.
“Violet, look at me.”
Glittering eyes snapped to his, in them a flash of something—a visceral response to his demand—but it was gone so quickly that even the rewind called him a liar.
“Has something happened?”
“Look, St. James, you and I have never meshed, so we don’t need to pretend to get along. We just ran into each other at the store and you ‘saved’ me from the unseemly interest of a fellow shopper. ¡Maravilloso! ¡Gracias! Now you can take your steel buns and your sexy scowl off in the opposite direction.”
Color flagged her cheeks, making her olive skin glow. She was furious, and he still didn’t know why. He was also furious, and he had a better idea of the reason.
She’d changed the social contract. They’d been moseying along with her teasing and taunting and flirting, and him acting like it was the worst thing ever to happen to him. Like Violet’s attention was a fresh slice of hell, because in a way it was. She reminded him of everything he couldn’t have. She reminded him of the man he used to be. His body came alive around her, and alive was dangerous. Alive was the opposite of numb, and numb was his best defense against the demons whispering in his ear.
One drink won’t hurt. Thirst like yours can’t be quenched with anything but whiskey.
If he allowed himself to want her, it was a slippery slope to succumbing to the demons at the door. Of course he couldn’t tell her this, so instead he latched on to her words.
“Steel buns?” There was also “sexy scowl,” but he figured he’d start with the ass stuff.
She rolled her eyes, then coasted those same eyes down his body, half hidden by the grocery cart. “As if you don’t know.”
“That I have an ass you could bounce a puck off of?” He twisted to check himself out. “S’pose I do, lass.”
She burst out laughing and muttered something in Spanish.
“What’s that?”
“Not for your ears, Scot.”
One day she’d tell him. One day, he’d get it out of her, preferably while her body arched into his and his body drove into hers.

FOLLOW:

Kate Meader

Originally from Ireland, USA Today bestselling author Kate Meader cut her romance reader teeth on Maeve Binchy and Jilly Cooper novels, with some Harlequins thrown in for variety. Give her tales about brooding mill owners, oversexed equestrians, and men who can rock an apron or a fire hose, and she’s there. Now based in Chicago, she writes sexy contemprary romance with alpha heroes and strong heroines who can match their men quip for quip.

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Undone by You (Chicago Rebels #2.5) by Kate Meader-Review and Giveaway

UNDONE BY YOU (Chicago Rebels #2.5) by Kate Meader-Review and Giveaway

UNDONE BY YOU
Chicago Rebels #3
by Kate Meader
Release Date: March 5, 2018
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, M/M, hockey romance

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 5, 2018

Dante Moretti has just landed his dream job: GM of the Chicago Rebels. And screw the haters who think there should be an asterisk next to his name because he’s the first out managing executive in pro hockey. He’s earned the right to be here and nothing will topple him off that perch—especially not an incredibly inconvenient attraction to his star defenseman, Cade “Alamo” Burnett. Cade has always been careful to keep his own desires on the down low, but his hot Italian boss proves to be a temptation he can’t resist. Sure, they both have so much to lose, but no one will ever know…

As Dante and Cade’s taboo affair heats up off the ice and their relationship gets more and more intense, they’ll have to decide: is love worth risking their careers? Or is this romance destined to be forever benched?

•••••••••

REVIEW:  UNDONE BY YOU is  instalment 2.5 in Kate Meader’s contemporary, adult CHICAGO REBELS erotic, romance series focusing on three estranged sisters-Harper Chase, Isobel Chase and Violet Vasquez- who recently inherited the struggling NHL hockey franchise the Chicago Rebels. This is Rebels’ new GM thirty-five year old Dante Moretti, and twenty-thre year old defenseman Cade ‘Alama’ Burnett. UNDONE BY YOU can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary. Some of the events of UNDONE BY YOU run parallel to, and cross over with the events of book two IRRESISTIBLE YOU.

NOTE: UNDONE BY YOU is a M/M story line with sexually graphic M/M situations, language and text that may not be suitable for some readers.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Dante and Cade) UNDONE BY YOU follows the forbidden relationship between Chicago Rebels GM Dante Moretti, and team defenseman Cade Burnett. Cade Burnett is a closeted, gay professional hockey player who for personal reasons back home is unable to come clean to the people he loves, but meeting his hockey idol, former player and now Rebels GM Dante Moretti, the first openly gay GM in professional hockey, has Cade throwing caution to the wind when he approaches his ‘boss’ at an upscale gay club. What ensues is the building romance but secret relationship between Dante and Cade, and the potential fall-out when Cade comes out of the closet, only to be pushed aside by the man that he loves.

Dante Moretti knows what it is like to lose everything. Coming out cost him his family, his friends, and some of the people he loved. Cade Burnett knows that to come out while still actively playing with the Chicago Rebels may harm his career, but most especially may destroy his relationship with his father, back home. What he never expected was that his coming out would destroy his relationship with the man that he loved.

The relationship between Dante and Cade is one of mutual attraction but Dante doesn’t want Cade to come out unless he is ready to accept everything that goes along with coming out as a professional hockey player. Their secret relationship is threatened by Dante’s inability to accept Cade’s decision-a decision that should have made their relationship easier to accept. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

UNDONE BY YOU is a quick read; an emotional, sexy and fun story line; a forbidden romance between boss and employee; a sexual awakening for one man whose entire life remained hidden from the people he loved. The premise is entertaining and fast paced; the characters are colorful, dynamic and charismatic; the romance is seductive and provocative.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
In Skates Trouble
Irresistible You
So Over You
Undone By You

Copy supplied by Netgalley.

Reviewed by Sandy

FOLLOW: Goodreads / Website / Twitter / Facebook

Kate Meader

Originally from Ireland, USA Today bestselling author Kate Meader cut her romance reader teeth on Maeve Binchy and Jilly Cooper novels, with some Harlequins thrown in for variety. Give her tales about brooding mill owners, oversexed equestrians, and men who can rock an apron or a fire hose, and she’s there. Now based in Chicago, she writes sexy contemprary romance with alpha heroes and strong heroines who can match their men quip for quip.

 

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So Over You (Chicago Rebels #2) by Kate Meader-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

SO OVER YOU (Chicago Rebels #2) by Kate Meader-Review, Excerpt and Giveaway

So Over You

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 4, 2017

Three estranged sisters struggle to sustain their late father’s failing hockey franchise in Kate Meader’s sizzling Chicago Rebels series. In this second entry, middle sister Isobel is at a crossroads in her personal and professional lives. But both are about to get a significant boost with the addition of a domineering Russian powerhouse to the Rebels….

Isobel Chase knows hockey. She played NCAA, won Olympic silver, and made it thirty-seven minutes into the new National Women’s Hockey League before an injury sidelined her dreams. Those who can’t, coach, and a position as a skating consultant to her late father’s hockey franchise, the Chicago Rebels, seems like a perfect fit. Until she’s assigned her first job: the man who skated into her heart as a teen and relieved her of her pesky virginity. These days, left-winger Vadim Petrov is known as the Czar of Pleasure, a magnet for puck bunnies and the tabloids alike. But back then… let’s just say his inability to sink the puck left Isobel frustratingly scoreless.

Vadim has a first name that means “ruler,” and it doesn’t stop at his birth certificate. He dominates on the ice, the practice rink, and in the backseat of a limo. But a knee injury has produced a bad year, and bad years in the NHL don’t go unrewarded. His penance? To be traded to a troubled team where his personal coach is Isobel Chase, the woman who drove him wild years ago when they were hormonal teens. But apparently the feeling was not entirely mutual.

That Vadim might have failed to give Isobel the pleasure that was her right is intolerable, and he plans to make it up to her—one bone-melting orgasm at a time. After all, no player can perfect his game without a helluva lot of practice.

••••••••••••••••••

REVIEW: SO OVER YOU is the second instalment in Kate Meader’s contemporary, adult CHICAGO REBELS erotic, hockey, romance series focusing on three estranged sisters-Harper Chase, Isobel Chase and Violet Vasquez- who recently inherited the struggling NHL hockey franchise the Chicago Rebels. This is Chicago Rebel’s co-owner and skating consultant Isobel Chase, and Russian left-winger Vadim Petrov’s story line. SO OVER YOU can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.

SOME BACKGROUND: Upon their father’s death, estranged sisters Harper Chase, Isobel Chase and Violet Vasquez inherited the ownership of the struggling NHL hockey franchise-the Chicago Rebels. With only months remaining in the current season, the sisters are tasked with turning the team into a play-off bound franchise or risk loosing everything, including their father’s legacy, one piece at a time.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Isobel and Vadim) SO OVER YOU follows the second chance relationship between Chicago Rebels injured left-winger Vadim Petrov, and co-owner/skating consultant Isobel Chase, NCAA star, Olympic hockey silver medalist, and former player in the National Women’s Hockey League-thirty seven minutes that would break more than her spirit and end her career. Several years earlier, Vadim Petrov was on the verge of making a name for himself in the NHL when Isobel’s father destroyed any hopes, for our hero, for the foreseeable future including breaking the bonds between Vadim and the woman with whom he would fall in love. Fast forward to present day wherein an injured Vadim Petrov will come face to face with his past when he is traded to the embattled Chicago Rebels. What ensues is the back and forth, sexually palpable antagonistic relationship between Isobel and Vadim, as Isobel begins coaching our hero back to the star she knows he can be, and the potential fall out when Isobel battles between her head and her heart, and the man that she loves, as she endeavours to return to the game in the hopes of the elusive gold medal.

We are up close and personal as Vadim battles his own preconceived notions about the mother he believes all but abandoned her only son. With his younger sister’s burgeoning skills as an elite hockey player herself, Vadim becomes the over protective Russian bear as it pertains to the two most important women in his life-Isabel Chase and his sister Mia Wallace. The Chase fractured family dynamics begin to heal as the sisters forge together to ensure the Chicago Rebels continue their upward flight on a path bound towards the hockey playoff rounds.

The relationship between Vadim and Isobel is one of second chances; a rekindling romance between two people whose relationship was destroyed by a man whose sole focus was on the game that he loved-a game that would come between a father and the daughters he cared little about. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including Isobel’s sisters Harper Chase and her boyfriend Remy Dupre (Irresistible You #1), Violet Vasquez; Vadim’s sister Mia Wallace, and their mother Victoria Wallace, Vadim’s personnel assistant Alexei Medvedev; team GM Dante Moretti, defenseman Cade Burnett, Rebels captain Bren St. James, head-trainer Kelly Townsend, and left-winger Leon Shay.

SO OVER YOU has moments of humor and fun; betrayal and revenge; romance and love. The premise is engaging and entertaining; the romance is passionate and seductive; the characters are energetic, dynamic and charismatic. SO OVER YOU is a story of family, friendship, forgiveness and forever.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
In Skates Trouble
Irresistible You
So Over You

Copy supplied by the Publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

Excerpt

He leaned in again, smelling of fame, privilege, and raw sex appeal. Discomfort at his proximity edged out the hormonal sparks dancing through her body.
“Does Moretti know that we have history? That you are the last person I wish to work with?”
Before she could respond, someone squealed, “Vadim!” A blond, skinny, buxom someone, who now wrapped herself around Vadim in a very possessive manner. “You said you’d be back with a dwinkie!”
A dwinkie?
Drawing back, Vadim circled the squealer’s waist and pulled her into his hard body. “Kotyonok, I did not mean to be so long.” He dropped a kiss on her lips, needing to bend considerably because she was just so darn petite! Not like big-boned Isobel, who could have eaten this chick and her five supermodel Playmates for a midmorning snack. A group of them stood off to the side, clearly waiting for the signal to start the orgy. And Vadim clearly wanted to give it, except he had to deal with the annoying six-foot fly in the sex ointment.
Why did the lumberjack hotties always go for twigs instead of branches? Did it make them feel more virile to screw a pocket-sized Barbie?
Yep, feeling like a schlub.
But he didn’t need to know that. All he needed to know was that she had the power to return him to competitive ice. This was her best shot at making a difference and getting the Rebels to a coveted play-off spot. Vadim Petrov and his butt-hurt feelings would not stand in her way.
“Do you need to talk about it, Russian?”
She infused as much derision into the question as possible, so that the idea of “talking about it” made him sound a touch less than manly. Big, bad, brick-house Russians didn’t need to talk about the women who done them wrong.
“There is nothing to talk about,” he uttered in that voice that used to send Siberian shivers down her back. Now? Nothing more than a Muscovian flurry.
“Excellent!” Superscary cheerful face. “Regular practice is tomorrow at ten, so I’ll see you on the ice at 9 a.m. Don’t be late.”
Pretty happy with her exit line, she walked away.
Far too easy.
A brute hand curled around hers and pulled her to the other side of the bar, out of the sight line of most of the VIP room. She found her back against a wall—literally and figuratively—as 230 pounds of Slavic muscle loomed over her.
He still held her hand.
If she weren’t so annoyed, she’d think it was kind of nice.
She yanked it away. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
“Who am I?” he boomed, and she prayed it was rhetorical. Unfortunately, no. “I am Vadim Petrov. Leading goal scorer for my first two years in the NHL. Winner of both the Kontinental and the Gagarin Cups. A man not to be trifled with. And you are, who, exactly? The daughter of a hockey great who was not so great when it came to running a team. The woman who can no longer play yet thinks she can offer ‘tips’ to me. To me! You may have pedigree, Isobel, but there is nothing I can learn from you.”
This arrogant, douchewaffle piece of shit!

About The author

FOLLOW: Goodreads / Website / Twitter / Facebook

Kate Meader

Originally from Ireland, USA Today bestselling author Kate Meader cut her romance reader teeth on Maeve Binchy and Jilly Cooper novels, with some Harlequins thrown in for variety. Give her tales about brooding mill owners, oversexed equestrians, and men who can rock an apron or a fire hose, and she’s there. Now based in Chicago, she writes sexy contemporary romance with alpha heroes and strong heroines who can match their men quip for quip.

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Kate Meader will be giving away a $25 Amazon gift card during release week. To
enter, please go  here

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