Taming The Legend (London Legends #4) by Kat Latham-a review

TAMING THE LEGEND (London Legends #4) by Kat Latham-a review

Taming The Legend

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 11, 2015

When retiring rugby star Ash Trenton considered his next career move, coaching troubled teens at his ex-girlfriend’s California camp wasn’t on the list. But when Camila Morales reappears after eighteen years, begging for his help, he can’t say no to his first and only love.

Camila was just sixteen when Ash moved on to start his rugby career, leaving her heartbroken…and on her own to make a life-changing decision. Now she needs his help to win a tournament prize and save her camp. Relying on Ash is the last thing she wants. But while it’s hard to get over being dumped for a sport, it’s even harder to ignore the rush of attraction that has only gotten stronger after so many years apart.

Coaching teens is the hardest job Ash has ever had, and the task becomes personal when he begins to fall for Camila all over again. But when he is offered his dream job, will he choose the job—or the woman whose heart he already sacrificed once?

••••••••••

REVIEW: TAMING THE LEGEND is the fourth full length installment in Kat Latham’s adult, contemporary London Legends romance series focusing on the London Legends Rugby players from London, England. This is retiring rugby star Ash Trenton, and Camila Morales’s storyline. Although TAMING THE LEGEND is the fourth in the series, it can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information is revealed where necessary.

Told from alternating third person perspectives TAMING THE LEGEND follows thirty six year old Ash Trenton as he considers the future. Recently retired from pro rugby, Ash comes face to face with his past-the woman to whom he lost his V card-and a woman with a secret. Rugby has always been Ash’s first love and in this, Ash was unable to commit to Camila, therefore, walking away was his only option. Eighteen years later, Ash finds himself considering an offer to coach rugby in America but to Ash’s surprise, Camila had a few more secrets hidden behind the offer.

Camila is struggling to keep her business afloat. Inherited from her father, the business loans are soon called in and Camila looks overseas for a quick influx of cash. Approaching Ash Trenton is her last resort, but she needs Ash to help coach her latest collection of reluctant players. What ensues is a sometimes comic but oft times heartbreaking look at two people who have lost too much to ever go back.

The relationship between Ash and Camila is a second chance at love for two people whose lives went in opposite directions. Camila and Ash met eighteen years earlier, and in the ensuing time their lives could not have been more different. Camila and Ash both believe that the other no longer cared; that what they shared was nothing more than a teenage tryst but there was more to the lack of communication than anyone could have known. The $ex scenes are intimate and emotional, but in the end, Ash makes no promises for the future.

The secondary and supporting characters include several of the London Legend’s rugby players, as well as Ash’s new team in America-there is something to be said about the quick wit and sassy back talk from his new team of players. We are introduced to Ash’s parents who are struggling themselves with the lies from the past; and of course, Camila’s coworkers who have no idea about Camila’s connection to Ash.

Kat Latham’s LONDON LEGENDS is an engaging, amusing, refreshing and intoxicating series. We get up close and personal with the players of professional rugby-their sport, their history and their loves. There are moments of humor, passion, heartbreak and regret all wrapped up in a storyline with a happily ever after. At times, I was lost in the vast amount of rugby detail contained within TAMING THE LEGEND –rules, regulations, play by play information – as the storyline takes a different direction than the previous installments in the series. If you know something about rugby, then you will have no problem but for this reader my eyes glazed over as I had a difficult time ‘imagining’ the set up and scenarios. I needed a coaching handbook to understand the minute details.

TAMING THE LEGEND is a wonderful storyline; you will be hooked from the very start-no pun intended.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
1. Knowing the Score
2. Playing It Close
3. Tempting The Player
3.5 Unwrapping Her Perfect Match
4. Taming The Legend

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

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Tempting the Player/ Unwrapping Her Perfect Match (London Legends 3 & 3.5) by Kat Latham-Review and Blog Tour

Tempting The Player/Unwrapping Her Perfect Match (London Legends 3 & 3.5) by Kat Latham-Review and Blog Tour

 

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TEMPTING THE PLAYER
(London Legends #3)
by Kat Latham
Release Date: November 10, 2014
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, romance

Tempting the Player

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ABOUT THE BOOK: November 10, 2014

Libby Hart and Matt Ogden are perfect for each other—as friends. They’ve known each other for ages. They act as each other’s plus-ones. They even share custody of a dog. And if there’s always been a little spark between them, so what? It’s never been worth jeopardizing their friendship.

Professional rugby player Matt is fighting for a starter position with the London Legends—and that’s not the only thing he’s fighting. A crippling fear of flying means he’s struggling to get his career off the ground. He has no time for a relationship, even if Libby does make him ache. As an airline pilot, Libby’s looking for a stay-at-home husband so she can have a family without sacrificing her high-flying career. Matt’s certainly not that man.

But just because they don’t have a future together doesn’t mean they can’t have a right now. When Matt asks Libby for help overcoming his fear, they agree to take a vacation from their platonic relationship—whenever they fly together, they can have sex. It’s the perfect way to resolve all that built-up tension. As long as they can avoid getting a little too comfortable.

••••••••••••••

REVIEW: TEMPTING THE PLAYER is the third installment in Kat Latham’s contemporary, adult London Legends romance series focusing on the players of the professional rugby team the London Legends. This is struggling rugby player Matt Ogden and airline pilot Libby Hart’s storyline-a friends to lovers trope with some heartbreaking moments and eye opening revelations. The author’s notes explain many of the British/European definitions, slang and euphemisms that many North American readers may not understand-bonus for us !!

The premise follows Matt’s struggle to make first string full-back with the London Legends professional rugby team but something or someone is holding him back. When a tragedy befalls one of the team member’s Matt must pick up and take control for the first time in his life. But memories of past failures and a deep fear of flying dog Matt at every turn. Enter Matt’s best friend, neighbor, co-owner of Princess the Chihuahua and airline pilot-Libby Hart- the woman who will make Matt face his worst fears and open his heart to a possible future.

The relationship between Libby and Matt is a friends to lovers storyline. Five years earlier, Libby introduced herself to her new neighbor, Matt Ogden and she fell in love at first sight. Fast forward to present day and Matt feels something for Libby but their future desires and needs follow opposite paths. Matt is a man determined to succeed on the playing field and Libby is an independent pilot who one day wants to make Captain. It is there busy schedules and future dreams that will put a stop to any permanent relationship – both friendship and love.

The world building continues as we follow the London Legends on the playing field and in their homes, as well as get a detailed look at operating a flying machine at 2,000 feet. The language and background information about piloting an airplane, and the little nuances about the game of rugby are an added bonus. The secondary players include the previous storyline couples, many of the London Legends players and Libby’s co-workers and family. There is a heartbreaking and painful loss for one of the players, one that cannot be fixed with a bandage or a slap on the back, and in this, Matt’s future with the team will begin to unfold. The storyline and epilogue fast forwards the series by eighteen months as we learn a little more about our couple and what the future has in store.

Kat Latham writes a provocative and captivating storyline. TEMPTING THE PLAYER is a passionate look at professional sports, the emotional highs and lows, and the amazing thrill of succeeding at something you love. The anguish of sorrow; the heartbreak of loss; and the lively and spirited support of the team players is sure to be a touchdown with fans of romantic sports storylines.

Reading Order
Playing It Close
Knowing the Score
Tempting The Player
Unwrapping Her Perfect Match

Copy supplied by the publisher.

Reviewed by Sandy

_______________________

UNWRAPPING HER PERFECT MATCH
(London Legends Christmas Novella 3.5)
by Kat Latham
Release Date: November 11, 2014
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, romance

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 11, 2014

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Unwrapping her perfect match’Twas a week before Christmas, and at the auction house…

At six foot one, Gwen Chambers has felt like a giant her whole life. She’s a calm, capable nurse saving lives in a busy London hospital, but healthy men give her heart palpitations. When larger-than-life rugby player “Little” John Sheldon convinces her to bid on him in his team’s fundraising auction, she discovers how pleasurable heart palpitations can be.

A rugby player was stirring, with desire no one could douse…

John has wanted Gwen since he first saw her, but when he’s injured in a match just before Christmas he suddenly needs her too. Not only can the sexy nurse help him recover, but she might be able to help him look after his daughter—a shy ten-year-old who speaks only French.

But will it be a Happy Christmas for all, and for all a good night?
From decorating the Christmas tree to ice skating at the Tower of London, Gwen helps father and daughter open up and bond with each other—and she bonds right along with them. But when John’s agent calls with a life-changing offer, Gwen has to decide how far she’s willing to go for her perfect match. Will their first Noël also be their last?

••••••••••••••••

REVIEW: UNWRAPPING HER PERFECT MATCH is Kat Latham’s first holiday installment in her contemporary, adult London Legends romance series focusing on the members of the professional rugby players of the London Legends. This is six-nine rugby player John Sheldon and nurse Gwen Chambers’s storyline.

Told from third person point of view, the storyline focuses on the building relationship between John and Gwen, one that began at a charity auction where Gwen ‘bought’ John for 5,000 pounds. Gwen is Tess Chambers’s sister (Playing It Close book 2), a nurse and a woman whose history with personal betrayal will hit too close to home when John makes a side bet with his teammate Matt Ogden about who would raise the most money. When Gwen only catches a part of the exchange, she immediately becomes defensive and retreats back to the years that had all but destroyed her life. It will take a young ten year old girl, a holiday filled with wonder and imagination, and the love of a good man, to show Gwen that not every man is after the same thing.

The relationship between Gwen and John is one of immediate attraction but one rife with misunderstandings and fragile ego. John’s future with Gwen and the team is in question, and when John announces his plans, Gwen once again finds herself on the sidelines, hurt and wondering where it all went wrong. The sex scenes are intimate, emotional and intense.

UNWRAPPING HER PERFECT MATCH is another moving and seductive storyline from Kat Latham. Some of the previous storyline characters play a secondary role for a sense of familiarity and cohesion. The storyline timeline occurs three months after the events in book 3 but prior to the epilogue advancement. Each member of the team will find his happily ever after but getting there will not always be easy.

Copy supplied by the publisher.

Reviewed by Sandy

about the author

Kat Latham

Kat Latham is a California girl who moved to Europe the day after graduating from UCLA, ditching her tank tops for raincoats. She taught English in Prague and worked as an editor in London before she and her British husband moved to the Netherlands. Kat’s other career involves writing and editing for charities, and she’s traveled to Kenya, Ethiopia and India to meet heroic people helping their communities survive disasters. Find out more on her website: katlatham.com.

 

Site: http://katlatham.com/
Blog: http://katlatham.com/blog/
Newsletter: http://katlatham.com/newsletter/
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/katrinalatham
http://www.pinterest.com/KatLatham1/

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The London Legends Series by Kat Latham-a review

The London Legends Series by Kat Latham-a review

London Legends series

PLAYING IT CLOSE
(London Legends #2)
by Kat Latham
Genre: contemporary, adult, romance

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO /

Playing it CloseABOUT THE BOOK: January 14, 2014

Where do you go to escape everything when you’re one of the most famous rugby players in the world? For Liam Callaghan, that place is a remote lodge on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast. Perfect, except he doesn’t exactly want to be alone with his thoughts. Enter Tess Chambers, the ultimate distraction.

Still reeling from a professional disaster that’s made her all but unemployable, Tess understands the desire to move through life as somebody else. So when instantly recognizable Liam uses a fake name, she runs with it and creates a temporary new identity of her own.

Their time spent together in paradise is idyllic but brief—after one passionate night, Liam wakes up to find Tess gone. Returning to London, he’s shocked to learn she’s taken a job with his team’s new sponsor. As the Legends’ captain, he’ll have to not only figure out how to work with the one woman who ever left him wanting more, but also convince her that their feelings in the present mean more than any lies they’ve told in the past

••••••••••••

REVIEW: PLAYING IT CLOSE is the second instalment in Kat Latham’s contemporary, adult London Legends romance series focusing on the London Legends Rugby Team. This is team captain Liam Callaghan and Tess Chambers’s storyline. The timeline runs parallel to the first instalment Knowing the Score but very little of the premise overlaps.

Liam and Tess will meet while on vacation in Venezuela but Tess’s abrupt departure following a wild night of anonymous sex will leave Liam struggling with what has happened. Upon returning to England, Liam will discover that the company looking to back the London Legends rugby team is headed by Tess’s cousin and Tess will become part of the team’s PR. What follows is a series of misunderstandings and broken hearts when Liam believes that Tess had set him up all along. But Tess has had to endure months of humiliation following a disastrous revelation at work, and her connections with Liam will have to be kept under the radar.

The relationship between Liam and Tess begins as strangers in paradise but quickly moves to bitter exes following their reconnection. There is a definite attraction, one fueled by lust, sex and desire but betrayal and dissolution are first and foremost on Liam’s mind. The sexual tension is palpable and you know that there is only one woman on Liam’s mind. To get the girl back, Liam will learn that there is more to Tess than he could have possibly known. Tess has some major self esteem issues that drive part of her personality and her emotional fragility. Years of humiliation and a need to protect the man that she loves have led to a public breakdown that will push Liam away for the last time.

The secondary characters are colorful, believable and lend a little comic relief when necessary. The world building continues with the inclusion of the London Legends players as they strive to lead England to the World Rugby Championships.

PLAYING IT CLOSE is an engaging storyline about two people with issues of trust. Kat Latham pulls the reader into a provocative tale of seduction; an intense story about family and friends; and the drama of living your life in the public eye. It is a passionate story, sprinkled with a little humor and some heartbreaking discoveries, but in the end, another London Legends rugby player will find love and his happily ever after.

Copy supplied by the publisher.

Reviewed by Sandy

________________________

KNOWING THE SCORE
(London Legends #1)
by Kat Latham
Genre: contemporary, adult, romance

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Knowing the ScoreAbout the book: Release Date August 2013

Rugby player Spencer Bailey is determined to win a spot on England’s World Cup team. But with a month break before the selectors start watching him, he’s eager to have fun with a woman who knows the score: the relationship will end when rugby season begins. The lovely American Caitlyn Sweeney seems perfect for the role of temporary lover, since her visa will run out soon anyway.

Caitlyn works for an international disaster relief organization and can handle the world’s worst crises, but she flinches from her own. Her past has left her with a fear of intimacy so deep that she has trouble getting close to anyone—until she meets sexy Spencer. His hot body and easygoing nature are too much for even her to resist.

Neither Caitlyn nor Spencer expects to fall hard for each other. But with their relationship deadline approaching, the old rules of the game seem less important than before…until past secrets surface, challenging everything they thought they knew about each other.

REVIEW: KNOWING THE SCORE is the first instalment in Kat Latham’s adult, contemporary London Legends romance series. This is rugby player Spencer Bailey and Caitlyn Sweeney’s storyline. When Caitlyn saves an elderly gentleman who has suffered a heart attack in the London subway, she will eventually meet the most beautiful man she has ever seen. What Caitlyn doesn’t know is that the gentleman’s grandson is Spencer Bailey -one of the star players on London’s world class rugby team and the man who would steal her heart.

The focus of the story is Caitlyn and Spencer’s building relationship but a relationship that has only two to three months until it ends. Caitlyn is an American who is currently working in London with a disaster relief organization and her visa is about to expire but Caitlyn is a woman who has some major issues with intimacy and sex. Spencer promises to take things slow but in the end, Caitlyn is a woman who isn’t sure exactly what it is she wants.

KNOWING THE SCORE is a storyline about a woman so traumatized by her past that she is afraid to let anyone into her heart, her mind or her body. In fact, she is so afraid of physical intimacy that she recoils at the mere touch of a hand. In this, much of the storyline finds Spencer trying to engage Caitlyn in the physical act of touching and Caitlyn struggling to let go of the past.

The characters were interesting in that they both had issues that needed to be addressed but Caitlyn’s fears, although not necessarily unfounded, were a bit of a distraction throughout most of the story. She was a woman who ran from the things in her private life yet she went head first into a war torn area of Afghanistan where all women are at risk. In this, her character development was controversial and contradictory at times.

The storyline, as well as the relationship, were slow to build. When faced with her own choices Caitlyn never considered how it would affect Spencer and in this she was a difficult character to like. Spencer, as the hero, was not an innocent but he was far from an alpha male-he had patience beyond what should be expected; a loving relationship with his grandfather; and a dark mark in his past that once revealed will send Caitlyn running-once again. The misunderstandings could have been easily solved but Caitlyn did what she did best-she ran.

Written in third person POV, the writing style is simple. The premise takes the reader from London to Australia and Afghanistan. The storyline and premise were interesting but got lost in the heroine’s issues and need to run. There were several high and low points and, a happily ever after but at times I wondered if everything was going to work out-in the end.

Copy supplied by the publisher.

Reviews by Sandy

About the author

Kat LathamKat Latham writes sexy contemporary romance, including the London Legends rugby series. She’s a California girl who moved to Europe the day after graduating from UCLA, ditching her tank tops for raincoats. She spent several years teaching English in Prague followed by several more working for a humanitarian organization in London. She and her British husband now live in a small town in the rural Netherlands surrounded by miles and miles of green pasture, canals and Shetland ponies. Kat’s slowly adjusting to life in a place where bicycles and cows seem to outnumber people.

With degrees in English lit and human rights, she loves stories that reflect the humor and emotion of real life. Kat’s other career involves writing and editing for charities, and she’s had the privilege of traveling to Kenya, Ethiopia and India to write about the heroic people helping their communities survive disasters.

You can usually find Kat on her blog (katlatham.com), Twitter (@KatrinaLatham) or Facebook (facebook.com/KatLathamRomance).

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