Blurb
My mom always said it was just something about the way he moved.
The same swagger Archie Valentine wore in the ring when he took his opponents down followed him like a halo everywhere he went. But make no mistake about it—he was no angel. He was like a drug. My mother was his addict.
I never understood it…how love could make you blind and convince you to drink the poison. Not until I met Memphis Delaney.
At first, it was the familiar form. He’s a fighter, built like a god from the past, the kind of man the universe doesn’t make anymore. His eyes hide a story, and every time I’m in his presence I want to keep reading him until I get to the end. And then…there’s the way he moves. His boxing is violent but beautiful, and his body is a seductive weapon. When he’s in the ring, he wears the stare of a man committed to the battle until his very last breath.
He could end me; turn me into her. Too much of him will leave me as a shadow, and I’ve lost so much of myself already.
But I have discipline. It came the hard way. Lessons learned, scars left behind, and trust stripped away from life.
I will breathe his air, but I won’t fall for a man like him. The only boxer who’s ever going to break my heart is the one who gave me my name.
*ARC kindly provided by the Author in exchange for an honest review*
Véleményem a könyvről
Ginger Scott az egyik legkiemelkedőbb szerző sport románc műfajban. Az írásmódjából mindig kitűnik, hogy mekkora szenvedélye a sport, és azt hiszem, ez teszi a könyveit igazán különlegessé.
Miután kiderül, hogy a barátja egy csalás során milliókat lopott másoktól, és ő ott marad bepiszkolt névvel, pénz és méltóság nélkül, Olivia Valentine-nek nincs más választása, mint visszatérni arra a helyre, ahonnan korábban mindent megtett, hogy elmeneküljön, a szülei házába. Egykor a Valentine név ismert volt a boksz világában, és Olivia apja többszörös bajnokként nagy nevet szerzett magának, azonban a külvilág nem tudta, hogy igazából milyen rossz férj és apa volt ő. Olivia anyja sem volt különb, és az otthonunk légköre mindig is mérgező volt, így Olivia alig várta, hogy végre eljöhessen abból a házból.
Amikor hazaérkezik, azonnal összefut a nagybátyja által edzett legújabb bokszolóval, Memphis Delaney-vel. Memphis igazán tehetséges srác, és Oliva apjával ellentétben az ő szíve a helyén van. Ő önzetlen, és nem a pénz gondolata hajtja előre, hanem hogy bizonyítson önmagának és az apja emlékének.
Olivia-nak meg kell találnia újra a szilárd talajt a lába alatt, Memphis-nek pedig fel kell készülnie egy nagy Vegas-i meccsre. A figyelemelterelés egyiküknek sem jó, és távol kellene maradniuk egymástól, de úgy tűnik egyikük sem érez elég erőt ehhez…
Nagyon megkedveltem a karaktereket, különösképpen Memphis-t *olvadozik*, és az ő legjobb barátját, Miles-t. Ő egy hajléktalan veterán, aki rengeteg veszteséget élt át az élete során, és aki egy parkban él, de akinek hatalmas szíve van. Olivia-t is kedveltem, de őszintén szólva ő nem tudott annyira közel kerülni a szívemhez, mint a többiek.
Ginger Scott írási stílusa lebilincselő, és imádom, hogy minden története tele van érzelemmel és szívvel. Őszintén bevallom, hogy a boksz nem tartozik a kedvenc sportjaim közé, mégis tetszett ez a könyv. Magával ragadó volt, és néhány igencsak nagy fordulatot is tartogatott a történet. De ha már a vallomásoknál tartunk, azt is be kell vallanom, hogy valamiért mindig is így éreztem, hogy Ginger Scott Young Adult műfajban sokkal erősebb, mint New Adultban. Nem azt mondom, hogy az írónőnek nincsenek kiemelkedő NA könyvei (végül is a This is Falling nem véletlenül került fel a kedvenceim listájára), de valahogy az ifjúsági regényei számomra mindig sokkal erősebb üzenetet tudnak közvetíteni, és ezt éreztem akkor is, amikor befejeztem ezt a könyvet. Nagyon jó volt, de nem a legjobb a szerzőtől. (De persze természetesen mindenkihez más könyv tud igazán szólni.)
Összességében tényleg nagyon tetszett ez a könyv, és mindenkinek őszintén ajánlom, aki egy igazán jó lassan épülő románcra vágyik.
My Review in English
Ginger Scott writes the most amazing sport romances. Her writing always shows how passionate she is about sports and I think this is what makes her books so incredible. If you like slow burn stories this is your book.
After it turns out that her boyfriend stole millions from others in a Ponzi scheme, her name has been dragged through the mud and she is left without money, Olivia Valentine has no other choice but to move back to the very first place she tried to escape from, her parents’ house. Once the Valentine was a big name in the boxing world and Olivia’s father was a champion but the outside world didn’t know how bad of a father and husband he was. Her mother was no better at all, and their home was always so toxic that Olivia couldn’t wait to leave that life behind.
When she arrives home she immediately meets with Memphis Delaney the newest fighter her uncle coaches. Memphis is talented but unlike Olivia’s father in his glory days, his heart is in the right place. He is selfless and he don’t want to fight for the money despite he has not much, but to prove himself for himself and for the memory of his father.
Olivia needs to find the solid ground under her feet and Memphis has to prepare for a huge fight in Vegas. The distraction is not good for any of them and they should stay away from each other but it seems neither of them can find the strength for that…
I truly liked the characters, especially Memphis, who had the biggest heart. *swoons* His best friend is a homeless guy, Miles. He is a veteran who lost so much and who now lives in the park but who is also an amazing person. I truly loved Miles and he was a great side-character. I liked Olivia too, but to tell the truth she didn’t get really close to me.
Ginger Scott’s writing style is amazing and I truly love how she can deliver so much emotions and heart in all of her stories. I sincerely confess that boxing is not my favorite sport but I still loved this book. It was engaging and there were some pretty great twists in the story. And another confess: It’s the strangest thing but I always feel like Ginger Scott’s Young Adult books are much stronger than her New Adult stories. I don’t really know why I feel like this and I don’t say this because she is not really good at NA, (after all This is Falling is not on my favorite list by accident), but somehow I feel like she is able to deliver much more powerful messages trough her YA novels and I felt this way when I finished this story, too. It was really good, but not her best. (Of course every story speaks for everyone differently.)
Overall I truly loved this story and I honestly recommend for everyone who wants to read an amazing, slow-burn sport romance.
My Favorite Quotes From the Book
“I’m no champion at all if you’re not there to see it.”
“Us. A beginning of us—or an accidental us, fate or coincidence…maybe luck—whatever it is, it made us. We are in this space together, and there was a moment. It makes breathing both hard and satisfying when she is around.”
“There’s just something about the way he moves…like a ghost.
Like a fighter.”
“Breaking you, Liv, would be one of the biggest regrets of my life. And I just don’t do regrets.”
“And I will remember tonight,” he says, stopping as his mouth curves on one side and his shoulders lift just a little. “I will remember the almost, and I will wait for the what ifs. (…)”
“Every morning I beg myself not to notice him, and by the end of the day, he’s the only thing I’m paying any attention to at all.”
“Sorry, I wanted to make sure you liked it.” What I mean, but don’t say, is I can’t stop being awed by her.”
4 – Champion -Stars
Purchase Links
Amazon: http://a.co/c50FzBy
Google Play: http://bit.ly/2Fe2sNv
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2sJ503C
Excerpt
I turn so our feet are squared and glance at his home that I think he probably knows I went through while he was gone. Somehow the money he paid for it seems not enough and too much all at once. My gaze shifts back to his, and he steps forward until the toe of his left shoe rests against the right side of mine.
“That’s a nice story, Memphis. I’m glad you found the bike, but I’m not sure what that has to do with me,” I say, my breath catching as his fingertips trace along my jaw, his touch so faint I find myself leaning my head to encourage his palm to rest along my cheek more boldly.
He brings his other hand up with more confidence, and I’m caught. The other option I had, to walk away, is gone. I never really wanted it, though.
Memphis dips his chin, hunching slightly to bring his eyes in line with mine. We’re so close that I can feel the tickle of his breath against my lips, and they tingle at the familiar. Each experience with him weaves itself into my heart in this way that terrifies me. This is how people lose themselves.
But I let it in—each breath, each sound, the smells and words. His story. I am surviving on the very being of him, and I think I have been for a while now.
“I was eighteen when I tracked down that bike. I knew it was mine…”
“I don’t belong to you, Memphis,” I cut in, my heart pounding.
His mouth forms a crooked smile. He holds my eyes hostage in silence for few long seconds. “Maybe it works the other way,” he says, his eyes moving over my face with a softness that feels intimate and vulnerable. His forehead falls forward until it rests gently on my own, and I let go of the grip I have on myself, exchanging it for fistfuls of his T-shirt. My knuckles run along his chest as I gather the material and close my eyes, his muscles hard from discipline.
“I can’t watch you get hurt. I can’t…”
His hand moves to my chin, and he lifts it until our eyes meet. Suddenly, breathing just got a lot harder to do.
“I won’t lose, Liv. I work too hard, and I study too much, and I will never be in a ring I’m not supposed to be in,” he says, and I breathe out what sounds like a laugh but feels like hurt.
“My fifty-year-old uncle kicked your ass in some display of alpha-male, teacher-student bullshit. I couldn’t watch that…how am I supposed to watch you step in with some guy who really wants to kill you? How am I supposed to kiss you knowing that your lips might never be the same after a fight. How…”
Memphis’s mouth takes mine before I can protest anymore, nothing like our stolen moment from earlier. His hands cup my face and his mouth moves possessively over my bottom lip, sucking it in and letting it slide loose through a graze of his teeth. He turns my head with a gentle nudge and kisses me deeper, and his hands fall from my face in long, possessive drags down my shoulders to my waist, stopping with his thumbs just above my hips and his fingers splayed out around my sides.
My hands roam up his chest and neck until my thumbs run along the roughness of his chin, and my touch seems to somehow make him hungrier.
“My god.” He breathes the words against my lips, restraint giving way…
About the Author
Ginger Scott is an Amazon-bestselling and Goodreads Choice Award-nominated author of several young and new adult romances, including Waiting on the Sidelines, Going Long, Blindness, How We Deal With Gravity, This Is Falling, You and Everything After, The Girl I Was Before, Wild Reckless, Wicked Restless, In Your Dreams, The Hard Count, Hold My Breath, A Boy Like You and A Girl Like Me.
A sucker for a good romance, Ginger’s other passion is sports, and she often blends the two in her stories. (She’s also a sucker for a hot quarterback, catcher, pitcher, point guard…the list goes on.) Ginger has been writing and editing for newspapers, magazines and blogs for more than 15 years. She has told the stories of Olympians, politicians, actors, scientists, cowboys, criminals and towns. For more on her and her work, visit her website at http://www.littlemisswrite.com.
When she’s not writing, the odds are high that she’s somewhere near a baseball diamond, either watching her son field pop flies like Bryce Harper or cheering on her favorite baseball team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ginger lives in Arizona and is married to her college sweetheart whom she met at ASU (fork ’em, Devils).
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