Showstopper By Regina Kyle
Genre: Contemporary Romance, GLBTQ, MM
Tropes: Opposites attract
Released: August 12, 2021
Publisher: Heart Eyes Press
Series: Vino and Veritas, Book 17
Length: 226 pages
I swore I wouldn’t do this again. Mix sports, school, and sex. But right now the only thing standing between me and the NHL is six feet of frenemy packed into a pair of form-fitting jeans that have me thinking all kinds of things I shouldn’t. Mostly how to get him out of them.
I don’t just want Kolby. I need him. Because I’ve got to pass this theater class–yeah, I said theater–if I’m going to keep my spot on the team. When tutoring sessions turn into dates-not-dates over Shipley Cider at Vino and Veritas, I realize it’s going to be harder than I thought to keep my hands on my stick and off of Kolby. Worse, I think I might be falling for him. But I’m not ready for that. I want to keep this thing between us on the down-low for now.
But Kolby hates secrets. Especially his own . . .
Available to borrow with Kindle Unlimited.
Let the games begin.
The professor’s words are like nails in my improv coffin. Aside from Kolby’s brief description of Questions Only and a handful of Whose Line episodes, I’m completely clueless as to what we’re doing here.
My body language must give away my nervousness because Kolby puts a hand on my shoulder. It’s warm and strong and reassuring. I try not to think about how much more I like his touch than Quinn’s. How much more I like everything about him, even though she’s objectively hot and practically throwing herself at me and he’s an emotional vault who thinks I’m a dumb, entitled jock.
Not that it matters, I remind myself. Because I’m not here to make friends. Or get laid. I’m here to play hockey and save my shot at the NHL.
And, apparently, because the universe hates me, do improv. It’s like my worst nightmare coming true, the one where I’m accepting the Calder Memorial Trophy for best NHL rookie in my underwear. No, I take it back. This is worse. I may have been half naked in my dream, but at least I had a script. Having to go up there and pull something out of my ass is just cruel.
Professor Frost is barking out instructions, and I force myself to pay attention. I’m already lost. The last thing I need is to get myself even further behind by zoning out.
“Rachel and Ian, since you two obviously understand what we’re doing, you’ll start.” He motions them to the center of the room.
“The rest of you, form a line along the wall near the whiteboard. When a player takes too long to respond or fails to answer with a question, they’ll hear this sound.” He produces a plastic dinosaur from behind his back and presses a button on its back. It comes to life with a tinny, electronic roar. “That’s their cue to take a seat, and the first person in line will replace them. Got it?”
Apparently, I’m the only one who thinks it’s weird that a grown man is playing with a toy T-Rex because the rest of the class just nods and murmurs their assent as they line up against the wall. I can’t believe my parents are paying good money for me to take this ridiculous, useless class. And that my future as a hockey player rests on me passing it.
I drag my feet, in no hurry to be part of the action. The further back I am, the more time I have to figure out what the fuck I’m doing. I feel a hand on the small of my back, nudging me toward the end of the line. To my surprise, it’s Kolby. I thought he’d be racing to the front, dying to get up there and show off.
“Come on,” he says. “We can watch the others so you can see how it’s done before it’s your turn.”
“We?”
His lips quirk into a cheeky grin that lights up his face and simultaneously makes me want to push him away and pull him closer. “You didn’t think I was going to desert you in your time of need, did you?”
Honestly, yeah, I did. It wouldn’t be the first time someone’s let me down.
He gives me another subtle nudge forward. What’s not so subtle are the tremors racing up and down my spine from the spot where his hand rests, just above the waistband of my track pants. It burns through the thin fabric of my T-shirt like there’s not even a barrier between us. I don’t even want to think about what a mess I’d be if we were skin-on-skin.
We take our places at the back of the line. Kolby stands in front of me, letting me go last. Does he have to be so damn nice in addition to being so freaking hot? It makes him harder to resist, even though I know he’s only doing it because the professor forced him to. Kolby made his opinion of me loud and clear in the registrar’s office. As far as he’s concerned, I’m the poster child for pampered jocks.
I cling to that thought in the hope that it will kill any feelings I’m starting to have for this guy. I have to focus if I’m going to pass this class.
Regina Kyle knew she was destined to be an author when she won a writing contest at age 10 with a touching tale about a squirrel and a nut pie. By day, she writes dry legal briefs, representing the state in criminal appeals. At night, she writes steamy romance with heart and humor. She is a two-time winner of the Booksellers’ Best award, in 2016 for Triple Dare and in 2018 for The Billionaire in Her Bed.
A lover of all things theatrical, Regina lives on the Connecticut coast with her husband, teenage daughter and two melodramatic cats with an insatiable need for attention, especially during deadline crunch time. When she’s not writing, she’s most likely singing, reading, cooking or watching bad reality television.
Amazon | Bookbub | Contact | Facebook Author Page | Goodreads | Instagram | Website
Promotional materials provided by Heart Eyes Press.
Previous:
Release Blitz and Excerpt: Limelight by E. Davies
Next:
Release Blitz and Excerpt: Undone by Leslie McAdam
You may also like
-
5.0
16 Mar
Review Tour and Giveaway: Of Hope and Anguish by Silvia Violet
GiveawayA great sequel to Revolutionary Temptation.
-
14 Nov
Release Blitz, Excerpt, Review and Giveaway: Safe Harbour by Thom Collins
Giveaway5 STARS!! Two lovers seek shelter in a storm of jealousy and passion.
-
15 Jan
Recent Release Review: Unloved by Marley Valentine
GLBTQ Romance5 STARS!!! We were products of our pasts, abandoned and unloved, messy and complicated. Individually we had baggage; together we had mountains to climb. But when the three of us were tangled up in one another, spilling secrets in the dark, hearts beating in sync, nothing else mattered but them.
-
4.0
13 May
Review: Blood Surfer by Debra Jess
Paranormal RomanceTheir destiny is written in blood. Welcome to Star Haven, where the police arrest and imprison alternative humans, if not execute them outright. When outlaw Hannah Quinn saves Officer Scott Grey's life by bloodsurfing through his broken body, he winds up on the wrong side of the kill line.