Release Blitz and Giveaway: Falling Hard: Lexi Ryan
Falling Hard (The Blackhawk Boys #4)Lexi Ryan
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Release Date May 23, 2017
An NFL player with a secret past, and the one woman with the power to turn his world inside out...
Former actress Emma Rothschild is partying in Vegas in disguise. But I’m not fooled. Five years ago, I knew that body better than my own, and I haven’t forgotten a single detail.
When Emma’s unexpectedly left alone in Sin City, I agree to spend the weekend with her. As friends. Why not? If I can knock down the toughest guys in the NFL, I’m strong enough to keep my hands to myself, even if she is the sexiest woman I’ve ever met.
Emma is part of my past—years so shrouded in secrets that not even my best friends know the truth about who I am. I’m a single dad now and not interested in revisiting my old ways or trying to win back the only woman I ever let close enough to break my heart.
But this is Vegas, where all bets are off, and with Emma, nothing ever goes as planned…
FALLING HARD is a sexy and emotional novel intended for mature readers. It’s the fourth book in the world of the Blackhawk Boys, but can be enjoyed as a standalone.
The Blackhawk boys are spread out now with some of them playing for different NFL teams. But a weekend in Vegas for Arrow's bachelor party will be a great way to spend some time together with friends, especially when their girl crew tags along. But Keegan never expected to run into Emma Rothschild...his first real love and the girl who broke his heart. She was America's Sweetheart...the child star who could never escape the media attention or run from her issues. When he was younger, Keegan was a different person than he is today and he is determined to leave that behind. He has worked hard to graduate, own a business, play in the NFL, and make a good life for his toddler daughter.
They were two people with dark hidden pasts who made each other whole for awhile five years ago, but were left heartbroken. And now that they are back in each other's presence, all the feelings, anger, regret, and questions return. They find themselves in Sin City making impulsive decisions that will have new implications on their current lives. Just how five years ago their lives were irrevocably changed.
They were two people with dark hidden pasts who made each other whole for awhile five years ago, but were left heartbroken. And now that they are back in each other's presence, all the feelings, anger, regret, and questions return. They find themselves in Sin City making impulsive decisions that will have new implications on their current lives. Just how five years ago their lives were irrevocably changed.
There were a lot of layers to their pasts and their lives that neither knew the full extent of. Their history was twisted. There were so many secrets, lies, omissions, assumptions, and mistakes. Their communication of important topics was terrible. She was a runner. He was an avoider. They both had insecurities and never felt good enough, accepted, and truly loved. They were terrified that the truth would cause them to lose each other, but ultimately they did anyway. Their chemistry and attraction was intense. Their feelings were strong, and continued to affect them and never really waned with time. But trust and sharing were huge issues for this couple that cost them so much in the past and still affect them in the present.
There were plenty of challenges, misconceptions, and pain to navigate. Their lives were complicated. They had people that were not supportive or willing to cause issues and stir up fears. But there were also those friends that have become their family and support system. I enjoyed more with the Blackhawk crew and seeing some changes with them. I am even more excited to finally get Mason and Bailey's story now.
This was an intriguing, emotional passionate, second-chance love story with some twists. It was told in dual points of view past and present and their pasts were gradually revealed along the way. I loved the intricate layers and surprises. I liked seeing Keegan grow into a mature young Dad and adult. He was so closed off and a player before, but we can see his good heart and sense of responsibility and protectiveness not only with Emma, but also with Olivia, the mother of his daughter (that girl is another story and I still just want to shake her). I liked Emma and could understand her issues and insecurities. They were catalysts for change for each other in different times and in different ways. But the road towards honesty, trust, hope, and belief in true love was not an easy one.
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Emma Rothschild is known as America’s sweetheart. A weekend away with her best friend seemed a good idea, until she came face to face with her past in a Vegas nightclub. But five years is a long time, and neither Keegan nor she are the same people they once were. Surely they can spend a weekend in the others’ presence as friends.
It doesn’t take either long to realize they can’t keep things platonic; there is too much chemistry between them. And boy is that chemistry strong! From the beginning the pull of their attraction is clear to everyone around them.
What happens in Vegas can change everything, especially with all the secrets swirling around them. The secrets from their past are stacked against them. There is a lot to work through, both as individuals and as a couple that must be faced in order to heal the past. It was crushing to realize just how much stood in their way, both in their past and in the present.
This was a second chance story full of pain, misunderstanding, hope, and promise. The secrets from Keegan and Emma’s pasts are revealed like a trail of breadcrumbs, one by one. Each new piece of information had me turning pages for more, waiting for all the pieces to finally weave together into the complete picture of their past.
Keegan is surrounded by his Blackhawk teammates, even as they are all moving on with adult lives. Knowing they have that shared past means they can offer support, and acceptance even though they don’t know his whole past. I loved seeing more of Keegan’s daughter and the way he has settled into the responsibilities of fatherhood. Mason’s story is next and I look forward to getting to know yet another of the Blackhawk Boys as they settle into adulthood and look to the future.
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.
“You’re too beautiful,” I tell her. I run my thumb along her jaw. “Too fucking beautiful.”
“I’ve missed you. You’re the best man I’ve ever met.”
My stomach clenches and I shake my head. “Don’t think that. It’s a lie. It’s what I wanted you to believe. Don’t bring that lie into tonight.”
“How was it a lie?” She grins up at me, and I know a full confession would erase all the happiness from her face.
“When we were together before, I wasn’t the man you thought I was. I wasn’t good.” It’s the closest to the truth I’ve ever given anyone about my past.
“So you don’t want me believing you’re good?”
I pull her hips tightly against me as I exhale in frustration. She still thinks this is some kind of joke. “I’m different now, but then…”
She lifts onto her toes and flicks her tongue against my ear. “Don’t be so different. I like you a little bad.”
I groan and stop dancing. I don’t know how much longer I can do this without diving over the line. “Is that permission to stop being your friend?” I’m obsessed with knowing if she tastes as sweet as I remember. And if I swipe my tongue over the sensitive spot beneath her ear, will she gasp like she always did?
She shrugs and grins, and the dance floor tilts off balance. It’s crowded, and we’re surrounded by writhing bodies, cocooned in the crowd. I turn her in my arms so her back is to my front and settle my hand against the soft skin of her midriff. She arches her back and rubs against me.
I sweep her hair to the side, and when I press my lips to the long, smooth column of her neck, she trembles against me.
“Are you okay?” I ask against her ear. “Is this okay?”
“I—I’m not sure…”
“Tell me what you want. Not five years ago. Not tomorrow. What do you want right now?”
She reaches back and threads her fingers through my hair to guide my mouth back to her neck.
I don’t hesitate. I kiss and suck on that tender skin while we move to the beat.
The rest of the room fades and one song blurs into the next. A waitress comes by selling shots, and I buy two, one for each of us, and we lock eyes as we throw them back. At some point, I’m vaguely aware of Bailey checking on me, but my focus is one hundred percent on Emma, on this night that takes me back to when I was eighteen and so fucking in love it hurt. Tonight, Emma isn’t the woman who once broke my heart. She isn’t the girl who wrote me off with a simple goodbye note and apologies I didn’t want. Tonight, she’s a dream, my fantasy in the flesh, my reward for surviving the hardest year of my whole life.
When her face begins to blur, I realize I’m way more drunk than I ever intended. I need to sober up or I’m not going to remember a minute of this night. “Want to get out of here?”
She nods, takes my hand, and leads me out of the bar and down the hall to the elevators. My watch reads a quarter past two.
“Let’s get some food,” I suggest, but at the same moment, an elevator dings and the doors slide open.
Emma grabs my hand and drags me inside. “I don’t want food,” she says, punching a button.
I spin her around and press her against the wall. “What do you want, Em?” I drop my hand to her side to skim my knuckles over her skirt, and she widens her stance to part her thighs. “Fuck,” I whisper. I shouldn’t do this. Not here, not when any moment someone could join us on the elevator, not when we’re both so damn drunk it’s a wonder we can stand upright. But shouldn’t is so much weaker than want, and I want to touch her more than I want anything right now.
I’m faintly aware of the soft beeping of the passing floors as I slide my hand up her skirt and cup her between her legs. She gasps, and I rub my fingers over the damp lace of her panties, teasing her swollen flesh.
When the elevator stops and the doors slide open, she grabs my wrist and holds me still. “Please,” she whispers in my ear. “Please. Don’t stop.” Then she tilts her hips and rocks against my hand. I couldn’t refuse her if every person in the hotel was watching us.
THE BLACKHAWK BOYS, an edgy, sexy sports romance series from
New York Times bestseller Lexi Ryan.
Football. Secrets. Lies. Passion. These boys don’t play fair.
Which Blackhawk Boy will steal your heart?
Book 1 - SPINNING OUT - (Arrow's story)
Book 2 - RUSHING IN - (Christopher's story)
Book 3 - GOING UNDER - (Sebastian's story)
Book 4 - FALLING HARD - (Keegan's Story)
Book 5 - IN TOO DEEP - Coming Fall 2017 (Mason’s story)
Book 4 - FALLING HARD - (Keegan's Story)
Book 5 - IN TOO DEEP - Coming Fall 2017 (Mason’s story)
Spinning Out (The Blackhawk Boys #1)Add to Goodreads
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Our 4.5 star reviews
Once, the only thing that mattered to me was football—training, playing, and earning my place on the best team at every level. I had it all, and I threw it away with a semester of drugs, alcohol, and pissing off anyone who tried to stop me. Now I’m suspended from the team, on house arrest, and forced to spend a semester at home to get my shit together. The cherry on my fuckup sundae? Sleeping in the room next to mine is my best friend’s girl, Mia Mendez—the only woman I’ve ever loved and a reminder of everything I regret.
I’m not sure if having Mia so close will be heaven or hell. She’s off-limits—and not just because she’s working for my dad. Her heart belongs to someone else. But since the accident that killed her brother and changed everything, she walks around like a zombie, shutting out her friends and ignoring her dreams. We’re both broken, numb, and stuck in limbo.
Until I break my own rules and touch her.
Until she saves me from my nightmares by climbing into my bed.
Until the only thing I want more than having Mia for myself is to protect her from the truth.
I can’t rewrite the past, but I refuse to leave her heart in the hands of fate. For this girl, I’d climb into the sky and rearrange the stars.
I didn’t expect a walking fantasy determined to make me lose my cool.
I didn’t expect a woman with secrets so dark, so deep, I’d throw away everything if it would save her from the past.
Rushing in to do this favor is turning my life upside down—and not just because Grace needs her ass spanked. Keep her out of trouble? Grace is the trouble. And I want in.
Our 4 star reviews
The favor seemed simple: Keep my new stepsister out of trouble for one summer.
I’ve never met Grace Lee, but Mom tells me she’s a quiet and artsy college student with a troubled past. When I agreed to let her stay with me, I thought it was no big deal. I expected to share my apartment with a sullen girl who’d spend hours locked in her room.
The favor seemed simple: Keep my new stepsister out of trouble for one summer.
I’ve never met Grace Lee, but Mom tells me she’s a quiet and artsy college student with a troubled past. When I agreed to let her stay with me, I thought it was no big deal. I expected to share my apartment with a sullen girl who’d spend hours locked in her room.
I didn’t expect a walking fantasy determined to make me lose my cool.
I didn’t expect a woman with secrets so dark, so deep, I’d throw away everything if it would save her from the past.
Rushing in to do this favor is turning my life upside down—and not just because Grace needs her ass spanked. Keep her out of trouble? Grace is the trouble. And I want in.
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Our 4.5 star reviews
If I met Alexandra DeLuca for the first time today, I would only need one word to describe her:
MINE.
She's everything she was when we said goodbye. Beautiful, stubborn, sweet...and off-limits.
After two years leading separate lives, our worlds have collided. Now that she's back home working and taking classes beside me, she's bound to make me lose my mind.
She's all I've ever wanted, all I've ever dreamed of, and the one thing I can never have.
Not because she's my best friend's sister.
Not because all four DeLuca brothers would come at me with fists swinging if I hurt her.
Not even because she's way better than I will ever deserve.
I keep my distance because we didn't meet for the first time today. We met five years ago when I was a different person. When my demons ruled me. Even though I've changed--even though I've gotten my life together and become a better man--I can't change the past. And the secrets that haunt me would destroy her.
But I'm not the only one with secrets, and when the truth comes out, I don't know where to turn. What do you do when your world washes away beneath your feet and you feel like you're drowning? What do you do when the woman you promised yourself you'd never touch is the only thing that can keep you from going under?
New York Times and USA Today bestselling romance novelist Lexi Ryan is a former college English professor turned fulltime writer. She lives in rural Indiana with her husband and two children. When not writing, she can be found enjoying yoga, reading copiously, hanging out with her family, and thanking her lucky stars.
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