Risky Play

Red Card, Book 1

By: Rachel Van Dyken

Narrated by: CJ Bloom, Eric London

Even one-night stands deserve a second chance in New York Times bestselling author Rachel Van Dyken’s novel of sporting desire.

What else can a virgin do when she’s ditched at the altar? Seattle heiress Mackenzie Dupont is treating herself to a single-girl honeymoon in Mexico and a desire to relinquish her innocence to a gorgeous one-night stand. Fake names. True pleasure. But when she wakes up alone, Mackenzie realizes just how much anger is left in her broken heart.

Suffering a tragic personal loss, pro soccer player Slade Rodriguez has his reasons for vanishing without a goodbye. Right or wrong, he’s blaming the beautiful and infuriating stranger he never wants to see again. They’re both in for a shock when Mackenzie shows up as his new personal assistant. And they both have a lot to learn about each other. Because they share more than they could possibly know, including a common enemy who’s playing his own games. And he’s not afraid to get dirty.

Now there’s only one way Mackenzie and Slade can win: to trust in each other and to stop hiding from the lies they’ve told, the secrets they’ve kept, the mistakes they’ve made, and the attraction that still burns between them.

©2019 Rachel Van Dyken (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“[S]eductive yet sweet...Van Dyken (the Liars, Inc. series) mixes comic relief with personal growth, making this catchy romance irresistible.” (Publishers Weekly)

ljstalker

loved it great story loved it for the soccer players and his friends, can't wait to hear/read the next one !

This book has it all!

I am actually surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Once I found out this book had the audio included on Kindle Unlimited, I quickly grabbed it… the fact that it was about a soccer player was just icing on the cake! Mackenzie and Slade meet when they both take a trip to Mexico as a little escape from their lives. In typical romance fashion, they hit it off and spend an amazing day together until real life butts in and tragedy strikes. After they return to their lives in Seattle, they get thrown together again and they try to fight the attraction. Mack tries to hang out with an old friend, Slade gets jealous, her ex causes problems, punches are thrown. Really, this book has drama, comedy, romance and the cutest bulldog with a gas problem!

The narration was great for these characters. I’ve listened to CJ Bloom before and I always enjoy her bringing the characters to life. Eric London was a new narrator for me but I really enjoyed him. His voice for Matt was a little annoying, but since Matt always seemed to be fed up I could completely see him sounding like that!

Enjoyable RVD Sports RomCom

Audio. Full disclosure: I love 99% of what RVD writes. CJ Bloom & Eric London are definitely in my list of favorite narrators. So, it was going to be difficult for this book to disappoint. Even though I could read/listen via KU ~ I bought it.

Yes, the jilted-bride-goes-on-honeymoon-anyway-and-meets-her-forever-man has been done numerous times before, but RVD pulls it off well by adding a few unique twists and turns. Places where I thought I knew where she was going, she made a different decision with great results.

I loved Mac. She was adorable (I’m sure CJ Bloom’s voice helped here), yet strong and determined despite all the crap coming her way.

Speaking of crap, Slade’s attitude toward her when they meet up again is what brought this down for me. He was particularly vicious and it went along a little too long for my taste.

It’s still a book I see myself listening to again and worth buying. They get their HEA. We also get to know Matt & Jagger well enough that I can’t wait for their stories.

Enjoyable

I thoroughly enjoy Rachel Van Dyken's books, this one was good but I had a problem with Slates accent. I wasn't sure it was supposed to be Hispanic or English, I kept catching notes of both and in some cases the accent came on stronger than in others, it just wasn't consistent to me. Other than that I liked the story and even had some laugh out loud moments.

OMG!!

OMG!! This book had me hooked from beginning to end and I can't wait to start the next book in this series. Loved Slade and Mack's journey and can't wait to see what's in store for the rest of the group. Rachel Van Dyken did an amazing job