Book Review-Rivalry by Nikki Sloane

The Rivalry by Nikki Sloane
Published by Shady Creek Publishing on November 21 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance, New Adult, Sports
Pages: 352
Format: eBook
Source: Self Purchased

This tight end is at the top of his game.

He’s good with his hands, even better with his sexy mouth, and the best at making me forget my own name. His—ahem—stats are perfect.

But I can’t fall for him.

He might be everything I want, all rolled into a glorious package of gridiron god, but there’s one teeny-tiny problem. The vile, loathsome team I’ve spent my entire life hating—my beloved school’s arch-rival?

This guy is their star player.

Rivalry…..a book of two people on opposite side of a football war…..a love that you have to fight for!!!

Rivalary is a book that I bought on impulse thanks to some great feature posts and reviews, and I just knew that I needed this in my life and I doubt that it’s a coincidence it is released on the week of the game that the story revolves around. Now Rivalry is a story that anyone that is around one of the bigger rivalries in the college sports area can definitely connect with. I personally connected with this book because in the Rockies we have the “Holy War” and trust me people are brutal around here during that week. So I definitely felt a kinship to this book and this book AMAZED me and man what a book hangover I am suffering from. I haven’t been able to read since yesterday because I am so hooked and thinking about this story. I definitely didn’t realize that this story would get to me but oh how I loved and adored Rivalry and recommend it to any sports lover especially if you love Football and if you are with the whole Michigan and Ohio rivalry…this book is for you!!!

The key players that are involved are:

•   Kayla, our lovely heroine, head cheerleader for OSU and knows more about football than most coaches do.
•   Jay, our sexy hero, top player for Michigan, from Indiana and has no understanding about Rivalries but loyal to his team

Our story sets off when Kayla is at her best friends wedding, with no date. Kayla normally doesn’t have dates most because she is so obsessive with her football talk that the guys run off scared and she can be pretty intimidating. But she makes a promise to not talk football at the wedding and reception even if it kills her to do it. Of course Kayla, is from a family of obsessive football nuts. Her mother was in labor during a Michigan and OSU rival game and refused to go to the hospital until the game was over…yeah that kind of crazy. So she meets up with one of the grooms friends, a fellow groomsman and they hit it off instantly. There is instant chemistry but also they just connect on other levels too including comparing the food served and making jokes together. Kayla has no clue that her sexy adopted date is actually her enemy. In fact, neither of them have any idea of what is in store for them or what will soon complicate their relationship tenfold. So in an effort to track down her hottie, her best friend’s new husband gives her an address to a bar he likes to go to on a regular basis. The minute she enters she soon realizes (in horror and shock) that the man she can’t stop thinking about goes to school for her nemesis Michigan and she is in a Michigan sports bar. Things go from bad to worse very quickly and Jay doesn’t understand how she is repelled by him now. Jay, lovely hero that he is, is pretty clueless when it comes to how crazy people are in rivalries. He never grew up with it so for him its just a game but to many around him it’s not just a game. Its definitely a whole culture and he is in the shock for his life when he has to fight constantly for Kayla and somehow make her believe that what they have together is more important than the rivalry.

I shouldn’t have gotten in his car, but his mouth had been too convincing. He was the devil. The seduction of his lips could make me do anything.

WHEW….what a story, I can just tell you that I am just exhausted and fully sated after reading this book. It definitely brought me back to my own rivalry and yeah many circumstances and set ups is so real if you live and breathe a rivalry. Now I am not as crazy as Kayla and most especially her mom (she is a force of nature) however I could definitely understand her side more than I could understand Jay’s side when it comes to having passion for a sports rivalry most especially in football. When they first learn the truth about where each of them go to school, we have two different reactions. Kayla….shocked, horrified, scared and mad. Jay….confused, shocked and positive. He doesn’t really see why they would think about stop seeing each other. Kayla, at first, doesn’t know why she would want to keep seeing him. He plays for the enemy, so at first that is how she thinks of him. But Jay, is persistent and he knows what they feel for each other, even in the beginning, is real and worth fighting for. So he fights for it and for her and it’s definitely not easy making Kayla get past her disgust for the team he plays for. But as he slowly wins her over, Kayla also changes too. She really fights it because a part of her doesn’t want to have to cheer for Michigan but she soon realizes that all she needs is to fight and to cheer for her man!

Let me talk about what I loved about these characters very quickly. Jay is probably one of the most swooniest heroe’s I have had a chance to read this year. Yep you heard that right. He is sweet and charming, knows how to work his hands (*wink*) and just has a heart of gold. He sees the best in people and always willing to go the extra mile, no matter what it is. Our heroine, is crazy and fun and a bit eccentric when it comes to football and all but lively and passionate about life.

There are also other factors involved that cause some conflict…such as she keeps who Jay is from her parents, and no one except Jay’s parents know that they are actually together. So it was quite interesting to see how these conflicts become resolved and seeing the way that these two do end up fighting for a chance to be together. There were so many fantastic moments that build between these two. They definitely have their chemistry down pat and some of these moments just steam off the pages for sure. But we also see how they build a relationship and keep it strong even with other forces at play that tend to cause some miscommunication and slight drama. Now the drama that you deal with here is realistic and definitely would happen in real life if this story was actually factual so cheers to Nikki Sloane for getting the right details on the Rivalry down pat. I know some of you that don’t understand football or a long-standing rivalry will think this book can be a bit eccentric at times…but trust me this culture that Sloane writes is so on cue with everything and I loved how real this book felt. I will say that out of all the new adult romances that I have read, this is one of my top favorites. If you like New Adult or Contemporary Romance===this book is a must read for sure!!

Rivalry is an intense tale about the realities of rivalry football, a sexy off the charts romance that becomes a memorable joy to read and will leave you dazed in smiles for days!!! INCREDIBLY PENNED

About Nikki Sloane

Nikki Sloane landed in graphic design after her careers as a waitress, a screenwriter, and a ballroom dance instructor fell through. For eight years she worked for a design firm in that extremely tall, black, and tiered building in Chicago that went through an unfortunate name change during her time there.

Now she lives in Kentucky, is married and has two sons. She is a two-time Romance Writers of America RITA© Finalist, also writes romantic suspense under the name Karyn Lawrence, and couldn't be any happier that people enjoy reading her sexy words.

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