From the publisher:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • College exes break all the rules when they reunite years later in this enemies to lovers, second-chance romance, the highly anticipated companion novel to the TikTok sensation The Cheat Sheet—from the New York Times bestselling author of Practice Makes Perfect.
“A really fun, chemistry-filled sports romance you don’t want to miss!”—Hannah Grace, author of Icebreaker
Nora Mackenzie’s entire career lies in the hands of famous NFL tight end Derek Pender, who also happens to be her extremely hot college ex-boyfriend. Nora didn’t end things as gracefully as she could have back then, and now it has come back to haunt her. Derek is her first client as an official full-time sports agent and he’s holding a grudge.
Derek has set his sights on a little friendly revenge. If Nora Mackenzie, the first girl to ever break his heart, wants to be his agent, oh, he’ll let her be his agent. The plan is simple: make Nora’s life absolutely miserable. But if Derek knows anything about the woman he once loved—she won’t quit easily.
Instead of giving in, Nora starts a scheme of her own. But then a wild night in Vegas leads to Nora and Derek in bed the next morning married. With their rule book out the window, could this new relationship save their careers or spark the romance of a lifetime?“Adams dazzles in her latest, a saucy second-chance rom-com.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Readers “will love Adams’s newest laugh-out-loud and heartwarming tale.”—Library Journal
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This book is my happy place – a fast-paced, second-chance romance set in the world of professional sports, football to be exact, with lots of laughs and a bit of heat to keep things interesting.
Nora and Derek met and fell in love in college, but just when he thought things were going great, she dumped him and he has no idea why. All he knows is that his heart is broken, and even though he becomes a star tight end in the NFL with all the women a man could want, his heart just isn’t into it.
Nora was brought up by a fiercely independent single mom who taught her to follow her dreams, not some man’s. Nora broke up with Derek because she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to strike out on her own. She dreams of becoming a sports agent, definitely a man’s world, and her dream is on the precipice of coming true. She works for a misogynistic boss, along side several neanderthal men, but her immediate supervisor is a tough as nails woman. She hires Nora as an intern, which then turns into a full time job and then finally she is offered her own client – her first! But of course it turns out to be Derek. Nora is afraid to tell her boss that they have a past because opportunities like this don’t come up. Derek’s previous agent with the same firm has retired, and he is told that Mac will be his new agent. When he meets her and realizes that Mac is the girl who broke his heart, he figures it’s his turn for revenge.
Derek runs Nora ragged, making her do all his personal errands and treating her like the hired help. She grits her teeth and gets through it, working around the clock to do his bidding plus the actual work she needs to do as his agent. Derek is coming off a bad injury, and there are rumours that he is going to be replaced by the rookie who filled in when he got hurt.
Lots of balls in the air, but things take a turn when Nora and Derek end up in Las Vegas, get drunk together, and yeah, get married. Derek may treat her like his personal servant, but he still loves her and doesn’t want to see her get fired over a drunken mistake. They decide to stay married and well, you can figure out the rest.
I thoroughly enjoyed this laugh-out-loud romcom, with a bit of heat and lots of sweetness! I am a football fan so that worked for me, as did these characters who just came alive on the page. Another terrific read from one of my favorite authors.
4/2024 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
THE RULE BOOK by Sarah Adams. Dell (April 2, 2024). ISBN: 978-0593723678. 368p.
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