Blurb:

ONE PRESS CONFERENCE. ONE UNEXPECTED QUESTION. AND A CRUSH SHE IS DEFINITELY NOT QUALIFIED TO HANDLE.

Carlisle prides itself on being quietly respectable. Unfortunately, a shy proofreader and a famous football manager have just made that considerably more complicated.

AVA

I am not a sports journalist. I don’t understand formations, transfer windows, or why managers get blamed for things that look suspiciously like other people’s mistakes. I correct spelling. That is my area of expertise.

So when food poisoning wipes out the entire sports desk and I get sent to cover the arrival of Jack Westland, my plan is sit quietly, take notes, and escape unnoticed. Clearly, that was optimistic.

I panic. I ask a question. Now apparently I’m the journalist he wants following the team for an exclusive, which makes absolutely no sense. I don’t know football. I don’t like attention. And I definitely don’t understand why he keeps looking at me like I said something important when I was mostly trying not to embarrass myself.

JACK

I didn’t come to Carlisle for the reasons people think. I came to work. To build something. To be closer to my son. Being a single dad means routine matters. Privacy matters. Complications are not part of the plan.

Then Ava asks a question no one else thinks to ask. She isn’t impressed by reputation. She isn’t chasing a headline. She just sees things most people miss. That alone makes her someone I should probably keep my distance from.

Arranging for her to stay close to the club is a professional decision. The fact I keep looking for her in every room after that is… less professional.

What starts as an exclusive quickly turns into something neither of them planned for. Because curiosity is harmless. Attraction is inconvenient. And pretending they don’t enjoy each other quite that much is becoming impossible.

Fair there’s a cheeky dose of adult content inside. Set in England and written in British English.

Amazon

*****

Review:

Oh my goodness, I loved loved loved this one! From Ava with her somehow self-assured introvertedness, accepting who she is without trying to be anything she’s not. Hesitant but also willing to do something a little outside her comfort zone when she finds herself spending time with Jack. To Jack who has come to realize what is important to him and is willing to make sure that he is there for his son. And who unexpectedly finds himself enchanted by Ava and the way that she sees things in unexpected ways. Can’t forget adorable Archie with his love of all things dinosaur, of course. Elias gives us a bit of cheek and humor, a good amount of steam, and a HEA that is like cuddling up in a warm blanket. Oh, how I adored it!