*I received a free copy of Scored from via Netgalley. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review, which is honest and unbiased *
Warning: This book includes mature content such as: sexual content, and/or drug and/or alcohol use, and/or violence.
Scored on 17 October 2017 Pages: 221
He’s a player. But she’s about to score.
Opposites really do attract* as a sassy salesgirl turns a pro athlete’s life upside down in this supercharged standalone novel of seduction from the author of Bossed.
Kelsey: My mom would tell you I’m quite the catch, but since my last boyfriend, I haven’t been dating much. Maybe it’s my rocker style or my lack of filter that intimidates the boys. So I’m pleasantly surprised when Matt Stallworth waltzes into the indie record store where I work and gives as good he gets. Turns out Matt is a professional baseball player, which should mean he’s out of my league. But if he wants to hook up with me, he’s going to have to follow my rules.
Matt: After winning my MVP award, I learned that a guy can get used to having beautiful women practically throw themselves at you everywhere you turn. But everything changes the first time I see Kelsey Martin, and something just clicks. She’s hot, snarky, and whip-smart. I’ve got to see her again. Only problem is, she sees right through all my best moves. And I’m going to have to step up my game to convince Kelsey that I’m playing for keeps.
Scored follows a baseball star and a hot indie records store seller, they have met more than once through their best friends, and their chemistry is sizzling hot.
Story:
Kelsey and Matt showed up in Bossed, and I enjoyed them immensely as side characters. Somehow, I enjoyed them a little less as main characters in Scored. I think it was because both of them kept second-guessing themselves quite a bit, and while I can understand some of that, it also kind of got old.
Matt really liked Kelsey from the first time he met her, but he had no idea they had even more in common than what came to light when they were out with Ethan and Jenny. Scored showed these common interests nicely, but they were both resisting the attraction so hard!
Kelsey had been in some bad relationships, and Matt mostly thought about baseball, and his contract coming up. Because of this, they had some mishaps when it came to communication, and that’s something I have a hard time adhering to in my stories. And while there were quite a few things I enjoyed about Scored, I wasn’t able to completely let go and just let the story unfold.
Characters:
Kelsey was a fun character most of the time. Her love for music, and the way she stood her ground even if she liked Matt was great. Also, she didn’t really get baseball, so when she finally went out with him, it wasn’t to be a hanger-on.
Matt was used to getting any woman he wanted, only things didn’t work that way with Kelsey. His family had taught him some good values, and he used is fame and money for good.
Writing style :
Scored is written in first person point of view, past tense, with chapters from either Matt’s or Kelsey’s perspective.
Feels :
There was hotness and steam, and there was hope and despair.
I’d love to say I wasn’t thinking about Kelsey’s perky tits instead of the millions of dollars of contracts on the table, but that would’ve been a lie. It wasn’t just her breasts that captivated me, but yeah – they were nice and I was still a guy.
If Matt hadn’t been holding my wrists against the door I might’ve fallen straight into a crumpled pile of Kelsey on the ground.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.
Twitter: ailynk
i think the cover guy is hot, but the story is kind of well worn..but i guess a crumple pile of Kelsey can be quite interesting to read
He is hot! And the characters are hot, too. The story just kind of fell a little flat for me 🙁
It’s always a bit of a bummer if you don’t love the characters as much as you hoped to. That happens to me far too often. It still sounds like an enjoyable story though! Glad you liked it.
I know. It made me so sad! And I really do need to keep my expectations in check.
I had to go read your review of Bossed because I missed it over the summer and Howell is an author I’ve been curious about. I will check him out but keep in mind that this one might not live up to the first one. It’s too bad since you liked Kelsey and Matt so well, especially Kelsey, in Bossed. But I like that it involves baseball. 🙂
You should check him out, Brandee. He has a great sense on humor – on Facebook – that shines through in his books.
Of course you like that it involves baseball :p Miss you!!
Twitter: Mlsimmons
It is always disappointing when a secondary character you love gets their own story and it doesn’t live up to your expectations. I’m glad you were still able to enjoy the story, even if it wasn’t as good as you’d hope. Better luck with the next one.
I know, it makes me so, so sad. But the story was still good, and I will definitely keep reading Howell.