Book Title: Playing Defense
(Corrigan Falls Raiders, #2)
Author: Cate Cameron
Release Date: March. 14, 2016
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush
book contains adult language, swoon-worthy kisses, and sexy hockey
players. It may cause you to watch a hockey game...or ten.
Sixteen-year-old Claudia Waring has
never kissed a boy. Never been popular. Never been to a hockey game.
All that’s about to change. Assigned to tutor Chris Winslow, a
prank-loving, gorgeous hockey player, Claudia’s perfectly planned
life immediately veers off course. And she kind of likes it. But as
fun as Chris is, she knows she'll never fit in his world.
After his latest prank lands him in hot
water, Chris has to get serious about school or lose hockey. Not an
easy thing for someone as carefree as the defenseman. The biggest
problem, though, is how much he wants to help his cute, buttoned-up
tutor loosen up a little. But while confidence has never been a
problem for him, around Claudia, Chris is all nerves. Why would a
girl as smart as her ever fall for a jock like him?
Link
to Goodreads:
Purchase
Links:
Center Ice (Corrigan Falls Raiders #1):
Playing Defense (Corrigan Falls Raiders
#2):
Disclaimer:
This Entangled Teen Crush book contains adult language, underage
drinking, sexual situations, and crazy squirrels. It may cause you to
become a fan of hockey - or at least hot hockey players.
The
hometown hockey hero won’t know what hit him…
Karen
Webber is in small-town hell. After her mother’s death, she moved
to Corrigan Falls to live with strangers—her dad and his perfect,
shiny new family—and there doesn’t seem to be room for a city
girl with a chip on her shoulder. The only person who makes her feel
like a real human being is Tyler MacDonald.
But
Karen isn’t interested in starting something with a player. And
that’s all she keeps hearing about Tyler.
Corrigan
Falls is a hockey town, and Tyler’s the star player. But the
viselike pressure from his father and his agent are sending him
dangerously close to the edge. All people see is hockey—except
Karen. Now they’ve managed to find something in each other that
they both desperately need. And for the first time, Tyler is playing
for keeps…
***EXCERPT***
And
then he walked me to chemistry class, and as we were heading for our
respective seats he said, “Do you want to come sit with us? Or
could I sit with you?” He must have seen something strange in my
expression because he was quick to add, “So I can ask you questions
when we’re working on stuff. You’re my tutor all the time, right,
not just at lunch?”
“I’m
not sitting back there.” I sounded like a stubborn little kid, but
inside I was more like a scared
little kid. There was no way I was just going to waltz back to the
popular kids’ area, not with a classroom of other students who’d
see them laugh at me.
Chris
didn’t seem to understand my concern. “Is it cool if I sit up
here, then?”
It
wasn’t like I could say no. Wasn’t like I wanted to. “Is there
an extra stool?”
“I’ll
find one,” he promised. He grinned at me, set his books on the long
table beside mine, and then turned to look for a free stool.
Oliver
gave me a look. “What the hell?” he mouthed. Then Chris turned
around, holding a heavy metal stool as if it weighed nothing, and
Oliver gave his demented flight attendant smile and said, “Hi!
Welcome to our seating area!”
“It’s
nice to be here,” Chris said with nearly matching enthusiasm.
“Thanks so much for having me!”
Well,
Oliver was not
going to be outperformed. “I really hope you enjoy your visit. If
there’s anything I can do to make your time with us more pleasant,
you be sure to let me know.”
Chris
shook his head in amazement. “I thought it was just a stereotype,”
he said to me. “But it’s true.
Front-of-the-room people really are
super friendly.”
Oliver
had begun to bristle at the word “stereotype,” but by the time
Chris was done talking Oliver was looking less offended, more
intrigued. “Do you want to know what they say about
back-of-the-room
people?” he asked quietly, daring Chris to keep going with their
strange game.
Chris
shrugged. “Back is whack?” he suggested.
“Back’s
off track?” I tried.
“Back
will attack?”
“Back’s
sharp as a tack?”
Oliver
frowned at both of us. “Did I say it rhymed?
Did I say anything about ‘do you want to hear the rhyme
about back-of-the-room people?’”
“It
doesn’t rhyme?” Chris said. “Damn.” He shook his head
regretfully. “You know, if it doesn’t rhyme, I don’t think I do
want to hear it. Sorry. I’ve got my standards.”
The
class started then, Mr. Anderson circulating to check our homework.
When he got to us he said, “New seat, Mr. Winslow?”
“I
needed to be near my smart friends,” Chris said calmly. “The back
don’t know jack.” Mr. Anderson just gave him a strange look and
moved on.
*************
***Guest Post***
**************
***Guest Post***
Chris
Winslow’s Top
Ten Things to do on a Long Road-Trip
- Do Top Ten lists start at ten or at one? Whichever it should be, say it should be the other, and then get MacDonald all riled up about how you’re doing it wrong, and you have to take these things seriously, and does he honestly have to write your Top Ten list for you? This’ll kill at least a half-hour, plus you’ll be able to come back to it at different points in the drive whenever things start to drag.
- (Or 9. Whichever will make MacDonald madder.) Call your girlfriend. Possibly she’s set up some pretty strict rules about how she has to study hard when you’re away and you shouldn’t interrupt her with phone calls unless you actually have something to say, but if you just saw a really big crow or maybe a really little crow, or a crow at all, if you haven’t seen one for a while… that’s something she should know about. Give her a call.
3/8 Make the rookies
do something stupid. At the start of the season, this’ll be
easy—they’ll do whatever they’re told. But later in the season,
they’ll be more confident and you’ll have to work at it. Don’t
be an asshole about it—that’s not cool. But try trickery, or
subtle manipulation. Definitely consider forming alliances, and bonus
points if you can get the other rookies on your side, and then switch
so the other rookies are the ones doing the stupid thing… this is a
bit vague, I know, but you have to let inspiration guide you in the
moment.
5/7 What’s that,
MacDonald? I missed something? There’s something wrong with my
list? I don’t understand… probably I should just ignore you until
you’re ready to speak politely.
6 Ahhh. Everything
is good in Mac’s universe. Order has been restored. So this would
be a good time to tell the bus you don’t think Gretzky actually did
high stick Gilmore in ’93. It doesn’t matter that none of you
were even born then. Everyone will still get out their iPads or
phones or whatever, try to pick up whatever signal we can find, and
download videos proving one thing or another. It’ll spread to other
bad calls, too. The best debates are debates that spread.
D Dream draft, all
time hockey players, dead or alive. Get the coaches involved in this
one—they can decide who comes up with the best team. Definitely try
to introduce some fictional characters, because… because!
iii A nap? Sure,
have a nap. And then when you wake up, find other
napping players and draw on their faces or play reverse-jenga on
their bodies, each contestant trying to add a piece of garbage or
something until the sleeper wakes up.
? You should
probably watch some game tape. I know, but—it’s a long ride. You
have time for at least a little. And definitely do your homework,
because you do not
want to deal with your girlfriend’s guilt trip if you don’t. And
you absolutely want to enjoy her pride if you do.
T Call your
girlfriend to tell her about the homework. Then, if she tries to get
off the line, ask her if she’s ever seen a baby crow. Keep her on
the line and ask the rest of the bus if they’ve ever seen a baby
crow. Wait until the iPads come out.
13 Keep going with
the crow thing until MacDonald finally breaks down and says something
about it. Then ask him why he’s so obsessed with crows all of a
sudden. When he attacks, remember that he’s smaller than you and
he’s a star, so you should be a little bit gentle as you wrestle
him into absolute submission.
0 Time for another
nap—this has all been very tiring for you. Fall asleep dreaming
about your girlfriend. And the NHL. Your girlfriend in
the
NHL. Driving the Zamboni. Only now the Zamboni’s a covered wagon,
and you’re in the Wild West, and for some reason you’re wearing a
bonnet and your girlfriend is a cowboy. When you wake up, you should
ask the bus about past life regression…
So,
there it is, Chris Winslow (from Playing
Defense)’s
Top Something list! Hope it comes in handy for you on your next long
road trip on a bus full of hockey players!
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR:
Cate Cameron grew up in the city but moved to the country in her mid-twenties and isn’t looking back. Most of her writing deals with people living and loving in small towns or right out in the sticks—when there aren’t entertainment options on every corner, other people get a lot more interesting!
She likes to write stories about real people struggling with real issues. YA, NA, or contemporary romance, her books are connected by their emphasis on subtle humor and characters who are trying to do the right thing, even when it would be a lot easier to do something wrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for visiting and posting a comment - however if you post a link to a different product website on a product review your comment will NOT be posted as that is spam and unwanted and it is downright unethical to do that and will not be tolerated.