What started out as a joke— seduce Coach Wilder—soon became a goal she had to score.
With Olympic tryouts on the horizon, the last thing nineteen-year-old Kinsley Bryant needs toadd to her plate is Liam Wilder. He;s a professional soccer player, America's favorite bad-boy, and has all the qualities of a skilled panty-dropper.
• A face that makes girls weep – check.
• Abs that can shred Parmesan cheese (the expensive kind) – check.
• Enough confidence to shift the earth’s gravitational pull – double check.
Not to mention Liam is strictly off limits. Forbidden. Her coaches have made that perfectly clear. (i.e. “Score with Coach Wilder anywhere other than the field and you’ll be cut from the team faster than you can count his tattoos.”) But that just makes him all the more enticing…Besides, Kinsley's already counted the visible ones, and she is not one to leave a project unfinished.
Kinsley tries to play the game her way as they navigate through forbidden territory, but Liam is determined to teach her a whole new definition for the term “team bonding.”
But just before she stepped inside, I heard the same sexy voice that I’d heard the previous night— the voice that said, I'm sexy and I know it.
"Morning ladies."
Every single girl froze and we turned in unison. Liam Wilder was standing a few feet away wearing workout gear and a friendly smile. Of course his friendly smile could easily be misconstrued for a take-your-panties-off smile, so it's a wonder we all managed to mutter shocked hellos. I guess he'd pulled up in the parking lot a few minutes after we did. I peered behind him and saw a black Mercedes SUV parked in the spot closest to the field house. A photographer was snapping pictures on the other side of the fence. Jeez, they wake up this early to get pictures of him?
"Oh, hi Liam." Tara smiled wide.
I shot Becca a gag-me face.
"You guys should probably call me Coach Wilder while we're at practice," he admonished. I had to fight to keep from cracking up. The shocked look on Tara's face was absolutely priceless, but it still wasn't enough to make me forget the awkwardness of the situation.
I couldn't look up at him. The last time we'd spoken, I'd literally asked him to show me his tattoos, which we both knew really meant I wanted him to show me his soccer balls. Hah. I'd have to tell Becca that one later. I tugged her and Emily forward without acknowledging Liam and headed for the conference room. Thankfully, Coach Davis was there already and Liam didn't follow us in.
This is the first R.S. Grey book I have had the
pleasure of reading. Yes, pleasure. This was such a captivating, light read
that I was utterly fascinated by. The plot was unique, the characters were
quirky, the writing was simple but elegant, and the love was tangible. I’ve
always been a huge fan of soccer. I mean, have you seen those soccer boys? Yum.
Anyway, Scoring Wilder just cemented
my love for soccer (guys). As soon as I came across the cover and synopsis on
Goodreads a while back, I added it to my TBR, liked R.S. Grey’s Facebook page,
and commenced stalking until I could get my hands on the book.
“He was already on his last warning with his
sponsors about his public image. My Olympic dreams were at stake, not to
mention my college career and my fragile heart. How could the situation not be
complicated?”
The story is told in Kinsley’s POV. She’s a
freshman in college and a soccer star aspiring to be in the Olympics. She
doesn’t know it, but the whole world has had their eyes on her—following her
soccer career. And that includes the Liam
Wilder. Liam is…just impossible to describe. He’s a professional soccer player
who has already done the whole fame route complete with women, alcohol,
parties, and a bad boy reputation. They meet at a party the night before
Kinsley’s first practice and BAM. Insta-attraction. The next day, Kinsley finds
out that he’s going to be one of their coaches in order to get back in some of
his sponsor’s good graces. However, their chemistry is undeniable…
“He was the northern star. I had no choice
but to become enveloped in his brightness and let it coax me toward him.
Wanting him was an unconscious impulse, like taking my next breath.
And now, without a doubt, I knew he wanted
me, too.”
They eventually start a secret, forbidden romance.
Now, I hate student-teacher romances. I absolutely will not read them. So, I
was a bit weary going into this book. But, it was fine. More than fine. It was
great. There’s a lot on the line for both of them if they’re caught. But, they
eventually decide that it’s worth the risk. And this is where I had my main
problem with the book. This book could have easily been one of my all-time
favorites. Except I didn’t really get the whole basis for their attraction.
Yes, they’re both beautiful. And they know it. But, they barely had a full
conversation before they suddenly had this push-pull thing going on with their
attraction for one another. They meet, she finds out he’s her coach (which he
already knew when he met her), then they’re getting jealous when the other gets
attention from the opposite sex, and all of a sudden they’re like yeah let’s
risk both of our careers for each other. Because they think the other is hot? Or
maybe it was something else I missed? That didn’t sit well with me. But,
eventually I did grow to love them and cheer for them to be together.
“To be honest, before that moment, I‘d never
thought of him strictly as a mentor or coach. He would always be Liam Wilder,
bad boy of soccer, breaker-of-hearts. But that couldn’t continue. I knew he was
untouchable. So why did it hurt so bad to be reminded of that fact?”
They had many trials to go through besides keeping
their relationship a secret, and I adored how they handled it. I guess I loved
how after they realized that their attraction for one another wasn’t going
away, they embraced it. And that meant facing all the hurdles together, being
there for one another as much as they could with their whole clandestine
relationship. But, don’t get me wrong. I totally soaked up all the sexual tension
when they were trying to stay apart and during the times that they could barely
be together since they had to hide it.
“I want to tell you I like you, but that
seems dumb, like it’s not enough.”
“I know… I know.”
I really liked Kinsley as a heroine. She had been
through rough relationships, and it showed with her hesitancy to believe that
Liam was over his playboy ways and wanting her and her only. She was also
pretty funny. Since we are in her head the entire book, we are treated to her
insane inner monologue. Yes, most of it is her drooling over Liam. But, I found
her to be very relatable, especially since we are the same age. She is
confident, driven, mature, humble, and quirky. I never disagreed with any of
the decisions she made, and it was more than easy to swoon and giggle with her.
“I don’t give a fuck what the world thinks,
Kinsley. I’m so happy with you. I’m focusing on what’s important. You and
soccer. That’s all I need.”
Liam is just a whole other level of hot. First,
he’s a soccer player. Second, he’s a very alpha soccer player. Third, he’s a
very hot, alpha soccer player, Fourth, he’s Liam freaking Wilder. You get the
picture? Now, since we are seeing him through Kinsley’s POV, we never see any
faults with him… Well, besides his crazy few years of stardom. He’s extremely
supportive of Kinsley and definitely believes in her abilities before they’re
even in a relationship. How cute is that? And he’s constantly playing knight in
shining armor *swoon*. Oh, and did I mention that he’s absolutely delicious in
the bedroom?
“What about you, Kinsley? Are you going to
wait for me?”
“Do you think you’re worth waiting for?”
“I think you’re worth it, and that’s all that matters.”
I think the best part about Scoring Wilder was how believable the characters were. I especially
loved all the secondary characters. They provided lots of comic relief and
brought a sense of reality to the plot. Because, come on, two insanely
beautiful, perfect soccer players that fall madly in love with each other? But,
it became real because of how the characters were portrayed. I loved R.S.
Grey’s writing style and her humor. I really will have to go read her other
books, but I don’t know if anyone can compare to Liam Wilder. So besides that
minor detail I mentioned earlier, I would highly recommend Scoring Wilder. It’s a fun, low-angst, sweet, sexy beach read that
will have you wishing Liam Wilder was real.
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