Meet the most wanted players in sports . . . one ridiculously hot alpha male at a time. Chase: With a nickname like “Sin,” it’s no wonder they call me the bad boy of hockey. Opponents curse me. Fans scream my name—in the arena and in other, much more private places. Penalties or not, I’m not afraid to dish out a little pain. But pleasure? That’s my weakness. And no one knows it better than my … one knows it better than my best friend, Cassie Desrosiers. I’d have to be blind not to notice her rocking body and teasing grin. So when she invites me along on a trip to Vegas, my curiosity isn’t the only thing that’s aroused.
Cassie: Chase Barrett is a world-class A-hole. As his best friend, I’m allowed to call him on his BS. Who else is going to do it? Certainly not the puck bunnies swooning at every flex of his biceps. Everyone knows that Chase is the love-’em-and-leave-’em type. There’s no such thing as commitment for the king of casual hookups. So why should I care? Maybe because all work and no play makes me a sexually frustrated girl. It’s time to put the hockey stud at my beck and call to good use . . . but after a week in Vegas with Chase, I might never want to go back to the real world.
Praise for Bad Reputation
“[Nicole] Edwards opens the Bad Boys of Sports contemporary romance series with a steamy, fun novel. . . . Readers will appreciate that Chase and Cassie are more than just two hot bodies going horizontal at the first opportunity. They are surrounded by friends and family who add nuance and depth (and some family drama) to their passionate romance.”—Publishers Weekly
“The friends-to-lovers trope is a tricky one, and Edwards manages it well in her first Bad Boys of Sports novel.”—RT Book Reviews
“Sinfully fun and exciting! The chemistry was off the charts. Nicole Edwards sure does know how to write the bad boys of sports!”—New York Times bestselling author L. P. Dover
“An incredibly sexy story with some fun and exciting twists. . . . Bad Reputation was a fun escape from my day.”—Red Cheeks Reads
“It’s the gentle looks and touches, the subtleties that make Bad Reputation so magnetic.”—Heroes and Heartbreakers
“I adore the last few chapters of this book! If you enjoy friends-to-lovers stories, make sure to read Bad Reputation.”—Shh Moms Reading
This sexy standalone novel includes an excerpt from another Loveswept title.
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I loved their chemistry! Chase is a hot sexy stud! I love their banter and subtle flirting and build up! I highly recommend everyone read this book!
TBH some of the early reviews I read had me worried because they weren’t very favorable. But I always stick to my guns and like to form my own opinions. I really enjoyed Chase & Cassie’s story. It wasn’t the “same old” friends to lovers romance. I truly love when the typical roles are reversed and the man is the one that has feelings for his female friend. They really have a great relationship and have me rolling from laughter most of the time. I can’t wait to meet the stars of the next installment.
Nicole Edwards is always going to give you a steamy story, but throw in a best friends to lovers angle, and I’m all in!
I loved Chase and Cassie from the start. Yes, we already know what’s going to happen-the blurb tells us-but this such a fun and entertaining ride getting us there!
Chase is sex on a stick, walking god among women, a nickname of Sin personafide. He’s a superstar athlete who uses that to his advantage. Cassie has been his best friend since college. He spends a lot of time with her. She’s safe…until she isn’t!
Cassie is a VP for an IT company and is reading to launch a new product line. Her stress is through the roof! To make matters worse, her mom is over the top about her clock ticking, and ovaries drying up, and all that jazz. Cassie starts to look at Chase a little differently. Then she invites him to Vegas and you know how that saying goes!
I am a fan of Nicole and her writing style is effortless to read. I like finding out what made these characters click and how one affected the other. It was an enjoyable journey I highly recommend!
I voluntarily reviewed a gifted copy from NetGalley. The rating and review are my personal opinion.
I thoroughly enjoyed this friends to lovers story. It is a mixture of sweetness, sexiness and laughter. This is a fun and entertaining story about two friends who are afraid to show their true feelings for each other because they are sure it will ruin their friendship.
Chase plays professional hockey for the Texas Tornados. He is a big, gruff guy with a charming, protective and caring side. Chase has had a secret crush on his best friend, Cassie for years but he keeps her in the friend zone because he is afraid if they started a romantic relationship and it didn’t work out, he would lose his best friend. Chase is funny, and just an all around nice guy. He is the bad boy of hockey and has a reputation as a manwhore. Women are always falling all over Chase. He uses the women for sex but it is his best friend, Cassie who he spends all his time with.
Cassie is smart and driven and has a successful career with a software company. She is a workaholic and doesn’t have time to date and would never think of having a one night stand. She is prim and proper and the exact opposite of Chase in every way. She refuses to depend on anyone, especially a man.
This is a captivating storyline with engaging characters. I like both Chase and Cassie. They have a great friendship and they care about each other but have to continually fight their mutual attraction to each other. Since meeting in college, they have always been there for each other and even though they are total opposites, they bring out the best each other. I also enjoyed Cassie’s best friend Natalie and all the other secondary characters in this story. The story is told from alternate POV’s so we know what both the characters are feeling. This is the first book in the the Bad Boy of Sports series and I can’t wait to read more.
I couldn’t read it. Left in 20%…
This book was way better than expected. The characters were great
nice light reading, change of pace
Good sports romance story.
Bad Reputation grabs the reader’s attention pretty quickly as characters are introduced and we learn about the friendship between Chase and Cassie. The characters are interesting and the dialogue is often witty and fun. While Chase is a bad boy on the ice, I wouldn’t necessarily call him that when it comes to romance. A playboy, yes, but that doesn’t make him a bad boy. His best friend who, according to the blurb, calls him on his BS, even mentions what a great guy he is and how well he treats women. That aside, the story is engaging at the beginning, but begins to fizzle soon thereafter. The pacing is almost agonizingly slow at times and I found myself wondering if there was actually going to be any romance. Things do start to heat up between Cassie and Chase, but the turnaround in Cassie’s behavior seemed a bit much, considering how career driven she is up to that point.
The writer is certainly talented and the premise is good, but the pacing made it too easy to set aside for something else.
3.5 stars–BAD REPUTATION is the first installment in Nicole Edwards’ contemporary, adult BAD BOYS OF SPORTS erotic, romance series. This is twenty seven year old, professional hockey player Chase Barrett, and twenty eight year old, IT Vice President Cassie Desrosiers’ story line.
Told from dual first person perspectives (Chase and Cassie) BAD REPUTATION follows the friends to lover’s relationship between the Texas Tornadoes bad boy Chase Barrett, and the vice president of app development for a well-known corporation that specializes in mobile devices and computers Cassie Desrosier. College best friends Cassie and Chase have been in denial about their mutual attraction to one another but an IT convention in Vegas, for Cassie’s company, finds our couple facing the fall out of what happened, and the repercussions to Cassie’s professional life. Cassie is scheduled to be the keynote speaker, and our heroine isn’t prepared for the fight of her life. What ensues is the friends to lovers relationship between Cassie and Chase, and the ramifications when their weekend in Vegas comes to light.
Cassie and Chase refuse to admit their attraction to one another; their growing need and desire that is equally matched by the fear of losing their best friend if stepping over the line means an awkward relationship back home. Workaholic Cassie believes her best friend to be a bit of a manwhore but his reputation is more of a side-affect of the life of a professional hockey player. Cassie is one of the youngest and fastest moving vice president’s within the company, and with it comes the responsibility and qualifications of the position but our heroine’s reputation will be tarnished by a weekend in Vegas that she clearly does not remember.
The relationship, as previously mentioned, is friends to lover’s that struggles with too many denials from both of our leading characters. Apparently Cassie and Chase are the only people not aware of the palpable sexual energy that draws one to the other but acting on their attraction could me the end to a life-long friendship. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic, and intense-Chase likes to talk dirty in the bedroom, up against the wall, on the coach….
We are introduced to Cassie’s best friend and her administrative assistant Natalie Waters, and their boss Tom Bradburn; several of Chase’s teammates including his friend Mark ‘Marky Mark’ Marcom, as well as Chase’s two fathers Robert aka Chief, and Frank.
The story line is a little slow to build as the author’s character building shows the obliviousness of our couple’s attraction to one another. I also struggled with the believability of some of the events in Vegas-someone, anyone should have been able to contact our story line heroine including hotel maintenance with access to a key. Cassie is a little uptight when it comes to…well… everything in her life including Chase Barrett; and Chase is actually a stand-up kinda guy who has fallen for his best friend.
BAD REPUTATION is a predictable story line but a story line of friendship, love and a happily ever after. The premise is entertaining and enjoyable (although the couple’s ongoing inability to admit their growing love and attraction to one another was a bit annoying); the romance is fated and seductive. BAD REPUTATION is a fun and sexy read if you can get past the obliviousness and unawareness of the entire situation.
**I received a copy via Netgalley.**
Here is my honest review…..
I absolutely loved this book. This truly was one of the best friends to lovers books I’ve read in quite a while. I loved the characters, I loved the storyline and I absolutely loved the ending. I finished this book in one day, I honestly could not and did not want to put it down. I would highly recommend this book to all romance readers because this book has everything that romance readers appreciates in a fantastic story. This is a standalone book and this one will not disappoint! I definitely look forward to reading more books from this author and more books in this series.