From the award-winning author of MINE FOR NOW comes the next sizzling story in her Wild Love series, about a chance meeting that changes the course of two people’s lives.As the top collegiate shortstop in the country, Ryan O’Donnell’s life is about discipline. But a growing restlessness causes him to bail on his baseball team over spring break to join his buddies at a singles resort. He just … He just needs one week to escape his life, and then he’ll get back on track. But moments after arriving he meets HER, and the world as he knows it changes irrevocably. It should only be a hookup—that’s what spring break’s all about—but one taste of this sexy, vibrant woman isn’t enough. He has to have her. Even if it’s only for a week.
Sophie Valentine—yes, that Valentine—just found out her siblings want to sell off Crazy Hearts—the Peeps of the Valentine’s Day world. Upset, she takes off with her friends on their spring break vacation. She only wanted an escape—she never imagined meeting HIM. But he’s about to start a Major League Baseball career, and she’s launching a fight for her family legacy. They have no future. It’s just…she’s never felt this way for anyone before.
Are they really going to walk away from this kind of connection…this passion?
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Everything in Ryan O’Donnell’s life revolves around baseball, and soon all his years of hard work and dedication are going to pay off, with a trip to the big leagues. Growing up in a rough home environment, he needed something else to focus on, to look forward to, and give him a sense of discipline and he found that early on with baseball. But then suddenly the thing he has dreamed of doing all these years has lost it’s appeal, now he feels like he needs something that challenges him the way the game use to… and it makes him panic and walk away from the future he thought he’d wanted. Now with his future is up in the air, his coach and father are trying to reign him back in, and he is on an weekend getaway with his buddies trying to figure out what to do…then she wanders into his life and suddenly things in his life don’t look so grim!
Sophie Valentine is on a mission to meet a man, and start her happily ever after… but meeting a man at a strings-free singles resort isn’t the most ideal way to do that… or is it? Her friends and her come to the island for one last hurrah before graduation and she can’t help but feel like the new future she is about to start is all wrong. She is fighting with her family about the future of the family business, she has no love life to speak of and her career path is completely up in the air. Then she meets Mr. Sexy Baseball player Ryan O’Donnell, and he completely turns her sheltered little world upside-down… and helps her see a future she never thought she’d have.
In Mine For The Week Ms. Kelly introduces us to two characters that have come to a crossroads in their lives and are struggling to find the right path to take, never expecting that together they will find the one that is meant for only them. They both want different things for themselves, and then they meet one another, and fate takes over and puts them on a unexpected path that makes all the sense in the world, and boy was it a beautiful thing to watch unfold! Their heartfelt journey is filled with lots of little bumps, a few tears and some heartache, and lots of steamy moments that will leave you blushing. This was a really impressive first read for me, it had everything I enjoy in a romance story and so much more… I highly recommend you meet these two, their story is sure to tug on your heartstrings and curl your toes!!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this title
3.5 stars–MINE FOR THE WEEK is the second installment in Erika Kelly’s contemporary, new adult WILD LOVE erotic, romance series focusing on the O’Donnell siblings. This is top collegiate shortstop Ryan O’Donnell, and Crazy Hearts heiress Sophie Valentine’s story line. MINE FOR THE WEEK can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary. We were first introduced to Ryan in book one MINE FOR NOW.
Told from dual third person perspectives (Ryan and Sophie) MINE FOR THE WEEK follows the building but acrimonious relationship between two college seniors-professional baseball prospect Ryan O’Donnell, and cookie company heiress Sophie Valentine. It’s prospect week for college baseball, the scouts are in attendance, and our hero Ryan O’Donnell is about to spiral out of control. On the verge of panic, Ryan’s best friend suggests an island retreat to Santa Grenada wherein our hero will walk away from his future, and meet the woman with whom he will fall in love. Enter Crazy Hearts heiress and college senior Sophie Valentine, a woman on the cusp of a future that is about to be pulled out from under (her). What ensues is the acrimonious relationship between Sophie and Ryan, and the fall out when Ryan’s ex-girlfriend comes back looking to rekindle what’s left of their failed friendship and love.
MINE FOR A WEEK is a story of family, friendships and facing the future. Ryan knows he is destined for the major leagues. Baseball is his life but our hero is looking for something different; something more. A past mired in heartbreak, a dysfunctional family where addiction and drama followed in its’ wake, Ryan has always fronted the epitome of perfection; the perfect son and student; the perfect boyfriend and star athlete but a man whose inner turmoil pulls our hero in another direction-a direction he is unable to decipher until the end. Sophie Valentine is in the battle of her life as her family considers selling her beloved Crazy Hearts cookie factory in the hopes of a lucrative payout and retirement. Sophie’s attempts to dissuade her siblings are met with derision, and a family unable to come to terms about the future.
The relationship between Sophie and Ryan is one of immediate attraction but from the start Sophie is unable to let go. Ryan’s seduction of Sophie begins as an island adventure, and our heroine wants nothing to do with what she believes is a $ex craved athlete letting go on Spring Break in Santa Grenada. Ryan’s pursuit of Sophie is off-putting; she is unable to look past the ‘hook up’ of spring break. Trusting Ryan grows more difficult as their ‘friendship’ blossoms letting Ryan in will cost Sophie her heart and her self-esteem. The $ex scenes are seductive and intense. Throughout the story our very independent heroine had a habit of running; misinterpreting signs and conversations; and had a difficult time accepting the truth for what it was. She is constantly looking for faults including those in her relationship with Ryan O’Donnell.
We are introduced to Ryan’s best friends Dixon and Jake; his ex girlfriend Emma, as well as the reappearance of Ryan’s father Bill, sister Nicole and her boyfriend Dylan (Mine For Now) and his troubled brother Brandon; Sophie’s friends Kat and Laura, and Sophie’s ex-boyfriend Richard aka King.
MINE FOR THE WEEK was a bit of a struggle for me. I didn’t like the heroine. Some would call her strong and self-reliant but it is this part of her personality that I battled because of the way it is presented-an over the top need to be independent, and separate from the whole. Neither character was perfect; their personality quirks made for some uncomfortable situations. The premise is entertaining; the romance is passionate and intense; the characters are colorful and charismatic. MINE FOR THE WEEK is a well written, and engaging story line.
Head, heart and humor collide to upend love as we know it. For Sophie and Ryan instant attraction has changed the course of their lives. Now they have to decide to listen to reason or let their hearts lead the way. Ms. Kelly hit a home run with Mine for the Week. There’s a sweetness to the story that gives it an almost ethereal quality and the passionate side gives off that addictive hint of naughty. A MUST HAVE READ!