A footballer forced into the closet. A rocker forced into his birthright. The collision that kicks off a star crossed romance. East Londoner Jay Ruttman has only ever wanted one thing― to be a professional footballer. But after a disastrous brawl on the pitch gets him released from his pro-Academy, he has to follow plan B and enrolls as university Sports Scholar. Head down, train hard and get … train hard and get scouted is his motto. Until he crashes into the man who might just shoot his dreams out of the park.
Kensington elite Sebastian (Seb) Saunders has only ever wanted one thing―to be a rock star. But his father has other plans for him, including taking the helm of his multimillion-pound new business venture across the pond. Live it up, chase the dream and rock out for as long as he can is his mantra. Until he crashes into the man who might just rock his world off its scale.
Jay and Seb live at opposite ends of London’s District Line, separated by wealth, status, family traditions and their own life-long dreams. This is the first book in the startling and gritty contemporary romance series that sees them both having to overcome barriers, face fears and beat rejection to fight for the love they need to achieve it all.
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This was fantastic! All Jay wanted was to be a soccer star. Seb wanted to be a rock star. They literally bump into each other. They both go the same university. Jay is from a loving home where Seb is raised by a cold and distant father. They are socially opposite but perfect for one another! I got sucked into the story and could not put it down! Awesome story line!! Cannot wait for the next! I’m voluntarily reviewing from an advanced copy that I received.
This was a new author to me and I wasn’t sure how the read would be.
Seb and Jay are opposites attract, both with secrets. They work but timing is wrong so this book is not a HEA but I’m hoping continuing books in the series will give Seb and Jay there HEA .
Im now off to read book 2 as I enjoyed this book.
Overall 5 out of 5 stars
Performance 4 out of 5 stars
Story 5 out of 5 stars
loved this romance rough start hard finish
Two young, viral, ambitious, sexy men find that they have some commonalities. Being from the same world is not one of them. Being of the same gender, young, determined, and attracted to the other. Yes. Yes. Yes. And yes. Jay and Seb were so far apart yet so close. There was a tale there that draws you in and have you expecting more.
There was intensity. There was rawness. There was passion and struggles. There were huge obstacles. And for me a reason to come back and read the next installation. I want to know that this was not the end for Jay and Seb. I want to see where life takes them and how they come back to each other.
Piers Ryman did a beautiful job with UK English. I love that there was just the clarity in properness and the definition in the two different males and there speech pattern.
Jock first love from an English point of view.
I loved the bad boy meets athlete “good guy” story! I enjoy the depth of their emotions and challenges they each have to face in this world. There is such beauty in all relationships, I could feel the growth in their relationship & commitment and love how they became protective of one another.
This is the first book of C. F. White that I have read /listened to and I loved it.
Great characters, sad stories all with a wonderful English background.
The two main characters are so different it shouldn’t work but it does.
Looking forward to reading more books by this author.
Audible.
This is my first book by C. F. White and I enjoyed it immensely. While this is a sports romance in that Jay is a University footballer (soccer for those of us in the U.S.), there isn’t a focus on actual game play. Jay and Seb are opposites in so many ways yet find a connection – initially physical attraction, but it blooms into so much more. White brings us fully into both Jay & Seb’s worlds, introduces us to their families, their friends, their hope and dreams, as well as their fault and defeats. While incorporating many popular romance tropes, this didn’t feel over-the-top angsty or make any antagonist overly caricature.
Cliffhanger. This is absolutely a cliffhanger in the sense that this kicks off the District Line trilogy. You *could* read/listen to this story all on it’s own. To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of Duets & Trilogies. Too many of them feel like single stories needlessly dragged out or chopped into smaller sections to become multiple books. There’s no HEA for Jay & Seb, but there is a complete and compelling story here.
I didn’t think twice about purchasing the next book in the series, Break Through.
This is my first time listening to Piers Ryman and he is absolutely phenomenal. He expertly navigated a massive cast of characters using a variety of accents and registers consistently throughout the book. You always knew who was talking whether the text indicated it or not. This isn’t a criticism of Ryman as an artist – but I’m not entirely sure he was the appropriate voice to cast for this. He sounds older. Not like the 20-somethings he is portraying. While the performance was fantastic, feeling like a 40+ year old was speaking sometimes brought me out of the story.
I received a free copy of this audiobook from the author and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
Audiobook review:
Overall: 4
Performance: 4
Story: 4
I enjoyed this a lot…
But I didn’t see the cliffhanger coming. I’m really not a fan of cliffhangers but since the series is finished (in ebook format) I’m not too upset about it.
I actually have had a copy of the ebook for quite awhile but never got around to reading it (I’m a one-click addict) so I was really happy when I was gifted a copy of the audiobook by the author. Audiobooks have become my passion the last couple of years and I really enjoyed Piers Ryman performance of this story. I’ve listened to several other of his audiobooks and his heavily accented voice is really growing on me.
The story is fairly angsty with Jay being in the closet and Seb having to tow the line with his father or risk being cut off. The cliffhanger ending left me wanting to start book two right away but I think I’ll wait for the audiobook which should be coming very soon.
**Audiobook Review**
3.5 stars- I saw a few recommendations about this sports meets rock star romance recently, so I jumped on the opportunity to listen and review the title. Honestly, I don’t know that my enjoyment of a book every vacillated so much chapter to chapter. There were parts of Kick Off I really loved, then I’d hit a scene or chapter that had my enjoyment bottoming out, and a few chapters later there’d be another scene which left me absolutely impressed. I ended up being completely torn over this book, especially given the ending.
First things first, it’s worth noting that Kick Off ends as a cliffhanger. The first part of the story wraps to give a logical close, but there is absolutely no resolution for the couple- not necessarily a bad thing but something I feel readers/listeners should know going in. Secondly, I was a little surprised by the narrator. This is my first experience with him and while his talent is undeniable and I enjoyed the tone and rhythm of his voice, his maturity came across straight away and it felt like an odd choice for a book about immature, new adult characters. As such, the voices never matched to what the characters were doing and saying. That said, he did an excellent job switching up between the various accents and dialects referenced in Kick Off.
As far as the story went, I really liked the concept of Kick Off- a closeted football player (soccer for US readers) paired with a rock musician who’s stuck under his wealthy father’s thumb. I liked that both were fighting for notoriety because it gave them an immediate connection and understanding about what they’d willingly sacrifice to achieve their dreams. For the most part, I enjoyed the progression of the story. I simply felt the drama and characterization of many of the secondary characters (antagonists, female admirers, etc.) were overblown. Similarly, some of the back and forth the characters go through felt like it was done solely to create angst and conflict. I have a thing about books feeling like soap operas and I think that was the major thing that turned me off Kick Off. It boasted good characters, a great plot, and room for enough natural conflict that it didn’t need the excess. Will I continue, I’m certainly tempted, but at the moment I’m uncertain.
*Received ACX promo code via LesCourt Author Services. The PA and author had no influence over this review*