In the game of love, winning is harder than it looks. River Baldwin is sexy as puck.Carved abs, strong muscles. His talent with his hockey stick elevates him to godlike status. He’s also in trouble.The center for the Brooklyn Cobras has a PR crisis only I can solve.But he’s arrogant, stubborn, and used to getting his way—all things that make my job harder.His attitude should drive me away, but … harder.
His attitude should drive me away, but instead, attraction sizzles between us.
Somehow, while I try to salvage his image, I fail to defend my heart.
Can I risk letting the cocky player who dominates the game into my heart?
Or are the moves River is using on and off the ice going to leave me defenseless and alone?
Note: Defenseless Hearts is a standalone sports romance that will give you all the feels. It’s filled with scorching banter, sexy scenes, and several laugh-out-loud moments. No cheating. No cliffhangers. Guaranteed HEA.
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Defenseless Hearts
(Playing for Keeps, book #2)
Mika Jolie
Defenseless Hearts is a sweet, funny enemies to lovers romance. It was a quick, easy read. I enjoyed River & Sam’s love story. As much as the two characters were disgusted to work along side each other. River the bad boy hockey star & Sam the over achiever PR. These 2 had instantaneous sexual chemistry, that was undeniable. The more Sam tried keep her the professional facade & pull out all her snarky banter on River. It just made him desire her even more. By the time these two were done with sexy innuendos, loaded sarcasm and seriously deep conversations. They were falling head over heels in love for the other. Not even close to how this professional relationship was supposed to go. In the end these two caved in and found the HEA, neither thought existed.
I really enjoyed the over all story and characters. I’ve not read Intercepted Hearts with Hudson and Natalie’s story. I have plans to read in the future. I’ve added this author to my favorites list. I’d like to read her other books in time.
“Beauty attracts the eye, but personality captures the heart”
One of my favorite things about reading books by Mika Jolie are the quotes that accompany each chapter. I look forward to seeing the beautiful, inspiring and sometimes funny ones.
Defenseless Hearts is just a beautiful story where River and Samantha take you on journey that is filled of desires, passion, personal strength and laughter. It teaches us never to judge a person without knowing them but also to step out on fate and live in the moment.
River and his confidence, is everything in this entire book. He knew he was sexy but he carried that IDGAF attitude about anyone’s opinion and I loved every second of it!!!!! He’s persistent , he’s charming, he’s talented on and off the ice wink wink, LMAO 🙂
Samantha, from the first scene, I knew she was going to be a favorite of mine. She has this tough of nails personality. She owns of her lane, she’s bossy, funny, everything about her promises the good kind of trouble.
I have to admit, they are my new favorite couple from Mika Jolie because of well they balance each other and the way they connect. Both River and Samantha have strong personalities, which leads to a build up that kept me turning page after page. The tug and war between them creates a slow burn, WHEW, I promise you it’s hot, ice will melt.
Overall this is one book you don’t want to pass on.
Defenseless Hearts (Playing for Keeps Book 2)
Mika Jolie
OK I really thought it would be hard to top Hudson from book 1, but River may have (or maybe since they are twins I will say they are tied). River is the bad boy twin, and he plays hockey instead of football like his dad and twin brother. River finds himself with a scandal, and a PR person is called in to help him with his reputations before he loses sponsorships and his job. He is not happy about it, and is not going to just be agreeable to Sam, who turns out to be a woman. The chemistry between them is palpable from the beginning. Once they spend a little time together, it gets even more intense, can they fight the feelings and remain professional colleagues? Or will they give in to their feelings and see what happens? I was enchanted with the story and how it was so relatable. The conversations they had were realistic. Sam seeing River talking to the children really opened her eyes to realizing that there was a lot more to River than his reputation and people think. I loved the way River treated Sam from the beginning, he may be the bad boy, but he sure has some manners. I’d love to read more about all in this series. I was sad the book was over. Mika Jolie is now one of my favorite authors and I look forward to reading more of her.
Love River and Sam so much there first meeting was so hot you could see the chemistry was hot but both was ignoring it. River need to clear his image and Sam is the person to do it . But more has Sam see side of River then other doesn’t , she start to have bit more difficultly to resist to his charming manner. Will they s pursuit the chemistry they have or just continues the profession one . This one is a must read book…loved the characters. Hope we get to read more of them ,hurry and get this
A perfect story of the bad boy with the right girl gone good. The tension and pull between River and Sam was an immediate hook for me which had me diving in for a read in one sitting. I think the author did a fabulous laying out the groundwork between these two and setting their chemistry up in the most perfect way. The flow of the story was easy to read and went so quick I couldn’t believe it was over.
WOW!!! The chemistry and passion between River and Sam is explosive! The attraction is instant, but so unwelcome. I love the banter between them! Highly recommend!!
Who doesnt love a bad boy. River has met his match with Sam. She puts him in the right and he protects her. They find a true love despite challenges. A boy who has never loved and a girl who was hurt.
I love it when there is more to the bad boy. I also love when the bad boy is brought to his knees by a woman who doesn’t seem interested. There was definitely more to River than what the world thought of him. I liked that he was able to make Sam believe in someone else again. There was a little forbidden-ness to this relationship and I’m not sure how smart Sam was, but it was sweet to have someone believe in her.
As much as I liked Hudson in Intercepted Hearts, River swooped in and stole all my love! As Sam said to herself several times, there is nothing like a bad boy who underneath is oh so good. Sam is strong, smart, ambitious and totally amazing. River comes across as a bit of a jerk at first but you quickly see behind that facade. The dialogue snaps very realistically, conversations flow and the mutual attraction between them is palpable. Again, there were a few repetitive statements early in the book, as though the author wasn’t sure that we remembered something that was mentioned a few pages back. Other than that, this was a ton of fun to read. In the future, I will definitely be picking up more from Mika Jolie.
After reading the first book, I was over the moon excited to read the second book !! It absolutely did not disappoint !! The men in these books, oh my gosh …. well, you definitely have to read for yourself !! Loved this book !!
Book 2 just as good as book one
This book is about River and he is the twin of Hudson who we met in book 1.
River is a hockey player and he has trouble follow him all over. Sam is in PR and she is hired to help him out.
She has her work cut out for her.
It is an easy read, nothing heavy of too angsty. Just a good old bad boy try to clean up his reputation with the help of a good girl.
This is book 2 in Playing for keeps series. We first met River in book one Intercepted Hearts. We met his brother Hudson, who is also River identical brother. River plays hockey and gets into a bot of a pickle. He has to hire a Public relations person to help fix his image. Sam and River has tons of chemistry but Sam keeps him at arms length. This book is fast paced and i didn’t realize i read it so fast. Loved it.
Another great book by Mika! I absolutely loved this book! I loved that Sam wasn’t afraid to back down and was a full of fire! She was determined to show the world that despite her past mistakes, she was still able to do her job. She stood her ground with dad and River. She wasn’t going to let some entitled spoiled brat ruin her PR brand. River went against the family and decided to play hockey instead of football like his dad and twin brother. Things are a little rocky with the team and then a story breaks that needs some PR done. Sam soon finds out that there’s more to River then what the press write about him. He may have the bad boy rep but deep down he’s a sweet guy who seriously cares about others especially kids. The more these two spend together,the more they realize they need each other in their lives. They just fit. This was another short read but I loved every minute of it!
Ahh!! Mika Jolie has done it again!!! This book blew me away! So far this series has not been a disappointment! So many great things about this book, but a sports romance with an HEA ending makes it a 5++++ star read to me!
Now if you have read the first book in this series , which was about Hudson, you met his twin River in parts.
River is a NHL player from a lone of NFL men. He has been labeled a rebel of sorts and finds himself in a situation that tarnishes his reputation.
Enter young and focused PR maven, Sam. She is the one to spiffy up the image of River. These two meet and the attraction is instant. What I enjoyed was the development of their relationship. Their banter and strength of character. This is my favorite as the twins are great but Sam is as well.
Love the hockey scenes as well.
I am volunteering to leave a review for this book
Love this book!
I really liked this book. It drew me in even more so than the 1st book about River’s twin brother. Both of the main characters and story line were great! Definitely recommend if you like sports heroes and their pursuit of love!
A troubled Hockey player that needs help with his reputation. Call me a sucker fro these types of tropes. I loved the characters and their interaction was perfect. Love this author and her writing style, she makes it fun to read.
River Baldwin is a NHL hockey player and finds himself embroiled in a scandal after a party at his house. He thinks his actions were fine but unfortunately the fallout from his team is big and now he needs an image change and his agent Patirck has hired someone to help him out.
Samantha Loren works for her father’s PR company after deciding a career in law wasn’t what she really wanted. She was burned in her past relationship and is focused on doing the best she can in her career and staying as far away from relationships as she can.
When Sam is hired to help River he is reluctant and doesn’t take things seriously but Sam has plans to turn his image around.
Now the only problem is controlling the attraction between them before both of their careers are at risk.
This was a great book and I really enjoyed it!
I really enjoyed Sam but completely understood why she had no desire to mix business and pleasure after everything she had been through in the past. Sam had so much more to prove than anybody else because she worked for her dad and had worked her butt off to get where she was. Her last boyfriend had really hurt her and she was reluctant to get involved in anything that may break her heart again.
River was a guy who really didn’t care about what others thought and believed he should be able to do what he wanted. After his party he didn’t think that he should be receiving so much flack from everyone because as soon as he discovered the problem he got rid of it but unfortunately the press learned about it first. He knew he was the top player on the team and felt like he was almost a little owed because of it and had an attitude that was placing himself before anyone else.
The chemistry between River and Sam was apparent from the first moment they saw each other but both had walls built up around them. Sam had no desire to repeat her past mistakes and she saw that River had the ability to break her heart if she let him in.
I liked that River agreed to host a charity event and that we got to see another side of River when he was the kids and not with adults. That gave Sam some hope that River would be able to change. I crossed my fingers that things were going to happen with something that happened but the next day everything blew up and I was so mad at a certain reporter.
I was so upset for Sam with the things that went down with her dad. I hated how her dad treated her and never really gave her a chance to defend herself. I loved how River went at Michaela a little after one of his games and defended Sam. That made me so happy!
The end was awesome and I was so happy that they were able to get through it all together!
This was a good read. I just didn’t care for River. He was such a pill.