New York Times bestselling author, Skye Jordan, brings you the first in a hot new series: Xtreme Heroes.
Former Olympian turned physical therapist to the elite Julia Quinn knows all about pushing the limits. But when a sexual harassment suit costs her a dream job—not to mention her reputation—she takes on the biggest risk of her life. Rehabilitating the X Games’ most notorious bad boy might be … might be just what she needs to secure the funds for her own treatment center. Problem is, the only kind of recovery her new client is interested in is under-the-covers freestyle—gear optional.
Daredevil snowboarder Noah Hunt is a rock star—on and off the slopes. A recent accident might have him down, but he’s far from out. He doesn’t care what the sexy therapist with the sweet curves says. He’s got sponsors to impress and trophies to collect, and taking things slow and steady just ain’t his style. A little dirty talk and a sizzling night later, Julia learns just how fast and hard he likes to play. Too bad for him, his heart goes all in, and one wrong move could cost him more than just his career.
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This is my second book by this author and she is one of my favourite authors. This is the first book in the Xtreme Heroes series.
Julia is a physical therapist fallen from grace. When the book opens, she is in a nursing-home type of facility. It’s obvious that this is not what calls to her heart, and the reader immediately gets the sense that there is big story behind her. An old acquaintance (a manager/agent for athletes) comes for a visit and begs her to come back to the fold and work her magic on a famous snowboarder.
Noah is a world champion snowboarder with a broken ankle and stubborn streak. He thinks he can rehab himself just fine. Sure, he used to live the wild life of a famous athlete, but since cultivating that reputation, he’s settled down and is now focused on making it to the upcoming X-games.
When Noah and Julia are snowed in for a couple of days and forced into close contact, one thing leads to another…and not only does Noah realize how much he needs Julia’s help rehabbing his ankle, but he also realizes how into this woman he is mentally, sexually, and emotionally.
I really hope we get a second book. I wanted more as soon as I finished reading it. I highly recommend this book.
I’ve read a couple of Ms. Jordan’s book on her Renegades series and I already knew her style was an excellent fit for my likes. That said, I liked The Risk even more.
Both main characters are strong, dedicated individuals with very clear expectations as to what they want to accomplish in life. I loved how they were both assholes to each other the first time they met, both coming from quite shitty places. Still, they didn’t drag this on forever, they realized what they were doing, apologized and started over, you know, like adults. I liked they pushed each other to be better, how they both started changing and growing as a couple without actually being a couple for a big part of the story (that was mainly because of Julia’s rule and not from Noah’s lack of trying).
What I did not love was their lack of communication. Their main issues stemmed from not being open with one another, and I’m starting to realize that while I’m not saying miscommunication is a trigger for me (that would be kind of ridiculous really) but that this being the main angst/twist/shit-hitting-the-fan-trigger on a book drives me abso-freaking-lutely bonkers. I just want to slap both of them really hard with an iron gauntlet.
So it wasn’t really that bad in this case but it still bothered me a bit. The sexy time was really, really good. Their chemistry was hot, and I thought they made a really cute couple. Their banter was just awesome. Noah was a blast, his friends were all moronically hilarious and I can’t wait to hear about their own stories.
Overall, dude, a super enjoyable read, can’t wait to get my hands on Noah the next one. Excellent work Skye, please keep them coming.
*I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book*
I aboslutely loved Skye Jordan’s Renegades series so I was very excited to see she was writing a new series on extreme althletes.
Like with Lori Foster and Victoria Dahl, Skye is one of those authors I can count on when I’m looking for a book that’s low in drama and angst, has a storyline that keeps me interested, an engaging cast of characters, and one hot hunk of a man. The Risk didn’t disappoint me.
After a career damaging incident Julia is working a dead-end job at an old folk’s center, helping her clients with their aches and pains. Noah is an extreme athlete, a daredevil snowboarder, who is trying to rehab his ankle. Julia is hired on to get him back to full potential so he can compete in the upcoming games, and not lose his sponsorships.
They meet under less than ideal circumstances and butt heads right from the start. But there is also instant attraction…and I have to say I can’t blame Julia for that! Noah is all about havign a good time, but he’s also very serious about his career and after some struggles Julia is able to make him see that she has his best interests at heart.
This was an interesting book, as we got kind of an inner look at how a physical therapist works, how and what it would take to get Noah’s ankle back in top form…Skye had to do a ton of research for this one, I was really impressed.
The romance between the 2 was sweet, although I was surprised at the lack of “heat” for a Skye Jordan book…I’ve come to expect a little more!
Even though she was attracted to him, and was falling for him, Julia was very adamant about keeping her distance from Noah while they worked together, but that didn’t stop him from trying to break her down. I loved the scene with her learning to ride his practice board. It was fun to watch Noah realize how much she really meant to him, he’s not one that is used to doing the pursuing, he’s used to being pursued and he has some things he had to figure out when it came to Julia.
“She was everything he’d never had in a woman, everything he’d never known he wanted. Until now.”
There was the requisite drama, but nothing too crazy or over the top, we saw it coming as the book progressed. The ending seemed a little rushed, but the epilogue was the perfect icing on the cake. (I wish I had a snowboard reference I could have thrown in there!)