Thursday, April 3, 2014

Heal My Heart by Elley Arden


Title:  Heal My Heart
Series:  Kemmons Brothers #3
Author:  Elley Arden
Published:  Mar 10/14 by Crimson Romance
Length:  178pgs
Format:  ARC ecopy
Genre:  Contemporary romance
Shelf:  review
Rating:  ★★★★★

Blurb:

Female professional football quarterback MJ Rooney has her eye on the prize, a record-breaking, championship season. Sure, it would be nice to have family support, but she believes in herself, and she has her teammates. That’s all she needs to win … until a scuffle at a baseball game sends her over the railing and onto the field with a concussion that threatens her season.

Dr. Tag Howard isn’t a baseball player like his brothers, but that doesn’t mean he can’t contribute to the game. He’s poised to become Major League Baseball’s go-to sports medicine doctor if he can rehabilitate Gold Glove Centerfielder Grey Kemmons, who happens to be his estranged brother. It’s a lot to take … until an unorthodox angel crashes into his life with a concussion and a fresh perspective.

MJ doesn’t need a man. She needs a championship ring. Getting messed up with a sexy, doctor and his family baggage isn’t going to get her there. But the attraction is undeniable, and there’s surprising freedom from expectations in each other’s arms … until Tag’s brothers want a reunion that requires him to own up to his ugly past, and MJ’s season teeters amidst the distractions. Would life apart be easier?

Excerpt:

M.J. watched as people passed the open door to her exam room. Some looked in and smiled, but she couldn’t manage to muster the strength to smile back. In fact, she was just about to get up and close the door when a handsome man in a white coat passed. They made eye contact for a brief second before he disappeared in the same direction the nurse had.

But then he was back.

“You,” he said, smiling.

It was a wonderful smile, bright and white, balling his cheeks and squinting his eyes, defining his chin with a sexy v-shaped crease.

“Me?” M. J. questioned.

He stepped into the room, wearing the same smile along with a pale blue dress shirt and crisply pressed gray pants visible from the split in his white coat. “You don’t remember me, do you?”

“No.” One word was a better bet than letting her incredulity slip out amid a full sentence. If she’d met a man like that before, she’d certainly never forget him.

“You’re Miss Rooney, aren’t you? I examined you on the field after you fell.”

M. J.’s jaw dropped. “Oh,” she managed, despite the embarrassment heating her face. If she didn’t remember him, God only knew what she’d done or said during their exchange. She wasn’t exactly mealy-mouthed.

“How are you feeling?” He tilted his head and rolled his gaze over her, a hint of that smile lingering in his beautiful hazel eyes.

Physically? “Better.” Mentally? Like a fool, because she was trying to place him, but nothing that happened after she toppled over the railing and before Felicia arrived at the hospital made sense. And now she was gawking at this crazy-attractive man.

“How’d you end up at Fellows’ clinic?”

“Dr. Ridge.” She matched the tilt of his head with her head. “He’s my team physician.”

Dr. Sexy’s eyes widened. “Which team?”

“Clash,” she said without hesitation, maybe even a little too fiercely. She’d just been laughed at too many times to count.

When he chuckled, she wanted to slap him, but he looked so damn good doing it.

“Now it makes sense,” he said. “You told me you belonged on the field when I asked how you got there, and then you asked if you’d been sacked.”

He wasn’t laughing at the fact she played football? Interesting.

“Knock, knock.” Dr. Ridge stood in the doorway. “Go find your own patients,” he directed at Dr. Sexy. “Better yet, go get some pizza before I finish it off.”

Dr. Sexy smiled again as he nodded, exuding a nonchalance that had M. J.’s muscles bunching, bracing against the attraction.

“Miss Rooney,” he said. “It was nice to see you again.”



It was, wasn’t it? Even if she didn’t remember seeing him the first time.

My Review:

Arden is off and running with this brilliant new Kemmons Brothers novel. She presents her story in the same fluent and well written manner that we’ve come to know and love from her. Her descriptions and narrative provide the reader with a clear picture of what is going, drawing them into the pages of this captivating novel. This novel was both emotional and exciting. I don’t remember the last time that I laughed AND cried so much in the same story. At the same time this novel is exceptionally unique. Arden breaks the mold on many stereotypes, showing how just being yourself is what one should strive for.

The main characters in this novel were such captivating individuals. I love the way that Arden develops them. She does so little by little as they get to know one another. It’s quite intriguing to see these characters come to terms with who they are. You also get to see them realize that they don’t have to change to be what is expected of them. They still struggle with this, making them even more real and lovable, but the realization is there. Even though we’ve gotten to know the elder Kemmons brothers in previous novels we get to know their family dynamic and history much more intimately in this instalment. This adds an extra layer of depth to the story as a whole.

This is by far my favourite Kemmons Brothers novel yet. Possibly even my favourite novel by this author so far. I can’t wait to see what Arden comes up with next.

 
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About the author:

Elley Arden is a born and bred Pennsylvanian who has lived as far west as Utah and as far north as Wisconsin. She drinks wine like it’s water (a slight exaggeration), prefers a night at the ballpark to a night on the town, and believes almond English toffee is the key to happiness.

Elley writes provocative, emotional, contemporary romances, where Mr. Not-My-Type ends up being Mr. Right.

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1 comment:

  1. This is an awesome review - it makes me want to find out where everything ends up. I need to know! Usually, the one who is not the right fit in the first place ends up being just the right one in real life!

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