Blog Tour, Excerpt & Reviews ~~ Hard to Handle by K. Bromberg

Hard to Handle, book one in the Play Hard series, an all-new series of standalone books by New York Times bestselling author, K. Bromberg, is LIVE!

 

Louisa’s 4 Blush Review

I have been a K. Bromberg since the Colton (Driven series) days.  She has proven to her readers that she can be versatile but also consistent.  She writes books that keep you intrigued and on the edge of your seat while reading.

Hard to Handle is a little bit of all of my favorites – sports romance, second chance romance,  and enemies to lovers romance.  K. Bromberg has a HAT TRICK with this book. (yes a hockey reference!).

Dekker and Hunter are no strangers.  They had a “friends with benefits” relationship just some fun…until feeling began to creep in and they both panicked!  Three years have gone by and their thrust into another relationship.  Sports agent (Dekker) looking to sign an NHL star (Hunter).

K. Bromberg graces us with a slow burn romance that starts as a smolder and quickly turns into an inferno.  They both deny what’s happening for so long but there are a lot of obstacles in their way.  Family and business concerns, emotional and personal concerns for both of them that may make it impossible to reconnect as they would like to.

Once again – I love the characters, I love watching them grow, support each other selflessly – they are characters you cheer for and cry for (and yeah – there were some tears!).  I am looking forward to Dekker’s sisters’ books coming because I know that K. Bromberg will again, offer a great read.

Christina’s Emotional 4 Blush Review

I always get excited when K Bromberg releases a new book! Hard to Handle was unexpectedly emotional and heartwarming. I had no idea the story would impact me as much as it did and I was a little unprepared for the tears I shed towards the end of the book. This second chance/hockey romance packs a little punch in gut while warming your heart and producing a real slow burn romance all at the same time. Another win from Bromberg!

I love seeing females killing it in male-dominated industries, such as sports representation. Dekker is a successful sports agent representing several hockey players and Hunter Maddox is THE hockey player on his way to winning the Stanley Cup. I loved the slow burn between these two. They push and pull and it’s steamy and angsty which makes for a quick page-turner. Hunter has a broken past; a really tragic story that brings so much baggage on and off the ice. Dekker has always loved him and is determined to help him see what a good man he truly is.

The only thing keeping me from rating this book a little higher is that while there was a slow burn element to the book, the characters had previously gotten together prior to the story so there’s was less build-up for me than if they were together for the first time. As mentioned, I did some shed some tears towards the end of the book. Parts of it were just so heartbreaking, but Bromberg definitely hit her mark with this one. Looking forward to more from this series!!

SYNOPSIS

At first, the request seemed simple—sign a new athlete to the agency.
Then I found out the new athlete was none other than the most wanted man in hockey today: Hunter Maddox

Gifted. Sexy. At the top of his game. And the only man who has ever broken my heart.
If signing him will help save our family business, I’ll swallow my pride and do what’s asked.

But when it becomes clear his uncharacteristic antics off the ice are a hint of something deeper, keeping things strictly professional between us becomes more than complicated.

But I know better than to cross that line.

I’ll never date a client. Not even for him.

***
Win the Stanley Cup and do it before time runs out.

Not a small feat, but it’s what’s motivated me since the start of my career.

And time is running out.

Enter Dekker Kincade.

Feisty. Dogged. Damn gorgeous. The one I let get away.

I have no idea why she’s traveling with the team, but hell if resisting her is going to be easy.

But I have a job to do, and I refuse to lose sight of that end game. Even if she confuses me. Even if she sees parts of me I’ve hidden from the world.

I can’t lose focus. Not even for her.

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Excerpt:

I stare at Hunter. At his shirt plastered with sweat and how it clings to his body, despite the chill of the ice his skates are standing on. He has his warm-up pants on and is without a helmet, his hair curling at the ends from the sweat.
And all I see in his eyes is anger I didn’t put there. Or maybe I did. Rejection can do that to a man . . . but there’s something more here. Something I walked in on that doesn’t make sense.
“Don’t give me that look, Kincade,” Hunter mutters as he skates over to the penalty box where his electrolyte drink sits.
“What look?” I ask.
He half laughs, half snorts and meets my gaze across the distance. “Disappointment. Disproval. Disdain. I’m the king of all of them, so save your breath—or in this case—your glare, because it’s not going to work with me.”
“Are we working on emotions that start with the letter D today?” I ask. A hint of my embarrassment and anger over how I acted last night creeps into my voice, but I mask it with sarcasm. “If that’s the case, I’m more than impressed with your answers thus far.”
He clenches his jaw in response and then skates back over to line up more pucks so he can shoot them. And he does, one after another, each shot taken with laser precision and a healthy dose of fury behind it.
He goes through the first ten lined up and then stops to catch his breath.
His talent and skill are undeniable, but so is the beer bottle in my hand.
“Just because you’re the captain and star of this team, doesn’t mean management won’t frown upon this,” I say, unable to let this go.
“Screw the management.”
“No one likes a player who’s hard to handle and honestly, Hunter, you’re becoming hard to handle.”
“No one likes unsolicited advice from someone who has no bearing on his career, either,” he counters, the rebuke stinging but deserved.
The problem is, I do care about him. Doesn’t he get that’s where my hostility stems from?
And only a crazy person would say that, Dekker.
I put my hands up in surrender to both him and my own thoughts. “You know I only want the best for you.” I take a few steps in his direction in the first row of the stands. I’m close enough to catch the hitch of his movement and to see uncertainty flicker in his eyes. It’s almost as if he needs to talk but doesn’t see me as someone he can trust. I hate that. “What is it, Hunter?”
“Nothing. It’s . . . never mind.”
But I see it, and he knows I see it. The question is what do I see, though?

Meet K. Bromberg:

New York Times Bestselling author K. Bromberg writes contemporary romance novels that contain a mixture of sweet, emotional, a whole lot of sexy, and a little bit of real. She likes to write strong heroines and damaged heroes who we love to hate but can’t help to love.

A mom of three, she plots her novels in between school runs and soccer practices, more often than not with her laptop in tow and her mind scattered in too many different directions.

Since publishing her first book on a whim in 2013, Kristy has sold over one and a half million copies of her books across eighteen different countries and has landed on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestsellers lists over thirty times. Her Driven trilogy (Driven, Fueled, and Crashed) is currently being adapted for film by the streaming platform, Passionflix, with the first movie (Driven) out now.

With her imagination always in overdrive, she is currently scheming, plotting, and swooning over her latest hero. You can find out more about him or chat with Kristy on any of her social media accounts.

Connect with K. Bromberg:

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