In the new Play-by-Play novel by the New York Times bestselling
author of The Final Score, opposites attract when a figure skater and
hockey player lace up their skates--and go for the gold...
Will "Mad Dog" Madigan is making his second trip to the Winter Games, and he couldn't be happier. Hockey is his life and playing for the U.S. team is a privilege. Then he meets U.S. figure skater Amber Sloane. She's beautiful, ambitious and driven--everything Will desires in a woman. He would love to show Amber how hot life off the ice can be.
Amber has skated her entire life, sacrificing everything in the hopes of one day winning gold. Now she's competing for the third and final time. She intends to win, and nothing's going to get in her way--until she meets Will. He's an irresistible charmer, and before long Amber is wondering if this sexy hockey player is the perfect guy to show her some moves outside the rink.
But after all the medals have been awarded, Will and Amber will have to decide if what they have together is just a fling or a real shot at true love.
Will "Mad Dog" Madigan is making his second trip to the Winter Games, and he couldn't be happier. Hockey is his life and playing for the U.S. team is a privilege. Then he meets U.S. figure skater Amber Sloane. She's beautiful, ambitious and driven--everything Will desires in a woman. He would love to show Amber how hot life off the ice can be.
Amber has skated her entire life, sacrificing everything in the hopes of one day winning gold. Now she's competing for the third and final time. She intends to win, and nothing's going to get in her way--until she meets Will. He's an irresistible charmer, and before long Amber is wondering if this sexy hockey player is the perfect guy to show her some moves outside the rink.
But after all the medals have been awarded, Will and Amber will have to decide if what they have together is just a fling or a real shot at true love.
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“Yeah? What are your cravings?”
“Hmm, let’s see. Thick crust pizza with sausage and extra
cheese. Lasagna. Chocolate chip cookies. Brownies. Oh, and cheeseburgers. I
really love cheeseburgers. With onion rings.”
He laughed. “That’s a damn fine menu, Amber. Surely you can
have some of those things at least once a week, right?”
“I get healthy proteins, like lean chicken and fish. Only when
I finish a competition am I allowed to indulge.”
“Allowed? Come on, honey, you’re a grown-ass woman. You can
make your own decisions.”
She looked down at her ice cream, suddenly losing her
appetite for its creamy sinfulness. She pushed it aside. “I do make my own
decisions. Like now. I’m full.”
Will looked over at her cup. “You barely ate two bites.”
“It doesn’t take much to fill me up.” Which was her
mother’s mantra.
Eat half of what’s on your plate, Amber.
You’re thin anyway, so you don’t need a lot of food.
Except she was always hungry, and drinking more water never
filled her up.
“Yeah? Well I’m eating this entire cone and two scoops,
which I know I’ll burn up on the ice. You should do the same.”
Will didn’t understand how hard it was for her to maintain
the balance between strength and figure. But she did. She’d worked so hard, and
nothing was going to derail her.
Not even the tempting chocolate raspberry ice cream that
sat in front of her.
This had been a mistake. She should have never come here
with Will. But since she had, she’d politely wait until he finished his ice cream
and then she’d make her way back to her apartment.
“Would you like to taste mine?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, I’m good.”
“So’s this mint chocolate chip. And I promise I don’t have
germs.”
Oh, she’d love to put her mouth where he’d had his mouth.
That wasn’t the issue at all. Just the thought of swirling her tongue where his
tongue had been caused flames to lick along her nerve endings, making her wish
they were outside where it was cooler.
“Do you like mint, Amber?” he asked.
“I do.”
He leaned forward, offering the cone. “Take a lick.”
She was going to self-combust if he kept talking to her
that way.
“Okay.” She started to take the cone from him, but instead
he wrapped his hand around hers and held the cone steady. She leaned forward
and flicked her tongue over the top of the cone, watching the way his gaze was
glued to her mouth, which only made her previous heated state grow more
incendiary.
She sat back and pulled her hand from his. “It’s really
good.”
“Yeah, it is really good,” he said, and Amber was certain
he hadn’t been talking about the ice cream.
She’d been hit on by a lot of guys over the years, mainly
at skating competitions, and especially at the international games. She’d
ignored them all to focus only on her goal of winning. Never before had she
been affected by flirting or guys coming on to her. She knew she’d be nothing
more than a one-night stand, and she wasn’t much interested in being some guy’s
forgettable bang.
But there was something about Will Madigan that intrigued
her. He was hot, and had a magnificent body. She liked that they were
compatible from a skating point of view, but she’d had attractive male figure
skaters hit on her before and they had certainly been more compatible than
Will, so what was the deal with this guy? Why him, other than she’d madly
crushed on him four years ago when he’d never once even looked in her
direction.
That was probably it. He’d noticed her tonight, and she
felt vindicated. Plus, she was determined to live it up these games.
Though she was going to do it on her terms. She was going
to be the one doing the choosing, and it was going to be on her timeline. When
she was ready.
She wasn’t going to jump in the sack with the first guy on
the first night.
Even if said guy was hot and sexy and had eyes that made
her melt.
Extras!
Cosmo.com’s behind-the-scenes feature from the cover shoot with Jaci:
http://bit.ly/2EgJEjE
And the book trailer!
What I thought about Shot On Gold
Amber has dedicated her life to figure skating and winning a gold medal, and it's her last Olympics. She's ready to win having worked the last four years to achieve her goal, so she decided she's going to enjoy the games. She's no longer willing to sacrifice friends and fun for competition sake. When she meets Will, a super hot and sweet member of the USA hockey team, everything clicks for the two of them and what might have been a brief fling turns into something much more.
Both Will and Amber are at the games to win a gold medal, but they may have found more than gold with each other. The conflicts here are light, and the very best part of this story is not the romance, but how Jaci Burton expertly captures the heart of an athletic champion and the joy that comes from doing your best and winning. I loved this aspect of the book. Amber's self confidence was a little off putting at first, especially when it came to her experience with sex, but I really ended up liking her. I liked Will's attitude too, towards sports and toward Amber. He really was quite sweet.
This book chased away my blues from the 2018 Olympics being over. I loved the camaraderie, the athleticism and thought there was a lot of joy to be found in this book. It's not my favorite book in this series, but I did enjoy it very much. It's fluff... fun fluff. An Olympic fairy tale and just what I needed now that the games are over!
An ARC was provided for review.
