Reviewed by Carissa

TITLE:  At First Touch

SERIES:  International Men of Sports #3

AUTHOR:  T.A. Chase and Devon Rhodes

PUBLISHER:  Totally Bound

LENGTH:  148 pages

BLURB:  Excelling at the game he loved was everything to King, until Lukas showed him at first touch how much better his life could be…

Ewansiha ‘King’ Kroenig is at the pinnacle of his professional football career, even with a problem knee. He keeps his cool and keeps his head down, and that control has served him well. King is bisexual and known to date beautiful women, while he also occasionally satisfies his craving for men with the team’s trainer. It’s a good life, but starting with one bizarre and personal request from his ex, Silvia, his orderly life goes spinning out of control.

Lukas has no problem admitting he’s gay, but with a loudly homophobic team captain,he knows better than to go there around the team. He has his whole career ahead of him and is being groomed to take over for their star player, King Kroenig. If he admires King for more than his athletic prowess, what can it hurt?

No harm, no foul…until a certain trainer who knows them well decides to play matchmaker, then all bets are off. And once they’ve experienced that first taste, they want more. But it’s not as simple as hooking up or dating when you’re teammates, with high profiles and little privacy. And when they each suddenly gain responsibilities they never expected, they must figure out a way to reconcile their personal lives with the expectations of others.

REVIEW:  

Ewansiha Kroenig was the King of football.  Or at least he was before a knock to his knee sidelined him from play.  But he has worked his way through rehabilitation and doctors and grueling practices that test his limits and his self-control.  Lesser men might bow out and let the up and comer, Lukas, take his spot, but Ewansiha is not ready to retire just yet.  He’s got a few games in him, and he intends to use them to the fullest. Lukas will just have to wait his turn.  And Ewansiha will just have to keep a careful eye on the young player—just not in the showers, mind.

Lukas loves football.  Loves the way the ball and him find that moment of pure synchronicity.  And if he also loves the feel of a hard body and rough hands, well, that is no one’s business but his own.  The world might finally be growing up, but a locker room–especially one captained by a homophobic, bigoted, asshole–is no place to suddenly start proclaiming his sexual orientation.

Young, relatively healthy, rich, these two men have a lot going for them if they keep their focus and keep out of the press.  Neither one thinks that what they need is to fall in love.  Neither one expects to suddenly find themselves contemplating fatherhood.  Neither of them is ready for the whirlwind that is about to become their lives…but they just might find that life outside football can be just as messy, but more rewarding than they ever thought possible.

At First Touch, the third installment of T.A. Chase and Devon Rhodes’ International Men of Sports series, is a great continuation of an already very well written collection of books.  With this book we take up the sport of football (or as some heathens choose to call it: soccer).  Since I am a huge fan of the sport (Go Earthquakes!!!) and just about devour any book put in front of me that deals with those hot and sweaty footballers–especially when they are getting hot and sweaty together–I was really really looking forward to reading this book.

What I found inside was a story that was more than just balls and locker-rooms full of dripping men in towels.  It was about family–and choosing to make a family when the one dealt to you is crap.  About standing up, sometimes at great risk, and great cost.  This book was able to cover some pretty heavy topics, but it did it in such a nice way, so that I never felt dread, just a nice smattering of tension and want.  It is not very heavy, but it is real. And I like that.

And I loved Xavier–or Xav, as he likes to be called.  Loved what he brought to this story, what he made it become.  Lukas’ life takes a sharp left turn when Xav strolls into his life.  He becomes a part of Lukas’ life.  Part of his family.  And because Xav is there, Lukas starts to see that there just might be more to life than just what goes down on the pitch.  He now has someone to protect.  Someone to teach.  Lukas finds a reason to stand his ground, even when he knows that the ground he’s trying to hold could very well slip out beneath him.

Ewansiha has his own battles to pick.  Being bi has let him show an almost-honest face to the world, but there is still a part of him that he feels he has to keep secret.  He is a very private person, but falling in love, with the ‘wrong’gender, could lead to a lot more attention than he wants.  But life, and his friends, seem intent on him finding a way out into the world.  Towards finding a piece of himself in the arms of someone who can love him.  I liked Ewansiha’s journey in this book.  Liked the way he handled himself.  And I really loved the way he saw what needed to be done and did it.  Even if it took him a long time to get to that point.

One of my favorite parts of this whole series is that it has taken us all over the world, and into three different sports.  Cricket in India, Cycling in France, Football in Germany.  I loved that through these books we are meeting different cultures, different people, but everyone still has the same worries, the some issues stopping them from reaching out–but still trying their damnedest to do it anyway.  The different races, the unique names, this is something I’ve come to love throughout these books.  Nothing about these people can be cookie-cutter, because I don’tquite know what type of cookies to expect from these places.  It makes each book a new and wonderful experience.

This is probably my favorite of the series, and not just because of the football, but because I love the secondary characters almost as much as I loved Ewansiha and Lukas.  They bring such a great flavoring to this story that I wish I could stay and watch them.  To see Sergio catch his man, to see Xav become one.  To watch Ewansiha’s crazy family grow up around him.  No, there is not a lot of angst in this book.  And I like it that way.  I like that the tension stays real, that the assholes are not always what they seem, but that not everyone can be saved–at least for now.  I enjoyed reading this book.  Couldn’t put it down.  And am really looking forward to whatever Chase and Rhodes have for us next.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: Totally Bound  ::  Amazon  ::  ARe