Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: The Athlete and the Aristocrat
SERIES: Dreamspun Desires #73
AUTHOR: Louisa Masters
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 168 pages
RELEASE DATE: January 1, 2019
BLURB:
Sometimes love takes balls.
Newly retired championship footballer Simon Wood is taking on his next challenge. His plan for a charity to provide funding for underprivileged children to pursue football as a career has passed its first hurdle: he has backers and an executive consultant. Now it’s time to get the ball rolling.
Lucien Morel, heir to the multibillion-euro Morel Corporation, is shocked—and thrilled—to learn his father has volunteered him as consultant to a fledgling football charity. Better yet, the brains behind it all is heartthrob Simon Wood, his teenage idol and crush.
Although Simon and Lucien get off on the wrong foot, it’s not long before they’re getting along like a house on fire—sparks included. But with the charity under public scrutiny, can their romance thrive?
REVIEW:
Oh my gah the opening line of this blurb cracked me up so bad. I swear I’m like a teenager sometimes. But it was a good book as well. I loved that it was for underprivileged kids. I wish we had more programs like that where I live. Kids need things like sports and arts as well.
For Simon, he had spent years investing and saving his money. Yeah, he could have been like most athletes and blown in on the luxury lifestyle of the pro-athlete, but he had a goal in mind when he retired and now it was time to make it happen. A charity to help underprivileged kids to be able to play football (soccer). He had several people in mind to help, and fortunately, the head of the Morel Corporation decided to help him. Corporately and privately. The stipulation was that the son, Lucien, had to help run it for the first five years. For Simon, it was a godsend because although having a degree, he was new at this game and needed a businessman to help run it and get everything going. It also didn’t hurt that Lucien was a fox. What started out as a business relationship quickly turned into a friendship. And when they discovered they both were bisexual with the hots for each other, it became even more. But it was not a fairytale. Simon wasn’t officially out as bi, although there were rumors, so when nasty media started it’s turned a charity dream and a bidding relationship into something looked at with malice. With interviews flying to dispel the rumors, they hoped it would be enough, but they didn’t know if anything would survive.
Simon had me the minute i saw his dream. I wish we had more people in this world who truly thought of kids and a way to help them. He didn’t know if he would be able to make this dream come true but he was determined no matter. I wanted to hug him. He’s a man with a big heart and a passion for something special. And of course, heaven forbid he be different on top of that. People just have to be nasty.
I was so grateful for Lucien. Not only did he have a huge crush on Simon, but he was actually perfect for him. Yeah, sometimes Lucien was maybe a bit too aristocratic, but Simon mellowed him more, along with some friends of theirs. And underneath all that polish and shine, he was a passionate man himself. He had been dreaming of doing something like this himself. He was shocked when his father agreed to do it for Simon.
What cracked me up so bad, was Lucien’s father’s ulterior motives. You will see. It’s hilarious. Just when Lucien thought he couldn’t be more surprised, his father laid a big one on him. I also loved Lucien’s friends. They were pistols. Always picking at him, but in good fun. They had a great relationship and welcomed Simon right in.
So, a good book. Laughter, a few tears, and happy ones too. A good read.
RATING: 
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