Lily Harlem - Romance With Heat: Scored

Friday, 25 May 2012

Scored - OUT NOW!

New at Amazon is my latest erotic romance novel, SCORED.

Scored is a sexy sport story all about the England football team (soccer team to you US guys!). With the European Tournament just about to start the nation is working up to a frenzy of excitement and hopes are being pinned on the star players to lead us to victory.

So with so many gorgeous guys to choose from I decided to write a steamy tale that included their antics off the pitch as well as on it. Watch out Beckham, Lewis Tate might just tip the balance here in the hotness stakes not to mention sheer determination when he decides there is something, or someone, he wants!!

Blurb

Okay, so I eat, sleep and breathe football and reporting the beautiful game is my dream career. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have time for a major crush on the England captain, Lewis Tate. The bloke is sex on legs, hot with a capital H. Add in his awe-inspiring talent, his brooding good looks and what’s not to lust after?

So my excitement is sky-high as I set off with the official press team to cover England’s battle for the European Cup. But when a series of unfortunate, or as it turns out fortunate events, attracts Tate’s attention my way, who am I to say no?

Add in a misogynistic manager, an over-zealous colleague, two blue silk ties and some incredible ball-handling skills and it becomes clear the road to victory, for me, will be an intensely erotic journey. Determined to savor every moment, I hang onto my sanity as best I can while living the fantasy and wondering if it can ever become reality. Because once Lewis Tate has taken me to heaven and back, its clear no one else will ever compare.

SCORED may be just out but I'm thrilled to say it is already hitting the spot. Its first review is not only 5 out of 5 but has received the Golden Nib Award at Miz Love Loves Books!!

Here is what they say...

Scored is a fantastic read—especially, and pardon the pun, if you’re a fan of football/soccer. Ms Harlem’s voice is a delight—very fresh and lively—and she has the ability to put me right there amongst the characters. Her style is always a pleasure too, and Scored—here comes a pun again!—is one of the top scorers out of the books I’ve read so far this year.

Lewis Tate is our sexy England captain hero, who made me swoon. I loved the way he was perceived as surly to the public but in private he’s just like anyone else—he has insecurities, he has needs, and whoa, does he ever have the determination to get what he wants!

And he wants Nicky, a football reporter who lives, breathes and sleeps football. She’s had the hots for Lewis for a long time but never thought she’d get the chance to be close enough to share breathing space with him, let alone a bed. But she does, because fate has a winning plan…

When they have their first kiss in the elevator—phew, is it hot in here, people?—the sexual attraction is so tangible I held my breath while reading that scene. Who knew a written kiss could seem so real? Without having to be told how she felt, I felt it. Weak knees, loss of the ability to breathe, heart racing, everything in the world fading away except for that kiss. Brilliant!

With secondary characters who only make this book all the more real, Scored holds a bundle of people that I want to know more about (hint hint!). There’s Nicky’s reporter friends, other team members, and call me whacky, but I’d even love to read a book about the hateful England boss who I think might have a softer side other than the hard-nosed one he shows.

Best Bits: Every scrummy, yummy, wonderful line. I read this book in one sitting, unable to put it down.

Verdict: What I love about Ms Harlem’s work is that she writes in 1st person—and she’s excellent at it—but at no time do I ever feel I’ve been denied the chance to get to know the hero. Ms Harlem expertly sprinkles lines throughout that show exactly who the hero is, what he’s feeling—and the same goes for the secondary characters. Everyone is displayed so very well, and I’ll admit to being a serious fan of this author’s work, andScored is my ultimate fave so far. This isn’t just a gush-fest but an honest-to-goodness response to how I feel about this book and the woman who wrote it. She is very good. You don’t just have to take my word for it either. Find out for yourself!

Okay - here is the elevator scene and some hunky footy stars to get you in the mood :-)

I glanced at the elevator screen. Damn, I was going down, to the spa instead of up. Oh well. I’d had to get out of the lobby before Medusa-Fellows solidified me anyway.

The doors opened and the chlorinated air from the pool seeped in.

But that barely registered in my mind, because standing in red trunks with a white towel slung around his neck was Lewis. His wet hair was mussed up and his skin dewy and damp. Fuck, the guy just got more gorgeous every time I saw him. It wasn’t a case of getting used to his stunning looks, they just bowled me over anew.

“Hello, Nicky,” he said, stepping in next to me.

“Hi.” Seriously, how could he act so cool? How could I be expected to act cool when he looked like every dirty dream and carnal fantasy rolled into one?

The doors slid shut and I pressed the button for level three. “I presume you’re going to your room and not to the lobby dressed like that?”

“Yep.”

I glanced up at him. He was gnawing at the inside of his cheek. His shoulders were raised and tense and he was staring straight at me with a sharp glint in his eye.

“Great game, congratulations.”

“Thank you.” His words were short and clipped.

“What?” I asked, feeling unaccountably off-kilter. Was he angry with me? What had I done? I hadn’t told anyone he’d been in my room for tea. I hadn’t even told anyone we’d ever spoken outside of the press conferences.

“You told me…” he said, “that…”

“What?” Okay, now I was really nervous. His eyes were thin slits; I could only just make out that perfect shade of deep-ocean blue through his lashes. “What did I tell you?”

“That you weren’t seeing anyone.”

“I’m not.”

He stepped toward me, big and brooding. His sudden indomitable expression was more than a little disturbing.

I backed up and my shoulders hit the cool mirrored wall.

He followed, penning me in. He was all acres of perfect flesh, toned muscles and steely determination. My stomach somersaulted, my heart rate rocketed and I gripped the brass bar that lined the elevator. I’d never felt so physically small in my life.

“So who was the guy who thought it was okay to wrap his arms around you at the press conference?”

“That was just Phil.” My voice was a little squeaky, but I wasn’t complaining, I was surprised I could even speak. Why the hell would Phil matter to Lewis?

“Just Phil?”

I nodded. “Yes, just Phil.” I could smell Lewis now, a combination of chlorine, soap and raw maleness. As he spoke his sweet breath breezed warm onto my cheek and sent a sizzle of awareness shooting down my middle, tickling my nipples and creating a buzz in my clitoris. This man did seriously dangerous things to my body, like letting it think it was in charge of my brain.

“So he’s not your boyfriend?”

“No, definitely not. Phil is a work colleague who gets a bit flirty now and then. But I hardly know him really.”

I wasn’t sure if I’d said the right thing because a small muscle flexed and un-flexed in Lewis’ cheek and his nostrils flared.

“Really, there’s nothing between us,” I said. “I’m free as a bird, no one to answer to, no one to—”

“Stop talking.” He glanced at the elevator dashboard then turned his attention back to me.

“Why.”

“Because I want to test a theory.” He nipped my chin between his thumb and index finger, tilted my head and dropped his face until his lips were just a hair’s-breadth from mine.

“What theory would that be?” I whispered, wondering if my knees would continue to hold me up for more than another few seconds. Damn, he was so close. I felt completely consumed by him.

“The kiss-and-tell theory.”

“Oh, well I—”

My words were cut short as his mouth connected with mine. Smooth, pliant lips and a softly probing tongue taking possession, owning and controlling.

A small whimper mewed up from my throat. Fuck. Lewis Tate was kissing me. And not only that he was one hell of a kisser. Gentle but firm, and he tasted delicious; fresh and sexy and perhaps a tang of mint.

I opened up and let him in. Searched for his tongue with mine and allowed him to set the pace and depth. Surely I was in the middle of a fantastic dream. How had I got so lucky to have such an incredible man kissing me?

He kept a tight hold of my chin as he pulled away. “You’re so sweet,” he murmured, his downcast gaze searching my face. “So please don’t prove my instincts wrong.”

“What instincts?” I was struggling to catch my breath, control the tremble in my belly.

There was a sudden ping, the elevator jolted to a stop, and the doors slid open.

Lewis backed up rapidly, gripped the ends of the towel that was still around his neck, and squared his stance.

A waiter holding an ice bucket stared in at us.

“Good evening,” Lewis said, stepping past him.

I followed, tightening my purse over my shoulder and avoiding the waiter’s curious stare. Surely he hadn’t seen Lewis pressing me against the wall and kissing me into oblivion. He’d stepped away by the time the doors had slid open.

Hadn’t he?

And here are the hunks - they make it hard to choose a favourite team!!