Friday, June 23, 2017

Blog Tour: Scored by Marquita Valentine




Title: Scored
Author: Marquita Valentine
Publication Date: June 20th, 2017
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Scored, a sexy all-new STANDALONE from Marquita Valentine is available now!!!

Dallas Drake has a big salary and an even bigger…ego…and he’s not afraid to use either of them to his advantage. As infamous as he is attractive, Dallas has all the equipment necessary to bring home the win.

The first time I met him, I was in handcuffs.
The second, he saved me when I fell off a ladder.

Now? Now we’re working together to plan a charity event.

I may not be interested in what Dallas has to offer, but as the game goes on, I’m becoming more open to his passes.
Is he looking for the win, or just determined to score?


4 stars
Review by Trinette Dungee

There are certain authors where you don’t even need to read the synopsis; you just know you want to read the book. Considering I’ve read about 23 or Marquita’s 30-some books, I guess could say she’s one of those authors. Every once in a while you read one of the books and it doesn’t quite move you or grab you the way you expected it to….this is most definitely not the case with Scored. As a matter of fact, I think this might be my favorite Marquita Book!  And Dallas and Paige are my favorite Marquita couple.
Most woman fall all over themselves to get to know Dallas Drake and he’s never really had a problem with that, for the most part it comes with the territory of being one of the best tight ends in the NFL. This is not the case with Librarian Paige Owens, not only does she not know who he is but she’s falling all over herself to get away from him and that fact that he slipped her his phone number and she hasn’t made an attempt to contact him is refreshing but yet completely baffling to him. When the opportunity to work with Paige on his upcoming fundraiser and a bet with a teammate presents themselves Dallas jumps at the chance. He just hopes his interactions with Paige work in his favor. 
Paige Owens hasn’t had the best luck with men and when her encounter with Dallas Drake leaves her hot, bothered and very interested she’s more than a little hesitant to get to know him. Especially after she googles him and sees the lifestyle Dallas leads. That’s why she shocks not only Dallas but herself when she agrees to help him by pretend dating him to win his bet. While Paige has agreed to this charade she has a few stipulations, the main one being that Dallas can in no way reveal publicly dating her. She’s not willing to be ripped to shreds by his millions of adoring female fans and she most definitely does not want her sister, whose PR firm represents him to know. Dallas agrees and so begins the fake relationship, but soon the relationship is nowhere near fake and the two start a real romance but Paige still has her same stipulations.
Dallas is more than ready to make things public with Paige. He’s found someone truly genuine, she knows nothing about sports, she sees him for who he is not the personality or celebrity. He moves mountains to show how interested he is in her. First the time in his life he’s with a woman that makes him think about the future and settling down. But Paige is digging in her heals and not without reason, she’s been cheated on, lied to and she watch her mom chase one man to the next trying to obtain that dream lifestyle. So to say she a little fearful of relationships is putting it mildly, especially considering she is nothing like the women Dallas is known for dating. She could easily see herself falling for him but she can’t see someone like her holding his attention for long. 
I loved the characters in this book, the humor, the banter, and the connection was amazing from the start. What I loved most about the Dallas and Paige was neither turned out to be what I initially thought of them. While Dallas was a bit cocky he was also open about his feelings, nothing was hidden with him when it came to Paige. He pretty much put it his heart out there immediately. Although the perception of Paige was that stereotypical “quiet as a church mouse” Librarian, she was anything but. She was sexy, sassy and bold. As with any romance story there are ups and downs but it wasn’t drawn out in the book. In this storyline, the characters were truly getting to know each other, like each other and falling in love with each other. The drama was minimal and the laughter and fun was abundant. I laughed quite often in this book. And Dallas grand jester was amazing. 
The only thing that didn’t work for me in this book was mention of snakes. I hate those things and quite often when Paige encountered something unpleasant, that was the comparison…so I’m assuming she hates them too. The other thing was the “P” word. It’s just one of those words that I hate so every time I read it, I cringe. Those were my biggest complaints, which in turn are minimal.


So four stars for Marquita; and a great beach read for this summer.


Excerpt:

The one good piece of advice my mom gave me concerning men is that their egos are huge yet fragile and it takes the delicate, yet strong touch of a woman to handle them.
Leave it to a man I know only by reputation to drive that point home.
Dallas sits in my office, an ice pack on his lip and the back of his head. To be nice, and since it was my fault he’s in pain in the first place, I’m holding the one on his head, so he can have at least one hand free.
“Sorry,” I say for what has to be the tenth time in the past twenty minutes. “I didn’t get to explain myself before, but I wasn’t laughing at you…well, it was at you, but not your pain. Pain is not funny. When I fell out of a tree and broke my wrist at the growth plate, I laughed the whole way there because that’s the only way I could deal with the pain. Finley didn’t order to me stop either.”
Dallas glances at me, his normally warm eyes icy. “Not sure how that helps.”
“Hopefully, it lets you know that I’m not laughing all willy-nilly.”
“Willy-nilly,” he mutters. “Who says willy-nilly?”
“I do, and to be honest, you’re not that soft. It actually hurt to fall on you.”
He arches a brow. “You weren’t exactly a pile of feathers.”
“Yeah… that’s not helping either.” I take the ice pack away and gently inspect the back of his head. “There’s a tiny,” he hisses, “bump here, but um, I’m sure if you go to the doctor that you’ll get fixed up in time for your next game.”
“You do realize that if I have a concussion, I can’t play this week.”
Slowly, I shake my head. “I didn’t know that.” Now I feel even worse for freaking out when I fell off the ladder. The dang thing is only three feet off the ground. I wasn’t falling to my death or into a pit of snakes.
I shiver.
Pushing away the thoughts of snakes and pits, I focus on Dallas. Although, I plan on making it up to him, I do need to say something about his sneaky ways.
“This could have been avoided altogether if you hadn’t sneaked up on me.”
His jaw works. “I spoke to let you know I was there, so I wasn’t sneaking up on you.”
This time, I’m the one arching a brow. “Next time, do you mind waiting until you’re standing on the ladder with me, or I don’t know… wait until I’m done with said ladder before scaring me to death?”
Dallas tosses the ice pack on my desk. “I guess you have a point.”
He’s agreeing with me? From my Google snooping, or Snoogling as I like to call it, everything about Dallas screams he is a cocky, confident man who has been known to argue with a referee a time or two. Then again, according to the article I read, Dallas argued with the ref over not throwing a flag for unnecessary roughness due to player being tackled after the whistle was blown. That kind of behavior, the other player’s, I mean, is considered very poor sportsmanship and worth some sort of penalization.
So maybe he was right to argue… and maybe I’m wrong to assume the worst about him. Even Finley says he’s not that bad, which for her is practically an endorsement.
But not for us to date—I’m not that stupid.
Or am I…?
“Is there any way I can make it up to you?” I ask. Yes, that is a hopeful tone in my voice. I do want to go out with him, try something new, and see what happens. Besides, it’s not like he’s going to ask me out again. That ship has sailed based on his grumpiness.
“Have drinks with me tonight at 451,” he says.
The ice pack I’m holding plops onto his head, and he grunts. “Sorry. Dang it.” I grab the pack and toss it onto my desk, where it slides precariously close to the edge. “Yes, I’d love to have drinks with you. My treat, of course, since I’m the cause of your injury and… you can send me any outstanding bills.”
“Why would I do that? You didn’t make me try to save you, and I sure as hell could have finessed my approach better.”
“Drinks only, then?”
“Appetizers, too. My treat.” His infamous grin curves his lips. “Don’t want you to think I’m trying to take advantage of you due to an empty stomach.”
So smooth. I eye him. “You might want to get your head looked at first because I’m pretty sure that alcohol and concussions don’t play nice together.”
He salutes me. “Will do.”
I fist my hands on my hips. “Did you come by here to see me, or to see the event space?”
He bites the unbruised side of his lip. “Would it bother you if I said both?”
My stomach flips at his answer. “No. I like honesty.”
“Then you’re going to love this,” he says with a serious look in his eyes that is in direct opposition of his tone, “because I need you to help me win a bet so a fellow teammate can get some mentoring.”
Intrigued, I reach across my desk and drag my office chair around. The floor is smooth and the feet have wheels, so it’s relative easy to do. Plus, I’m pretty sure Dallas is checking out my butt right now and I kind of like it.
Plopping down, I cross my legs and lean forward. “Tell me more.”
“You might not like it,” he warns.
“Do we have to kill anyone?”
His brows shoot up to his hairline. “No, but it’s kind of scary and insulting that you’d go there first.”
“Had to be asked.” I shrug.


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About the Author:
Marquita Valentine is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Holland Springs and Boys of the South series.

Since first taking the plunge in July of 2012 to self publish, Marquita Valentine has appeared on the Top 100 Bestselling Ebooks Lists on iBooks, Amazon Kindle, and Barnes&Noble. She's been called "one of the best new voices in romance" (Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews) and her books have been accused of being "a sexy, fun, and slightly addicting contemporary read" (The Book Queen).

When she's not writing sexy heroes who adore their sassy heroines, she enjoys shopping, reading, and spending time with her family and friends. Married to her high school sweetheart, Marquita lives in a seriously small town in the south with her husband, two kids, and a dog.

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