Blog Tour: Luca by Brenda Rothert

Today we are celebrating the release of LUCA by Brenda Rothert. This is a contemporary romance, standalone, and it is the second title in the Chicago Blaze hockey romance series. Purchase your copy now!

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Luca by Brenda Rothert

Now Available

Chicago Blaze, #2

Purchase on Amazon | Nook | Kobo | Apple Books

Book Blurb:

Abby

I only have one love now—the home furnishings business I’m building into an empire. Maybe money and success can’t love me back, but they keep what’s left of my heart safe. One-night stands are my way of scratching the occasional itch I get for something more. And no one’s better for that than a sexy as sin hockey player I’ll never see again after one very hot night together.

Luca

I used to love two things: hockey and women. But now my nieces and nephew are my top priority, because I’m raising them after tragedy stole their parents. Somehow I balance single parenthood and my career as a forward for the Chicago Blaze. There’s no time for women, until I get knocked on my ass by Abby Daniels. She’s everything I’ve ever wanted, but her devastating past may end us before we even get started.

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4 stars

Review by Jen Skewes

I love this series and could not wait for Luca's book.  Luca surprised me in a really good way.  I think it's because I didn't know what to expect or maybe his story managed to escape my mind for a minute or two.  I loved him.  He is a sexy hockey player who is raising his nieces and nephew after the deaths of his brother and sister-in-law.  His life has changed so much in the past year or so. While hockey has always been his life, he was used to living it as a single man with no responsibilities.  But now he is the guardian of 3 long children who have become his world.  Life can change in an instant and Luca knows that better than anyone.

Abby is in town on business when she meets Luca.  She has no idea who he is.  She just knows that he is hot and sexy and she wouldn't mind spending the night with him.  And he gladly accepts her offer.  Abby does not do relationships at all.  She has her guard up and a wall around her heart.  She has her reasons, but those reasons are kept hidden until she is ready to let them all out.  Luca also doesn't do relationships for his own reasons.  His job and the fact that he is now tasing three kids, he just doesn't see much time for it.  But there is something about Abby.  One night with her is just not enough.  He feels like he wants more with her, but knows that she has a wall up.  Will he be able to break her walls down and become more than just a casual fling whenever she is n town?

Let me just say that Luca as a hockey player is sexy enough.  But Luca as an Uncle taking care of his nieces and nephew takes it to a whole other level.  My God that man was just adorable, sext, sweet and made my heart melt whenever he was with them.  They were his world.  He knew he could never take the place of their parents but he treated them as his own.  He has such an adorable relationship with all of them.

I really liked Abby towards the end but honestly had a hard time with her in the beginning.  I know she had issues, but not knowing those issues right away made it a little harder to love her.  I liked her but as time went on I grew to love her.

Luca and Abby were sexy and sweet.   I loved all side of Luca.  I love how much he cared for both Abby and the kids. He has big heart and a very sexy side. Abby was sweet and I loved the bond she formed with the children.  I loved the two of them. It was emotional at times, sweetened funny.  I cannot wait for the next one in this series.  

Excerpt:

“Hold still, Uncle Luca.”

My niece Emerson gives me her best glare, but she’s five and cute, so it makes me smile.

“I’m trying,” I tell her, checking out the dark purple polish she’s trying to brush onto my nails.

It’s not my inability to hold still that has more nail polish on my skin than my nails; it’s her technique. My “MANicure”, as my two nieces like to call it, started with my ten-year-old niece Cora and was then passed off to Emerson.

“I found yogurt!” Cora says as she breezes into my bathroom. “It’s got strawberries in the bottom, but that’s okay. This face mask will make you smell good, Uncle Luca.”

I try not to roll my eyes. It’ll be better than the last face mask they whipped up in the kitchen, which had butter in it and was a bitch to scrub off in the shower.

“I have to leave for practice in twenty-five minutes,” I remind the girls. “And I still need a shower. So you have ten more minutes to beautify me.”

“Will you paint my nails, too?” Cora asks me.

“Sure.”

I was shit at painting nails when I first became the legal guardian of my two nieces and one nephew a little over a year ago. With practice, though, I’ve gotten pretty damn good at it.

“How long ‘til Gram and Gramps will be here?” Emerson asks, still painting my thumb nail even though she’s looking at me.

“About four hours ‘til their flight lands, then maybe an hour for them to get to the house.”

Her toothless grin of excitement makes me ignore the nail polish I can feel on my knuckle.

“Emerson!” Cora yells. “You ruined it! That looks awful.”

Cora picks up the bottle of purple nail polish and Emerson’s happy expression drops away.

“Give it to me,” Cora huffs, holding out her hand for the handle to the polish. “I never should have let you do it.”

“Hey, now.” I give Cora a sharp look. “She was doing her best.”

Cora’s eyes flood with tears. Emerson edges closer to me, because she knows what happens when Cora gets upset.

“He won’t let us do spa days if you mess it up!” Cora cries, glaring at her younger sister. “You ruined everything!”

“You didn’t ruin anything,” I tell Emerson. “And Cora, I never said we wouldn’t do this again. We can do a big spa day after my road trip, okay?”

Cora wipes her eyes and nods, still crying. It kills me to see her like this. As the oldest, she carries more of the weight from the deaths of her parents than her siblings. We’ve been in counseling for more than a year now, transitioning through the death of their mother, my sister-in-law Danielle, to the kids’ new life with me as their guardian. The clinical terms for what Cora struggles with—anxiety and controlling tendencies—are easier for me to handle than her breakdowns.

The tension leaves the room and Emerson starts my massage, which is pretty much just her karate chopping my shoulders, while Cora slathers strawberry yogurt onto my face.

“Is your shoulder better?” Cora asks me.

“Yep, it’s all good.”

“Think my mashage helped?” Emerson asks from behind me.

She can’t pronounce some words, and I kinda hope that’ll last longer, because it gets me every time.

“It definitely helped,” I tell her.

I tweaked my shoulder at practice yesterday, and Cora noticed me wince when I was taking out the trash last night. She worries about every sinus cold and bruise I get. I can’t blame the kid. Her dad, my brother Matt, died serving in Iraq and her mom passed away from cancer a year later.

“Hey, let’s get your nails painted, Cora,” I say after glancing at my watch. “I’ve only got five minutes til I have to hit the shower.” I turn to Emerson. “Can you go get the nail polish remover, peanut?”

“Okay.” She races from the room, brown curls flying behind her.

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AUTHOR INFORMATION:

Brenda Rothert is an Illinois native who was a print journalist for nine years. She made the jump from fact to fiction in 2013 and never looked back. From new adult to steamy contemporary romance, Brenda creates fresh characters in every story she tells. She’s a lover of Diet Coke, chocolate, lazy weekends and happily ever afters.

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