Title: Out of My League Author: Jessica Prince Series: Hope Valley Genre: Contemporary Romance
After years of war, Lincoln Sheppard thought he’d left the violence and ugliness behind. He was content with the life he built for himself. Then the woman down the street came in and shook everything up.
All Eden Brenner ever wanted was to have a place to call home. She finally found that in Hope Valley. Then she went and fell in love with the man a few houses down the first time she laid eyes on him. There was just one problem. Women like her didn’t catch the attention of men like him. He was totally and completely out of her league. And to make matters worse, when her past comes knocking, the beautiful world she’s built for herself is at risk of crumbling to the ground.
When danger forces Eden into his arms, Lincoln begins to see her in a whole new light, and he suddenly finds himself wanting things he never expected. And he wants them all with the shy, clumsy woman from down the street. But when the truth comes out, that proves nearly impossible. Now he’s fighting the hardest battle of his life, and the stakes are higher than ever. Protect the woman he’s falling for while trying to win her heart at the same time.
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“What the hell was that?” I finally managed to ask on a heavy exhale.
“Two weeks, buttercup,” he said on a growl. “Two fuckin’ weeks I’ve had to watch you at a distance, and the first words you speak to me in that time are to jump down my goddamn throat.”
I tried to step back, but his arms tightened. “Well, what did you think I’d do when I found out?”
“Exactly this,” he said smugly.
“Wait. You wanted me to come in here and blow up at you?”
“If that’s what it took to get you to stop pretendin’ like I don’t exist, then yeah. I’ve been going outta my goddamn mind for two weeks, Edie.”
“That makes two of us!” I cried. “Only mine’s all your fault.”
“It was a means to an end. One way or another, I was gonna keep you safe. I wanted to do it my damn self, but you wouldn’t allow that, so I did the next best thing, with a little added incentive to my boys to do everything in their power to annoy you to the point that you’d let me back in so I could look after you.”
Putting my hands to his chest, I shoved as hard as I possibly could. It was like trying to move a mountain. “For god’s sake,” I gasped. “Do you have any idea how insane that sounds?”
“Haven’t been feelin’ all that fuckin’ sane the past couple weeks, buttercup,” he clipped in return.
I gave him another shove, and another, and another until he finally relented and let me go. “Don’t say that,” I snapped back just as hard, causing him to tilt his head in confusion.
“Don’t say what?”
“Don’t call me buttercup like that. Not when you’re pissed. You gave me that name when we first met, and I’ve freaking loved it ever since. Don’t you use it sarcastically. That’s not fair.”
Everything suddenly shifted. Lincoln’s anger and irritation faded away, and his face took on that soft warmth that made my heart flip. “I’m sorry, baby,” he said so gently that I thought I might break down and cry right then and there. “I promise not to do it again.”
God, I was a wreck. I was so off-kilter I didn’t know up from down. “Jesus, Linc. What are we doing here? This isn’t normal behavior. It’s totally unhealthy.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, and for the first time since storming in, I actually noticed what he was wearing. Running shoes, a pair of loose black basketball shorts that hung tantalizingly off his narrow hips, and another Under Armour shirt, only this one was white and sleeveless. And damn, did he look good.
He watched me closely as he leaned back casually against the door, cutting off any hopes I might have had of escaping. “You’re right, Edie. Nothing about this is normal, but I’m fine with that.”
“How can you say that?” I asked in frustration, the tsunami of emotions inside of me making it impossible to think straight. “How could you ever be okay with this?”
“Because I’ve never cared about someone the way I care about you. I was just fine with the way my life was before you came along, Eden. I never considered marriage or kids or settling down. As far as I was concerned, none of that shit was for me. Then I met you.”
“Lincoln—”
But he wasn’t finished. “You told me that what we had was real for you from the very beginning. What I didn’t realize was that it was the same for me too.” All the air expelled from my lungs on a painful exhale. “When I held you on the dance floor that first night, everything changed. You’re genuine and beautiful. I don’t just want you, Eden, I want to know you. You’re different than any woman I’ve ever been with.”
“I make you laugh,” I whispered, the words spilling out of their own accord.
He nodded and lowered his voice. “You make me laugh.” Pushing off the wall, he closed the distance between us and placed a palm on either side of my neck, using his thumbs to tip my face up. “And you make it so easy. I didn’t think that was possible, baby.”
“Nona told me you don’t laugh a lot,” I said quietly. “I didn’t believe her because I’d seen it myself every time we were together.”
“That was because of you, Edie. Only you.”
I couldn’t take it anymore. Lifting onto my toes, I slammed my lips against his and kissed him with everything I was.
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My Review:
This book was just TONS of sexiness, heat, deliciousness and goodness wrapped up in a book; This is , in my opinion, one of the most best 1st in series I’ve read in quite some time. Once I started, it was really, really hard to stop reading for it was really good. Lincoln and Eden are my favourite couple and thats hard to say because I love every couple of Ms. Prince's books but Lincoln and Eden really seem to top them.
Eden finds this amazing town, after a bad upbringing she decides to make herself the priority and put herself 1st for once! She’s sweet, strong, loving, honest, caring and wants to make honest and real connections with people in life.
Lincoln is this hot and sexy alpha who everyone adores because he is loyal and sort of a manwhore but the women still love him yet he’s never wanted or needed anything serious with any woman...until he connects with Eden. There are twists and turns in their story that will keep the reader on their toes.
Theirs was a sort of slow buildup in their romance but it wasn’t an insta-love relationship. Eden thought things were too good to be true and balked at talking about her past. Unfortunately for her, her past collided with her rosy future and things turned left. Then the secrets that Lincoln was hiding from her was ripped out into the open, leaving a shattered hole in their relationship. This happens at a time when Eden's experiencing some danger in her life caused by her past. I really loved the bit of drama and small romantic suspense that was wove into this beautiful and emotional love story. The epic final chapters had me on the edge of my couch, dying to find out what happened next. The ending is amazing and the secondary characters just hooked me further into this new series. From Eden's newly made friends and Lincoln’s “brothers”, I am dying to read more on them, especially Cord!!
My Rating: 4.8 stars *****
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