TOO CLOSE TO CALL
Series: Romancing The Clarksons #3.5
Author: Tessa Bailey
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: June 13th, 2017
From New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey comes TOO CLOSE TO CALL, a novella in her Romancing the Clarksons Series published by 1001 Dark Nights! Grab your copy today!
All-American wide receiver Kyler Tate’s life is about to change. A fairytale college career skyrocketed him to the NFL draft. Adoration and opportunity are thrown in his direction wherever he goes, thanks to being chosen in the first round by the Los Angeles Rage.
None of the accolades mean anything, though, without his high school sweetheart, Bree Sutton, by his side. Four years ago, she walked away from Kyler, choosing a quiet life over the flash and notoriety his career would someday bring.
Now he’s back in their Indiana hometown, refusing to leave for Los Angeles without her. Demanding she give their life together a shot. Her heart never stopped bleeding for the love of her life, but Bree’s decision was final. Too bad their wild attraction has only been amplified by their separation, and Kyler won’t quit until Bree is wearing his ring.
Draft Day was nothing like Kyler had pictured.
“With the ninth pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Rage select…” Kyler Tate’s parents sucked in breaths on either side of him. “Kyler Tate, receiver, University of Cincinnati.”
The tense atmosphere inside the event hall exploded with wild cheers, exclamations, and boos. His shoulders were slapped by thousands of hands, kisses landing on his cheeks. Like falling out of a kayak into a rushing current, bashing into rocks on the way toward a waterfall, Kyler stood, put his head down, and proceeded toward the stage. Cell phones rang at every table he passed, terse conversations taking place as the deadline timer for the next announcement started. Players he’d faced on the gridiron sweated in their suits, mothers fussed, water glasses were refilled.
This was it. Years of training, icing down injuries, two-a-day practices, glory, pain, and mental fatigue. All for this moment.
And it was…utterly fucking incomplete.
Before he could reach the stage, panic set in. Set in real good, like claws digging into fertile ground. A moment earlier, everyone in the room had looked familiar, but they were strangers now, spinning in a kaleidoscope. Sweat popped up on his forehead. His shoulder blades tightened, a harsh sound puffed from between his lips. From behind the podium, the announcer gave him a strange look, the Rage jersey lowering in his grip. Are you okay?
The man’s mouthed words barely penetrated over the sudden rushing stream of images. Of her. Bree Justice.
Tessa Bailey complete and utterly blew my mind with Too Close To Call. Talk about the PERFECT second chance romance! With Kyler and Bree’s story, Ms. Bailey proved how a novella could pack a whole world of feelings, that normally we relate to a full length novel. Too Close to Call was the perfect emotional punch to add to this already amazing series. So much so, that it became my favorite of the Romancing The Clarkson series!
We met Kyler in Too Hard to Forget – but fear not, if you haven’t read the previous one, you can still enjoy and understand the whole plot – where we got a glimpse of his broken heart, and the love he still had for Bree, his high school sweetheart.
Truth be told, she was so much more than that. So, when Kyler comes to a pillar moment in his professional career, he realizes he needs Bree to really live.
Bree didn’t want to break Kyler’s – and her – heart, four years prior, but she couldn’t leave her hometown and family behind, for a very valid reason, to follow their dreams. So, she had to break them up, and stay behind, setting Kyler free to pursue him football career. She thought time would heal them both, but a love like that can’t be forgotten.
Fast forwarding four years, after Kyler’s big revelation, he decides to go get his girl, and he won’t take no for answer, and won’t leave his hometown without her.
No one spoke, moved, smiled, smelled like her.
“And you were the exception. Not the other way around. That’s why I brought flowers and shook your daddy’s hand at the door. I knew there’d never be another Bree Justice.”
I have to say Kyler went straight to my top 3 fav Tessa Bailey heroes! This man, even in is young age is EVERYTHING!!! I’m talking full on swoon-worthy, panty-melting, heart-thumping, sigh-inducing male material here. No wonder Bree never even though of moving on. With a man like this, who could forget?
Jesus, he loved her. Couldn’t she see it? That he would never love another woman as long as they both lived?
No other woman had ever elicited the smallest percentage of his body’s reaction to Bree. Not ever. No one ever would, either, because his heart was connected to every part of him. His heart knew what it wanted and it wouldn’t waver.
“Bree,” he croaked, pressure pushing inward on his skull. “Fuck, Bree. I almost died from missing you.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
See what I meant? Perfect male character! And all this loyalty and devotion, coupled with the most delicious and smoking hot package, Bree didn’t stand a chance to deny him.
Kyler had so many ledges, cuts, and bulges of muscle, Bree had the urge to strap on a harness and scale him like a rock climbing wall.
But even so, Bree’s fears and doubt remained the same, even after this time apart, so Tyler knew he had to use every single weapon in his arsenal to be able to convince Bree to give them another chance. He wouldn’t accept no for an answer, when it came to their life together.
“I’ve loved you as far back as my memory reaches. I will never fucking stop. I came to town for one damn reason, Bree. So I could leave here with my wife. You.”
Of course with a palpable, scorchingly HOT chemistry and magnetism like their, there wasn’t much Bree could deny. She was unable to resist it or Kyler filthy-talking mouth, that, FYI, it should come with a warning. Yes, we are talking about Tessa Bailey here, the ‘Queen of Dirty Talking’, but seriously, O…M…G!!!!!
“Had to find a different spot every week because we’d wear the grass down to nothing. From fucking on top of it. Wouldn’t we, Bree?”
“We never did this quietly, did we?”
Kyler’s voice sounded just as unnatural as hers when he responded. “A man can’t stay silent when he’s wrapped up in something so tight.”“What other mercies can I earn from you today?” Kyler rasped. “If you’ve already forgotten how I beg for that mercy, my tongue is dying to show you.”
And these are just three examples, because believe me, I feel like I highlighted most of the book, either due to his wicked mouth or his heartfelt declarations! I seriously recommend this book to every romance reader out there. I couldn’t have loved it any more, and I can say it, with how particular I am with second chance stories, that I wouldn’t change a single word. It was written perfection! In this short read we go through all the feels and all the emotions, and by the end you’ll be guaranteed to have a warm heart, a delicious tingling throughout your body and a happy buzz that will no soon leave. Now I’m more than ready for Belmont and Sage’s story, Too Beautiful to Break. Can’t wait!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
“What about what you want?”
“I want us,” he rasped. “I’ll build everything else around that. That has been my plan since age thirteen. It just got delayed.”Commitment was in the way they looked at one another. Not a damn thing, especially some days apart, could test their bond. It was airtight.
ARC kindly provided by the author via InkSlinger PR for an honest review
TOO HOT TO HANDLE (Romancing The Clarksons #1)
TOO WILD TO TAME (Romancing The Clarksons #2)
TOO HARD TO FORGET (Romancing The Clarksons #3)
TOO BEAUTIFUL TO BREAK (Romancing The Clarksons #4)
Tessa Bailey is originally from Carlsbad, California. The day after high school graduation, she packed her yearbook, ripped jeans and laptop, driving cross-country to New York City in under four days.
Her most valuable life experiences were learned thereafter while waitressing at K-Dees, a Manhattan pub owned by her uncle. Inside those four walls, she met her husband, best friend and discovered the magic of classic rock, managing to put herself through Kingsborough Community College and the English program at Pace University at the same time. Several stunted attempts to enter the work force as a journalist followed, but romance writing continued to demand her attention.
She now lives in Long Island, New York with her husband of eight years and four-year-old daughter. Although she is severely sleep-deprived, she is incredibly happy to be living her dream of writing about people falling in love.
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