New Release + Review + Excerpt: RED CARD by Carrie Aarons

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Red Card
Carrie Aarons
Genre: New Adult Sports Romance
Publication Date: February 14, 2016
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She spent five years planning a future that will never exist. He spent five years trying to erase a past he can’t forget. London is Leah Watson’s fresh start. When she secures the perfect internship during her study abroad semester, with an infamous celebrity public relations firm, she is determined to forge her own path – one that is nothing like her life back in Oklahoma. That plan is tested when British football’s bad boy, Killian Ramsey, decides that she’s the one he wants and he’s playing for keeps.

Will she put her future on hold – again – for the type of man she swore she’d stay away from?

Killian is one bloody good football player. After a tragedy shattered his entire world, the cocky and arrogant face he puts on for the media is a complete lie. When he meets Leah, his heart starts to beat for the first time in years. But when the feelings get too real, his perfectly constructed facade starts to slip.

Will he risk it all to be with her – taking whatever penalties are thrown his way – or will he play it safe

Untitled design (3)You can purchase your copy of Red Card today at the retailers listed below!

Amazon US | Amazon UKUntitled design (3)tina thoughts a review for you

Red Card is a story of bad boy British soccer player meets country girl from small town America. I loved the idea and concept. I am from Norman, Oklahoma, the same as Leah, our young heroine, so having a common thread with a main character like that always makes the reader more involved with what is happening. I LOVE soccer, the beautiful game, and having all these factors work together in one book was something I could not wait to read. The book is well written and solid, even if some things fell a little flat for me personally. This is my first book from Carrie Aarons and her storytelling is great. She introduces characters that are true to their personality and creates a story that is fun to read. I would have loved for Leah to be a bit of a stronger female character, but I understand the transformation she needs to go through in this book. She was a woman who patterned her life to fit into a certain mold and when that mold no longer fit, she needed to break free and redefine who she is at the deepest level. I admired the way she grew into a more confident woman on the end, someone who learned to embrace the hardships of the world and grow stronger as a result.

I am a sucker for a good soccer bad boy. I love the game so much and the athleticism that comes with it. I love the energy and the culture that this game creates, especially in Europe. So when we see all of this come alive in London, watching the reluctant love story of Killian and Lucy unfold, it adds something more to what I read. The relationship between these two is full of lust and passion. Note that this book seems almost too steamy for New Adult, at least how I define it. When they break through that physical barrier that simmers between them, these two cannot seem to keep their hands off each other. The central theme of the media and misconceptions that come with celebrity is both frustrating and eye opening. You know that you cannot always trust what the media portrays but seeing that actuality behind some stories in this book was a harsh reality for these main characters to reckon with. It added yet another level of drama and angst that played with their relationship and emotions.

Red Card is a story of lust and passion that has the potential to bring about pain or purpose. Two unlikely characters find each other and learn to hold onto what is most important in life. It is a story of romance, passion, and heartache. There are ups and downs, but in the end, learning to let go brings about hope and love.  Red Card teaser

excerpt alert

Trying to dash off to find the British Prince of Moodiness proves difficult in the six-inch stilettos the stylist had strapped onto my feet. I didn’t wear clothing like this. I was the Oklahoma girl­next­door, cute and pretty in my sundresses and boots. I didn’t do skintight, short or heeled. I could hear the snickers of the PR handlers around me as I stumbled like a baby calf off of the carpet in search of my responsibility.Turning down the block and moving away from the mayhem, I spotted a tall figure in the shadows. I’d read enough about Jack the Ripper before coming over here to be spooked, but then I saw the shine of a metal flask being raised to the lips, and I could only take one guess as to who that was.

I marched up, as best as I could in the shoes. “You need to come back and walk the red carpet.”

Killian’s sky­blue eyes twinkled with sly amusement and barely restrained anger. “Oh, and you’re going to make me, huh America’s Sweetheart?”

The smell of what I’m sure was overly­expensive whiskey blew across my face as he exhaled. He pretended to give an air of nonchalance, but I could read his body language better than he thought I could. He was so coiled and tense, he gave a cobra ready to strike a run for its money. Rage and sorrow poured off of him in waves, blanketing the dark side street in misery so abundant that I could feel it down to my bones. And something else. I don’t know why it struck me, perhaps because the emotion was running through my veins as well. But this man…he was lonely.

“You’re cheeky, I like that.” He raised the flask in a salute to me and tilted his head back as the amber liquid disappeared into that appealing mouth. Damn it. This bad boy with a bad attitude was not going to ruin my career or my time here. I was done letting people decide the future for me, sweeping me along in the current just because I let them.

I knocked the flask straight out of his hand, sending little droplets of whiskey landing on both of us.

“Listen you jackass! I don’t know who you are. In fact, I don’t care if you’re the Prime Minister of this country! This job, I really need it. I’m taking this shot and succeeding at it if it means I have to put my blood, sweat and tears into it. And some London bad boy parading his pissed off attitude around for the world to see is not going to stop me! So button your jacket, plaster a smile on, and get on that carpet!”

My breathing was ragged, all of the energy I’d saved up to get through the event suddenly spent. Jetlag, homesickness and heartbreak were taking over, and I could feel the pull of all three from the inside out.

The leer on Killian’s face only proved that my tirade was all for nothing.

And then he moved. It was a blur of motion and speed before my back was against a brick wall. He’d pinned me, like a wolf circling in on their prey. Nervous tremors washed over my flesh, and I could hear the roaring in my ears. I was half­ afraid he would actually rip my throat out for speaking to him that way. The other half of me was too incredibly aroused to care.

“I am bad. But I’m not a boy, I’m a man. Have you ever been with a man, little lamb?” He chuckled darkly, leaning his entire form into me and pinning my hips with his hands. “No, I don’t think you have.”
 Red Card Teaser 2
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

They say those who can’t do, teach. Well, Carrie has no hand-eye coordination, and her idea of romance is a Netflix marathon complete with Thai food. So, she writes sports romance novels instead.

Beginning her writing career as a journalist, Carrie wrote about real-life crime and scandal before turning to the fantasy world of fiction. She lives with her husband in an apartment they are constantly outgrowing.