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Undefeated |
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A Rugby Romance |
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Stuart Reardon , Jane Harvey-Berrick |
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January 23rd 2018 |
| When your world crashes down… When they all say you’re out… When your body is broken… I will rise. I will return. And I will be undefeated. Nick Renshaw is the golden boy of British rugby. When a serious injury threatens his career, he starts to spiral downwards, a broken man. Feeling abandoned and betrayed by those closest to him, he fights to restart his life. Maybe there’s someone out there who can help him. Maybe he can find his way back toward the light. Maybe … not. Dr. Anna Scott might be the one person who can help Nick, but she has her own secrets. And when Nick’s past comes back to haunt them both, the enigmatic doctor is more vulnerable than she seems. Broken and betrayed, the struggle to survive seems intolerable. Who will give in, and who will rise, undefeated? |
| I already had the pleasure of meeting Stuart Reardon at a book convention and I think I will be repeating myself when I say that I love Jane Harvey-Berrick’s writing style. So when it came to my attention that those two would be writing together well it was a given that I needed to read that.
I am not sure how they shared their work but I think it is fair to assume that this detailed knowledge about Rugby and the emotions of the players is definitely coming from him and wow I would have never guessed that the injury rates are really that high – again wow. (but hey what do I know about this sport – nothing)
When it comes to the writing well let’s put it this way. I would have guessed that Ms. Harvey-Berrick was holding the pen and Mr. Reardon giving the input BUT after reading some of the explanations given within the book I am not so sure anymore. And after reading the book I think it actually really might have been both of them together.
I am not so much into sports novels I have to admit that in advance but this collaboration intrigued me. And I was not disappointed. To me it sounded and later also felt like professionals were at work in both writing and plot. Struggling at the beginning when I thought it was going too detailed into the sport itself – I was shortly after surprised about the emotional depth of this novel.
While it started with its focus on the sport the tables were turned rather quickly and the story became a romance but the sport was never lost during the way. Their journey from patient to lovers was remarkable. Against all obstacles, lies, deceit that tried to pull them apart the reader will love to follow them
It felt real and it felt like just the right amount of feeling for a novel of that kind. Still I have to admit that I did not cry and I did not laugh – so according to my own rules I am not allowed to give this book 5 stars – so damned if I do & damned if I don’t. Because the novel was perfect as it was. What can I say .. good thing I am CRAZY and those rules are mine …
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