REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: INTERCEPTING DAISY by JULIE BRANNAGH

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Intercepting Daisy
Love and Football #6

By: Julie Brannagh

Released September 6, 2016
Avon Impulse

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In Intercepting Daisy (Love and Football #6) by Julie Brannagh, Grant Parker is a very private man, yet that doesn't stop him from dating Daisy Spencer. But when a reporter with a grudge sets her sights on the Seattle Sharks backup quarterback, determined to expose that Grant is just like the hero depicted in a sexy novel and reveal the name of the anonymous author, will Grant be able to handle the battle or will he lose the one person that has become important to him?

This is the first book I've read by this author, and I've got to say I was not disappointed. Right from the beginning, this book was engrossing, fast-paced and I loved the growing relationship between Grant and Daisy. The heroine's crush on the hero was a tiny bit endearing, and there was no doubt in my mind that it was going to get her in trouble further into the story.

I really liked both the main characters, and the dialogue had me flipping the pages quickly, determined to read what Grant and Daisy would go through to be together. Would the reporter destroy their growing relationship? How would Daisy's secret be revealed? What would happen to Grant when it came to his career, since he worked so hard to get onto the team he plays for? Moreover, the dialogue was a nice combination of intense and playful, and the teasing banter between Grant and Daisy when it comes to things he can't do because it may jeopardize his playing future had me smiling. Also, that teasing banter increases the sexual tension between the pair until eventually their chemistry spills over onto the pages in hot sex scenes.

Daisy is strong, brave and she goes through a lot in this book both personally and professionally. Indeed, she's lucky she has good friends and great parents; people that support her through ups and downs. While Grant, he really surprised me. He's hard-working and persistent when it comes to his career. Yet, what I liked most about him was how kind and caring he was, especially when it came to his charity work. He really cares about the kids he visits, and would do anything to make their days brighter.

Overall, Ms. Brannagh has penned a wonderful novel that ended really well in the way Grant won Daisy back and then what happened in the epilogue. I would recommend Intercepting Daisy, if you enjoy heroines with a crush on the hero before he realizes just how right she is for him.    

OVERALL RATING:

   

 

BLURB:
From USA Today bestselling author Julie Brannagh comes the next fun and incredibly sexy novel in her beloved Seattle Sharks series.
 

When Daisy Spencer wrote an erotic novella about the Seattle Sharks' backup quarterback and her #1 crush, Grant Parker, she never expected it to become a runaway bestseller. If anyone discovers she wrote the sexy story, her days as a flight attendant for the Sharks would be over. But once she gets to know the real man behind the fantasy, her heart may be in more danger than her job. 

 

Having Seattle fans think squeaky clean Grant is wild in bed is the last thing he needs-even if it might be closer to the truth than he will ever say. As he spends his days, and nights, with the gorgeous Daisy, he's not interested in going back to the lonely life he once led. But when the real author of the novella is finally outed, Grant and Daisy must both reveal the secrets they've hidden away or risk losing a love that's better than any fantasy.

 

 

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Grant Parker heard a loud crack as he rolled over in his date’s bed and onto something buried in the sheets. He looked at the sleeping form next to him and sighed in relief when she didn’t stir.

He extracted an e-reader from under one of his hips as he sat up and stared at a large horizontal fracture in the screen in the dim light from her bathroom. Crap. Grant couldn’t remember her name, but he was willing to bet she remembered his. Even more, she was probably going to be pissed about the broken e-reader.

Shaking his head to clear out some of the cobwebs, he knew he needed to get his ass out of here. He had a hundred bucks in his wallet. He’d leave the money to replace the e-reader (along with a note) ten seconds before he walked out the front door of her apartment. Still too drunk to drive, he would call Uber as soon as he got outside.

He’d met her at a bar last night. She was exactly what he’d wanted: a woman who wanted one night with him. They’d had a lot of drinks, and they’d taken a cab to her place. Minutes later, they were naked. He’d had her twice before they both fell asleep from sheer exhaustion. He wondered what the biggest aphrodisiac was for the women who fucked his brains out on a regular basis: that he played pro football or that they were delighted to discover he was an excellent lay. She’d have several orgasms to remember him by.

The Sharks’ PR department worked overtime to craft his squeaky-clean image. Grant had arrived in Seattle as a result of being drafted out of his small, conservative Christian college’s football team. The Sharks had cut their former backup QB after a DUI and a sexual assault arrest. Grant was in the right place at the right time. Grant’s parents were also the nationally known pastors of a megachurch in Texas, which seemed to seal the deal for the Sharks.

It was clear in Grant’s combine interview with the team’s head coach and the general manager that any hint of bad behavior in his personal life would not be tolerated. The team believed Grant’s background and football skills would go a long way to smoothing things over with angry fans. Grant wanted to play for Seattle. It was the perfect situation.

The Sharks’ PR department circulated pictures of him to the local media with approved dates—girls from the local Christian college, for instance. He’d take them to dinner and a movie or a game. He’d walk them to their front door by ten pm, kiss them on the cheek, and make sure they were safely inside before he got in his car and went looking for what he really wanted: raw, anonymous sex with someone he knew he had no intention of seeing again.

He didn’t lie to anyone he was with. He had told each woman before they went to her place that he was in for one night and one night only. He told them he didn’t have sex without protection, which he provided. They nodded, smiled, and tried every sexual enticement in their arsenal to change his mind. It seemed that the women he dated always wanted what they could not have. If he met someone who boinked his brains out and told him to leave as soon as he got dressed, he’d be back for more. So far, it hadn’t happened.

He knew he was playing with fire for being so public. He knew he should find a woman who was interested in a mutually beneficial (and highly confidential) arrangement. He wasn’t callous or cavalier toward anyone else’s feelings. He just wasn’t interested in getting tied down to anyone, at least in the short term. If he got caught having multiple one-night stands, his carefully constructed image would blow up in his face, and any chance he had of succeeding Tom Reed, the Sharks’ starting QB, would be gone.

He understood his behavior could be chalked up to doing the forbidden, to the idea he was getting away with something he shouldn’t do. What kind of idiot would jeopardize eight million dollars a season for standing on the sidelines with a clipboard sixteen Sundays a year by taking such a risk? The Sharks organization wanted their fans to believe Grant spent his evenings with his playbook and turned in early. Alone. Preferably after reading a few pages of the Bible and saying his prayers. He was a normal, healthy guy with a normal, healthy sex drive. Was this a crime?

Grant wanted to watch the Sharks’ starting QB Tom Reed on the sidelines holding a clipboard as Grant threw TD after TD. He wanted to be the guy in the hundred-foot-tall mural screen painted on the side of Sharks Stadium. He also wanted to be the guy who’d get his pick of twice as many women who all wanted to do him. After all, the ladies wanted the real thing: a starter.

He clicked on the small button that activated the e-reader. It still worked, despite the cracked screen. He saw the title of the last book she was reading, Overtime Parking; a picture of him crossing the tarmac at an airport to get on the Sharks’ team plane was on the cover.

He’d been the subject of a lot of press, but someone had written a book about him? He hadn’t seen this yet. He was surprised his agent or the team publicist hadn’t told him about it. He’d have to call them both tomorrow. Maybe he should take a look at a page or two to figure out if this was an unauthorized biography.

He touched the unbroken part of the screen with his fingertip, and the text appeared.

And I shoved Parker’s football pants down with both hands. He was naked beneath and sporting a gigantic erection.

“Want it?” he said.

“Yes.” I unzipped my jeans and wriggled until both jeans and underwear slipped to my knees. I unhooked my bra and pushed my sweater up around my neck. I lay back on the hood of his car in the team’s parking lot, spreading my legs, entirely exposed to him. In full view of anyone walking past. The parking lot was full of cars; it was a matter of time before we were discovered.

I reached down to touch myself, to move my fingers in the wetness I felt dripping out of me. I wanted to show him I could come from staring at him and stroking my clit. I wanted him to see it all and to want me as badly as I wanted him.

“Fuck me,” I said.

He yanked my jeans and my panties off and pushed my legs up over his shoulders. I couldn’t concentrate on anything besides his arms caging me, his mouth on mine, his hard, massive dick entering me seconds later. I arched into him, my nipples scraping against his rock-hard chest. He grabbed my ass to pull me into his pistoning hips. Somehow, it was even more thrilling to know we might have an audience, and I ground into him as a result.

“Oh, God. Fuck me! I have to have you!” I told him as I moved against him. He pounded into me, over and over. I heard flesh slapping against flesh and the muffled groans of satisfaction deep in his throat. I wrenched my mouth from his, raked my nails down his back, and let out a loud cry.

“More!” I cried out. “Harder!”

“Oh, I’ll give it to you harder,” he growled as he thrust again. I wrapped my legs around his hips as tightly as I could. My clit rubbed against his pelvis as I moved against him. The hood of his car was cold but slippery against my back. It was going to be covered with our juices by the time we were done. There was nothing like the smell of sex; it surrounded us in the cold night air. I reached down to grab his ass with both hands, pulling him closer.

“Faster,” I cried. “More!”

“I’ll give you more,” he said roughly. “I’m going to fuck you, and then I’m going to fuck you again. Right here. Where everyone can see us. They’ll know how dirty you are, how badly you want it. How you’d fuck them too.”

He was breathing hard. He thrust faster, and I could feel myself coming, lust and adrenaline coursing through my bloodstream as I reached between us to rub my clit. “That’s it,” he said. “You want it. You want everyone to see you coming all over me, don’t you? Come for me. Come now.”

I let out a scream as my entire body convulsed around him. The waves of pleasure and release went on and on. I must have blacked out for a few seconds; I could hear applause and whistles as I came to. I saw a knot of guys a few feet from us; I was beyond caring that I was laid out like a naked, panting feast in front of them. I was limp in his arms, and he grinned down at me. He turned, made a slight bow to the onlookers, and turned back to me. His dick was already getting hard again as I watched.

“Ready for round two?” he said. “I’m going to do every nasty thing to you you’ve ever dreamed of. In front of them. And you’re going to love every minute of it.”

Grant stared in shock at the broken e-reader’s screen. What the hell was this?

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USA Today Bestselling Author, Julie Brannagh has been writing since she was old enough to hold a pencil. She lives in a small town near Seattle, where she once served as a city council member and owned a yarn shop. She shares her home with a wonderful husband, two uncivilized Maine Coons and a rambunctious chocolate Lab.

When she’s not writing, she’s reading, or armchair-quarterbacking her favorite NFL team from the comfort of the family room couch. Julie is a Golden Heart finalist and the author of contemporary sports romances.

Author Links:  Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

 

TOP 3 SCENES WITH MINI EXCERPTS

 

I was asked to name my “top three scenes” from INTERCEPTING DAISY. It’s like trying to name one’s favorite child – it’s not really possible. (We’d all like to think we’re the favorite, however…) The toughest scene for me to show to another person is the excerpt from Daisy the heroine’s book. It’s pretty graphic. I felt a little shy (and it’s not safe for work!) so we’ll have to pick something else. How about this one?

 

1. My hero Grant decides to ask for Daisy’s number minutes after they’ve narrowly escaped a plane crash…

Grant Parker was bringing up the rear. He stowed his headphones and tablet in his backpack and reached out to shake Daisy’s hand.

“Nice to see you again,” he said. Maybe she imagined that he’d squeezed her hand. “Will I see you on Friday’s flight?”

“Yes. I’ll be here.” It was amazing she could get any words out at all.

“Good. I’ll look forward to it,” he said. She saw his lips curve into a grin. He was still holding her hand, and the fact that her pulse sped up as a result had nothing to do with today’s flying adventure. “I know this is pretty sudden, but I have a question.”

“Of . . . of course,” she managed to stammer out. “What can I do for you?”

He pulled his cell phone out of his pants pocket as he released her hand. Damn it. She’d like to stand there and hold his hand for an hour or so. That wasn’t weird or anything.

“Can I get your cell number, Daisy?”

“Uh, sure. Yeah,” she said.

 

2. Grant is pretty interested in Daisy. He has no idea she’s already noticed him, too. After a fairly embarrassing situation with a member of the media, Grant decides he’d better make his move.

She still couldn’t think of anything remotely interesting to say. He’d taken her hand in his. She told herself to breathe. His hand felt warm and dry, and he stroked his thumb over the back of her hand as he spoke.

“I’d better hurry up. The other passengers will be mad if I keep you all to myself.”

Grant gave her another nod. It wasn’t like she’d never been asked out before, but she was suddenly nervous. Suddenly? Hell. She’d been nervous and excited since she heard his voice. And if he wanted to stand here and hold her hand all day, the other passengers were going to have to get over it. She looked up into his sparkling eyes.

“Are you busy later on?”

“Not especially,” she said. She didn’t want to look desperate, but she’d cancel almost anything if he was asking her out right now.

“Would you like to have a glass of wine or coffee with me? Maybe around seven?”

“Sure,” she said. “That would be fun.”

“How about I text you later, and we can set up a place?”

“I’d like that,” she said. Rachel caught her eye from a few rows behind where they stood and winked at Daisy. She was pretty understanding, but there was a limit. “I have to get back to work.”

“I’ll text you later,” he said. “Let’s hope it’s a good flight home.”

 

3. Daisy and Grant go out on theirfirst date. For a guy that’s had no problem attracting women in the past, he’s nervous. Daisy is nervous, too. She’s really into him. Wait until he discovers she wrote a book about her nastiest, raunchiest sexual fantasies involving him…

He needed to make his move, and he’d better do it before someone came screeching around the corner in search of a parking spot. He reached up to take her face in his hands.

“Maybe we should have a glass of wine in front of a roaring fire instead,” he whispered, and he watched her eyelids flutter as they closed. He touched his mouth to hers, adjusted a bit, and kissed her.

She tasted like the wine they’d been drinking with a fresh, honeyed overlay that must have been all her. Her lips were soft and cool beneath his. He felt her arms slide around his waist as he deepened the kiss. He slid his tongue into her mouth, tasting her again. As he felt her tremble, he knew it had nothing to do with the cold. He pulled back a little and laid his cheek against her smoother one.

He wanted to kiss her until they both were breathless. He wanted to spend the rest of the evening with her, and maybe tomorrow too. Mostly, he wanted to figure out how to entice a woman into falling in love with him, and he wondered if he’d been going about it all wrong. The woman who currently regarded him with a soft expression as she reached up to stroke his face deserved more than he’d offered to women before.

“Thursday,” he said. “I’ll text you.”

 

I hope you’ll love INTERCEPTING DAISY!

 

Tell me in the comments what happened when you met your true love. Did you know right away?  If not, how long was it before you realized you could not live without him or her?