Outmatched, an all-new standalone contemporary romance by New York Times bestselling authors Kristen Callihan and Samantha Young.
What happens when a boxer finds chemistry with a geek?
Parker Brown can’t believe she needs to hire a fake boyfriend. When she landed her dream job in renewable energy, she thought she’d be entering a world at the forefront of progressive thinking. But the head boss prefers to promote employees who are “settled.” Thankfully, she’s found the perfect candidate, a fellow intellectual looking for some quick cash. What Parker gets is his protective big brother—Rhys Morgan. The tall, muscled ex-boxer with a foul mouth shows up just as her boss does, and now she’s stuck with the manipulative jerk.
Responsibility weighs heavily on Rhys. Now permanently out of the ring, he’s trying to hold together his late father’s gym and keep his younger brother, Dean, on the straight and narrow. To save Dean from himself, Rhys takes his place, ready to give this society girl a piece of his mind. Instead, he finds an opportunity. Even though they can hardly stand each other, posing as Parker’s boyfriend is a win-win deal. She gets to keep her job, and he’ll charm her star-struck boss into sponsoring his gym.
Problem is, they can barely keep their hands off each other. And what started as an easy deal isn’t so easy anymore. Because what future can a rough ex-boxer, afraid to open his heart, and a polished society geek, who has sworn off real relationships, possibly have?
They say opposites attract. These opposites are about to combust on impact.
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Review:
* * * *
I do love opposites attract stories where they're opposite on almost every level but then comes that "gasp!" moment when they realize they might have more in common than they actually thought. In Outmatched, we have a pixie-sized but feisty Parker who winds up hiring the former boxer, Rhys to be her boyfriend. They couldn't look more mismatched if they tried. Regardless, each benefits from this peculiar arrangement - Parker can impress her boss by showing that she is a committed person at work as well as in her personal life and Rhys can make connections that could possibly save his beloved boxing gym.
Before getting into it, let me say that I'm slowly tiring of the fake relationship trope and I initially had reservations about this setup and the reasons behind it ... BUT because I'm such a fan of Kristen Callihan and Samantha Young, I couldn't resist seeing what they'd come up with. Outmatched does tackle sexism in the workplace as demonstrated by Parker's motivation to date Rhys. I was baffled by why Parker, who's so smart and talented would stoop to pleasing a boss who's obviously a misogynist jerk. Every time he showed up I wanted the ground to swallow him up. Because Parker believes in her work (renewable energy), believes in the mission of the company, she has come to an uneasy peace that in order to break in to the male-dominated company and field, she has to conform to get her dream job. While Rhys doesn't like how her potential boss treats her, he's also sacrificing a little bit of his principles to get to the end game. I can be all judgey about their decisions but the truth is that so many of us do this very thing - swallowing a bit of pride, or our beliefs to get ahead a little. Parker knows what she's dealing with when it comes to her boss but she's surprised by how much Rhys subtly comes to her side and props her up to him. He may be a big, macho bad ass, but he's also a genuine-hearted person who has no time for the kind of BS that Parker has to put up with. Being together has erased any kind of preconceived notion about their lives and backgrounds.
A romance is a definite hit for me when there's plenty of banter and good ones at that. There's no shortage here and I'm not surprised since I've always loved how Callihan and Young have written theirs in the past. I love when romantic interests goad each other or rile each other up - it reminds me of how much my husband and I do that - and it just makes me happy. Couples being able to tease each other, flirt and be silly together make me all giddy. Rhys and Parker are simply delightful and when the flirting goes further, they're incredibly hot.
Kristen Callihan and Samantha Young are two must-read, one-click, auto-buy authors for me. They write amazingly grounded characters, adding in humour and intelligence. Their heroines are always breaking barriers whether it's professionally or personally. And you can always count on them for positively sexy scenarios, too. I had such a blast reading Outmatched and I hope that two of my favourite authors work together again!
~ Bel
(advance e-galley of Outmatched provided in exchange for an honest review)
A romance is a definite hit for me when there's plenty of banter and good ones at that. There's no shortage here and I'm not surprised since I've always loved how Callihan and Young have written theirs in the past. I love when romantic interests goad each other or rile each other up - it reminds me of how much my husband and I do that - and it just makes me happy. Couples being able to tease each other, flirt and be silly together make me all giddy. Rhys and Parker are simply delightful and when the flirting goes further, they're incredibly hot.
Kristen Callihan and Samantha Young are two must-read, one-click, auto-buy authors for me. They write amazingly grounded characters, adding in humour and intelligence. Their heroines are always breaking barriers whether it's professionally or personally. And you can always count on them for positively sexy scenarios, too. I had such a blast reading Outmatched and I hope that two of my favourite authors work together again!
~ Bel
(advance e-galley of Outmatched provided in exchange for an honest review)
Excerpt:
AngryTink: Hey. This is Parker. Parker Brown.
My phone dinged loudly. I fumbled around my bed, finally finding the damn thing under a pillow. Wiping the sleep off my face, I rolled onto my back and read the text that had pulled me out of a pleasant sleep. I smiled. It was just so … Parker. Settling in, I answered her.
RhysThis: Don’t have to tell me who you are. Your number is programmed on my phone. What do you want?
AngryTink: Well, good morning to you too, Happy Pants.
My smile turned into an evil grin. The girl was always going to punch back and make it count.
RhysThis: That’s Mr. Happy Pants. Though, TBH, my pants aren’t too happy at the moment. Want to help me out with that?
AngryTink: Tempting. Truly. But, no.
RhysThis: RU sure? ‘Cuz Happy Pants Rhys is much more agreeable than Sad That He Had to Self-Satisfy Rhys.
AngryTink: Would you please behave?
RhysThis: I’m not the one who mentioned the emotional state of my pants.
AngryTink: ARGH!
A chuckle rumbled in my chest as my thumbs tapped out a response I knew would piss her off more.
RhysThis: Was that even English? Honestly, Ms. Brown, I thought you were educated.
She took a moment to answer. I could picture her, phone in hand, grinding her teeth.
AngryTink: You’re deliberately trying to annoy me, aren’t you?
RhysThis: You’re quick. I’ll give you that.
AngryTink: Mr. Morgan, I’m about ten seconds away from finding an alternate fake boyfriend. A goat on a rope would be a better candidate at this point.
It was cute she thought that was threatening.
RhysThis: Yeah, probably. But the goat doesn’t have a signed contract. I do, Tinker Bell.
AngryTink: ARGH@!!
RhysThis: You’re kind of cute when you talk pirate.
About Kristen:
Kristen Callihan is an author because there is nothing else she'd rather be. She is a RITA winner and three-time nominee and winner of two RT Reviewer's Choice awards. Her novels have garnered starred reviews from Publisher's Weekly and the Library Journal, as well as being awarded top picks by many reviewers. Her debut book FIRELIGHT received RT Magazine's Seal of Excellence, was named a best book of the year by Library Journal, best book of Spring 2012 by Publisher's Weekly, and was named the best romance book of 2012 by ALA RUSA. When she is not writing, she is reading.
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About Samantha:
Samantha Young is a New York Times and #1 International bestselling author from Stirlingshire, Scotland. On Dublin Street was Samantha's first adult contemporary romance series and has sold in thirty countries. She has since published over thirteen romance titles including the New York Times Bestsellers Into the Deep, Hero, and her most recent contemporary romance Play On. When writing Adult Paranormal romance she writes under the pen name S. Young.
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