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Rucking Rugby Men #3
Brat on the Ball
George Reynolds and Ollie Gunnerson are from different worlds. George is a professional rugby player with all of the hardness and endurance that entails. Ollie is a professional footballer, paid handsomely for his skills on the soccer field. A chance encounter at an exclusive nightclub leads to the two finding solace in one another, and as they cross paths again, they find themselves needing each other more. Against the odds, they find ways to make an unlikely relationship work. George is used to living life on his own terms, out and proud, and will fight against any forces that try to bring him down. Ollie is stuck in the closet, and beholden to sponsorship deals and shady management backhanders as his star is on the rise. With George looking to his personal future, and Ollie to his professional one, the two will have to battle the world outside as well as fractures within that threaten to tear them apart. Brat on the Ball is an M/M romance novel, straddling the worlds of professional rugby and football (soccer). It's the third book in the Rucking Rugby Men series but can be read standalone.
178 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 15, 2024
23 people are currently reading
87 people want to read
About the author
Matt Peters
10 books54 followersProud Welshman and M/M Romance Author Matt Peters lives in the South Wales valleys with his partner and two lovely dogs.
His stories feature rich characters in gorgeous settings, with steamy scenes and sticky sweet romance sandwiched together.
(Source: Amazon.com)
His stories feature rich characters in gorgeous settings, with steamy scenes and sticky sweet romance sandwiched together.
(Source: Amazon.com)
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 17, 2024
Aww I really liked this. Even though the story is nothing new, I enjoyed it very much. And to have football (or soccer, sorry George!) and rugby together in a book was pretty great. Also, it's not heavy on the kink and it felt just right for these characters. I think this writer is improving book by book and it shows.
March 14, 2024
Brat on the Ball is a sports romcom set in Cardiff about a closeted up-and-coming football star, and an out-and-proud professional rugby player facing the end of his career, at the ripe old age of twenty-nine!
From the get go, Peters uses his trademark humour to pull us straight into the story as we are introduced to George, who is so bored in a lecture he is playing hangman by himself… “and somehow losing.” When I laugh out loud while reading the first paragraph of a book, it means I know I’m going to enjoy myself. It also means I’ll probably end up getting to sleep far too late as I devour the book in one sitting. To be completely honest, I know this is fairly likely when I open a Matt Peters novel, so I only had myself to blame for the 3am bed time! Peters continues to immerse readers in the story as he weaves the character’s backstory of being publicly outed by the press into the narrative of the first chapter without it feeling at all like clunky exposition.
The flow of this reasonably short (178 pages) novel continues effortlessly as the first-person perspective is switched between the two main characters. The chapters alternate from George to Ollie evenly, with only one deviation towards the end of the novel, where Ollie is given two adjacent chapters. This style allows the readers to experience the events from both perspectives and really understand the development of the characters.
Peters’ wit and warmth really shines on the page and brings the characters fully to life. (Especially if you read them in their Welsh accents like I did in my head!) I really love the details that Peters peppers his stories with that make them come alive. There’s information about the sports, and the leagues, but delivered in a natural way through internal dialogue and conversations. There are call backs to characters from early novels that will delight fans, but I think won’t feel incongruous to new readers. There are conversations that feel like they might have come from Peters’ own life experience, including George pedantically differentiating Association Football from Rugby Football and American Football by solely referring to it as soccer, with an accompanied history lesson proving the accuracy of this!
And now the swearing, I have to mention the swearing. The characters in this book take the idea of swearing as an artform to an entirely new level. And I f*cking love it! If you ask me, it just wouldn’t be a book about Welsh sportsmen if it didn’t include over a hundred and fifty swear words. (Peters should take particular pride in no fewer than 110 uses of the F word, and not even that many of them used as verbs in sex scenes! Go on, my son!)
Be warned, there are some very sad moments in the book. I don’t want to give anything away, but if you have any knowledge about the history of British gay professional footballers, you’ll see the sadness coming. It’s not directly related to the characters though it affects them emotionally.
Fear not, fellow romance readers, you will get your HEA, and it’s a gorgeous one! There is a healthy dose of well-written steamy and even a little light kink is thrown in, but not in a way that dominates (hehehe) the book.
I really can’t think of anything to complain about regarding this book. Even the fact that it is not a long novel, can’t be faulted as the story is told perfectly in less than two hundred pages and you don’t go away thinking anything is missing.
From the get go, Peters uses his trademark humour to pull us straight into the story as we are introduced to George, who is so bored in a lecture he is playing hangman by himself… “and somehow losing.” When I laugh out loud while reading the first paragraph of a book, it means I know I’m going to enjoy myself. It also means I’ll probably end up getting to sleep far too late as I devour the book in one sitting. To be completely honest, I know this is fairly likely when I open a Matt Peters novel, so I only had myself to blame for the 3am bed time! Peters continues to immerse readers in the story as he weaves the character’s backstory of being publicly outed by the press into the narrative of the first chapter without it feeling at all like clunky exposition.
The flow of this reasonably short (178 pages) novel continues effortlessly as the first-person perspective is switched between the two main characters. The chapters alternate from George to Ollie evenly, with only one deviation towards the end of the novel, where Ollie is given two adjacent chapters. This style allows the readers to experience the events from both perspectives and really understand the development of the characters.
Peters’ wit and warmth really shines on the page and brings the characters fully to life. (Especially if you read them in their Welsh accents like I did in my head!) I really love the details that Peters peppers his stories with that make them come alive. There’s information about the sports, and the leagues, but delivered in a natural way through internal dialogue and conversations. There are call backs to characters from early novels that will delight fans, but I think won’t feel incongruous to new readers. There are conversations that feel like they might have come from Peters’ own life experience, including George pedantically differentiating Association Football from Rugby Football and American Football by solely referring to it as soccer, with an accompanied history lesson proving the accuracy of this!
And now the swearing, I have to mention the swearing. The characters in this book take the idea of swearing as an artform to an entirely new level. And I f*cking love it! If you ask me, it just wouldn’t be a book about Welsh sportsmen if it didn’t include over a hundred and fifty swear words. (Peters should take particular pride in no fewer than 110 uses of the F word, and not even that many of them used as verbs in sex scenes! Go on, my son!)
Be warned, there are some very sad moments in the book. I don’t want to give anything away, but if you have any knowledge about the history of British gay professional footballers, you’ll see the sadness coming. It’s not directly related to the characters though it affects them emotionally.
Fear not, fellow romance readers, you will get your HEA, and it’s a gorgeous one! There is a healthy dose of well-written steamy and even a little light kink is thrown in, but not in a way that dominates (hehehe) the book.
I really can’t think of anything to complain about regarding this book. Even the fact that it is not a long novel, can’t be faulted as the story is told perfectly in less than two hundred pages and you don’t go away thinking anything is missing.
April 20, 2024
The final of the Rucking Rugby Men.
1st off, you can read this as a stand alone with no issues. However there are mentions of other couples who have been main characters in other books.
I'm not particularly knowledgeable about rugby, more so with football, but all the technical sports parts rang true to me. I really enjoyed this story, palpable chemistry of the main characters, interesting side characters and minimal angst while dealing with the sensitive issues of homophobia in sports and sports washing.
Will be reading whatever the next book this author is publishing!
1st off, you can read this as a stand alone with no issues. However there are mentions of other couples who have been main characters in other books.
I'm not particularly knowledgeable about rugby, more so with football, but all the technical sports parts rang true to me. I really enjoyed this story, palpable chemistry of the main characters, interesting side characters and minimal angst while dealing with the sensitive issues of homophobia in sports and sports washing.
Will be reading whatever the next book this author is publishing!
March 1, 2025
love a good Ruggers/footie romance
A delightful book!
I appreciated Ollie’s hesitation and George’s support. I love visiting with friends made in previous books. I also appreciate the honesty about life as a footballer vs a rugby player. While I could guess how it would all play out, I was also pleasantly surprised.
I usually avoid the kink novels, but this was light as that goes and well done, IMO.
Kinda hoping for a 4th book tho as there are some other stories to investigate.
A delightful book!
I appreciated Ollie’s hesitation and George’s support. I love visiting with friends made in previous books. I also appreciate the honesty about life as a footballer vs a rugby player. While I could guess how it would all play out, I was also pleasantly surprised.
I usually avoid the kink novels, but this was light as that goes and well done, IMO.
Kinda hoping for a 4th book tho as there are some other stories to investigate.
Read
January 17, 2024I just finished a short novella by this author at read.bookfunnel.com. Author Marina Vivancos’ latest newsletter has a link to some interesting looking MM’s at Bookfunnel.
The novella is not listed at Goodreads and I thought I would mention it here: Rugby Royal by Matt Peters. A story about the change in relationship between a rugby coach and the team physiotherapist. Their relationship is adversarial until it isn’t. It was a good read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
RTC for ‘Brat on the Ball’ after I read it.
The novella is not listed at Goodreads and I thought I would mention it here: Rugby Royal by Matt Peters. A story about the change in relationship between a rugby coach and the team physiotherapist. Their relationship is adversarial until it isn’t. It was a good read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
RTC for ‘Brat on the Ball’ after I read it.
December 26, 2024
Satisfying
Authentic reactions to stressful situations and genuinely appealing characters. The crossover sports setting was refreshingly different. To have a character that was planning for an actual career after sports was a great way to add depth to him and the story. Some nice grace notes concerning journalistic and business ethics that added depth as well. Worthy addition to the series.
Authentic reactions to stressful situations and genuinely appealing characters. The crossover sports setting was refreshingly different. To have a character that was planning for an actual career after sports was a great way to add depth to him and the story. Some nice grace notes concerning journalistic and business ethics that added depth as well. Worthy addition to the series.
January 26, 2024
This is the best book of the series. I really enjoyed the characters and the story as well as the development of the relationship.
July 2, 2024
DNF @ 26%. I wasn’t really interested in reading about the BDSM sub plot.
December 26, 2025
This book is quite short, almost novella-length, but the pacing is still pretty good. Most of the book revolves around one MMC's decision to come out, which some may not enjoy but I was ok with. I would have loved a bit more exploration into their budding dom/sub relationship, but otherwise, a great sports romance. As a pleasant change, this book had almost no hideous typos which plagued his earlier work.
October 24, 2024
It was great to read about sports I actually know something about, but this one wasn’t at all believable.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews