Roughing the Kicker

by Michele Shriver

In the dazzling world of professional football, where Austin Troopers star kicker Ryeland Lenhart basks in the limelight of his mansion and supermodel fiancée, darkness lurks beneath the glamorous façade. Rye's life isn't the picture-perfect tale it seems; it's a twisted narrative he's desperate to conceal.

The son of Mexican immigrants, Cutter Hernandez has conquered the American dream, scoring a gig as an athletic trainer for the local pro football team. Yet hidden beneath his success is a secret—he's keeping his sexuality from his conservative Latina family, fearing their rejection.

When a routine injury unravels a web of deceit, Cutter confronts Rye, sparking a high-stakes game of truths and lies. As Rye grapples with his own conflicting desires for Cutter, he throws down the gauntlet, forcing Cutter to face the harsh reality of his own double life.

In a gripping tale of love, deceit, and self-discovery, Cutter must guide Rye out of the shadows of his toxic existence. Will Rye find the strength to break free, and can Cutter summon the courage to unmask his own truth?

Roughing the Kicker is a gay awakening, hurt/ comfort interracial MM sports romance and is part of the Austin Troopers shared world.

214 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 26, 2024

Reviews

[Sabrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate to say it because I was really enjoying this series, but this had to be the most disappointing one. It was just kinda rough to get through. So our story surrounds Rye and Cutter. Rye is the kicker for the Troopers and has been dealing with a lot. His fiancée and him are no longer what they used to be and it doesn’t help that she seems to have a coke addiction and gets physical when she is high. It goes as far as actually injuring Rye a few times. Rye wants to help her but doesn’t know what to do besides keeping up with the charade that their home life is fine. But also throw in his new attraction to Cutter, one of the trainers for the Troopers. He is confused and lost on what to do. Meanwhile, Cutter has had a long time crush on Rye but knows nothing will come from it. But when he treats Rye for an injury, he begins to notice the signs that something is wrong in his personal life and that maybe Rye has an attraction to him. He wants to be a good friend though and help Rye when he can. But he can’t help but wonder if there could ever be a time that the two of them get together. The concept of this story was interesting to me but it was just severely underdeveloped and rushed in a lot of ways. I wanted to root for Rye and Cutter but it was hard to do so with how everything was turning out. I was just really disappointed with the story and the writing (also lot of typos in the book). The rest of the series had been great, but this last one kind of flopped.

[Elissa Besant · Rating 2 out of 5]

I never leave a bad review for a book I’ve read because I believe that when someone pours their heart and soul in to a creative art form, it’s not always going to be to everyone’s tastes and that doesn’t make it bad, just maybe not the right fit for me.

However…the sheer number of typos and missing words in this book made it impossible to read with any pleasure. I kept having to reread sentences trying to figure out what word was missing and what it should have said. I don’t know if the work experience kid was allowed to do the proofreading or no one bothered to proofread at all, but in the 270 books I’ve read so far this year, none have featured this many mistakes.

Cutter’s real name is spelt differently twice on the same page! Sweat plants, really? Preparing for a Thursday night game and wishing Javon good luck on Sunday, wtf? Waiting 94% of the book for something to happen, only to have a character be ked to the bedroom.

There were dozens and dozens of errors and it really spoiled this story for me.

[Sarah☀️ Somerville · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked the issues explored in this book, but I wasn't really feeling it. I wasn't invested in the characters or their relationship. They had no chemistry. Cutter liked Rye because he was attractive. Rye liked Cutter because he got aroused when Cutter touched him. That... was kinda it? Conversations relating to the issues felt really stilted and textbook; they didn't feel like real interactions. And this book just didn't make me feel anything, when it really should have.