Grumpy Player

by Cassandra Russell

I never should’ve gotten knocked up by my one night stand…

Dealing with local roughnecks at the bar I waitress at is something I can handle.

Until a rowdy group of bikers tried to kill me.

Then Drake “The Beast” Cunningham swooped in and saved me.

I’m nobody’s damsel in distress, but Drake showed up as the protector I didn’t know I needed.

Later that night I “thanked” him for helping me out with my little crisis.

As ridiculously hot as he is, getting involved with an arrogant prick ex-NFL star like Drake is a bad idea.

And getting pregnant by him is even worse…

Genres: Contemporary

ebook

Reviews

[Char (1RadReader59) · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the beginning of, this book our grumpy man, Drake is known, to show up at the local bar, where Shana happens, to be a waitress. However, other than ordering a drink, he never speaks. Shana doesn’t even know, what color eyes he has. But, what she can see, works just fine for her. On this particular night of serving drinks. There is a group of, bikers she has to serve. Two of them are brothers, one nice, and the other not so much. The rude one grabs a handful, and orders another round she tells him he miss handles her again, and he will be looking everywhere for what is, currently between his legs.

She walks off then brings back the drinks, and the nice brother pays for them. After a while of, drinking more the bartender cuts them off, and Shana has, to be the one, to tell them. The bad brother takes offense and slaps her. Making, Shana see stars, but it only takes a minute to shake off the star. She balls up her fist and cold cocks him on the nose. Making him place both his hand on his nose. The fat boy lunged all his weight at her knocking her down where she visibly cringed to be hit.

However, it never happened his heavy weight was lifted off her along with his bad beer breath. She rolled to her side trying to breathe and not hurl. When she looks up and there is (Drake) the Beast per his pro football days. Dangling fat boy by the neck and tells him, “She told you, you're done. Now get the hell out. Now!” But not before backhanding him and sending him crashing into tables and chairs. Then, very caringly offers Shana a hand up. He told her to ice her cheek and eye. Then back to his regular stool.

Shana is pissed though because his parting comment is, “I shouldn't have to tell you that.” But after work guess who is waiting for her asking to walk her home and then revealing his attention to her? Yup! You got. Drake. He and she found the promised land of orgasm. It was over the top. But, they w hardly finished, the small talk afterward said volumes. These statements say it all, she says, “I suppose I’ll never see you again.” And he says, “Probably not. I rarely double dip.” Yet, life has much bigger plans for them both.

Then you add a crazy ex-wife into the mix and all of a sudden things just got hot in the kitchen. Being accused of something he never did. Will Shana believe him or the rags? I would say this is a very positive way to bring forth the subject of male abuse by women.

[Katja · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a freebie I got from some email promotion. Drake is an ex NFL player with a reputation for rage issues. Shana works at a bar and when she gets roughed up by some drunk bikers, Drake swoops in to help. After closing time he waits up for her and gets her to sleep with him using the lamest pick-up lines ever , and of course she gets pregnant. She's got it bad with morning sickness and nausea, and loses her job. Drake wants to take care of the baby and invites her to live with him in his huge mansion where they argue about things. Then they have to deal with his evil ex who has an evil plan, get him out of jail, and a medical emergency to finish it all off.

There was a lot of drama packed in seventy-ish pages. It was interesting enough to finish, the writing flowed easily enough and was edited without too many errors, I was entertained by some of their arguments, and he has baby goats (aww...)

But, and this is my biggest but, I despised both the hero and the heroine after the initial one-night stand. He did not use a condom and she did not ask for one -they had no conversation about health status or birth control or anything. This put them both in the stupid jerkwad category. He says he doesn't usually double dip and implies the sex was sort of owed to him as thanks for saving her ass earlier. Ughh that wasn't the least bit sexy, and they had some work to do in order to redeem themselves in my eyes.

[Magali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple at first, but then reveals itself
4.5
I found the beginning simple with characters who are extreme in their rejection of each other after what they've been through, but I liked the unexpected twist in the narrative from Drake's character. It's quite a turnaround for the one nicknamed "The Beast", with his bad reputation in the sports world. This makes it possible to make an important reminder of a problem that is often hidden and little debated, often also silenced for lack of reports.
It's a very good story, simple, but sobering. It would have been nice to have an epilogue to all of this.

[Shirley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as an ARC and am happily reviewing it. I totally recommend this book and would hope that others enjoy it as much as I did. Who knew a one night stand with a former NFL player would and up with Shana being jobless, homeless and not to mention it but knocked up as well. She believed that Drake nick named The Beast would not care what happened to her though they both were at fault. I am sure that other readers will be enchanted by their story as I was.

[Renée Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grumpy Player is a definite good times read!! The characters are engaging and very interesting. Just the right amount of humor to bring a reality to them as well.
If you enjoy feel good stories with the twist of the evil ex-wife, and a little intrigue, don't miss this one.
Cassandra Russell weaves a great storyline that made it hard to stop reading.

[Stacy K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Drake has a temper but he’s working on being better. Shana is a waitress and thinks Drake’s a player because of rumors. This is a different story than I thought it was going to be. I didn’t love it nor hate it.

[mlady_rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kinda blah. Didn’t really invest in either of the principal characters.

[DesN2004 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent short story!
This was a nice short story, that was a quick read with interesting characters. There was drama, steam, and more, but everything was resolved and it had a happy ever after!

[Becky Hedge · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story. Very well written. Highly recommend to everyone. Another good story about believable and likable characters. I have enjoyed reading this story and I look forward to more.

[Kory Gardner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was really cute. I loved that she was his straight and backbone. And how he stepped up to help her in her own confidence.

[Donna Nalbandian Woerner Homschek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, sexy fast read.

[Sandy Gutting · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great quick read that gives you a reverse real life situation. Absolutely great job!!

[Lisa Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh what a great book this has been

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish this wasn't a novella. There is so much more I wish was developed between the characters.

[Lori Laidlaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Instant attraction, internal obstacles, drama, and love.

[Crista · Rating 3 out of 5]

So the FC is a waitress and the MC is a lab ex football player kinda in hiding due to his ex. He helps FC out of a situation and they have a one night stand. She gets pregnant and due to severe morning sickness ends up unemployed and homeless. She is so independent she won’t tell him about it even though they have multiple interactions. He eventually finds out, she moves in with him, and she finds out he is a victim of domestic violence and helps him with his trauma.

[Reva Parks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shana had a job in a small-town bar. When some bullies mistreated her after she delivered the message from her boss that they couldn't serve them anymore, the Beast, Drake Cunningham, ex-NFL player, jumped in to save her. She was truly grateful and showed him in a hotel room that night. But then she lost her job after calling in sick. Then when she couldn't pay her rent she was couchsurfing and losing weight from going hungry. When she runs into Drake, she rebuffs him. But when she changes her food order at a cafe, Drake puts her original order on his stub and while she eats with him, she continues to bad-mouth him, until it slips that she's pregnant with the 'player's' offspring. This is the setup for a good plot.