#BlogTour: #PlayingDefense (Corrigan Falls Raiders, #2) by @CCameron_Author with excerpt and guest post #YAlit #SportsRomance @EntangledTEEN @chapterxchapter
Book Title: Playing Defense (Corrigan Falls Raiders, #2)
Author: Cate Cameron
Release Date: March. 14, 2016
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains adult language, swoon-worthy kisses, and sexy hockey players. It may cause you to watch a hockey game...or ten.
Sixteen-year-old Claudia Waring has never kissed a boy. Never been popular. Never been to a hockey game. All that’s about to change. Assigned to tutor Chris Winslow, a prank-loving, gorgeous hockey player, Claudia’s perfectly planned life immediately veers off course. And she kind of likes it. But as fun as Chris is, she knows she'll never fit in his world.
After his latest prank lands him in hot water, Chris has to get serious about school or lose hockey. Not an easy thing for someone as carefree as the defenseman. The biggest problem, though, is how much he wants to help his cute, buttoned-up tutor loosen up a little. But while confidence has never been a problem for him, around Claudia, Chris is all nerves. Why would a girl as smart as her ever fall for a jock like him?
Purchase Links:
Playing Defense (Corrigan Falls Raiders #2):
Amazon | B&N | iBooks |Kobo | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca | Entangled Publishing
Link to Goodreads
Excerpt
And then he walked me to chemistry class, and as we were heading for our respective seats he said, “Do you want to come sit with us? Or could I sit with you?” He must have seen something strange in my expression because he was quick to add, “So I can ask you questions when we’re working on stuff. You’re my tutor all the time, right, not just at lunch?”
“I’m not sitting back there.” I sounded like a stubborn little kid, but inside I was more like a scared little kid. There was no way I was just going to waltz back to the popular kids’ area, not with a classroom of other students who’d see them laugh at me.
Chris didn’t seem to understand my concern. “Is it cool if I sit up here, then?”
It wasn’t like I could say no. Wasn’t like I wanted to. “Is there an extra stool?”
“I’ll find one,” he promised. He grinned at me, set his books on the long table beside mine, and then turned to look for a free stool.
Oliver gave me a look. “What the hell?” he mouthed. Then Chris turned around, holding a heavy metal stool as if it weighed nothing, and Oliver gave his demented flight attendant smile and said, “Hi! Welcome to our seating area!”
“It’s nice to be here,” Chris said with nearly matching enthusiasm. “Thanks so much for having me!”
Well, Oliver was not going to be outperformed. “I really hope you enjoy your visit. If there’s anything I can do to make your time with us more pleasant, you be sure to let me know.”
Chris shook his head in amazement. “I thought it was just a stereotype,” he said to me. “But it’s true. Front-of-the-room people really are super friendly.”
Oliver had begun to bristle at the word “stereotype,” but by the time Chris was done talking Oliver was looking less offended, more intrigued. “Do you want to know what they say about back-of-the-room people?” he asked quietly, daring Chris to keep going with their strange game.
Chris shrugged. “Back is whack?” he suggested.
“Back’s off track?” I tried.
“Back will attack?”
“Back’s sharp as a tack?”
Oliver frowned at both of us. “Did I say it rhymed? Did I say anything about ‘do you want to hear the rhyme about back-of-the-room people?’”
“It doesn’t rhyme?” Chris said. “Damn.” He shook his head regretfully. “You know, if it doesn’t rhyme, I don’t think I do want to hear it. Sorry. I’ve got my standards.”
The class started then, Mr. Anderson circulating to check our homework. When he got to us he said, “New seat, Mr. Winslow?”
“I needed to be near my smart friends,” Chris said calmly. “The back don’t know jack.” Mr. Anderson just gave him a strange look and moved on.
Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains adult language, underage drinking, sexual situations, and crazy squirrels. It may cause you to become a fan of hockey - or at least hot hockey players.
The hometown hockey hero won’t know what hit him…
Karen Webber is in small-town hell. After her mother’s death, she moved to Corrigan Falls to live with strangers—her dad and his perfect, shiny new family—and there doesn’t seem to be room for a city girl with a chip on her shoulder. The only person who makes her feel like a real human being is Tyler MacDonald.
But Karen isn’t interested in starting something with a player. And that’s all she keeps hearing about Tyler.
Corrigan Falls is a hockey town, and Tyler’s the star player. But the viselike pressure from his father and his agent are sending him dangerously close to the edge. All people see is hockey—except Karen. Now they’ve managed to find something in each other that they both desperately need. And for the first time, Tyler is playing for keeps…
Purchase Links:
Center Ice (Corrigan Falls Raiders #1):
Amazon | B&N |iBooks | Kobo | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca |Entangled Publishing
Why write a sports-oriented contemporary romance
and why did you choose hockey?
The Ontario Hockey League (OHL) is a perfect backdrop for teen fiction.
Why, you ask? Let me explain:
OHL players are drafted at sixteen, sent to teams far from home, often in small towns with no other real “celebrity” presence, and are one step away from having their dreams come true—or having their dreams destroyed. All the fun of a “boarding school” story without the class issues and stuffiness. It’s an excellent backdrop!
I’m especially intrigued by the risks of the OHL system in terms of the players’ characters—they’re put into this really high-pressure, high-testosterone environment at a formative age, largely removed from their families’ influence, and often treated like gods by their fans. So how do these kids turn into good men, the sort who make the NHL the least “criminal” of the major sports leagues, the kind who will support social initiatives like the You Can Play project (http://youcanplayproject.org/)?
Of course the families, the coaches, the billet families and the schools have a big role in this. But I think the players are also really helped by their non-hockey relationships, and those are what I’m exploring in this series.
In Center Ice, Tyler was able to escape from some of the pressure of his hockey world by spending time with Karen, who had pressures of her own and no interest in hockey (except for a certain player…). In Playing Defense, things shift around a little, with defenseman Chris Winslow being the easy-going, laid back foil for super-driven Claudia. And in the upcoming Winging It, Toby is able to remind Natalie of her passion for hockey, while also kindling a different sort of passion….
The OHL turns the players into elite hockey machines; but the players’ friends and, in this series, girlfriends, make sure they don’t lose their humanity in the process. It’s a lot of fun to write about!
About the author
Cate Cameron grew up in the city but moved to the country in her mid-twenties and isn’t looking back. Most of her writing deals with people living and loving in small towns or right out in the sticks—when there aren’t entertainment options on every corner, other people get a lot more interesting!
She likes to write stories about real people struggling with real issues. YA, NA, or contemporary romance, her books are connected by their emphasis on subtle humor and characters who are trying to do the right thing, even when it would be a lot easier to do something wrong.
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