Wildcard by Missy Johnson
Wildcard #1
Publication Date: September 4, 2014
Genres:Contemporary, Romance, Sports
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Synopsis
246.
That’s the number of women I’ve shagged in the last twelve months.
I’m Ryder Stevens.
Don’t pretend you don’t know me. I’m a god.
I’m hot, I’m British and I take what I want. I’m also the number one ranked tennis player in the world. But it’s my off court antics that gain the most attention. I cruise through life, running from one scandal to the next. Hell I can’t even take a piss without the world knowing about it.
Rules? Who gives a shit?
Rules are there to be broken and I’m the king of breaking them.
But even the king can be bought to his knees. I’m sidelined with an injury that changes everything.
Maybe my life isn’t so perfect after all…
Review
Ryder Stevens is the bad boy of tennis because he’s known more for his extracurricular antics off the tennis court than on. He’s a rule breaker who believes that there’s more to life than the game, so he lives free and plays hard, not really caring who he ticks off in the process. But when he sustains an injury, in quite a compromising position, his career is put on hold, leaving him sidelined and bored out of his mind because he’s immobile. With all this time on his hands, Ryder starts going through some of his fan mail, and one letter stands out above the rest.
You’re a butthead! That’s a statement that Ryder didn’t expect to come across when reading a letter from a young fan. But as he continues reading and absorbs the information, this letter from Jake, a young boy with cystic fibrosis, stays with him…has him questioning the type of person he is, so much so that he feels like he needs to talk to Jake and let Jake know that he’s more than what the media portrays him as. That phone call ends up being a game changer for not only Ryder but also for Jake and his mom, Scarlett.
Scarlett challenges Ryder from the start of their phone conversations. She wants him to help someone besides himself; she wants him to think about someone else and do something for that person without spending money, simply out of the goodness of his heart. Ryder steps up to Scarlett’s challenge and ends up opening his heart to not only the little boy who called him out, but the beautiful woman who he’s talked to and shared himself with more so than he’s ever done before.
But following his heart isn’t something Ryder really knows how to do, and so when he finally decides to take the risk, he ends up wondering who the bigger wildcard is, him or Scarlett?
I need Volume 2 ASAP after that cliffhanger. Boy did Ryder grow on me as I continued to read Volume 1! All it took was someone kicking him in the butt to get him to see the bigger picture. Ryder’s a great character because he’s the athlete so many people love to hate, but those individuals would also do anything to live his life. He is who he is and he doesn’t care what other people think – until Jake and Scarlett. It will be interesting to see how everything plays out after where readers are left at the end of volume 1.
Wildcard is a definite must read – it’s a fast paced story told in the male perspective, which makes it that much better. I can’t wait for more Ryder!
A complimentary copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 poison apples
About Missy Johnson
Missy lives in a small town in Central Victoria with her husband, and her confused pets (a dog who think she’s a cat, a cat who thinks he’s a dog…you get the picture).
When she’s not writing, she can usually be found looking for something to read.
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