BLOG TOUR: REVIEW, EXCERPT, AND GIVEAWAY: Ruck by Holly S. Roberts

Ruck me, maul me, make me scrum. Rugby is back and so is bad boy, Van Stelson. Love him or hate him, he’s decided that his brother’s happily married life might be what he’s missing.

It’s cold and miserable in Colt, Ohio and the single ladies need a hot male body to heat up their long, lonely nights. But now, Van’s taking a good long look at his friend, Danny. She’s dynamite on a rugby field and his go-to partner when he needs a drinking buddy. She’s not his usual type—dainty, feminine, or curvy. She’s athletic and independent and wants nothing sexually to do with the town’s playboy. Drinking him under the table and listening to his deepest, darkest secrets is another story.

Just friends. Can friendship build into something more without breaking hearts or will Van ruck it up again?

“Ruck is a quick story about not seeing what is right in front of your eyes. But for a quick read, is packed a hell of a punch.” ~ BJ’s Book Blog

“Ruck is a short and sweet 4 star read. I love a good story of friends becoming lovers and Holly S. Roberts did a great job of setting up the perfect friends to lovers couple.” ~Author Cassandra Lawson

“The author did such a great job with Van’s POV you just want more. Nice little friends to more romance. Fantastic ending.” ~Goodreads Reviewer

Van Stelson definitely lives up to that slogan with his womanizing ways, but at the beginning of Ruck, Van’s in a bit of a funk and hasn’t been his manwhore self because he’s realized that he wants more from a woman than just a bedmate; he wants what his brother has with a girl that he could have had if he didn’t mess it up. But even if Van wants to change his ways, getting people to buy into it…to believe that he wants the “real thing” as opposed to keeping his player behavior is the biggest challenge he has to face, especially from the woman who has always been next him as his friend and nothing more and who he now sees more clearly as a beautiful and amazing woman and wants to make her his even though she’s not “his type.”

I love how Holly S. Roberts portrays Danny Brighton, the heroine; she’s the kind of girl I love to read about because she’s 100 % real and doesn’t allow anyone’s expectations to rule how she acts. I understand her hesitancy when it comes to Van’s declarations; I wouldn’t know how to take his abrupt change of heart and the fact that he never saw me as anything more than a buddy, especially if I actually had feelings for him. Because I loved Danny so much, I would have liked to have heard her perspective a bit to get the whole picture…to understand her views and actions, but I do understand why it was told through the hero’s eyes because he’s the one who needed to grow and change to get what he truly wanted in life.

I love friends to lovers story lines, and while I did like Ruck, I felt like everything moved a bit too quickly, and the relationship that resulted didn’t feel completely genuine because of it. I guess I needed more…more building of the relationship…more explanations as to why Van’s feelings changed and it became all about Van proving to Danny that he can be the man she needs. I know that people change all the time; they grow and have revelations about how they want to lead their lives, but that growth is gradual, for the most part, and I wanted to see Van and Danny’s story play out a bit slower, so I didn’t doubt Van’s change of heart at all.

“We’re going to do this my way, Van.” She stops me so my back is to the couch. Her fingers go to the button of my jeans.

Okay, so no more yelling. She’s staring into my eyes and, with no uncertainty, she moves to my zipper and slowly lowers it inch by delectable inch.

“Danny,” I say on a groan as one hand slips inside my boxers and she wraps her fingers around me. I start lifting her shirt, but her other hand grips mine and stops me.

“My way.” The fire in her eyes has turned to steel. She removes her hand, jerks the front of my boxers down, and her fingers are back.

Fuck me, there’s no way I’ll argue at this point.

“Have a seat, lover boy.” She gives me a solid push back.

There’s something in her tone and eyes that my brain can’t quite grasp. My dick doesn’t have the same problem. It’s at attention and growing larger by the second. Danny’s strong, but there’s no chance of her pushing me down unless I allow it. My back hits the hard back of the sofa as Danny sinks to her knees.

Fuck me sideways.

She kneels up a bit, and her tongue extends and runs over the tip of my cock.

“Shit, Danny, what the hell?” It’s not really a question, because if she stops I don’t know what I’ll do. Her tongue takes the air from my lungs, and the next second I release a growl as she closes her mouth over the head. Her tongue is still working and I feel its slick surface as she twirls it around. I move back farther against the sofa and her eyes rise to mine.

Holy fucking God, it’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. I’ve had more blow jobs than I can count on my fingers and toes. It’s her large brown eyes, staring at me as her mouth works my dick. She slides down my cock slowly and her cheeks suck in. She makes every other blow job fly right out of my head. She’s watching me and, for a few seconds, I close my eyes, fighting the need to come within thirty seconds of her going down on me. When I open them again, she starts using her hand up and down my length, opposite to the rhythm of her mouth. I want her hair loose. I want it surrounding her face and brushing my thighs. Another time. There’s no way in hell I’m changing anything about this.

She takes her hand away and uses just her mouth as her fingers go to the waist of my jeans and boxers. She pulls and I lift up, so they slide under me while she pushes them down my legs. She takes advantage, and cups my balls with one hand and returns the other to my cock.

I’m losing it when all I want is for this to continue for an eternity. Her fingers, her mouth, her tongue consume me. Within too short a time, the well-known tightening of my balls can’t be denied.

“Fuck, Danny, I’m there, pull back,” I groan in a way I’ve never heard leave my mouth.

She has my dick halfway down her throat and a rumble of need growls inside her throat, which sends me over the edge. The pulse of my seed shoots, and she’s there to take it. All of it. My hips buck. Her eyes are closed now, and I finally lean my head back against the sofa and close mine.

Fuck.