*ARC REVIEW* ~ To Win Her Trust (Players book 2), by Mackenzie Crowne

Contemporary Romance

Can she trust this player with her heart?

Ever since experiencing a childhood trauma, reclusive artist CC Calhoun has suffered from panic attacks. But when a fateful kiss from handsome wide receiver, Kevin “Tuck” Tucker, is enough to stop one of those episodes cold, she wonders if guarding her heart has been the right choice. Will going on a test date with Tuck open her to trusting someone for the first time in years? Or will she wind up being just another notch in the football player’s bedpost?

Tuck has a reputation for charming women into bed, but after his kiss with CC, he’s left aching for more. When he proposes a second date, his attraction to the sexy blonde looks like the makings of true love—something he’s never quite believed in—until now. But when Tuck discovers CC’s childhood secrets, will the pro athlete be tough enough to stay by her side—or will he betray her hard-earned trust?

My Review ~ 5 Stars

Heart-Warming and Sexy!

Mackenzie Crowne’s contemporary romance To Win Her Trust is the second book in Mackenzie Crowne’s Player series and it is a fab read, containing a strong but vulnerable heroine and a sexy hero who is just what she needs to heal her emotional scars! I haven’t read the first book To Win Her Love, the hero and heroine of which also appear in this novel, but this read works perfectly well as a standalone and I would definitely read works by this author again.

When reading romance I do have a penchant for tortured characters and Mackenzie Crowne does an excellent job with how she depicts and develops the character of CC the heroine. CC is a virtual recluse on account of childhood trauma, being prone to severe and debilitating panic attacks when she is in social situations. Although her work as an artist means that she can to a large extent control her exposure to people and places, events conspire to trigger one as she exits a coffee shop. She is stunned when a kiss from a handsome stranger immediately calls a halt to the attack.

And as for Tuck the hero what can I say? He is a sexy but lovable rogue. Although this star football player has a reputation as a man whore, I loved that he is so empathetic and has a good and kind heart. He has a strong attraction to CC, entranced by her combination of sass and vulnerability. He wants her and, as he has a few weeks before he departs on his team’s training camp, he seeks her out and they strike a deal: Tuck will spend three weeks before camp dating CC, with the aim of helping her to overcome her social anxiety and fear of dating, (at the same time trying his level best to seduce her)!

CC is grateful for his help and confident that she can avoid falling for him. After all, Tuck has a reputation as a serious celebrity gigolo and a serial dater and is hardly the type that she desires for keeps! Of course, as this is a romance novel, their deal has unexpected repercussions: sexual tension and passion reach a crescendo and they both start to realise that they may find it difficult to walk away from each other….. Add to the mix an interfering mother, an estranged father, CC’s issues from her traumatic past and well-meaning friends, we get a well written and balanced heart-warming and sexy read in which the hero and the heroine need to risk their hearts before a HEA can be reached, I found it to be hugely entertaining.

To Win Her Trust is a sexy, emotional (and often humorous) read, which I recommend to lovers of contemporary romance.

Reviewed by Tina Williams

Please note, a copy of this novel was given to me by the author or the purpose of a fair and honest review.