I love myself some sporty romance and second chances. While I appreciate that hurt people hurt people - I found the hero a little toxic to want the heroine to allow him back into her heart and bed. But different strokes for different folks!

This a great second chance of love story!! Now, I am the number 1 one sports hater, so I didn't plan on finishing this book if it got "too sporty" for me. However, I was pleasantly surprised more emphasis was put on V and Sam's relationship...or lack of, rather than the sport of football.

V and Sam were in love and engaged at the tender age of 18. Sam was a football player and when he gets hurt, there goes his dream of being a professional player. It's bad enough he's injured, but then V just leaves town...no explanation, no nothing! Sam, in true male fashion decides to screw everything that walks over the years since V left him. Starting with the hospital volunteer, that winds up pregnant! He's trying hard to get V out of his head and heart, but no matter how many women he "hits it and quits it" with, he still loves her.

V loved Sam so much when she was 18. However, she feels she has no choice but to leave Barlow after Sam gets hurt. She is harboring a secret that she thinks will destroy her mother and have Sam thinking horrible of her. She does the only thing she can do....immerse herself in her job. She is a PR specials for a football team in NY and when the owner wants her to go talk to a possible Offensive Coordinator candidate, she has no choice but to go. Of course, with her luck it's Sam.

Sam is about as pleased to see V as she is him. Caroline (the team owner) has told V and Sam that they must hash out their differences and work together. Will that lead them to work together, hate each other, or pick up where they left off 15 years ago? Will V ever tell her mother and Sam her deep dark secret?

Although, there are parts of this book that left me very frustrated, overall it was a good story! I loved V and Sam and was cheering for them through the whole book!! This can be read as a stand alone!

Sam and V had been HS sweethearts and had been engaged who knew they would grow old together and have success. Sam lays in a hospital bed and his future career is ripped from him. V wasn’t at his bedside she was leaving town with no warning all Sam has a horrible secret that she thinks will destroy her mother and and have Sam thinking horrible of her. Sam could figure out was that he was not good enough for her anymore. Fifteen years later Sam and V was forced to work together. Sam comes to Manhattan with his daughter. V discovers Sam’s daughter has got into V’s heart but Sam is to far out of reach. Sam needs to show his new boss V and he can work together. Painful childhood secrets made V leave town . V now works for the Marauders football team.Sam works in P R and the Marauders had decided to offer Sam the position of Offensive Coordinator and V is to offer him the job then bring him to Manhattan. There is still attraction between Sam and V. but their lives went in different directions San had been working as a football coach. In Texas. Sam had became a manwhore and he had met his first sex buddy at the hospital where he was after he got hurt. V had never been with another person sexually in fifteen years. V had married her job. Because V had left Sam she was scorned by the town and didn't even go home to see her mother. V is ridiculed and gossiped about Sam doesn’t do anything to stop it even though it was a long time ago and he had moved on and now had a fourteen year old daughter and had went through a lot of women. Sam hadn’t waited long to get a girl pregnant. Sam rubs in V’s face she only had two months experience and he doesn’t regret all the women he has been with. Sam ran to V’s best friend when V left Sam had hopes to be an NFL football player until he got hurt. Sam’s daughter’s -Lucy- mom had passed away. V acts aloof and cold but around her friends and their kids Lucy is warm and loving and will do anything for those she loves. She doesn’t have a close relationship with her mother but she provides for her very well. Because of V’s secret she has problems opening up and trusting people. Sam and V had a lot of interference from family, friends, and even their boss when they do get back together. Sam was the best thing that ever happened to V but she had felt she had to leave so long ago.
I really enjoyed this story. But I do have to question how much Sam had really loved V. He impregnates a young woman within a couple of months after V had gone. I also didn’t like how Sam let V be ridiculed and gossiped about even fifteen years later very immature as far as I can see especially knowing how it will hurt V’s mother who teaches Lucy dance. Sam should get over himself he is getting a lot of sex also as I said a lot of time had gone by. I know Sam was hurt but why didn’t he look for V and found out why she had left he had loved her enough to propose to her. I felt bad the V had to leave Sam her one and only love and lover. This story choked me up at times and other times made me chuckle and I love that my emotions were involved it made the story more realistic for me like I was there with Sam and V. I didn’t want to put it down. I also loved Lucy and though she brought a lot to the story wanted to see Sam and V together. With Lucy as a family I loved the characters and the ins and outs of this story and I highly recommend.

Very sweet and emotional second chance romance. I really liked the chemistry between Sam and V. There were mistakes they both made in the past and they have changed a lot in the last 15 years but the feelings between them are still there. I've really enjoyed this series and I recommend it!

To win her back was my first book my Mackenzie Crowne and I enjoyed it. I love second chance at love stories and this couple has had 15 years apart, so a lot of water under the bridge, but the minute they are near one another the animosity and heat between them come bubbling up to the surface. There was much I loved about this book, but there were a lot of unanswered questions giving it a very uneven feel.
I love strong women characters and that describes Victoria “V” Price perfectly, but as this story unfolds we begin to see a different side of V. After years as a successful sports agent, V is no employed by the Manhattan Marauders football team as their public relations coordinator. There is no denying she is as tough as they come, but when she is forced to take a job offer to the man she once loved, her ex-fiancé Sam Fitzpatrick back in her hometown we begin to see a very different side of V, a broken side.
After Sam’s hopes as a NFL player were dashed in college, V disappeared and everyone thought she’d been with Sam just for his intended fame and fortune. Throughout this book Sam was made out to be this great guy and while he seemed nice enough, there was so much about him and his character I questioned and we never really got those answers. Sam was in love with V and when she left him and ran to her best friend, never once did he try to find her or figure out what sent her running. He licked his wounds, bad mouthed her, set her up for everyone in their hometown to hate her and apparently decided that sleeping with any willing woman was the answer including the one he accidentally knocked up and bore a daughter who is now 14 years old and living with him since her mother passed away. While he has what seems to be a good relationship with his aunt and his cousin, there are hints he doesn’t have a fantastic relationship with his parents, but that’s just left hanging in the wind. So while it’s obvious, he can be compassionate and caring there also seems to be a mean-spirited, selfish streak in him as well.
V put up a good front of being aloof and cold, but around her friends and their children and even Sam’s daughter, Lucy, we see a warm and loving woman who would do anything for those she loves. While she has a strained relationship with her mother, she has also provided for her mom very well and continues to do so. It was easy to see that the secret V has been harboring a good part of her life keeps her from opening up and trusting people and I could feel nothing but compassion for her.
I liked this couple together, between their shared history and the sparks coming off of them; it was easy to see they were special to one another. While it would be easy to believe it was all physical, that wasn’t the case and from the moment they reconnected, the feelings between them were undeniable. They made some missteps and had a lot of interference coming from family, well meaning friends and even their boss, but in the end it boiled down to one thing and getting that out in the open was gut wrenching and emotional.
I enjoyed To Win Her Back quite a bit; the characters were compelling and their story enticing, but most of all I enjoyed the work it took for them to move on from their past and live in the present.

Terrific second chance romance that will have readers drawn in from the very first page. A definite must read!

***ARC Provided by the author, NetGalley and Tasty Book Tours***

I enjoyed Victoria and Sam's relationship, for the most part. I liked the way their history was handled, and I also liked their meeting for the first time after a number of years.

That said, I thought the story was a little unbalanced with the focus on the current and dealing with the past. While most of the time I liked this and thought it was well balanced, there were times where I thought the advancement of their present story was stopped by the dealing with the past. But, for the most part, I enjoyed this book and their story.

The side story with his daughter was handled well and was very emotional, which was a wonderful addition to the story and I liked that there was very little drama with her, that she reacted like a reasonably well adjusted teenager would, but without the additional drama that is sometimes used.

I do recommend this book.

***This and other reviews also featured on “I’m A Sweet and Sassy Book Whore” http://www.imasweetandsassybookwhore.com***

Another winner by Mackenzie Crowne. The rekindled love of Sam &.V is a sweet but sad story. With 2 stories going on in this book Sam was a busy man. Starting a new job offered him by his runaway ex fiancé was one & starting a new chapter in his life as a new unsuspecting father was the other. V & Sam had history together but something from her past made her run., now 15yrs later she's running again when Sam wants to start again. Now V has to decide if she's strong enough to get past her past & let Sam in on the reason for her running away. The roller coaster of emotions was well ridden in this book, from happy to sad to anger & elation this book had it all. Definitely recommend.

For 3 books we have been following Victoria “V” Price, indirectly. Each book making you more curious than the last about what her story could be. It is quite the story, indeed. Fifteen years ago, V accepted the marriage proposal from her high school/college sweetheart, Sam Fitzpatrick. After an injury derails his pro-football dreams, V made the toughest decision of her life. She left, with no warning. Both have spent the last 15 years trying to come to terms with the decisions that have led them to where they are, and neither ever thought their paths would cross again, until The Marauders need an offensive line coach. Sam is the perfect man for the job.

Two adults fighting their feelings, one hiding a deep, dark secret, a teenager with spunk and a reunion with some beloved characters equals quite possibly the best book in the series. This story starts off as a revenge plot, but as the story progresses it becomes a second chance story line. With some match making from GGG (Gracie’s Gridiron Girls), Lucy (Sam’s daughter), and Caroline (V’s and Sam’s boss)… V and Sam have no choice but to put their stubbornness to the side and learn to bend. This teaches you that you don’t always get a second chance. If you are fortunate enough to get a second chance, don’t waste it! If this is the end of the series, it ended on a high note and I am grateful to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review the series.

4 stars

I really enjoyed reading To Win Her Back by Mackenzie Crowne.
It was one of those books you didn't want to put down. The writing is well done, the characters Victoria “V” and Sam were likable, entertaining and the chemistry between was smoking!

Overall, To Win Her Back was a good read and a great addition to the Players series.

Can love survive a second chance when the same old problems refuse to be resolved? That’s the burning question in this book. Sam was the best thing that ever happened to V, but she left him at the worst possible point in his life. Now they’re working together and the chemistry between them is as strong as ever. All Sam wants to know is why V left, but she can’t tell him.

Normally I’m all for the truth coming out in these kind of situations, but V’s is complicated. This is not the usual straightforward second chance romance, it’s emotional and heated and passionate and, okay, there are definitely aspects of it that don’t make much sense. Mostly why V was so scared to go back home that she bolted. However, her experience is difficult so I can sort of understand why she really, really didn’t want to return to the place where it all happened, even if the cause of it all was no longer there.

Then there’s Sam. Who in many ways is a good guy, and in others isn’t so great. For one thing, he seems to avoid his own parents a lot and it’s never really explained why. He’s also milked all the sympathy for his break up with V for fifteen years, making it impossible for her to ever go home to visit her mother. She is the bad guy, he is the hometown hero. But he never fought for her. Yes, he was injured and he had a lot to work through, but he seemed to do that by sleeping with as many women as possible and whining about how cruel V was. He does try to mitigate the damage in this book, but mostly because he wants to sleep with V again, so he’s not exactly a saint.

Nor is V the complete bad girl. In fact she’s been pretty saintly herself, spending the last fifteen years married to her job. It might have been nice if there had been a bit of middle ground between their romantic histories, since Sam got to have all the guilt-free fun he wanted, while V effectively became a nun.

However, despite these things, I still really enjoyed this read. Sam’s daughter is great and I loved how her relationship with V grew and flourished. It was also nice to see the other couples from previous books again. Plus, when V and Sam are together and can forget the past, they make a good couple. There’s heat and passion and a lovely lack of blame once things start working again. There are certainly a few problems for them to tackle, but I always wanted them to end up together.

Overall I enjoyed this. It’s an emotional second chance read in many ways, but it isn’t afraid to shift the blame about a little. Very few things are perfectly straightforward, but for me that made the ending all the sweeter. I look forward to seeing where the series heads next – especially if it’s in Caroline’s direction.

Another great book in Mackenzie Crowne's Player series! We've seen V be the hard-nosed sports agent previously and even seen her be a loyal friend, but we haven't seen the softer side of her that comes out when we finally get the story of her past and what made her who she is today. Her turmoil really touches your heart!

Victoria Price is loving her new job as the PR Coordinator for the Manhattan Marauders football team, but her newest assignment just might be end of it when it's barely begun!

Sam Fitzpatrick is super stoked at being offered the Offensive Coordinator position for an NFL team, but the fact that the woman that cruelly broke his heart all those years ago is the one there offering it is pretty off-putting! Can he actually bring himself to accept a job for the same team she works for?

V had her reasons for walking away from Sam all those years ago, but she never shared them with him, so he and everyone around him assumed the worst. When she finds the strength to share her secret, will she finally be free to go for that love of her life once and for all or will it be too late to matter?

These two have so much baggage that they are going to need a cart when they meet up again. They had that amazingly perfect young love … until it all fell apart. Unfortunately when things went bad, they were very, very bad and they’ve let it impact things (even if they won’t admit it to anyone) for over a decade. Being forced to work together, though, means they have to get their acts together, fast.

Part of me thinks that Sam got over it a little quick but MOST of me enjoyed the lack of drama. As I mentioned, I wasn’t looking forward to a whole book of his hurt pride (although I’m pretty sure that Crowne could make even that good!) but luckily we didn’t have to deal with that. Instead, with a little help from their friends, they reflected on their past, addressed it and then moved forward.

Now, there were a couple of moments when I wished Sam had stepped up. First, he allowed everyone to say nasty things about V in their home town, which made it uncomfortable for her to come see her mom. Granted, her relationship with her mom isn’t the best and she didn’t want to go home, but he could have manned up at some point and been all “we were young and did stupid things”. Instead he waited 15 years, and for them to start having to spend time together, to do anything about it.

The other thing was the fact that he buried his hurt feelings in other women and became a man-whore. Now, I’m all for reformed rakes making the best husbands but his seemed a little petty. And it was made all the worse by the fact that V reverted to being celibate. Again, she had her reasons for not getting involved with anyone (and it wasn’t necessarily that she was pining for him), but some readers may have a problem with the double standard.

Personally, I like how Crowne gives both of them intriguing motivations for their actions and pulled it together with their second chance romance. Their love story is complicated for a lot of reasons but characters with depth and a hard to put down storyline made it … well, hard to put down :)

I really enjoy sports romance and To Win Her Back is a really fun and interesting story. It is fast paced and a real page turner. The Characters Sam Fitzpatrick and Victoria “V” Price were engaged in college but she disappeared on him and then she comes back to offer him his dream job, but life has changed and he now has a daughter (Lucy) to consider.

I really enjoyed the character development an relationships that are built in this story. Trust has to be rebuilt after their history together, and Mackenzie Crowne did a good job in telling this story and showing that there are many layers of love.

This is the fourth book that I've read by this author, and I have to say they really aren't that memorable. Each of the previous couples in the series has been revisited, including a surprise couple in Tom and Kris, who were supporting characters in the third book in the series. I feel a little cheated because I was looking forward to reading their romance story!

I've never really held much interest in V as a character throughout the series, so I was a bit surprised to see her starring in this one. She had a second chance romance appearing to happen with Sam, but her past kept holding her back. I felt that using that as an excuse for not being with Sam was a rather flimsy excuse, until the end of the story where V explained exactly why she ran from Sam.

Sam was a rather wussy hero, because he didn't fight for V, despite her being the love of his life. They wasted 15 years because he was too proud to chase after her and fight. Not only that, he allowed the town to belittle her, just because of his wounded pride! I couldn't get behind him as a hero, especially when he went running into another woman's bed, practically before the sheets cool behind Victoria!

All things considered, this was a short and somewhat emotional read, but it got bogged down by an unbelievable plot twist or two and a rush to the altar.

To Win Her Back by Mackenzie Crowne
Players #4

Not a great fan of second chance at love stories but this one worked even though there were fifteen years between the ending of the first chance and beginning of the second. At first I was not sold on the two of them being a couple that could, should or would work out but as I read I realized there were more layers to what happened between “V” and Sam than I first thought and that if they both really wanted to they could eventually make a go of it. I personally find it hard to believe this story could happen but then fiction is just that…a story that does not have to be true to life…it just needs to draw the reader in and provide entertainment. This book did just that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC. This is my honest review.

3.5 Stars

Fantastic book! I really enjoyed these characters. Sam and Victoria/V are great together. Add in Sam's wonderfully precocious daughter and you have a great read. V and Sam were childhood sweethearts but painful childhood secrets had V leaving the town and Sam in the dust. Now 15 years later, V is forced to see Sam again. The Marauders, the football team V works for in PR, had decided to make Sam an offer as offensive coordinator and have assigned V the task of delivering not only the offer to Sam but Sam to the Marauders. It's clear the attraction is still there but their lives are completely different now. Sam with his daughter and V with her career. Would they ever work or are they destined to break each others hearts again?

I would definitely recommend this one.

I'm not sure what it is wiht Mackenzie's books but I have enjoyed them all so far. To win her back is a second chance romance between the Maurader's PR guru Victoria "V" Price and Sam Fitzpatrick. They could have had it all but dark secrets drove them apart. Now years later, Sam' dreams have a second chance of coming true. HOwever those dreams will come with being by V again. Can they put there differences aside?? or will their chemistry blow up? or will they blow up? Its a great story and I really enjoyed it alot.

Another great read by MacKenzie Crowne. This book is emotional, heartbreaking and heartfelt. Victoria really didn't want to go back to her hometown let alone see an ex fiancée. There was some scenes that had me laughing. Sam's daughter is a great bonus to the story. I highly recommend reading this book.

Nice sweet read this is a super second chance romance love a book that start with them wanting to get back at someone but then fall for them what can go wrong i Really liked V and eventually Sam once he got over it he was a nice guy.A great book that i didn't want to put down will be reading more from this author recommended