Lucky Shot by K. Bromberg with narration performed by Gary Furlong and Samantha Brentmoor is an enemies-to-lovers, soccer romance. Whitney is running the soccer academy that saved her as a child, running very low on funds and resources. Hardy is a bad boy British soccer star who needs to clean up his reputation. I really enjoyed this books and the narration was fantastic! The author did a great job of developing the characters, slowly helping the reader understand who they are and why they behave the way they do. She also made me want to know the characters and really had me cheering for them! There are periodic flashbacks to the past that take place at the right time to give context and not confuse the story. I can't wait to read more by K. Bromberg, don't miss this wonderful book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Select, and the author for this ALC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars ⭐️ I loved this audiobook! It’s dual narration. Gary Furlong’s British accent added so much to the audiobook! Samantha Brentmoor did a phenomenal job narrating for the MMC during the FMC’s POV! I haven’t read a ton of soccer romances but I truly enjoyed Lucky Shot! Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Select for the ALC. All opinions are my own 🫶🏼

Loved the female narrator on this one so much. His accent was good, but I wanted his voice to be slightly deeper to take his dirty talk to the next level.

Hardy, bad boy soccer star, sentenced to some philanthropy to clean up his image and falls for the woman who runs the soccer school. The character development of both main characters was good, they had complicated back stories that justified the roles they played in their relationship.

Their first time was perfection and Hardy definitely knows how to redeem himself in every sense of the word.

Thank you to Net Galley and Dreamscape Select for the ARC.

I quickly fell in love with the misfits that are Whitney and Hardy, the similarities in their upbringings with completely different results. The broodiness between them as he fell first and her walls had to be hacked away at with an ice pick. Perfection! Two chilli pepper kinda spice, in the best ways. I adore Samantha Brentmoor on audio! And the English accent from Gary Furlong? YES THANK YOUUUU.
Thank you to NetGalley & the publishers for the opportunity to listen to and review this book!

OMG, totally did not expect I'd cry while reading this one. I read the Hard to Handle and Hard to Hold, but this one got my tear ducts going.

Basically Rich Bad boys meet Strong Willed Poor girl. He fell first, and she kept running away to protect herself. She's super damaged and trying to survive, he kept following her like a golden retriever, bad boy turn great man story.

What gets me the the emotional tuck on both of them. Both of them suffered losses, and both felt abandoned, and now both have to be vulnerable and trust each other enough to be open to this love. OMG, the parts on both of their journeys what they'd gone thru, just tucked on me.

I enjoyed the story alot, but appreciate a book boyfriend who recognize when it's no longer a game and it's becoming real. He wants to be around her, and he's honest about that. He knows she's not going to accept love and relationship like he had experience and know to show her. Just by him realizing all that before recognizing he loves her was just adorable and loving.

This is technically is not a quick read, but the writing flowed so well and the flip between present and how each of them came to be, worked very nicely that I just can't stop and finished it within a 1.5days.

I got the audio book, Samantha Brentmoor is the bomb, and while I'm not familiar with Gary Furlong - he's very underrated. We need more books read by him.
Thank you NetGalley & Dreamscape Select for the audio ARC

4 🌟
Spice: Open Door
Format: ALC

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the alc in exchange for an honest review.

It took me some time to really be invested with this one. I found the MMC incredibly hard to like at first. He is very alphahole coded and just so grumpy. I did eventually come to really like both of them and the story. I adored the way he took care of her after the hospital. They are both super frustrating and stand in their own way so much. The audio is really good, both narrators are easy to listen to.

I am always down for a K. Bromberg sports romance! I loved her F1 romances, and even though soccer is the one sport I'm not really a fan of, she made this story so enjoyable.

One thing I appreciated about this book was the character growth an development for both of them. They both struggle with very similar issues even though they come from vastly different experiences and worlds. Their differences are also some of their similarities and it's what brings them together.

I love how much the MMC genuinely cares about the children they work with once he actually gets there.

There are so many deep feelings of loneliness, abandonment, grief, poverty and heartbreak, but also so much joy and positivity that comes from their connection too.

I'm a huge Samantha Brentmoor fan and think she did a fantastic job narrating this one. I don't know that i've listened to many by Gary Furlong, but enjoyed his performance as well.

Thank you to Dreamscape Select for the ALC!

🎧ALC REVIEW🎧
📚Lucky Shot by K. Bromberg
🎤Dual narration by Gary Furlong & Samantha Brentmoor
💘Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Select for this ALC

4.5⭐️- This was such a wonderful sports romance and an absolute insane audiobook.

Below is my 📚 general review and then further down you’ll find my 🎧audiobook specific review!

—

📚general review📚

Oh my god!!!! I have never read this author before and I’m so excited to have discovered her! I loooove a soccer romance, especially with a British MMC. The slow burn in this is so good. He falls first and she’s got abandonment issues and they fight but they are exactly what each other need. So it takes her some time to catch up and you see her start to unravel from start to end.

It’s kind of giving A Cinderella Story vibes (the first one of course). Like at least similar themes of rich athlete x nonfamous adult just scraping by financially. And I ate it up - let’s be real, we’ve all been that girl scraping by, hoping for a someone rich and hot to make all our problems go away. But also being stubborn about it. But I loved their relationship - ultimately they both had deeper abandonment issues which is both like an awful match but also there’s nothing better. Because they will both put each other’s needs first if the opposite means them being apart.

Character wise -I loved how stubbornly independent Whitney is, and she really truly holds on to her principles, sometimes even to her own detriment. But it was like charming how disciplined she was. And then you have Hardy who is just so eye-rollingly cocky/play boy that it borders cringe. But the kind that you secretly enjoy cuz sometimes it’s just hot!! But the way he softens for her, he didn’t even know he was desperate for true companionship until he met her.

I was super close to 5 stars, I think I just wanted a bit more at the end. It felt both drawn out but also abrupt, if that at all makes sense. However, it did not take away from the whole book for me and I still loved it!!


🎧audiobook review🎧
-Dual narration by Gary Furlong & Samantha Brentmoor
-Dual pov, single timeline ( & some flashbacks)
-Allow me to YELL!!! about this audiobook!!!! Ms. Brentmoor is already one of my favorites ever so I was so ready. But my god did she impress me even more?? Her voice for Hardy was so good sometimes I forgot it was a dual and not duet, because she truly pulls me into the story so wonderfully. Like a deeper voice AND an excellent British accent, what a talent my god. ART.
-And hello, Gary Furlong?!?! Where have you been hiding cuz are you kidddinnng!!! He is such an incredible narrator. The swoony British accent! He performs the “grunts” and the “sighs” in his narration and that really takes the audio to such a new level and ahhhhhh I cannot wait to hear him narrate more!
-Easily a 5 star audiobook alone, and I’d highly recommend if you’re not sure whether to physically read versus listen to the audio - pick up audiobook now.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the narration was absolutely fit the characters.
This is perfect if you’re looking for a cute and heartfelt sports romance with some real emotional depth ♥️

Thank you NetGalley & Dreamscape Select for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review

Fun & spicy sports romance
Story line was a bit messy and got confusing at times but I can get over that because I actually liked the characters relationship.
Loved the ending
4 stars

This book did a great job of showing the same trauma from opposite backgrounds story. I loved the heartbreaking declaration of love that is reciprocated but unsaid. The story was just wonderfully engaging overall.
The narrators did such a good job bringing the emotion of the characters and situations to full reality. There was so much feeling in the telling of the story that you can’t help but be moved by their performances.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Select for the audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I have had the pleasure of reading other K. Bromberg books but have not listened to an audiobook by the author. This did not disappoint!!

Bromberg is a pro - well written, adorable, great story, great characters, the characters have depth and backstory. Absolutely delightful. Also a bit steamy. I was very invested in the characters and couldn’t wait to hear what happened next. Characters had a backstory, they were not fluff and it drew the listener in.

Audio was impressive. Narrators did an excellent job. Loved Hardy’s accent and Whitney was exactly as you would image she sounded. Extremely well done and professional.

I really enjoyed this story! They both have their own issues but came together. And the spice was incredible!

This is a bad boy/good girl, close proximity sports romance with tension, banter, and healing vibes. Alexander starts off as a total jerk, but his character arc is so satisfying—especially if you love a man who shows love through acts of service. They are forced into a work situation for mutual benefit. Both stay guarded (cue banter) but as the story unfolds their walls start to crumble. Whitney stays protective of her heart as her past won’t allow her to open up. She tries to deny her attraction and fights desperately to not let herself be vulnerable. The way he cared for Whitney when she was sick? Swoon. He was so protective and his love for her shone through. Whitney, guarded and fierce, slowly breaks down his walls without changing who she is—and in return, he sees her. Truly sees her. Their journey to be together is a challenging one that will have your heart in their hands.

Gary Furlong was perfect as Alexander Hardy—broody, arrogant, and oh-so-British. His voice had the cocky charm the MMC needed. Samantha Brentmoor is a favorite narrator of mine, she was spot-on as Whitney too. Her narration always hits emotionally, and she nailed the accent when needed!

I enjoyed listening to this story and the narrators did a wonderful job transitioning back and forth between American and British accents.

I’ve read and listened to several sports themed stories, but this is the first time the sport was soccer/fútbol. Hardy is a star on the pitch in England, but he is helping bring the fandom to an American MLS team. But his head is too big to realize that he isn’t expendable.

Whitney is scraping by but giving 200% to the soccer academy that she inherited. She has a history that makes her understand how the academy can impact the lives of the children that attend the academy.

There is a lot of back and forth angst, but the feelings (especially Hardy’s) were oozing from the narrators.

5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tropes;
🩷good girl x bad boy
⚽️British MMC
🩷 banter
⚽️grand gestures
🩷found family
⚽️Soccer star x ex soccer athlete
🩷dual pov

Lucky shot is a new soccer romance from author K Bromberg, but honestly this book was so much more than that, two lost souls really finding each other and being each other's family and I was here for it all.

The MMC, Alexander Hardy is a British soccer star that is in the states for one year. He is a known playboy and needs an image makeover. He makes a losing bet with Whitney that makes him stay around her soccer academy and help for 1 month.

Whitney, our FMC, is no stranger to being let down.
Whitney has grown up living in multiple foster homes and anyone she has ever loved has left her behind.
She is the owner of the soccer academy, that was her escape when she was growing up, trying to give the same outlet and refuge to the next generation.

Whitney and Hardy have chemistry galore but Hardy has to work hard because Whitney has so many walls around her to protect herself.

Watching Hardy change and fall so hard for Whit and he's willing not only to put in the work but do everything in his power to show her he's all in.... He just has to convince Whitney and break her walls down.

This is such a great book, both Hardy and Whitney had similar but different upbringing, dealing with their own trust and trauma. But watching it slowly unfold was great to see. There were definitely some parts that made me tear up.

The audiobook was preformed by Samantha Brentmoor and Gary Furlong. Both narrators did a phenomenal job. The accent for Hardy was spot on.
They did an excellent job bringing these characters to life for me. really brought this wonderful book to life! Sometimes the fake voices were not as spot on but that's a me thing as sometimes I struggle with that. Otherwise such a superbly done narration.

If you like these tropes and the reformed playboy tvoe. definitelv check this one out.

Who doesn't love a romance with 2 tortured souls? Can love heal them? A soccer star and a youth club owner are clashing from the get go. 5 stars

Many thanks to Net Galley and Dreamscape Select for an audio ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was sucked into this latest sports romance from K. Bromberg from the very first chapter!! Whitney aka 'Lucky Shot' is a character it was impossible not to fall in love with and her journey from foster kid to rising soccer star to soccer academy owner is a bumpy but incredibly admirable one.

Enter Alexander Hardy, the cocky, arrogant British 'football' star in need of a reputation boost who barges into her life unexpectedly and unwanted and the two find themselves making a bet and having to work together coaching the kids for a month where slowly Hardy worms his way into Whitney's heart, grows to respect her life choices and fights to get a piece of her heart.

Full of spice, emotional depth and sooo much character growth, this is easily my new fav soccer romance and it was FANTASTIC on audio narration by Gary Furlong and Samantha Brentmoor! Highly recommended for fans of authors like Tessa Bailey and Chloe Liese. Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and Valentine PR for an early ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you so much to Dreamscape Select | JKB Publishing, LLC and NetGalley for this ALC of Lucky Shot.

This book was perfection! I was hooked from the start. We got to see the back stories of both main characters and it was done so beautifully. The romance was just *chef’s kiss* and the perfect amount.

I love that there was so much emphasis on the importance of clubs in low income areas to keep kids out of trouble. It was also great to see how, no matter the social status, every one has struggles. Highly recommend reading this one

I listened to the audiobook and both narrators were fantastic. I loved the duet narration and the accents of course!

Hes a sexy british footballer with mommy issues. Shes a sexy soccer club owner with trust issues. What could go wrong? Alexander Hardy gave big Jamie Tart from Ted Lasso energy. "I'm all that and a bag of chips why do I even have to try"
The banter was a lot of fun, the backstories were sad but they got to work together to heal their inner child. Hardy really worked to earn whitneys trust and break down her walls. It was very enduring. My issues were with Whitney. It felt like was wishy washy a lot of the time and they both really could've used some therapy.
Thank you to netgalley for the audiobook. It was excellent. It was dual narration and both narrators did a fantastic job!