Tag: author Zarah Detand

Review: Be My Endgame by Zarah Detand

Rating: 4.25🌈

“It was on. Number one against number three, battling it out in a tight race for the top spot in the Premier League.”

— Be My Endgame: An MM Rivals-to-Lovers Sports Romance by Zarah Detand

It thanks almost totally to Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ series about buying Wrexham, a Welsh football (soccer to us in the US) team, I do know a bit about the pyramid shaped structure of the football league abroad. And a smidge of the other aspects of the game that’s so central to the story that Detand’s Be My Endgame tells, that of two players in the game of their lives and the relationship that comes with it.

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a novel that I felt was as quintessentially British as this was. I do read a lot of authors who are from the UK but their books haven’t been grounded in a world as British and non American as is the world of what’s known as football there and soccer here. Add to that the element of aristocracy in the form of one of the main characters, Earl Alex Beaufort, whose father is a Duke of not whatever Alex is an Earl of. Ah, rules of the peerage! There’s Lords, seats in Parliament, and issues of class.

The other main character is Manchester United’s top striker, Lee Taylor, a “commoner” with a mum who has battled mental illness and has raised his sisters when she’s been unable to cope. In top of class issues to deal with, each has sexuality issues that have affected their lives and past relationship, both being in the closet.

Enforced proximity as teammates for the World Cup is a perfect format for bringing multiple themes into the mix as well as action on the field as the team’s fight up towards their goals.

Detand’s characters are well defined, the issues each faces laid out in emotional scenes that pull the readers in, and the supporting cast are charming and engaging personalities we enjoy spending time with.

There’s several unexpected dramatic events towards the end, one expected and well conceived. The other like as though it was a distraction from the main story. And never got a full explanation.

Be My Endgame by Zarah Detand is my first by this author but won’t be the last. I’m off to explore more Detand has released. Until then, this is a definite recommendation.

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Blurb

Sometimes the endgame is only the beginning. In the heated world of the Premier League, Earl Alex Beaufort, a charming Liverpool midfielder, collides on-pitch with Lee Taylor, Manchester United’s top striker. But when England’s World Cup dream brings them to sunny Spain, the real game unfolds: sharing a room. Rivals to teammates to … more?

Dive into this banter-filled MM sports romance where football meets unexpected feelings. A tale where a “pretty boy” comment isn’t just playful teasing, and a kiss isn’t just a kiss. As the tension of the World Cup escalates, so does the connection between Alex and Lee.

But amidst the drills, goals, and growing team camaraderie, shadows of family legacies and personal battles loom large. Can Alex, struggling with duke-sized expectations and his bisexuality, embrace his true self? Will Lee learn to dribble past his trust issues? Get ready for emotional offsides, family fouls, and a journey of self-discovery as thrilling as a last-minute goal.

With doses of British humour and heartwarming honesty, Be My Endgame serves up a pitch-perfect contemporary MM romance against the electric backdrop of the World Cup. Expect the unexpected—because when it comes to love and football, anything can happen in 90 minutes (plus injury time).

A MelanieM Review: No Place Left to Run by Zarah Detand

Rating:  2.75 stars out of 5

No Place Left To RunAfter a lengthy world tour, pop star Samuel Gibbs is looking forward to a nice, quiet break—sleep in, write a bit of music, do his own cooking for a change. He doesn’t want his time spoiled by the constant presence of bodyguards, and he is certainly not willing to have someone tail him each time he so much as goes to the shops. No way, no how. It’s a good thing, then, that his head of security relents on the matter—or so he leads Samuel to believe.

The break is starting to look even better when Samuel runs into his new neighbor. Ryan Halston is smart and hot and, quite possibly, everything Samuel wants. However, he doesn’t know that Ryan is part of the rejected security detail, tasked with protecting him from the dangerous attentions of an unknown stalker.

No Place Left To Run by Zarah Detand  had a promising plot but I found the author’s  characters and lack of continuity kept her story from coming close to achieving the potential it promised.

You can forgive a story many things if you believe in its characters and that’s a hard thing to do here, starting with Ryan.  Ryan Halston, age 24,  is supposed to be an accomplished bodyguard, nerves of steel, best in the business. etc. The author spends time framing out the man’s character and background and then uses the rest of the book to ignore everything they established.  Ryan is acts one way on one page and then can appear to have an entire different persona on another.  And Ryan’s lack of a solid characterization extends to others.  From Gary to the bodyguard Mike, the author spends time and many descriptions “telling” the reader how responsible and remarkable they are at their jobs, then proceeds the demonstrate just the opposite in the events that occur.  Mike seems to act more like a smitten kitten and Gary?  His actions felt the very antithesis of someone trying to protect this client.  One after the other, Detand’s characterizations were so flexible that they became unrecognizable as real or believable.  And don’t get me started on their timelines.  If ever there was an author in need of a storyboard, it is this one.  Ryan is 24, Sam is 20, Ryan said he lost his  parents when he was 13 in the  early 90’s, but the time frame of this story is now.  See the problem?  You can delve further into the dates but it just gets worse.

Samuel Gibbs is a rocker but that aspect of the story is missing.  We get little of the reason Sam is a rock star, his love of music, what drives him. We do get his exhaustion, his age (20), his friends like Sumi.  But again, it all feels as though we are left needing more of his character.

The resolution and the reveal is possibly the worst thing about the story.   Not just the person, but the way it happens and the aftermath.  It finishes off what little is left of several characterizations here, and continues on with an Epilogue which is really just another chapter.  Does the author not understand what an epilogue is?

This is the first story that I’ve read by this author, so I will see what else they have on their shelf.  I try not to judge on one book alone.  I only wish I had liked the story as much as I had liked the synopsis and the cover.

Cover artist Paul Richmond.  I like the cover. It contains an element of the story.

Sales Links:  Dreamspinner Press | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 210 pages
Published March 25th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN139781632165404
edition language English