THE HOOKER AND THE HERMIT (Rugby #1) by L H COSWAY & PENNY REID

 “I feel like I could lose myself and find myself in you, Annie.”

You know when you read a book, get so carried away, so swept up in the story that you catch yourself grinning like a fool, swooning and sighing and just thinking to yourself…’I’m loving this book’, you know?…when you have that happy feeling in your heart? Well that was us with Hooker and the Hermit. We thoroughly enjoyed everything about this book!

We really couldn’t find fault with anything in this story. It was sweet, funny, passionate, at times sad and despite Annie being a damaged heroine, it never felt laden down and instead had us falling in love with Annie and empathising with her past and the lasting effects these actions had on her life.

“Don’t like the idea of me penetrating those walls you’ve built?”

We must ask that you take heed of this WARNING: Prepare for that sawooon gene to work overtime because we were SWOONING majorly over Mr Ronan Fitzpatrick…this rough and tumble Rugby player, with a sharp wit, a gorgeous Irish brogue, beautiful heart, dirty mouth and a naughty side…seriously, that man would have us dropping our knickers in a heartbeat. Ronan stole our hearts.

“He is the brightest shining star of rugby. He has the potential to be the face of the sport all over the world – think David Beckham for soccer, just infinitely more masculine, dirtier, grittier, and with a fouler mouth.”

See what we mean? This guy! Ronan had it all. Not only was he as sexy as sin but he wore his heart on his sleeve, didn’t mess about, spoke his mind and was so tender and so wonderful to our sweet heroine, Annie.

‘He kissed like he flirted, aggressively, with complete expert abandon. ‘

Annie lived a very sad past that would have knocked most people on their arse, but not our Annie. She may have carried a lot on those small shoulders, but this girl fought back and despite bearing emotional  scars, she succeeded to make something of herself and in the process choosing to remain ‘behind the scenes’ of life as a coping mechanism. Annie’s life in the shadows is in stark contrast to Ronan’s life in the spotlight.

‘I knew how to run away. I was really good at running away; I didn’t know how to stay.’

There was a lot of emotion in this story but it was delivered in such a way that it came across as such a feel-good, relatable story, delivering a thoroughly entertaining read, with characters who were so easy to love, secondary characters who added much to the story. We found it hard to wipe the smile off our faces by the end of this book.  Our hearts were well and truly happy!

‘Right then I knew that this woman had the power to destroy me.’

These two authors worked beautifully together.  The humour was so perfectly timed, the writing was seamless and the characters complimented each other so beautifully. The Hooker and the Hermit had the perfect balance of emotion, humour, passion and yes…so much sweetness we thought our hearts would burst.

“You are singular to me, exceptional. You’re brilliant and adorable and so fucking real.”

This is a standalone read we definitely recommend grabbing! Trust us…your heart will thank you!

**Reviewed from an ARC Copy provided by Penny Reid, with thanks **