Rush

By: Samantha Towle

Narrated by: Brooke Bloomingdale

From Samantha Towle, New York Times best-selling author of Breaking Hollywood and Ruin, comes a new powerful, passionate and dramatic contemporary romance.

“With the first pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, the New York Giants select...”

It’s been three years since quarterback Ares Kincaid’s NFL dream came true, and he’s living the high life. The days of cleaning up after his drunk of a father are long gone, and he has no intention of going back.

A car crash and DUI charge meant a lengthy stint in rehab for Arianna Petrelli, and her dream of being a professional artist slips further away when she’s sacked from her position at a gallery. Her need for a job stronger even than her dislike of football, Ari goes to work for her father, the head coach of the New York Giants.

Ares hates alcoholics, which is fine with Ari because she thinks he’s a brainless jock. Yet when Ares rescues Ari from a situation with her ex-boyfriend, an unlikely friendship begins - one that quickly becomes more.

But messing around with the coach’s daughter can only lead to one thing...trouble.

©2018 Samantha Towle (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

Robotic narration

The narrator is usually one of my favorites. This book is an exception b/c the narrator reads in a weird, robotic rhythm. It alters between regular narration and an anxious play by play. Maybe the writing style with so much internal dialogue contributes to the awkward listen. Other than that it’s a good storyline.

Highly Enjoyable Listen!!!

Rush was an emotional and angsty read about Ari who is a recovering alcoholic who is trying to put the pieces of her life back together,and Ares Kincaid, a professional football player who plays for Ari's father's football team. They get off on the wrong foot during their initial meeting, but it is clear from the start that their chemistry is off the charts hot, hot, hot!!!

My heart went out to Ari throughout this book because it seemed like she was really trying but kept hitting roadblocks and Ares wouldn't give her a chance based on his own past and personal bias.

I really enjoyed the moments throughout the book in which Ari and Ares got to know each other and bantered back and forth and watching their friendship grow. I also really enjoyed how Ari and her dad were able to rebuild their relationship.

This book had a great set of characters, a fantastic story line and strong writing. A highly enjoyable read all around!

I am a big fan of Brooke Bloomingdale. She is very easy to listen to and does a great job with narration. I think she did an amazing job as Ari and Ares and really brought about the emotion of the story.

Oh my yes please

Fantastic book. Loved everything about it! Brooks male voice is super hot and kind of a turn on.. geez... the hot meter is on level 10 about to burst along with ovaries around the country. Definitely worth a buy!

Wow! All the feelings!

I really enjoyed this book. There were so many emotions. I have been sober for 15 years and I related so much to this book. All I can say is wow. One of my favorites.

Loved it!

First of all, I love that she is 5"1' because that's my exact height. I almost never see that in books so it was super amazing to see a girl my size be the lead that Ari is in this book. Usually with small girls they turn out being more dainty and breakable. Ari is strong but true to her emotions without coming across as overly emotional. It's also a testament to the fact that not all alcoholics are the same. I was iffy about the idea of reading a book that takes on such a deep concept but the book didn't take dark turns or have moments that were too heavy. It was a real interpretation of an alcoholic doing her best to find her HEA. I totally expected her to be annoying but I ended up wishing I could befriend her. Loved it

Great Love Story!!!

This is such a great love story. A girl on a road to recovery and a football player with issues of his own. I loved they did a lot of development on the girl and her dad!

Brooke did a great job on the narration!

Story great audio terrible.

I loved th story of Zeus and Cameron. I liked the Cam didn’t immediately fall back in to Zeus’ arms when he returned. She made him fight for her and prove that he was in it for the long haul. GiGi was cute and I loved her and Zach’s relationship.

Problem I had was the was only one chapter from Zeus POV. It was not a dual POV book. The male narrator was only present in chapter one and gone. Next the audio was messed up. There were clear breaks in the recording and the recording was jarringly different and some times sounded like it was in a cave. It made the narrations lousy at times.

So while I give the story 5 stars the audiobook only rank 2

What a great series!!

This was a great series!! I normally don't like the "famous person" hooks up with the common girl type romances but this series was really good. The author left room for another book in the series so I hope that she finishes hooking up the Kincaid siblings. give it a go its worth the time!!!

My favorite audiobook

I love this audiobook. Every once in awhile, you’ll stumble across a new author and go into their book blind, and just have your world shook.

I love sports romances, but in Rush, football merely set the scene while character development was the star of this show.

Quick overview:

🏈 Ares Kincaid, Quarterback for the NY Giants, mix of alphahole and perceptive needling caretaker. Super tight knit family of siblings who he helped raise bc his father was an alcoholic.

🎨 Arianna Petrelli, recovering alcoholic, an artist with artist’s block, daughter of the NY Giants Head Coach.

When I read the synopsis, I was expecting just another forbidden romance in the sports world, but every single aspect of this book surprised me.

Towle’s writing style is so unique here, as not only is it beautifully written, but the minutia of Ares and Ari’s daily lives are woven in making them feel like real people - something I didn’t realize I was missing from books I’ve been reading lately.

The book’s real focus was Ari’s recovery from addiction and rebuilding her sense of worth and forging new relationships. Vicariously experiencing her struggles, her loneliness, her strength when challenged by and let down by Ares, was such a painful, yet beautiful journey as a reader, making me feel things from a book that I haven’t felt in a very long time.

It’s also only told from Ari’s perspective, which I normally don’t like but was so necessary to fully immerse yourself in her world and tag along on her ride to personal growth.

This is also the narrator, Brooke Bloomingdale‘s (aka Brittany Pressley) greatest performance ever, so I’d recommend the audiobook experience.

I admired Ari’s determination

I loved this story. I loved how strong Ari is in her choice to stay sober and in how she handles Aries’ nasty attitude and treatment of her. And in the end I loved the honesty between them and how they got to that point. As for Aries, I loved his humor and how quick he willing to be vulnerable to let Ari know when he’s messed up with her and he really does try to make it up to her. I also really liked to see the change between Ari and her dad. She’s forgiving. My favorite part was how Ari finally felt as if she finally really mattered when her dad and Aries, but I won’t spoil that part.