The Way We Play: or Tempting the Kicker cover art

The Way We Play: or Tempting the Kicker

The Bradford Boys

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Way We Play: or Tempting the Kicker

By: Tia Louise
Narrated by: Marcio Catalano, Kirsten Leigh
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £14.99

Buy Now for £14.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

He’s a grumpy, retired kicker who says he only breaks things. I’m a thirty-year-old virgin with something he can break (and I don’t mean my heart).

How does one get to be a thirty-year-old virgin?

In my case, start with being risk-averse and cautious, focused on building your career, then inherit your 12-year-old, special-needs brother. Done!

Zane Bradford appeared at the perfect time. He takes my brother to equine therapy, he gives me rides to work, and he rescues me when I collapse in the shower. (Yes, he saw me naked.) He says he only breaks things, but I only see him fixing everything. Heck, his job is as a repair man.

This grumpy, angry god with lean muscles, silky dark hair, and ice blue eyes has taken himself out of the game. But massage therapy is my job, and I’m ready to play.

Rachel Wells is ruining everything. She walks into my workplace and argues with me, talks back, defends herself. She gives me romance books to “improve my mood,” and insists on massage therapy to ease my pain. Chronic pain isn’t my problem—she is, with her bright green eyes and sassy attitude. Then she tells me she’s never been kissed. (What’s wrong with the men in Birmingham?) The more she tempts me, the more I feel my resolve weakening. She wants to play, but I’m not going to break.

(THE WAY WE PLAY is a small-town, grumpy-sunshine, sports romance with close proximity, enemies-to-lovers vibes, and a virgin FMC, and an over-protective alpha hero. No cheating. No cliffhanger. No third-act breakup.)

©2024 TLM Productions LLC (P)2024 TLM Productions LLC
Contemporary Small Town & Rural Sports Heartfelt
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Since You've Bean Gone cover art
The Flirt cover art
The Way We Touch cover art
My Favorite Holidate cover art
From Here to Eternity cover art
Flirting with the Frenemy cover art
The Proposal cover art
Singled Out cover art
Heartbreak Hero cover art
Redemption Hills: The Complete Collection cover art
The Player + the Pact = I Do cover art
Mad Love cover art
The Boyfriend Goal cover art
One and Only cover art
Tempting cover art
Runaway Love cover art

What listeners say about The Way We Play: or Tempting the Kicker

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Listener received this title free

5 Stars!

I Just Loved Zane and Rachel! 💕

The Way We Play is book 2 in The Bradford Boys series. Rachel is the sunshine to Zane’s grump. Zane is a retired kicker who has been alone since his football injury. He carries some heavy guilt and trauma over some things that happened when he was younger. The combination of the guilt and trauma, and his need to protect those he cares for, has him keeping everyone at a distance (he sees this as protecting them). Meanwhile, Rachel has been focused on building her career, and now she is the guardian to her 12-year-old special needs brother Eddie whom she is determined to care for. This has cost her her personal life. Zane and Rachel meet when Rachel becomes friends with Zane’s sister and she offers Rachel and Eddie their family home to live in. This leads to Zane and Rachel constantly being around each other and they just can’t stay away from each other. From their first meeting, they bump heads, but those feelings eventually develop into something more romantic.

I really enjoyed this story. Zane and Rachel had soo much chemistry and they were perfect for each other. I loved how protective and caring Zane was, especially with Eddie. And Rachel, she was just such a sweetheart. I really loved them together. I usually have a favourite between the two main characters when I read romances, but in this, I really loved both Zane and Rachel equally! The chemistry was off the charts and I loved getting to see how they fit each other into their lives. This book delivered on romance, friendship, and family. I enjoyed every moment of it!

Narrated by Marcio Catalano and Kirsten Leigh. They set the perfect tone for the story, captured all the characters’ emotions, and had you feeling every single one. Thank you for a great listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Listener received this title free

Zane & Rachel

Grumpy Zane and full of life Rachel are complete opposites that when they are together the sizzling chemistry is off the charts. The pull and push between them is delicious.
Marcio Catalano and Kirsten Leigh were amazing as Zane and Rachel nailing their personality traits.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Listener received this title free

Loved It

So, I was lucky enough to get an audio copy of this book. I loved it as much as I loved it when I read it the first time.

And like in my other review, Eddie and Miss Gina were my favorite characters in this story. I loved Zane and Rachel, but those two for me just made the whole story come together.

Rachel was the light to Zane's grumpy side. She really knew how to bring out the lighter side of him and make the reader/listener see him as more than just a dark grumpy male. The relationship he developed with Eddie, melted my heart and I totally loved him for that 😊

The narration took me a minute though. The male narrator, Marcio Catalano, took me a minute, I think we needed someone with a gravellier voice. I will definitely give him another go, as I enjoyed his narration, but just needed to come across darker and broodier for this story. The female narrator, Kristen Leigh definitely spot on for Rachel😊

I am definitely looking foward to the next story in this series

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Listener received this title free

The Way We Play

4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️
3🌶️🌶️🌶️

The Way We Play is the second book in The Bradford Boys series. This is Zayn and Rachel’s story. Zayn is the grumpy ex football player. Rachel has moved to town with her autistic brother. She has been raising him since their mother’s death. Rachel is a message therapist for a blind lady. Zayn is the maintenance man for the same lady. They are neighbors across the hall from each other. Zayn also helps with equestrian therapy for teens and adults. Zayn introduces Rachel’s brother to the horses and teaches him how to ride and care for them. Zayn is mister grumpy to Rachel’s sunshine.

Kristen Leigh and Marcio Catalano hid a great job narrating this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Listener received this title free

This was such a sweet and emotional story

The absolute intense chemistry between Zane & Rachel is incredible. They both have struggles from their pasts that they have let take on too much power over their lives.
The angst and frustration once Rachel realizes that Zane does find her attractive is intense. I do enjoy that she pushes him and doesn’t just let him run and hide from his fears and feelings.

I absolutely love Eddie, he is such an amazing young man, and I really love the connection between Zane & Eddie. Zane really helps Eddie feel seen and safe and that is such an incredible thing for him.

I love how close the Bradford siblings are and the brother’s group chat was hilarious.

Miss Gina was of course the absolute best wingman for this couple, she is such a total sweetheart, instantly makes Eddie feel comfortable and relaxed- their friendship is just the most precious part about this book.

I am always a sucker for found family, and pair that with grumpy sunshine and it’s no surprise this book was a win! This book was full of close relationships, new friends, & family.

The representation in this book was so inspiring and well done. The mental health rep, the nuerodivergent rep, the blind rep.

I loved the narration, Marcio Catalano is a recent favorite and Kristen Leigh both did a fantastic job bringing this sweet and beautiful story to life.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!