Knowing the Score

Knowing the Score by Kat Latham
(Carina, 2013)
Format: ebook via NetGalley

From Goodreads: "Rugby player Spencer Bailey is determined to win a spot on England's World Cup team. But with a month break before the selectors start watching him, he's eager to have fun with a woman who knows the score: the relationship will end when rugby season begins. The lovely American Caitlyn Sweeney seems perfect for the role of temporary lover, since her visa will run out soon anyway.

Caitlyn works for an international disaster relief organization and can handle the world's worst crises, but she flinches from her own. Her past has left her with a fear of intimacy so deep that she has trouble getting close to anyone—until she meets sexy Spencer. His hot body and easygoing nature are too much for even her to resist.

Neither Caitlyn nor Spencer expects to fall hard for each other. But with their relationship deadline approaching, the old rules of the game seem less important than before…until past secrets surface, challenging everything they thought they knew about each other."
So I had fun with this. I ran across this debut contemporary romance at another blog (there are other book blogs? Mel's readers gasp!) and loved the teaser bit that was posted, so I was pleased when my NetGalley request was approved. 

Enough of the history. Let's talk about Spencer, and how he's a bad boy who has already reformed by the time Caitlyn meets him, but no one in his high-profile world has gotten over his youthful indiscretions. Oh, and Caitlyn, who has no idea who he is, but knows that he's overwhelming to her and that if they're going to be together, however temporarily, she will have to confront at least a couple of her demons. They both think a short-term fling will serve their needs, but of course as they begin to think more of each other's needs than their own, everything changes.

Latham's style is light and frequently made me smile. I also cried a good bit, as is my wont, during the dark moments for these characters. The book was a page-turner (a page-swiper? a thumb-tapper?) and I stayed up half the night to finish it (as is also my wont, when I'm really into something.) All in all, I'm adding Latham to my insta-read list and looking forward to learning more about rugby as her series progresses. (Did you know they throw the ball backward in rugby? Isn't that odd?)