Settling the Score (Summer Games, #1)

by R.S. Grey

[stacey_is_sassy]

Georgie, the Minister of Espionage, stole the show.

I really enjoyed Settling the Score which was a wee bit of a surprise, to be honest. I’m not a sporty type of person and I generally don’t go looking for New Adult stories. In this case, I could hardly pass up meeting a hunky English swimmer who also happens to be a Duke. Some Royalty have been known to participate in the Olympics but normally their place is in the equestrian events, so a swimmer was definitely a surprise. We also meet a soccer goalie who is excited to be participating in her first Olympics, but also wants to take this opportunity to party a little bit and maybe even find a bit of “action”. Their first encounter was at a Rubik’s Cube party held by the Brazilian swimming team and is a little unusual. She’s flat on her back after being dropped by a Viking and thinks he’s the Devil.

Andie is so excited to be in Rio for the Olympics and to finally have a chance to do a little partying. She is 21 years old and has spent most of her years preparing for an event like this. Being a soccer star is a lot of hard work and training, but it’s worth it in the end. It’s not until she’s in the village that she realises that two of her married teammates have been asked by Andie’s mum to keep an eye on her. This puts a chink in her plans, but she manages to go to a party and sneak away from them. Looking around, she is happy with the smorgasbord of hot men to keep her occupied. One of those athletes is British swimmer Freddie Archibald.

Freddie’s life has been all about his swimming for a very long time. When his father and brother die within a year of each other, everything changes. Suddenly, he is a Duke and will have to take the responsibility of running his estates seriously. Freddie’s mother has plans that don’t really mesh with his swimming career. One of the plans he inherited was a betrothal to a family friend. It’s outdated and silly to still have betrothals, but he made the mistake of saying he’d think about it. Freddie’s mum interprets this as – sure, I’d love to marry a woman I don’t love and who I will probably never love. He knows he has to stop the plans from going ahead, but he made the mistake of putting the Olympics before dealing with the breaking of the betrothal.

There are sparks when Andie and Freddie meet. Andie doesn’t know a lot about Freddie but knows that he is royalty or something like it. Freddie’s attraction to Andie reinforces his need to break the betrothal, but doesn’t get a chance before the chick he’s betrothed to rocks up to the Olympic Village as chaperone to Freddie’s younger sister, Georgie.

Georgie is my favourite character in Settling the Score. She’s seventeen, a smartarse and not afraid of telling her big brother off when he needs it. Georgie’s quirkiness and straight talking had me in stitches and I would love to get her story when she has grown up a little.

Now, I really did enjoy this book but I had a few niggles as well. This was a pretty long story and I felt the angst was a little drawn out. I also had a really big problem with Freddie letting Andie suffer through the media frenzy and attacks by herself. It was like his Olympic dream was more important than Andie’s which didn’t sit well with me. I didn’t feel that Freddie’s mum's part in the drama was dealt with. Yes, she had been grieving over her husband and sons deaths, but I would think a mother would be more interested in her son’s happiness than a forced marriage.

I absolutely loved imagining the Olympic Village and what it would be like having so many people in one place all living their dreams. We also get a glimpse into the schedules athletes need to follow to reach their dreams and I can certainly say that I don’t have it in me to suffer through the pain.

Settling the Score was a great story that had me laughing out loud. Their love story was a little quick, but it wasn’t like he wanted to put a ring on it after a couple of weeks, so I was OK with it. There were a couple of steamy scenes that weren’t too bad at all. Freddie definitely wasn’t a stuffy old Duke. The troubles that the couple faced kept the story flowing and held my interest from the beginning to the end. I will definitely be reading more from this author in the future.

To buy Settling the Score (The Summer Games #1) from Amazon - http://amzn.to/1Y2MM1X



I’m an Aussie chick who loves to read and review romance, drink coffee, be a Style Setter and stalk David Gandy. To see more of my reviews, fashion, food and pervathons -