Second Chance to Score: Midlife Crisis Contemporary Romance, #7

By Rose Bak

She wants to get him to the Big Game. He wants to get her to the altar!

Robbie Mason was once the NFL's golden boy. One of the most successful placekickers in league history, he's now staring down retirement. If he can just get his battered body through another season and finally get his chance at a Super Bowl ring…

 

Dr. Violet Grange was raised in a family of football stars. She loves the game, but she doesn't love the inflated egos that come with the men who play the game. The physical therapist has dedicated her life to helping female athletes stay on top of their game. Until her father asks for a favor…

 

Coach Grange needs his star kicker to make it through the season, and he's not above tricking Violet into working with her ex-boyfriend to make that happen.

It's been nearly twenty years since they saw each other, but all it takes is one look for Robbie and Violet to realize that their love has never died. Too bad she still hates him for something he never did…

 

"Second Chance to Score" is a midlife enemies-to-lovers second chance romance with an independent woman doctor, a stubborn alpha male athlete, and a secret brownie recipe that's going to bring them back together.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rose Bak
• Release date: Mar 17, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224380480

Rose Bak

Rose Bak has been obsessed with books since she got her first library card at age five. She is a passionate reader with an e-reader bursting with thousands of beloved books.  Rose's contemporary romance books focus on strong female characters over age 35 and the alpha males who love them. Expect a lot of steam, a little bit of snark, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

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Copyright

SECOND CHANCE TO SCORE

© 2023 by Rose Bak 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No portion of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system in any form by any means without express permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permissions contact the publisher at [e-mail].

Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, organizations, or locals is entirely coincidental. Trademark names are used editorially with no infringement of the respective owner’s trademark.  All activities depicted occur between consenting characters 18 years or older who are not blood related. 

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About This Book

She wants to get him to the Big Game. He wants to get her to the altar!

Robbie Mason was once the NFL’s golden boy. One of the most successful placekickers in league history, he’s now staring down retirement. If he can just get his battered body through another season and finally get his chance at a Super Bowl ring...

Dr. Violet Grange was raised in a family of football stars. She loves the game, but she doesn’t love the inflated egos that come with the men who play the game. The physical therapist has dedicated her life to helping female athletes stay on top of their game. Until her father asks for a favor...

Coach Grange needs his star kicker to make it through the season, and he’s not above tricking Violet into working with her ex-boyfriend to make that happen.

It’s been nearly twenty years since they saw each other, but all it takes is one look for Robbie and Violet to realize that their love has never died. Too bad she still hates him for something he never did...

Second Chance to Score is a midlife enemies-to-lovers second chance romance with an independent woman doctor, a stubborn alpha male athlete, and a secret brownie recipe that’s going to bring them back together.

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Dedication

For Robbie Gould, one of my all-time favorite Chicago Bears. I’m still pissed they cut you from the team.  You’ll always be Solid Gould to us!

Prologue—Robbie

The crowd grew briefly silent as we all waited for the snap. I closed my eyes, holding one finger up to gauge the direction of the wind.

Refocusing my gaze, I breathed out, turning all of my focus to the position of the football. The noise in the stadium increased as the ball was set up in front of me. I took one step, two steps, and connected my toes with the ball, eyes staring at the spot between the goalpost where I wanted the ball to go. A hush fell as the ball listed to the left.

Had I made enough allowance for the wind? I prayed to the gods of football that I had.

The ball sailed through the goalpost, barely missing the left upright, and the crowd went crazy as the referee confirmed what we’d all seen: field goal!  That was three points for my team. Getting those three points with only ten seconds left on the game clock meant that my team had moved into the lead for the first time the entire game. 

My team had just won our division and we were heading to the playoffs! 

My teammates surrounded me, hugging me, thumping me, and finally pushing me up onto someone’s shoulders.  I didn’t notice who it was because I was trying to breathe through the pain.  That last kick had aggravated a chronic hip issue that had gradually been getting worse for the last few months.

It was my last season in the NFL.  I just needed to gut it out and play through the pain. I needed to help my team through the playoffs, so I could finally get the Super Bowl ring I’d dreamed of ever since I first held a football when I was four years old.

As I limped into the tunnel, our head coach caught up with me, slapping me on the shoulder.

Nice job Mason, Coach Grange said warmly.  

Well, warmly for him.  The man wasn’t exactly effusive. He was hard as nails but an excellent coach, and I’d idolized the guy since I was a kid. He was a linebacker back then, before moving into coaching after he retired from playing – a path I planned to follow as well, but on a smaller scale.

Thanks Coach.

He leaned closer, his eyes on my feet as I tried not to limp.

We need to fix your hip and get you through the playoffs.  We don’t have a chance without you, son.

I nodded.  We both knew it wasn’t sentimentality – I was the best kicker we had. One of the top three kickers in the NFL, in fact.  Our team’s back-up kicker was on injured reserve, and the other guy was a rookie who’d fold like a cheap suit if he played in a high-pressure game.  The team was depending on me to help the Cougars get to the big game for the first time in franchise history.

I’m sure the physio guys will figure something out, I reassured him.

He shook his head.  I’ve been talking to them about it, and we all agree that we need to call in the big guns. I’m bringing in Violet.

Violet

No. Absolutely not.

You haven’t even heard my offer yet.

My father spoke to me like I was a stubborn toddler refusing to eat her vegetables.

I don’t need to hear your offer. The answer will still be no.

My mother’s eyes pinged between me and my father, knowing better than to get in the middle.  We were both stubborn as hell.

They say you worked a miracle on that gal who plays soccer, Dad told me with exaggerated patience.  I heard that their team won the championship because of you fixing that gal up. I need you to do that for Mason.

That ‘gal’ is Joy Farris, the best soccer player in the world, I said firmly. 

My father had one disappointment in life: me.