Homecoming King

Penny Reid

Dec 2021 · Three Kings Book 1 · Cipher-Naught

About this ebook

Rex "TW" McMurtry’s perpetual single-hood wouldn't bother him so much if all his ex-girlfriends didn't keep marrying the very next person they dated, especially when so many of those grooms are his closest friends. He may be a pro-football defensive end for the Chicago Squalls, but the press only wants to talk about how he's always a groomsman and never a groom. Rex is sick of being the guy before the husband, and he’s most definitely sick of being the best man at all their weddings.

Bartender Abigail McNerny is the gal-pal, the wing-woman, the she-BFF. She's dated. Once. And once was more than enough. Privy to all the sad stories of her customers, ‘contentment over commitment’ is her motto, and Abby is convinced no one on earth could ever entice her into a romantic relationship . . . except that one guy she’s loved since preschool.

The guy who just walked into her bar.

The guy who doesn’t recognize her.

The guy who is drunk and needs a ride home.

The guy who has a proposition she should definitely refuse.

Ratings and reviews

HOMECOMING KING is the first instalment in Penny Reid’s contemporary, adult THREE KINGS erotic, romance series. This is professional football player Rex ‘TW” McMurtry, and twenty-eight year old, bartender Abigail “Abby” McNerny’s story line. Told from first person perspective (Abigail) HOMECOMING KING follows the fake relationship/marriage between professional football player Rex ‘TW” McMurtry, and twenty-eight year old, bartender Abigail McNerny. Defensive end for the Chicago Squalls , Rex McMurtry, rolled into Abigail McNerny’s bar, and unknowingly found himself, the next morning, hungover and recovering from a night he could not remember but Abigail remembered our story line hero, having lusted after Rex for most of her life including preschool, grade school, high school and so on. Rex’s return to his hometown came with an offer, an offer of marriage for our story line heroine. What ensues is the building romance but fake marriage between Rex and Abigail, and the potential fall-out as Abigail tries desperately to remember that her marriage isn’t real, but the heart wants something too good to be true. Rex TW McMurtry is one of the few single men on his team, having dated then setting up everyone of his married friends with the woman he saw. Struggling with the lack of his own happily ever after, Rex had wandered home, in an effort to forget about what he thought he would never have. Abigail McNerny’s past is haunted by betrayal, and in this, she battles between head and heart believing a fake relationship with Rex could only end in disaster. Still struggling with her own demons, Abigail’s relationship with Rex has placed a target on our story line heroine. The relationships between Rex and Abigail is a fake marriage between childhood schoolmates that quickly turns into something more. Abigail has had a crush on Rex McMurtry all of her life but she never thought Rex would take an interest in someone from back home. The $ex scenes are limited but passionate and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text. We are introduced to several of Rex’s teammates; his Aunt Sal and Uncle Terry; his best friend and actor Cyrus Malcolm; Abigail’s boss/father figure Walker; her best friend Kaylee, as well as her ex Declan. HOMECOMING KING is a fast paced and fun yet emotional story. The premise is wonderfully engaging; the romance is seductive; the characters are charismatic and energetic-the back and forth between Abby and Rex is humorous and entertaining.

4.5 stars — This review is going to be a bit all over the place…it happens sometimes, and sometimes it’s just too hard to wrangle my brain in order, so I leave it. Abby delighted me. She was wonderfully quirky and odd. I wish this story had been dual POV, but I suppose I can understand that the story was not built for dual POV. I just prefer Ms. Reid’s dual POV books, because her heroes are…complicated and enigmatic. Rex and Abby totally had a bit of a Quinn and Janie feel (from Neanderthal Seeks Human). She was super odd, he was enthralled, she had no idea, there was some unreliable narratorness because of that. He gets described with words like menacing on occasion, and Lenore gets confused about what that’s supposed to look like, and it messes with her enjoying the romance… *shrugs* Abby was sweet, a bit naive, and definitely damaged. She had a big heart though, I loved the way she couldn’t help but want to help the ones she loved, including Rex. Definite girl crush on her, she had me laughing so many times with her quirky sense of humour, and her wonderful awkwardness that was so easy to connect with. As might be obvious from the above, Rex was a bit confusing. The parts of him I loved, I LOVED. But I didn’t quite get all of who he was. I did feel like we got to see his vulnerabilities a bit more than, say, Quinn (from NSH). They were pretty adorable together. They had this fun chemistry that blew up from friendship to more. Obviously there was a lot of crush feelings on Abby’s side, but you could tell, even from her POV, that he had caught the feels. Which could make it frustrating when she kept denying it to herself. I appreciated that while she saw so much more of him than most people, she still didn’t know all of him and he surprised her. The Christmas aspect wasn’t as strong as I was expecting necessarily, but that didn’t affect my enjoyment at all. I’m really looking forward to the other two books in this series, and it’s going to be so hard to wait. I hope it’s Cyrus next, since he’s the one we got to get to know. Basically, this book was awesomesauce, and the only reason I’m rounding down instead of up is because I was a bit kerfuffled by the characters at times.

No one does quirky, awkward like Penny Reid. I LOVED this slow burn, fake marriage romance! Abby works as a bartender and has spent the most of her adult life trying to scrape herself out of the mess made from her one foray into love. She doesn't date, and besides a few close friends she mainly sticks to herself and her hobbies. Things take a drastic change for her when Rex, her childhood/high school crush walks into her bar and not long after proposes they have a "fake" marriage. I love Penny Reid's writing style and how well she writes those quirky, funny characters that either do things or think things that make me laugh out loud while reading. This was a slow burn, sweet romance but I loved it. Couldn't put it down once I started and read it through in one sitting. My hope is that the Three Kings series will feature Rex's friends in each of the other books because I'd love to see both of them get their own stories!

About the author

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Penny Reid is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of the Winston Brothers and Knitting in the City series. She used to spend her days writing federal grant proposals as a biomedical researcher, but now she writes kissing books. Penny is an obsessive knitter and manages the #OwnVoices-focused mentorship incubator / publishing imprint, Smartypants Romance. She lives in Seattle Washington with her husband, three kids, and dog named Hazel.

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Upcoming Releases:

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Currently Working On:

2021: Homecoming King, Three Kings Series, Book 1