Heart Keeper by Annie Dyer

This author keeps mesmerizing me with her wonderfully written, steamy romances, and I think I’ve found my new favorite from her. The third in the Manchester Athletic series brings us Nate and Amber’s story, and it is so much more than I bargained for. There’s drama and angst but so much tenderness coupled with scorching moments, and I couldn’t get enough.

When the book begins, we find that Nate is still trying to move forward from his wife’s death two years prior while trying to raise his two young daughters, but it seems that one of the team’s physios has caught his attention. Amber is a strong minded, career-driven woman, but she feels something is there between her and Nate. What starts as a fling develops into more when they’re struck with a surprise neither of them had counted on. Their relationship goes from coworkers to so much more through this book, and we get to experience all their ups and downs with them.

Where to even start? Nate is I think the swooniest of the heroes in this series and for good reason: he’s the hot goalkeeper that’s also a doting single father. He’s sort of the perfect man in that he’s kind and considerate and seems to be an all-around good guy. There’s nothing irksome about his character, but I think it’s great that he’s not written as exactly being “perfect” either. He worries and is slightly flawed, and he’s a very realistically written character. And Amber is just as good. She’s written as the kind of woman you want to be friends with and has goals and a strong sense of self. I appreciate female characters that don’t need a prince charming, and if one comes along then she’s not going to necessarily make it easy for him to win her heart. It’s refreshing, and I adore her character. Something Dyer does incredibly well is that she writes women that are fierce in their own ways, and I appreciate that.  

Plus, this is a very maturely done romance. There’s a huge something that happens, and the way it’s handled is done perfectly. I don’t want to give anything away (you’ll know when you read it), but the way the subject matter is dealt with is exactly as it should’ve been. There’s an understanding through the pages of this book that certain sensitive decisions were up to one of the characters and it was all discussed with such care, which I simply loved reading.

The tenderness and complexity of this book makes it one of my favorites of the year so far, and I wholeheartedly recommend it for anyone that loves sports romance (or even just romance in general). I adore these characters, and I think you will, too.