Swagger by Liz Lincoln

“Tight end,” noun: 1. a position in American football, 2. NFL star Marcus James, 3. what any hot-blooded woman can’t stop staring at every time Marcus walks by.

Bree Novak is so close to earning her Ph.D. she can taste it, but she’s supposed to be writing her dissertation, not giving lectures while her advisor slacks off. The semester gets even crazier when veteran tight end Marcus James—Bree’s celebrity crush—enrolls in her “Intro to Physics” class. The man’s even hotter in person than he looks on Sunday Night Football. So why is Bree hoping he drops out? Maybe it’s because Marcus, with his cocky smile and chiseled body, is the ultimate distraction...

Drafted out of college years ago by the Milwaukee Dragons, Marcus is taking advantage of a season-ending knee injury to finish his bachelor’s degree. Plus, thanks to a required science credit, he’s also getting to know the geek goddess who teaches physics. With brains and beauty, Bree is living proof that opposites attract. She’s even kind enough to give Marcus extra help with the material, as if she didn’t have anything better to do. And the more time Marcus spends with her, the more he realizes he’s not just crushing on his teacher—he’s falling for her.

Book 2
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
This is the second book in the series, and a really good read. It is undoubtedly a sports romance, although Marcus is currently on the bench due to an injury, so he is taking the opportunity to catch up on some studying. This leads him to meet PhD student-teacher, Bree, as she is teaching his Physics module. So as well as sports romance, we get the student/teacher dynamic, and hey, it's physics, so there is a lot of fun geekiness thrown in. Give them both parents who can't help but know best and a couple of feline companions, and this really ticks every box – and I must add – in a really good way. In fact, all my plans for my Saturday morning have been shelved as I had to finish this first!

Bree suffers from anxiety, and it is at an all-time high as she gets close to completing her PhD. Throw in a truly awful replacement supervisor, who is the ultimate misogynist and a bully to boot, and coping is becoming even more difficult. So meeting her longtime crush, tight end Marcus James, is surely going to tip her over the edge. Instead, she finds a really good guy who is patient, kind, and weirdly seems to really like her back. It is really fun being along for the ride as she starts to realise this, and even more fun when she breaks some rules and turns rather unexpectedly into quite a sex kitten.

Marcus is not happy about missing a whole season, and Bree certainly helps distract him, but he has a feeling this is a little more important than just a way to pass the time. How it can possibly work with him being her student, and then Bree likely to leave for another job, leads him to ask a favour of a friend... what ensues is complicated, but makes for a really good twist in the story.

Another really good installment, with some great humour, as well as some serious issues being considered, and the romance and passion was both engaging and believable. I am very much looking forward to the next book in the series.


Mary Jo – ☆☆☆☆
Bree and Marcus' relationship starts off slow, which I adore. They took time to get to know each other, their likes and dislikes, and became lovers. Marcus is the dream boyfriend: smart, good looking, and a great listener. Downside: he reacts before he thinks and doesn't always hear what Bree is telling him.

Bree is a working on a doctorate in a male-dominated field and often has to put up with the 'old boys club' that still exists in the area of physics. Her own doctoral adviser seems to the founding father of this particular faction. She's holding her head up, working on her dissertation, and doing her level best to succeed where it seems that everyone wants her to fail. Including her own family.

Being friends with Marcus is something new, he's supportive of her work, her dreams, and wants to help. However, the chip on her shoulder about people "knowing" what's best for her could derail their relationship before it gets off the ground.

Marcus also has some issues with his family not being supportive. His highly successful parents are both doctors as are his sisters. He's the only one in his family who's underachieving. His success on the football field is nothing of note to his family. Their major concern is that he not end up with brain damage before he gives up the game. His season ending injury only solidified his parents’ belief that he needs to do something more meaningful with his life.

Bree and Marcus are good for each other in that they believe in each other and only to build the other up, rather than tearing them down. Marcus has to realize that Bree's independence is an innate part of her just as it is in him.


Lee’Anne – ☆☆
This was just an okay read for me. The storyline progress is slow and I did a lot of skimming towards the middle. The main character, Bree, has had a crush on her favorite football player, Marcus James, forever. Marcus is injured and taking a physics class that Bree is TAing. Though the attraction is immediate, there is a ton of build up to a kiss that she immediately stops because she’s his teacher. Then we have a another few chapters before any more progress is made on the relationship front. I did like Bree’s character a lot, she’s a strong independent woman who is trying to get out from under her controlling family’s thumb – and doing a bang-up job of it by getting ready to graduate with her Ph.D. I was a bit less impressed with Marcus’s character but really, it’s because I just wanted him to grab Bree and claim her, LOL.

This one didn’t leave me wanting more, which was disappointing. Unfortunately, I probably won’t be continuing with this series, but I will most likely check out some of this author’s other work as I really enjoyed book one from this series.

Also Available in the Milwaukee Dragons Series

Book 1
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

For reviews & more info, check out our On the Line post.

Liz Lincoln has been concocting stories as long as she can remember, and from the beginning they involved two people falling in love. When she’s not writing, she spends her time rooting for the UW Badgers and the Green Bay Packers (or yearning for the return of football season), cross-stitching sassy sayings or nerdy characters (Wonder Woman is her favorite), and drinking too much Diet Coke. She lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her husband, two kids, two cats, and a turtle.

Connect with Liz

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Swagger (Milwaukee Dragons #2) by Liz Lincoln to read and review.