The Defender
by Ana Huang
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Book two in the Gods of the Game series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Ana Huang for fans of sports romances, sizzling heat, and all the delicious tension you could ask for.
He has to play by the rules...but for her, he'd break them all.
As the captain of Blackcastle Football Club and one of the highest-paid athletes in the game, Vincent DuBois should be on top of the world.
But when his fame brings danger to his doorstep, he finds himself in a nightmare scenario--sharing a flat with his coach's daughter, knowing full well she's far too big a temptation for him to resist.
When his new living arrangements escalate into a bet that throws them even closer together, he realizes he's in deeper trouble than he thought.
He's always played to win--but for her, he might just risk it all.
***
As a sports nutritionist and the daughter of a legendary coach, Brooklyn Armstrong is used to dealing with hotshot athletes.
However, no player gets under her skin like Vincent, her best friend's infuriatingly cocky (and gorgeous) brother. She left California hoping for a fresh start, and he's the kind of distraction she doesn't need.
Now, he's sleeping in the room next to hers while her career is up in the air and her defenses are crumbling.
But no matter how many sparks fly between them, a relationship between the captain and the coach's daughter could never work...could it?
Tropes to love:
- Soccer romance
- Best friend's brother
- Forced proximity
- Captain x coach's daughter
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Book Details
- ISBN
- 9781464223334
- Binding
- Paperback
- Authors
- Ana Huang
- Publisher
- Bloom Books
- Published Date
- October 28, 2025
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 464
- Physical Info
- 1.3 in H x 8.4 in L x 5.5 in W (0.95 lb)

The book was in perfect condition. The smell was amazing. I love the smell of book pages.
Great book of the series looking forward to the next book
Ana is always a 5⭐️ for me!! Brooklyn and Vincent were EVERYTHING and I loved how we had all those light hearted moments with a lot of depth in those issues our characters had. Sprinkle that in with a bit of mystery?? I was eating it up!! A soccer (sorry, football) romance is a new one for me but I love it just as much as any other sport I’ve read about. You can really tell Ana does her research!! All in all, a solid second installment that has me super eager for our single dad romance next!
It was good, but felt slow-paced. I'm giving it four stars for that reason. I liked the fact that the book is promoted as a Soccer Romance and we got some sport action in that, I love when books do this and not just say that the MMC/FMC are athletes and never do their actual sport. The ending was worth reading it though, I was not expecting that twist.
Amazing book