Book Review: The Defender

Last year (and by last year I mean 2024), I read and loved The Striker – the first book in Ana Huang’s Gods of the Game series. The second book, The Defender, came out this past fall and I just read it last week.

The Defender follows Vincent DuBois (Scarlett’s brother) and her best friend Brooklyn Armstrong. Not only is Brooklyn, Scarlett’s best friend, but she’s also Vincent’s coach’s daughter, and an intern nutritionist for Blackcastle – the professional soccer/football team that Vincent is the team caption of.

Vincent and Brooklyn have known each other for a while since she works for the team and she is best friends with his sister. In that time, they have gotten on each other’s nerves and purposely try to push each other’s buttons. Whenever they see each other they are bickering and sarcastic with each other. When Vincent becomes the victim of a stalker, he needs to find a safe place to stay until the stalker is found. Hotels have too many fans and paparazzi around and his brief stay with Scarlett and her boyfriend Asher, Vincent’s teammate, ended in him walking in on them fooling around so that was a no-go either. When their friends suggest Vincent stay in Brooklyn’s apartment since she has a spare room, the two don’t particularly want to do it but they decide to anyway. Vincent needs a place to stay that wouldn’t be teeming with people and Brooklyn could use the extra cash.

As Vincent and Brooklyn get to know each other better now that they’re temporary roommates, they realize there’s a lot more to the other person than they thought. And they both have family issues that they have kept to themselves for most of their lives, but begin to confide in each other. The tension gives way to becoming closer and closer. Will the two give in to their attraction to one another? Will Vincent’s stalker be found?

I loved this book and really enjoyed Vincent and Brooklyn. The tension between the two of them was so good and I loved that they tried to resist one another. It made it more fun and steamy! There was one thing I was disappointed with in this book and that had to do with the stalker storyline. I don’t want to spoil anything about it so I can’t tell you what exactly is the thing in that storyline that I didn’t like, but I do share it in my GoodReads review! Aside from that one thing, I really enjoyed this book!

Side note: I kept forgetting that Vincent and Scarlett are siblings. This didn’t effect my opinion ont he book, but I remembering a few times while I read I would be reading a scene with Scarlett and then go “oh yeahhhh, they’re siblings!”

Read this if you want a spicy sports romance with the forced proximity trope.

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