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Rachel Spangler

Thrust Kindle Edition

by Rachel Spangler (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.6 511 ratings

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Fencing prodigy Jess Kidman has always been ahead of her peers. At the age of thirteen she made the varsity team, won a state championship, came out, and fell head over heels in love with her team captain, Lauren Standish. After being gently rebuffed by the high school senior, young Jess vowed she would return for her some day when their age difference became irrelevant and her own accomplishments made her not merely an equal, but an Olympian. Ten years later, Jess makes good on her promise, but when she arrives back in Buffalo a few months before the big games, she’s intrigued to find that the woman she’s always dreamed of could also be exactly the coach she needs to win gold.

Lauren, however, isn’t the bubbly team captain she’d been at eighteen. After a stellar collegiate career of her own, circumstances forced her to put her dreams on the shelf and return to Buffalo. She’d made peace with a quiet life spent running a rust belt fencing club and coaching kids when Team USA’s hottest young fencer waltzes back into her life. As much as Lauren finds Jess’s confidence and athleticism alluring, she also sees the hotheaded superstar as a threat to the carefully controlled world rebuilt in the wake of the traumatic loss she is desperate to avoid reliving. Never one to turn her back on a friend in need, Lauren agrees to coach Jess on the condition that they focus only on the swordplay and not the sharp point of attraction threatening to sever the bonds of her professionalism.

The two women set to work preparing for the biggest event,but as tension mounts in the lead-up to the Olympic Games, the pressure and the passion building between them also grows, leaving both to wonder if Jess is trying to win the gold, or win the girl.

Print length

334 pages
Language

English
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On Kindle Scribe
Publication date

June 13, 2021
File size

1436 KB
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Rachel Spangler is the Goldie, IPPY, and Alice B award-winning author of nineteen women-loving-women romance novels, including the Lambda finalists Heart of the Game, Perfect Pairing, Close to Home, and In Development. They live with their wife and son in Western New York, and always make time for a good romance, whether reading it, writing it, or living it. To learn more visit www.rachelspangler.com or find them on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon.

Rachel lives in Western New York with wife, Susan and son, Jackson. Their family spends the long winters curling and skiing. In the summer, they love to travel and watching their beloved St. Louis Cardinals. Regardless of the season, Rachel always makes time for a good romance, whether reading it, writing it, or living it. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0977JMHMM
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Brisk Press (June 13, 2021)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 13, 2021
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1436 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 334 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #259,990 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,405 in Lesbian Fiction
- #1,627 in Lesbian Romance
- #1,715 in Gay & Lesbian

Customer Reviews:
4.6 511 ratings

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Rachel Spangler

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Rachel Spangler never set out to be an award winning author. She was just so poor and easily bored during her college years that she had to come up with creative ways to entertain herself, and her first novel, Learning Curve, was born out of one such attempt. She was sincerely surprised when it was accepted for publication and even more shocked when it won the Golden Crown Literary Award for Debut Author. She also won a Goldie for her second novel, Trails Merge. Since writing is more fun than a real job, and so much cheaper than therapy, Rachel continued to type away, leading to the publication of The Long Way Home, LoveLife, Spanish Heart, Does She Love You, Timeless and Heart Of The Game. She plans to continue writing as long as anyone anywhere will keep reading. Her next book, Perfect Pairing, will be released by Bywater Books in June, 2016.

Rachel and her wife, Susan, are raising their young son in western New York, where during the winter they make the most of the lake effect snow on local ski slopes. In the summer, they love to travel and watch their beloved St. Louis Cardinals. Regardless of the season, she always makes time for a good romance, whether she’s reading it, writing it, or living it.

Rachel also serves as the Director of Social Media for Bywater Books.

For more information your visit Rachel online at www.rachelspangler.com or on Facebook.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

511 global ratings

5 star		72%
4 star		20%
3 star		7%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Lily MayAmazon Customer

Compelling

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 8, 2022

Verified Purchase

Loved this book and the peek into the world of Olympic level fencing. Each main character transformed into her better self as the story progressed. Lots of angst, excitement and chemistry. “sexy women with swords”? For sure!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 15, 2021

Verified Purchase

Good:
The storyline was very intriguing. I love the prologue. It was gentle and very well written giving their ages. It didn’t feel creepy, it felt like a school girl crush. The first chapter, I like the character build and the display of their personalities. I loved how the book was focused on the mental health of the characters. The ending was beautiful. I look forward to a possible 2nd book- maybe the ending hinted to the two best friends of the main characters hooking up?? I would love that.

Not going to say bad, per se, but just improvements maybe:

The first chapter, even though it did build the foundation of the characters it felt as if the past and present was rushed. You’re telling me she literally waited 10 years to reach out to a girl that she loved from the first moment?? I felt as if she had more mental problems than just fencing and what was said in the book. It was totally illogical. Like you were 13, maybe it was the cockiness and true love factor that kept being mentioned, that explained why this was logical.

Also, how she asked her to be her coach, going to the owner and low key ganging up on her. That was very telling of entitlement issues, in my opinion lol . Yes, it was hinted at that she always gets what she wants but not flat out said was the privilege of the main character. I feel as if that was an underhand theme throughout the book. You have one character full of privilege and the other who through family hardship had their privilege ripped apart. I do love that idea, but it just wasn’t flushed out very well.

Next, the repetitiveness of Lauren not feeling like she’s not good enough, which I get she had traumas of her own, but it didn’t feel like she really understood Lauren’s hesitation. she just got her way. from being told no and no- to simply yes I’ll love you forever.

This book was beautifully written, the one full blown love scene felt right! A good slow burn! I just felt most of the novel was focused on them going back in forth on I can’t do this I can’t do this, okay I can. And a lot of talking but no scenes/action of actually Lauren trying. It was as if Lauren worked everything out with talks from other characters vs actions with the main character.

Lastly, the idea of her being a great coach was interesting, which I liked and kind of didn’t like. It was good because basically the main character just needed someone to support her and break through to her mentally. That’s a good theme, and shows that sports are very mental not just physical, but on the other hand I get why Lauren is scared snd finds this hit crazy to think she could do it because they haven’t met since high school for one year at the age of 13 for the main character. So again, this goes back to the first chapter/prologue- other than that one scene and Lauren being her crush- why is she great? I look forward to maybe more of that in the 2nd book. What did she do to help the main other than being her crush and someone she can talk to personally? Which is enough but I need more value built into her skills.

I will recommend this book to anyone!! The points I made were small and definitely didn’t stop me from reading!! There are so many different directions the author could take from here. I’m not sure if there will be a 2nd book but I truly hope so!!!

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Michelle

Thrust

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 20, 2022

Verified Purchase

Rachel Spangler is amazingly talented author. The books show dedication to the sport and love. The chemistry is strong and vibrant. I truly enjoy the books Rachel puts out. I look forward to more.

Helpful

Margaret Snow

Wonderful Sabre fencing romance

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 16, 2022

Verified Purchase

I love sports romances and this one clicks all of the boxes. Young Olympic hopeful and an older jaded coach, working to Crack the secret of how the nemesis wins.

I am not a fencer and have grown to love it a bit. The fencing education was blended seamlessly as the coach teaches her best friend.

I am hoping that reading about the joys of training will inspire me to get up and move!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 3, 2022

Verified Purchase

There isn't much I can say as a review beyond the title here, but this story was well paced and had great action amongst the romance. I may even look into some fencing videos to see if I learned anything. Lol

Helpful

Anna Gramlich

Spangler's forte is a romantic gem.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 2, 2021

Verified Purchase

I’m sure I’ve said this before, but it holds true every time. I have always enjoyed Spangler’s writing, but something about their sports romances, I truly feel it’s their forte. Jess and Lauren are perfectly matched. Jess with her sure-fire fortitude makes Lauren see that all dreams should not be sacrificed and need to be nurtured and fought for. In addition, the research is so spot-on. I don’t know anything about fencing and I was able to follow the bouts pretty easily. Seriously, if Spangler ever announced they were never going to write another sports romance again, I would cry. So, hopefully such an announcement will never happen and Spangler will continue to give us awesome sports romances that highlight the sport as well as the women who love them and each other.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Laurie Jacob

Another win for Rachel Spangler!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 3, 2021

Verified Purchase

Rachel Spangler writes about sports in a way that even someone like me, who knows little about sports and cares even less, can enjoy her books. She finds the right balance between info-dump and assuming the reader already knows about the rules, form, training, and strategy of the sport about which she is writing. (Everything I currently know about fencing and curling, I know from reading her work.) It's one reason I buy her sports related books when, in general, it's not a sub-genre I gravitate towards.
Another reason I buy her books is it's Rachel Freaking Spangler! I continue to marvel at her growth as an author. I love that her characters are complex yet relatable. They are not perfect nor are they caricatures.
I'll leave the synopsis-style review to others but if you're wondering if Thrust is worth your time and money, I assure you it is.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Kaitlin Wood

Five-Star Read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 4, 2021

Verified Purchase

This is one of the best books that I have read this year. Lauren was wonderful and caring, but Jess absolutely stole the show for me. There is something about her unwavering dedication and passion, not only for fencing but also for the love of her life (starting all the way back when she was only thirteen), that is inspiring and makes Jess one of the most endearing characters I've ever read about in a story. I had never heard of Rachel Spangler before starting this book, but now I can't wait to see what other incredible characters and couples she has already created, as well as what she will write in the future.

2 people found this helpful

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CFive

I DON'T HAVE THIS BOOK

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 12, 2021

Verified Purchase

Five stars because I don't have this book and it seems most unfair to mark down a book I don't have and have not read. In case you are less than thrilled that I've written a review it seems to be the only way I can get it out of my review list. If it helps I do have other books by this author and they are very good :-)

Smokie

Very good

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 17, 2021

Verified Purchase

Only four stars as I found it difficult to follow at times. Who was speaking or doing something changed frequently and what appeared to be total change of subject from one to another. The chemistry between the two was tangible and believable.

Amazon Customer

Not what I expected - didn't finish it.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 22, 2021

Verified Purchase

Not what I expected - didn't finish it.

Cliente Amazon

Muito bom!

Reviewed in Brazil 🇧🇷 on June 27, 2021

Verified Purchase

Rachel Spangler está facilmente no top 3 de melhores autoras de romances lésbicos que já encontrei! Qualquer livro q ela publique eu corro pra ler. Todos os livros dela são interessantes, bem escritos e com histórias bem pensadas. Esse não é diferente! O estilo de escrita continua impecável, entregando detalhes da história aos poucos e de forma natural, fazendo o leitor intuir que há questões mais profundas nas personagens. A forma como a autora escreve é deliciosa, em especial em Thrust a intensidade das duas personagens principais. A relação das duas poderia ser muito problemática, mas Spangler expõe e trabalha todos os conflitos de interesses e desequilíbrios de poder que pudessem existir de maneira delicada e constrói a interação entre elas de uma forma tão delicada que não deixa margem para abusos. E a química entre elas é excepcional! Evolução da trama bem ritmada, escrita flui bem demais, e confesso que o clímax me fez derramar algumas lágrimas bobas que só um bom final feliz de uma boa história de amor consegue tirar da gente. Li em três dias, mas poderia ter lido numa noite se não precisasse trabalhar. Uma felicidade encontrar um livro assim!

One person found this helpful

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Mya😉

Wow

Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on August 30, 2021

Verified Purchase

I couldn't put it down as I started reading this book, I did nothing for a whole day other than reading it, it really captured my mind and attention. The funny part was I buy it accidentally as I wanted to read the summary of the Story before I buy it but instead I click the buy option, it was the best accidentally purchase I ever made. I really loved the story and it progress. I just love it

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