Celebrate
Summer with A Deceptive Match – A
Spicy Contemporary Romance
By
Kelli A. Wilkins
Happy Summer everyone!
To celebrate
the summer months, I’m posting a “Summer Romance Series” of blogs. Today I’m sharing
a look at my spicy summer romance, A Deceptive Match.
A Deceptive Match is a contemporary
romance set in the world of professional wrestling. Watching wrestling has been
a tradition in my family for generations (all the way back to my great-grandmother),
so I wasn’t entirely surprised when I got the idea to write a wrestling
romance. Nowadays, wrestling is more popular than ever, and I’m glad it’s
getting the attention it deserves.
I took my knowledge of the wrestling world
(the good, the bad, and the controversial) and used it as the base for the
story. As I considered various plots, I decided the premise would be: a
reporter spends a month on the road with wrestlers and writes an in-depth story
on the business. The catch? The reporteris a woman named Danni (short for
Danielle) and she’s matched up with an uncooperative wrestler named Vinnie
Valentine.
Vinnie is forced into this arrangement by
his greedy, manipulative boss, Nick August. Vinnie is recovering from a knee
injury and is at a crossroads in his career. Nick isn’t subtle about taking
away Vin’s championship belt (and his livelihood) if the magazine story doesn’t
go well.
And so begins a long and hot summer where
Danni and Vin are on the road together, traveling from hotel to hotel and arena
to arena. If you’ve ever spent time traveling in a car with someone you don’t
get along with in the middle of summer, you can imagine the conflict between
these two characters! Things get off to a bad start, and Vin isn’t thrilled to
play “babysitter” to a woman reporter because he knows it will ruin his
reputation with the other wrestlers.
Danni is out of her element and forced to
adapt to a world she knows nothing about. Her own insecurities and worries make
the situation even worse and she inadvertently causes lots of trouble for Vin. As
the book progresses, Danni gets a first-hand look at how the wrestling industry
works, from what goes on backstage to how the wrestlers interact with each
other, the fans, and theiregotistical boss.
And this wouldn’t be a romance without
some heat, right? Although Danni calls Vin an arrogant caveman, she finds him
attractive. Despite his best intentions, Vin finds himself drawn to Danni, but
he is hesitant to get involved with her. They’re both carrying lots of baggage
from past relationships and fight the desire they feel for each other. In
addition to the “heat” between these characters, I added details to the story
to enhance the summer romance feel. It’s August and they’re trapped in a warm
car, Danni is wearing short skirts, Vin gets all hot and sweaty during his
matches… You can imagine the rest!
I don't want to give away too much of the
plot or share too many spoilers, but over the course of the summer Vin and
Danni open up to each other and realize they have more in common than they once
thought. Danni comes to Vin’s rescue on a few occasions and even finds herself
in the center of a wrestling storyline. Vin uses his charm and humor to break
through Danni’s aloof exterior, and they begin a very heated and passionate
affair.
I know wrestling isn’t a “traditional”
sport like baseball or football, and when I wrote the book I realized that
romance readers might not understand—or even like—wrestling. So I used my
knowledge of the wrestling world as way to show Danni (and readers) “the ropes”
of the business.
Since Danni’s a reporter, she asks a lot
of questions, and Vin gives her easy-to-understand answers. These details help
readers who know nothing about wrestling follow along with the terminology and
let them visualize the action as it takes place in the ring.
A Deceptive Match also introduces
readers to Vin’s best friend, Everett Kinkade. Ev is Vin’s former tag team partner,
and he appears as a prominent secondary character. Ev offers advice to Vin and
Danni and plays counselor (and matchmaker) when the need arises.
Ev has the reputation of a ladies’ man and
he’s the hunky wrestling heartthroball women dream about—but he’s hiding a big
secret. I fell in love with Ev while writing the book and decided he needed his
own story, so I wrote A Secret Match. (I talked about that
book in another blog.) A Secret Match is not a sequel to A
Deceptive Match per se, but
it features the same wrestling world and has lots of crossover characters,
including Vin and Danni.
A Deceptive Match is one of my
favorite books. I loved creating the conflict between Vin and Danni and showing
how hurt and vulnerable each of them are. And I had fun writing the wrestling
scenes! A reader told me you “could see the action taking place on the page and
feel the excitement and adrenaline.” Those are great compliments—especially
from a non-wrestling fan.
A Deceptive Match received great
reviews and I’m happy that readers love the book. It’s got everything a good wrestling
storyline needs: heroes, heels, action, drama, humor, betrayal, suspense—and in
this case—hot love scenes. I hope you’ll check it out and fall for Danni and
Vin as hard as I did.
A Deceptive Match
Falling for the wrestler she had been assigned to interview wasn’t part of
Danni’s plan, until Vinnie Valentine pinned her heart in a flash.
Disgruntled
with her job as the office assistant for a national sports magazine, Danni
Stone impersonates a reporter to prove herself to her boss. Her assignment?
Spend thirty days on the road with Vinnie Valentine, a sexy professional
wrestler.
Life isn’t going well for the Heavyweight Champ. Vinnie is struggling with a
manipulative boss, prepping for the most important match of his career, and
feuding with his arch-enemy, Thorn. The last thing he needs is a nosy reporter
following him around—even if she is hot.
Thrown together in close quarters, Danni can’t help falling for Vinnie, and she
unwittingly becomes a key player in his title match. Their mutual attraction
grows, and late one night, they give in to the lustful feelings they’ve been
fighting.
As their relationship deepens, Danni
considers telling Vinnie her secret. But
before she can confess the truth, Vinnie discovers she isn't the reporter she
claims to be. Her lie threatens to ruin everything between them. Will their
relationship be destroyed by her deception or will their love win out?
Read
reviews and order A Deceptive Match here: https://www.kelliwilkins.com/a-deceptive-match
Don’t
miss the follow-up book, A Secret Match:
https://www.kelliwilkins.com/a-secret-match
I hope you enjoyed this
“Summer Romance Series” blog. Visit my site www.kelliwilkins.com
to learn about all of my books, read more blogs, and get links to my social
media.
Happy Summer,
Kelli
A. Wilkins
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR
Kelli A. Wilkins is an award-winning author who has
published more than 100 short stories, 24 romance novels, and 9
mystery/thriller/horror ebooks. Her romances span many genres and settings, and
she likes to scare readers with her horror, mystery, and thriller fiction.
Her latest book, The Route 9 Stalker, was
published in January 2026. This mystery/thriller is set in Central NJ and
follows Detective Jim Rourke on a disturbing new case. Meet him for the first
time in The Route 9 Killer.
Look for a new short story coming in August! Kelli’s story “Neighborhood Watch” will be
included in the upcoming Witches Save the
World: Covens, Cauldrons and Curses Gone Right anthology.
Kelli's 24th
romance, For Love’s Sake, an epic historical/fantasy
romantic adventure, was published in January 2025.
In 2024, she
released Surreal Escapes, a collection of 7
speculative/spooky stories. Anything can—and does—happen in this anthology.
Follow Kelli on her Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKelliWilkins
and visit her website/blog www.KelliWilkins.com
for a full title list, social media links, and more.
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