An exchange of favors, a slow-burn hockey romance, and lots of baggage
Plot:
Recently graduated sports rehab therapist, Stevie, moves into her brother's apartment across from NHL player, Bishop. The two start off on the entirely wrong foot, practically hating each other until they find themselves in a situation that could be beneficial to both of them. He’s in need of extra rehab for an injury and rehabbing a NHL star would look stellar on her resume to help her get a job where she doesn’t have to see her cheating ex every day. The two dance around their growing chemistry in a delicious slow-burn sports romance.
Review:
I’ll admit I was hesitant to read this one since I didn’t love its predecessor, but this one took a total 180! Stevie and Bishop were both such interesting and endearing characters and their chemistry was through the roof. If you read the first in this series you briefly met Stevie, Rook Bowman’s younger sister, and even in that book where she was a secondary character, you felt her personality leap off the page. I’m so glad this book exists and we could see Stevie flourish into the feisty and quick-witted character she turned into.
Stevie and Bishop’s rocky introduction was anything but a meet-cute in the best way. It showed the current messiness of her life (just out of a terrible relationship, starting a new job where her ex is a co-worker, and currently broke) and his integrity (since he originally hated her when he thought she was the side-piece of his married captain, not the sister) right off the bat.
Bishop getting injured on the ice and needing someone to rehab him while Stevie was starting her career as a sports rehab therapist was a cliche storyline, but it worked! Hunting flawlessly weaved their lives together so they both got something out of it (a favor for a favor, if you will) and their close proximity to each other allowed their love story to naturally develop. Nothing felt forced which was a nice change from the first of this series.
The only thing that knocked this down one star for me was like the first book, I wanted more dialogue - I wanted them to dive a little deeper to show why they fell so hard. With that said, I still understood why they fell in love and felt that love through all of their actions - especially Bishop’s.
Bishop easily turned into a favorite character of mine. His protectiveness and ability to know when Stevie needed him to step in and when he needed to shut up and let her fight her own battles was especially endearing. They understood each other in a way no one did before, not even their family, and Hunting did a great job conveying that so you really rooted for them.
Even the secondary characters in this book were charming. Bishop’s brother was a lovable man-whore dealing with his own shit and I would read an entire book on him and his antics. Hunting wrote the next book about Bishop’s teammate and best friend, King, and I already know that I am going to be in love with him from just the little we saw of him in this story. The only secondary characters that annoyed me were Rook and Lainey, the main characters from the first book - their personalities couldn’t be redeemed in this one either. Although I will admit I did love the interactions between Rook and Bishop in this book.
All in all, watching Stevie break down Bishop’s grumpy and tough exterior was adorable and his resistance to her was comical. If you’re looking for a good sports romance, I recommend skipping right to this one in the series!
Rating:
4/5 Stars
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