Review: VERY DISJOINTED PLOT
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 6, 2013
I like novels with sports heroes but I just couldn't like this one very much. First there was just too much telling in the first few chapters. As a new reader of this author's work, I had no idea the Ukrainian hockey hero and heroine had a previous one night stand so the hero came across as an obnoxious bully as he tried to run away her dates. The heroine was a very educated team psychologist for the hockey team and the hero, by his own admission, had difficulty with learning.Second,I didn't feel an emotional connection or sexual tension between either character even though we are told it's there. When the characters finally got together again (sexually), he had just discovered he had avascular necrosis and his hockey career was over. He then had a miraculously quick recovery from total hip surgery. The author might have consulted with someone knowledgeable about the disease and procedure. Usually, you cannot put any weight on an uncemented hip for 6 weeks. With a cemented or hybrid (one piece cemented and one piece uncemented) hip, you can usually put some weight on the leg, but you'll still need a walker, a cane, or crutches for up to 8 weeks. Although the average reader wouldn't notice this, it bothered me as a medical professional.Third, the author inserts a new plot twist by having a young daughter the  hero was unaware of from a previous relationship show up at his door with the family lawyer. The mother of the child had died and the story morphs into one of childhood depression, bullying and self mutilation by the child. In between all of these plot twists and sex scenes, love was supposed to develop but I never felt the emotion.The only plot twist not thrown in was the hero's immigration status. The characters just never grabbed my interest. However, it could have been better if the author had stuck to one plot or if she had gotten some substantial content editing.