Review: Eight stories for hockey romance fans with something for everyone.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 18, 2014
Overall antho rating: 3.5 starsStand-out stories: Hooking Hannah by Cassandra Carr and Cindy Carr, Crashing the Boards by Jami Davenport, Blind Pass by Bianca Sommerland and Heir Apparent by V.L. Locey because the characters were mature, confident to an extent and some great dialogues. Those were great stories. Read them!In the middle for me were Tangled in the Laces by Toni Aleo. I don't read NA, but this couple was so adorable and the major drama hit me right in the gut. The downfall here was the cliffhanger ending with a note saying their story will continue in a full-length novel in 2015.Taking a Shot by Catherine Gayle: This story definitely required a big box of tissues. It was also the second NA story, but it was so touching, I didn't even mind. Very touching.Captain, My Captian by Nikki Worrell: Predictable plot and the dialogue sounded a little juvenile in places. One scene that made little sense to me for its presence was between Keith and a random hook-up named Pip. That scene contributed nothing to this story and just felt thrown in, so I have to wonder if that little ditty won't come back to haunt him later in the series. The story was okay but forgettable.Least favorite was A Valuable Trade by Jaymee Jacobs: The characters were whiny, depressing and had zero chemistry. I'm also not a fan of cheating heroes. Despite the best efforts to make it seem like the girlfriend had already checked out of the relationship at the very beginning of the story, I don't think the attempt to make the cheating seem okay was accomplished. The dialogue between the hero and the girlfriend didn't help either. The girlfriend was mad yet indifferent and still had to “think” about relocating to him. After that point, I skimmed heavily, but I was no longer vested in a happy outcome for either of them.The Bottom LineEight novellas that had something for everyone. Of the eight stories, three were NA and the rest were adult romances. Only two touched on the subject of cancer, and you will need tissues.Personally, I avoid the NA genre because I prefer older characters. I'm just not a fan of teen or tween angst. Having said that, I didn't know they were NA stories when I signed up for the ARC. I wasn't even aware that the majority of the stories tied in to already published series, but I decided to give them a try.If you love hockey heroes in your romances, then you'll love this anthology and all the diverse stories. It's also a great way to get introduced to some hockey romance series out there. I would purchase this solely for the cause.FD: Complimentary copy via author assistant for a blog tour in exchange for an honest review.