Review: Entertaining Character-Driven Romance!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 6, 2013
Hockey and romance combine beautifully in Cassandra Carr’s Underneath It All, a compelling and delightful read and a nice addition to the Storm series.As part of the Buffalo Storm’s public relations program, Rob D’Amico is assigned to read books to kindergarteners at an inner city school. Rob is stunned that he is attracted to kindergarten teacher Alaina Rossa for two reasons: 1. Alaina seems put off that he is a hockey player and 2. Alaina is not his usual type. Since the children welcome Rob with open arms, he thoroughly enjoys his time with them. On the other hand, Rob hates that the children’s classroom is lacking basic school supplies. Not wanting the kids to go without, Rob donates money to Alaina for the needed school supplies. Rob’s generous heart makes him the perfect leading man. I absolutely fell in love with him. Taken in by Rob’s thoughtfulness, Alaina realizes that she is falling for the attractive hockey player. What surprises her even more is Rob’s attraction to her since most guys pay her no attention. As they embark on an exclusive relationship, Rob occasionally wants to help Alaina financially, especially since he knows Alaina does not make a lot of money as a teacher. These financial matters threaten their growing relationship and cause a huge fight. I couldn’t help but smile at the way Rob goes about figuring out why Alaina reacts the way she does, which made me love his character even more. Alaina is always helping others, sometimes to her own detriment, which makes her an endearing character. I especially loved that Alaina watches Rob play—even though she isn’t into sports at all—and wants to learn about the game that is so important to him.Carr does a masterful job of balancing Rob and Alaina’s relationship while at the same time continuing Rob’s friendship with Sebastian St. Amant and Sarah Jenkins, the main couple from the first book. Carr realistically builds a solid foundation for a strong friendship between Sebastian, Sarah, and Alaina. The interrelationship between these four characters adds depth to this story. I really enjoyed seeing how Sebastian and Sarah’s relationship has continued to grow. Sebastian and Sarah were a captivating couple in the first book of the series and continue to be so in this story. Carr provides just enough background information about the Sebastian and Sarah’s relationship so that a new reader to the series will not be lost, successfully making Underneath It All a stand-alone story.With realistic and believable characters, Underneath It All is a character-driven romance that draws you in and keeps you hooked to your e-reader right up to the very end.I received an eBook copy from the author/publisher for purpose of an honest review for The Jeep Diva. I was not compensated for this review, and all conclusions are my own responsibility.