Review: Toni has once again written a great story
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 11, 2014
I had some serious trouble rating this one, in the end I went with four stars because I liked Blue Lines more and I gave that 4.5 stars. Toni knows how to write a good story, that has been obvious and she has proven that with all her books. To me the characters in a book very much define how much I liked it. Now Phillip is amazing, I can barely believe he's the same guy we met before. It was Reese I had some troubles with.Let me start from the beginning. Phillip, like many of his teammates, likes to have fun with women. Living life free is what he does best, but that all changes when his sister dies, leaving behind a very angry sixteen-year-old niece. Having Claire living with him is seriously cramping his style, though he doesn't mind. Right now all he wants is for things between him and his niece to be good, instead the few conversations they have usually ends up in shouting at each other. Things are just not good.The only thing Claire currently cares about is dancing and luck behold in the extended Assassins family is one fine dance teacher Reese Allen. Dancing has become Claire's only solace and slowly things start to become better for everyone around. Though only when Phillip is not distracted by said dance teacher.Dance is Reese's life. Having her own dance studio and teaching classes might not have been her original dream, but she loves it more than she had ever hoped. After she got her heart broken in New York, she left that dream of making it big and her heart behind. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me, seems to be her motto when it comes to men and love. She gave love a shot once and it didn't work out. So now she is not even going to try. People might think she's an ice queen, but Reese does it to protect her heart.Phillip and Reese met before on one of the many Assassin gatherings, but seeing her dance and more particular in one of those dance outfits is what definitely drew his attention now. Things heat up between them really fast, but they are both clear that this is just a one time thing. Those quick scenes were the best, I could really picture them as a movie playing inside my head. So that one time, becomes two, three and so on. They figure they could make this work, as long as there are some rules. Reese does not do attachments and Phillip is in no state of mind right now for anything more than fun between the sheets or wherever they might do it.A deal is struck and the dance begins. It quickly becomes obvious Phillip wants more though, but he doesn't say anything about it, scared it would push Reese away. Meanwhile Reese tries to keep her emotional distance from Phillip, but it's not that easy when you're faced with such a gorgeous and amazing man. I really liked this reverse role thing that was going on. Whenever Phillip even hints about something more, Reese takes three steps back and pushes him away.I get that she is scared. Love is a scary thing, but it got quite frustrating to see how she was sabotaging her own happiness for the chance of getting hurt. If she ends it now it would hurt and if it ends in ten years it would also hurt. She doesn't see that it is possible to find happiness. Phillip had to prove himself over and over again. I really felt for him.Like I said in one of my updates. Everything went so well and for a moment you even believe there doesn't need to be too much drama, but then nope they definitely get put through the wringer. I know that it's needed to make an interesting story and otherwise things just go to smoothly for them, but you can not help but hope.Toni has once again written a great story. Hockey has become my favourite sports theme for books and I've never even seen a live game or on tv, so that is saying a lot. I really love all these Assassins characters. They are one big family and I love how they look out for each other or push them to take chances. It's so much fun to read about.While Reese and Phillip are wonderful, they are not my favourite couple in this series. For me I was just able to connect better with some of the other characters, but that is a very personal opinion and this will be different for everyone. Now I liked how Reese opened up towards the end, like very end. She just took her time to get on the same page as everyone else. Phillip was the big surprise in this one. Seeing this softer side of him, with his niece, was adorable and a very big contrast with the "action" scenes between him and Reese. His tenacity is one of his best characteristics and what made sure he got his happy ending. I root for happy endings!One more little thing. Ever since I've read Tangled In Laces (novella) and then there was this one bar scene with Karson in Breaking Away, all I've been able to think about is wanting to read Laces and Lace. The novella already brought tears to my eyes, so I know that a full length novel will give me a book hangover.*I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review*