Review: Loved this story!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 24, 2013
I was very excited to receive an ARC of this novella from Toni Aleo and Loveswept in return for an honest review. I have read all of Toni's books to date, and although this is a novella, it is one of my favorites by her, second only to Taking Shots.Jordan Ryan is the former starting goaltender for the Nashville Assassins, but after a long and difficult recovery from a knee injury, he is now relegated to the role of backup goalie which is not sitting well with him. The injury also stole his self-confidence, leaving him much more reserved than he used to be.Aynslee Shaw is returning home from a family wedding after a particularly trying day between her relatives annoying her about settling down and starting a family of her own, her klepto aunt stealing her suitcase full of clothes, and needing to return home early due to a broken water main in her home. The topper for the day is when she sits on the plane only to have the gorgeous man sitting next to her (Jordan) dump her whole cup of coffee in her lap accidentally.I loved the dynamic between these two. Aynslee was in a long term relationship with a man that just naturally seemed to grow apart from her, and although she was interested in Jordan from the outset, she had her moments of self doubt regarding what it takes to attract and keep a guy's attention. But overall she is a strong confident woman with a fantastic sense of humor which is a wonderful and refreshing change for so many heroines that we see in books these days.Jordan is struggling to get his game back , both on and off the ice. He shares her desire to settle down and start a family but finding the right woman is difficult as he feels that he no longer has anything worth offering and is looking for another team that will take him on as a starter which deters him from pursuing a relationship with her.Once they finally get their communication on the same wavelength, it was even more fun to watch the fireworks. I love the scenes where Aynslee's friend Sadie is trying to teach non-hockey fan Aynslee the ins and outs of the game, but the gut buster for me was when Jordan called her on speaker in her family's pub and she proceeded to disclose a little more than she intended before he could tell her that her parents were in the room!I loved this book- the only complaint that I could possibly express is that it had to end and we won't get a full length novel about these two characters. So whether you are a hockey fan or not, if you are looking for a great quick summer read, go grab a copy of this one quick- you won't regret it!