Hayden meets Brody at a bar and she wants a hot one night stand with a stranger. He wants more and works hard to convince her.
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2016, hockey, sports romance, smart girl, erotic ( )

4.5 stars .... I loved it.


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I love hockey and I liked Elle Kennedy's Samhain offerings, so I figured the odds were good for this book.

Hayden Houston is a professor of art history at UC-Berkley in Chicago to support her father through an acrimonious divorce. While in town, she meets a friend at a bar and together they scheme to get her a one-night stand.

Brody Croft is a pro hockey player shooting pool, minding his own business, when Hayden hit on him and surprises him with an invite back to her place. Surprised and delighted that she's not only not a hockey groupie, but utterly ignorant of hockey entirely, he's immediately smitten. After all, a woman after the man and not the player is a rare find.

But Hayden wants it to stay a one-night deal and slips away without leaving her number.

This being Romancelandia, it turns out Hayden's father owns the team Brody plays for and Hayden and Brody meet again.

I thought the romance between Hayden and Brody was nice. Brody enjoyed the intelligent conversations he could have with Hayden, and she enjoyed his forthrightness and comfortable sexuality, which contrasts with her reserved art historian boyfriend back home (they were "on a break" so I wouldn't call this cheating, YMMV.) After a childhood traveling constantly with her hockey coach father, I thought her reluctance to forge a meaningful relationship with a ever traveling player was understandable, and so it didn't grate on me like the push away trope can.

I did however find the scandal suspense plot nigh ridiculous and her father's alcoholism treated unrealistically. If only a pouty face and a "I'm disappointed in you" prompted a drunk to acknowledge a problem and sober up. I gather that she didn't want to take up a short book with the realities of alcoholism, but if you're not going to do it right, why bother in the first place? Was it so important her already flawed dad also be an alcoholic?

All told, it was a fun book about hockey and love, but it's ultimately quite forgettable. ( )