Jessa York

Beau and Gigi are captains of the newest expansion hockey teams in Las Vegas. Beau is near the end of his career while Gigi is just beginning hers plus Beau has been her crush since childhood. Their teams will also be on a reality TV show. The team owners want Beau and Gigi to fake a relationship between them based on photos they took when they arrived in Las Vegas. They begin to live together to boost the reality of their fake relationship, and the feelings become real. Will their relationship turn real, or will the pressure get to them?

I loved this story. The characters were good. Beau and Gigi need to learn how to communicate with each other rather than getting mad at each other and avoiding each other. I like how the puppies bring them together. Jealousy does raise its ugly head several times. It is funny some of the times. Not so funny other times.

I did not like the cliffhanger ending. I predict Gigi will be mad because Beau is keeping a secret rather than sharing it with her.

I look forward to the rest of the story.… (more)

There is so much that is good with this book and just so much that is not.

The love story has the right amount of heat and great pacing. The two main characters on the whole spark off each other beautifully and the give and take as they find their footing in the fake relationship is fun to read. Their shared Quebecois background and godparents move seriously into the plus column and Beau's family is a riot. More bonus points for Canadian snack foods. Add in puppies and it really should work well, if that is supposed to be the main story plot.

Sadly, I felt blindsided by a reality tv show with convenient rules and dual (not at all believable) professional hockey teams that begin with shirtless men and angel wings.

All of the characters are almost wonderful, they foretell a series that will be fun to read. They have rich layers, nuances, and need-to-know backstories that are ruinously overbalanced with a level of immaturity that knocks suspension of disbelief at all levels. It is no wonder to me that the MCs are captains of their respective teams due to the nepotism of fairy godparents because any casual hockey fan will tell you that they aren't fit to get there on their own, especially near retirement 35-year-old Beau, who too often reads more like a twenty-something than GiGi does.

I really want to read the next book just to see how their romance comes together. I am just not sure that their story is worth another 300 pages. Also, GiGi sounds like a spoiled brat in the blurb. The story twist that ends book one is probably not enough to carry the story through a whole other book, though it would have made an interesting twist in the middle of the first book. I see myself giving in and reading it though, just because the author knows something about how to tell a story.… (more)

REVIEW: It isn’t easy to find a good romantic comedy but this book hits the _target. The story of Harper and Jack quickly draws you into their crazy lives. I was a little taken by surprise with the sudden ending but have already downloaded book two. Can’t wait to see where the story goes from here. This is my voluntary review of an Advanced Reader Copy of this book.

DESCRIPTION, NOT REVIEW: HARPER

I am done.
After a crazy, unforgiving divorce, the last thing I want is a man.
Romance, love, all of it... total crap.

But when a smear of lipstick and a Pink Squirrel,
Yes, a Pink Squirrel, lead to him,
Everything changes,
And I'm not willing to go back,
Even though I know nothing is ever easy.

JACK

Literally fell in my arms,
Like something out of a dream,
Or a joke.

But one thing is certain,
There's no way in Hell I'm letting her go.
And I don't care if what they say is true,
Playing with fire may get me burned.

It's a chance I'm willing to take.… (more)