Hockey Thursday: Fair Play and See Jane Score

Theresa Falconetti has it all: brains, beauty, a quick wit, and her own PR business. To the Deep disappointment of her large family, she never dates Italians, men from her old Brooklyn neighborhood, or professional athletes. Especially not athletes...

Michael Dante, popular hometown hero and winger for the Stanley Cup champion New York Blades is all three—and he is head over heels for her.

For Michael, Theresa's NO HOCKEY PLAYERS rule is a check to the heart. Nothing he does seems to melt her resolve. His stubborn refusal to give up on this wisecracking brunette, who—he knows—is hiding from her roots, is driving them both nuts. And whe he hires her to publicize his family's restaurant, more than the kitchen heats up. Then Theresa finds herself an Upper East Side kind of guy and Micheal is forced to take his game to the next level.

My thoughts:

Truth be told, I would have given up on Theresa. I did not like how when she was out of opinions decided that finally she wants him. Not cool.

Theresa had something happen to her 2 years ago. I get, that is rough. Still, she did not want to date Michael cos he was Italian, and a hockeyplayer. But mostly cos he was Italian like her.

Michael was so sweet!!! He was so smitten with her. He so wanted at least one date. He sent her desserts! All he wanted was a chance. Awww, I loved him.

But she was all. "Past! No. No. No. I would rather date a rich cultural wasp." At first I was all, ok I understand. At the end I was all, make her chase you!

Conclusion:
A romance where the guy really works at getting the girl. Still, cute.

Cover

eh

Paperback, 368 pages
Published February 3rd 2004 by Berkley
New York Blades #2
Contemporary romance
Own

A little subdued. A little stubborn. A little tired of going out on blind dates with men who drive vans with sofas in the back, Jane Alcott is living the Single Girl existence in the big city. She is also leading a double life. By day, she's a reporter covering the raucous Seattle Chinooks hockey team—especially their notorious goalie Luc Martineau. By night, she's a writer, secretly creating the scandalous adventures of "Honey Pie"...the magazine series that has all the men talking.

Luc has made his feelings about parasite reporters—and Jane—perfectly clear. But if he thinks he's going to make her life a misery, he'd better think again.

For as long as he can remember, Luc has been single minded about his career. The last thing he needs is a smart mouthed, pain in the backside, reporter digging into his past and getting in his way. But once the little reporter shed her black and gray clothes in favor of a sexy red dress, Luc sees that there is more to Jane than originally meets the eye.

Maybe it's time to take a risk. Maybe it's time to live out fantasies. Maybe it's time to....

My thoughts:

The second hockey book in 2 days...well summer did finally come so a bit of ice time was nice.

Jane writes a single girl in the city column, and a smutty secret column on the side. But now she has to follow a hockey team! And she knows nothing about the sport. She is a smart girl, learns and wont let anyone put her down. She is a good reporter, and will let them know that. I liked her. 

Luc is a goalie. He was kind of, well not an ass, but not that nice. All he saw was a plain face, small boobs, a short badly dressed woman. That's nice man. So shallow of you. But yes yes he falls for her, they do it, a tiny bit of drama and they live happily ever after.

Conclusion:
A bit of romance, a lot of hockey and HEA. 

Cover

Boring

Paperback, 384 pages
Published January 28th 2003 by Avon
Chinooks Hockey Team #2
Contemporary romance
Own

Review: Icebreaker - Deirdre Martin

New York Blades 9
Genre: Contemporary romance
Pages: 368
Published: February 1st 2011 Berkley

Attorney Sinead O'Brien's new client is Adam Perry, the star of the New York Blades. It's a good thing she doesn't date clients, especially jocks. Charged with assault on another player, the private, no-nonsense Adam knows this is his last shot at Stanley Cup glory. Sinead quickly discovers that there's a wounded man under that helmet, and she's falling for him-hard. Can they play on their feelings without penalties?

My thoughts:

I shall begin with a little speech. I have only read book 1 so far, and I had no trouble at all jumping to book 9. It's a series about the players finding love, their relatives finding love and so on.

Sinead was uptight, and a workaholic. Adam was quiet and did not talk any more than he had too. One would think that these too would not work together but they did. They both worked hard at their jobs so there they were similar. And Sinead did want to let loose, and Adam was hiding a real sweetie inside. They were good for each other.

The ice-hockey theme, I like that. Sports and romance work well, and here there are other things too. Since Adam plays old school hard hockey and the bosses want a cleaner sport. I like rough hockey, anyway, he feels the pressure.

A nice couple who had some things to go through, the hunt for winning the Stanley Cup, the lawsuit, and a good cast of different characters. I felt right at home in this world, as I had been there many times before.

But what I liked the most, lol, there was a Finnish player in the book. The young star who had to be put in his place. Wohoo, Finland, they even drank some Finlandia vodka. Thumbs up for that.

Recommendation and final thoughts:

A cute romance with a great setting. Who can say no ice-hockey players. And since I feel so at home, I would read more.

Reason for reading:

Sounded good.

Cover:

I like it, hot.

Review: Body Check - Deirdre Martin

New York Blades 1

Genre: Contemporary romance
Pages: 336
Published: 2003

This game's going into overtime.
Janna MacNeil is a publicist on a mission to change the image of the bad boys of hockey: the Stanley Cup Champion New York Blades.

Ty Gallagher is a captain on a mission— to get his team to win the Cup again... at any cost. His determination is legendary, as well as his unwillingness to toe the corporate line.

When the persistent publicist and the stubborn captain butt heads, it's hard enough to crack the ice. But they may end up melting it instead...

Plot:

The New York Blades has been bought by a company that wants a family friendly team, so they hire Janna to work on the players. Both there is conflict at once between her and the captain, Ty. And attraction.

My thoughts:

I seem to be reading a lot of contemporary romance lately, and I do like that. Just normal people falling love and so on. Sweet.

I did like the main characters. Janna was very driven, but at the same time she was very insecure and did not think she could accomplish what she wanted. Ty was stubborn, a leader, and I liked him. He was also afraid. He had been burned, and felt that women stole the determination he needed to win. But there was passion between these two, even if one person was a stubborn ass sometimes ;)

One thing though, there was a certain situation, and I did not think it was dealt with like it should have been. I wanted more. It was a side-story, and now I am really cryptic as always.

Hockey (oh yes I do not watch it, but I like it, we are a hockey-nation), romance, a certain side-story, and some drama at the office. Some just do not play nice.

Recommendation and final thoughts:

If you want a nice romance with sports in it then this might be for you. I enjoyed it, and did read it fast.

Reason for reading:

Oh I blame it all on Patti ;)

Cover:

It's not bad, it's ok, just not me.

PS:

The Winners of The Perfect bride for Mr Darcy

Margay and Alexis

And the books are on their way to you both now :)

Review: Straight up - Deirdre Martin

Genre: Contemporary romance
Pages: 352
Published: 2010

Even a man on the run can enjoy the thrill of the chase...

Hiding from New York's Irish mob, Liam O'Brien is in Ireland working as a bartender in his parents' old village. Hurt once by a man, Aislinn McCafferty is the local ice queen, which the unsuspecting Liam soon learns the hard way.

Accepting a wager from the pub's owner, Liam pursues Aislinn. But neither of them expects this donnybrook of the sexes to turn into an unlikely love...

I am gonna post my lost review here. I read the book back in July, it was supposed to be a guestreview and in September I realized it was lost, but yesterday, I finally found it.

This was so a fun and sweet romance, and I am not just saying that cos it took place in Ireland ;) 

The story:

It’s about Liam who is running from the Irish mob back in NY, and now he works as a bartender in a little Irish village. Then there is Aislinn, a sheep farmer who got hurt badly in love and now is just angry. After a little run in with Liam he does something incredibly stupid. With the pub owner and the 3 stooges he makes a bet that he can get her. Let the games begin.

The couple:

Oh oh, man he was stupid. He makes that bet and then falls for her. He realizes that she is sweet under that frown, and he loves who she is with her sheep and Padraig that works at the farm. So he gets this stupid notion that he can win the bet, and keep the girl. Sighs, men! Does he not understand that when she realizes the will leave him bleeding in a ditch? No is the answer and she falls in love with him, and I keep waiting for her to find out and hit him over the head with a whisky bottle. Cos he deserves it if he is such a bloody eejit.

Aislinn has a tongue of her own, she was lied to be a man she loved, and now she feels like everyone is pitying her so she rather angry and people in the village is calling her The McAfftery. But it’s her way of dealing with the hurt, and it’s not like she is some angry woman. No she just gives the three stooges at the pub a tongue lashing now and again, but hey they enjoy it too. It seems she is the only woman to actually talk to them. Other than that she is a nice woman, and I do like her. She has had much to deal with, but she stays strong, too strong actually, and all she wants is to keep those sheep.

My thoughts:

I want these two to be happy but with that lie between them I know that sooner or later all hell will break loose. In the mean time it’s fun to see Liam try, and finally manage to court her. They do have this bantering between them and it’s fun to watch.

A sweet romance, set in a beautiful country. A Yank falling for a sheep farmer, what more is a girl to ask for.

Blodeuedd’s Cover Corner: It looks fun !
Reason for reading:won
Final thoughts. This was a great contemporary romance, fun and romantic, with some great characters in it.