redhairedashreads's review
5.0
4.5 stars
Erik “Easy” Zimmerman has to head to Emery, Wisconsin during the summer break to take care of his aunt and mother. He never planned to return to his childhood home but he can’t say no to his mother. Once he lays eyes on his high school sweetheart again everything changes. It is like they never broke up and the feelings are all still there.
I loved Erik and Allie’s story! I am a sucker for a good second chance romance, especially if it is a hockey one. Allie has spent 10 years raising her nieces and nephew alone. She has no time for love but when Erik comes back to town that changes. She realizes she never stopped loving him and that they might actually make it work now. I really loved how hardworking and caring Allie was. She made a great mom to her nieces and nephew. I loved how she planned out their relationship and how they would make it work with three teenagers.
Erik was surprisingly sweet and protective. I loved how he instantly included the kids in everything and never imagined her without them. He was great stepdad material. Also, I love how he was willing to give up his career for a chance to be with Allie again. You could just always feel the love and emotion between these two. They were just a great couple!
The kids were great side characters in this one. I loved how different they all were and that Hazel was the hockey player and not her brother. The situation with their real mother was terrifying and I know I would have been just as worried as Allie had been. Rothert always does a great job at writing these terrifying and sad situations in her books, whether it is dying of cancer or child kidnapping, it's always so well written.
Overall, I think this is my favorite book from this series so far. I loved every minute of it and all the characters were just amazing.
Trigger Warning:
- Parental kidnapping
This review was originally posted at Red-Haired Ash Reads.
Erik “Easy” Zimmerman has to head to Emery, Wisconsin during the summer break to take care of his aunt and mother. He never planned to return to his childhood home but he can’t say no to his mother. Once he lays eyes on his high school sweetheart again everything changes. It is like they never broke up and the feelings are all still there.
I loved Erik and Allie’s story! I am a sucker for a good second chance romance, especially if it is a hockey one. Allie has spent 10 years raising her nieces and nephew alone. She has no time for love but when Erik comes back to town that changes. She realizes she never stopped loving him and that they might actually make it work now. I really loved how hardworking and caring Allie was. She made a great mom to her nieces and nephew. I loved how she planned out their relationship and how they would make it work with three teenagers.
Erik was surprisingly sweet and protective. I loved how he instantly included the kids in everything and never imagined her without them. He was great stepdad material. Also, I love how he was willing to give up his career for a chance to be with Allie again. You could just always feel the love and emotion between these two. They were just a great couple!
The kids were great side characters in this one. I loved how different they all were and that Hazel was the hockey player and not her brother. The situation with their real mother was terrifying and I know I would have been just as worried as Allie had been. Rothert always does a great job at writing these terrifying and sad situations in her books, whether it is dying of cancer or child kidnapping, it's always so well written.
Overall, I think this is my favorite book from this series so far. I loved every minute of it and all the characters were just amazing.
Trigger Warning:
- Parental kidnapping
This review was originally posted at Red-Haired Ash Reads.
beckymmoe's review
4.0
Reviewed on my blog, Becky on Books, on 5/28/2020.
Second chance romance FTW!
There isn't a ton of hockey in book six of the Chicago Blaze series--it takes place over the summer--though Easy does help coach a youth hockey team. Instead the focus here is definitely on the "romance" part of this hockey romance, which is as it should be, because Erik and Allie have ten years of hurt feelings to work out and a whole lot of current day issues to deal with in order to get to their HEA.
But oh--do they get to their HEA... :)
This is actually the second second chance romance I've read this week, and it worked for a similar reason--a big reason that the hero and heroine didn't make it the first time around was due to being too young and not at the right place in their lives yet. This time, of course, there's a few extra wrinkles--Allie gets custody of her sister's three children before she even finishes high school, while Erik's at college and en route to an NHL career--and even though our hero does spend ten years blaming her for their breakup, once they reconnect and he looks at what they've both done in that time, he's gained the maturity to see that yeah, Allie actually made the right choice at the time.
Grown ups acting like grown ups! Imagine ;)
This time around their relationship conflict is one of can we make this work?, since she still has three kids to consider and he's a professional athlete--his life is in Chicago and hers is in Wisconsin. I liked the solution they came up with here--it was 100% believable and didn't drag things out longer than they needed to be. The main drama of the story once they managed to reconnect came from elsewhere, and yikes, was it intense. Everything ended up exactly where it should have, though (I wasn't crying in that last chapter--you were!) and OMG when is Jonas's story going to be out? ;)
Rating: 4 stars / A-
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
Second chance romance FTW!
There isn't a ton of hockey in book six of the Chicago Blaze series--it takes place over the summer--though Easy does help coach a youth hockey team. Instead the focus here is definitely on the "romance" part of this hockey romance, which is as it should be, because Erik and Allie have ten years of hurt feelings to work out and a whole lot of current day issues to deal with in order to get to their HEA.
But oh--do they get to their HEA... :)
This is actually the second second chance romance I've read this week, and it worked for a similar reason--a big reason that the hero and heroine didn't make it the first time around was due to being too young and not at the right place in their lives yet. This time, of course, there's a few extra wrinkles--Allie gets custody of her sister's three children before she even finishes high school, while Erik's at college and en route to an NHL career--and even though our hero does spend ten years blaming her for their breakup, once they reconnect and he looks at what they've both done in that time, he's gained the maturity to see that yeah, Allie actually made the right choice at the time.
Grown ups acting like grown ups! Imagine ;)
This time around their relationship conflict is one of can we make this work?, since she still has three kids to consider and he's a professional athlete--his life is in Chicago and hers is in Wisconsin. I liked the solution they came up with here--it was 100% believable and didn't drag things out longer than they needed to be. The main drama of the story once they managed to reconnect came from elsewhere, and yikes, was it intense. Everything ended up exactly where it should have, though (I wasn't crying in that last chapter--you were!) and OMG when is Jonas's story going to be out? ;)
Rating: 4 stars / A-
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
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