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A review by alis_adventures_in_literature
Meet Me in the Penalty Box by Cali Melle
2.0
REVIEW
cw: mentions of death, cancer, DV, toxic relationship
Harper is a sports photographer, newly recruited to the Orchid City Vipers hockey team. on a night out she meets Nico Cirone, an up-and-coming rookie centre. Though she tries, she's unable to resist him for long, even if it might mean her job is on the line.
This was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I was hooked (intentional hockey pun) immediately by the player superstitions angle, and particularly loved that aspect of Nico's personality. He seemed sweet, if a little cocky and overbearing. Harper was a sports photographer who didn't really want to be a sports photographer (conveniently, considering the no fraternisation rules in the hockey organisation) who'd gone through trauma in her previous relationship, but didn't really act as if she had. Unfortunately there wasn't much character development, and I found the actual relationship superficial with very little emotional depth, and reminiscent of instalove stories. Both characters jumped very quickly into decisions, and though there was plenty of heat, it didn't really feel earned.
I did enjoy how much on-ice hockey content there was (something that has been lacking in several of the hockey romances I've read this year), but the story was ultimately let down by inconsistent editing, with tense changes mid-paragraph. It also needed a LOT more editing as the language used throughout was repetitve, and the use of the endearment 'love' was used so frequently it became tedious.
Not for me unfortunately.
Overall Rating: ❤️❤️
Heat Rating:
cw: mentions of death, cancer, DV, toxic relationship
Harper is a sports photographer, newly recruited to the Orchid City Vipers hockey team. on a night out she meets Nico Cirone, an up-and-coming rookie centre. Though she tries, she's unable to resist him for long, even if it might mean her job is on the line.
This was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I was hooked (intentional hockey pun) immediately by the player superstitions angle, and particularly loved that aspect of Nico's personality. He seemed sweet, if a little cocky and overbearing. Harper was a sports photographer who didn't really want to be a sports photographer (conveniently, considering the no fraternisation rules in the hockey organisation) who'd gone through trauma in her previous relationship, but didn't really act as if she had. Unfortunately there wasn't much character development, and I found the actual relationship superficial with very little emotional depth, and reminiscent of instalove stories. Both characters jumped very quickly into decisions, and though there was plenty of heat, it didn't really feel earned.
I did enjoy how much on-ice hockey content there was (something that has been lacking in several of the hockey romances I've read this year), but the story was ultimately let down by inconsistent editing, with tense changes mid-paragraph. It also needed a LOT more editing as the language used throughout was repetitve, and the use of the endearment 'love' was used so frequently it became tedious.
Not for me unfortunately.
Overall Rating: ❤️❤️
Heat Rating: