Max Montgomery was at the height of his career, playing the best hockey of his life, and lucky enough to have a starting spot on a team that was actually a contender for the Cup. And one by one his friends were falling in love.Love. Now that was a dirty four-letter word if he’d ever heard one.Max had experienced love and all of its aftereffects and where had that gotten him?Lonely, living in an … him?
Lonely, living in an apartment, and paying alimony to a woman who’d left him at the merest sign of a hiccup in their marriage.
His only bright spot was his son. Brayden had moved back in with him a few months ago, after his mother had taken off to God knew where. Max loved having him home, but with his son only seven and him on the road for forty-two games a year, they’d struggled. Still, they’d found a way to make it work.
But then Brayden threw Max a completely new curve ball.
He wanted Max to find a wife.
Max had been there, done that, got the crappy T-shirt as a souvenir. No way would he make himself vulnerable like that again, no matter how much his son wanted it.
A puppy was a perfectly viable alternative, right?
At least that was what he’d been thinking until he met Angelica Shallows, sister to the team’s Physical Therapist guru, Mandy, and a brilliant engineer in her own right. She was gorgeous, smart, but had shadows in her eyes.
Max knew all about shadows, knew they were meant as a sign for him to stay away.
What was that about the best intentions paving the road to hell? Max may have wanted to stay away, may have wanted to abide the warning signs in Angie’s eyes, but—
The real trouble began when found that he couldn’t do either of those things.
more
Hockey star Max Montgomery found love once, but instead of it leading him to a happily ever after, it lead him to a broken heart, and a divorce. Now the mere mention of love leaves a dirty taste in his mouth, and causes him to want to run the other direction. The only thing that his last round with love gave him was a bright and energetic little boy Brayden. Now that boy is his moon and stars. But that boy needs a mom, a woman that can bring joy and normality to their lives. Someone to complete their family.
But that would require Max to let someone in again… and that is something he just can’t bring himself to do. That is until a quirky, slightly nerdy, beauty named Angelica stumbles into his life and turns it upside down!
Between the pages of Benched readers will meet a trio of lovable characters that will take them on an unforgettable journey. A journey that is filled with happiness, healing, heartbreak, romance, and joy. The instant these characters came into my view I found myself mesmerized by them, and the touching story they had to tell. Page after page I found new reasons to love them, root them on, and hold out hope they’d get the happy, joyful ending they deserved… and they found that and so much more. I really enjoyed this one, it was a seamlessly blended romance story filled with emotional highs and lows that kept me engaged and smothered in feels… it was literary perfection!
I requested an advanced copy of this title from the publisher, and I am voluntarily leaving my honest opinion.