From the New York Times bestselling author of Pucked and A Lie for a Lie, a new stand-alone romance about trading favors, battling wills, and winning love.When I joined Seattle’s NHL expansion team, I thought it was the start of something great. But nothing ever goes the way you expect. Take my introduction to my new neighbor. She came rolling in on the hot mess express at midnight, making a … mess express at midnight, making a racket while she tried to get into my team captain’s apartment. Did I mention that he’s married to a woman who definitely was not her?
Imagine my surprise when I end up with an injury that has me out of the game for weeks, and she’s the one to offer to help me. I should probably add that she’s not the captain’s mistress. She’s his sexy, pastel-haired younger sister.
So we come up with an arrangement: she rehabs me so that I can get back on the ice sooner, and she can add a professional athlete that isn’t her brother to her client list. Seems simple enough. As long as I can keep my hands to myself and my hormones in check.
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Helena Hunting is a master at writing sport rom-coms, all of her hockey romances are automatic buys! I have been a die-hard fan of hers ever since I read Pucked years ago, and now her All In series has me hooked too! A Favor for a Favor has a little bit of everything: enemies to friends to lovers, chemistry and of course some great humor! Bishop is my favorite character of this new series, he is broody, moody, has a habit of sticking his foot in his mouth, loves to walk around in only boxer briefs, but is secretly a good guy and loyal to a fault. Compared to all the hockey players we have been introduced to so far, he has the most innocent backstory and I loved that there weren’t any horrible puck bunny stories waiting to be dug up! Stevie was a little harder for me to like, she is the little sister to RJ (the main character from A Lie for A Lie) and she seemed to have a habit of impersonating an ostrich … she would rather put her head in the sand than confront any of her issues. Don’t get me wrong, I loved how she was with Bishop. She was full of attitude and sass… and the underwear battles were great, but when it came to her ex (ugh, I wanted to throat punch him) and her brother (even he lost some of his points during a majority of this book) she liked to avoid the problems. I was surprised that even though there was chemistry and some hot fantasies mentioned, this is the slowest burn I have seen from Helena Hunting with no action happening until well after the half way point. As usual, Violet makes a great appearance in this book… she can always bring a smile to my face and have me laughing hard! After finishing with A Lie for A Lie I am dying to find out more about Kingston, I need to know how a NHL player can stay so innocent and gentlemanly (seriously, milk at a bar)!
There is really nothing new I can say about Erin Mallon and Jacob Morgan, they are two of my favorite auto buy narrators! They both do an amazing jobs of bring the characters to life and mastered the voices of the opposite sex (which is such a huge factor)!
I loved every single thing about Bishop and his crankasaurus attitude. Well minus the whole using of the word Bae thing. But I can forgive him for using one of my most hated words 😉 He’s going to be one of the cutest grumpy old men later on in life. And yes, I am talking about him like he’s real because I can. Judge me.. *shrug*. Stevie was such a feisty and memorable character. I really enjoyed these two. Also the few glimpses of my favorite characters ever, Violet and Alex, were perfection. Exactly the kind of nostalgia to make me want to read their story again and soon. Once again, Helena had me head over heels for this storyworld and I’m so excited to see what sort of mishaps straight-edged Kingston gets himself into.
Whenever I read a book as good as this one was, I always feel like my review can’t do it justice.
Let’s just say that this was a freaking sweet enemies to lovers romance mixed in with lots of laughs and lots of slow burn angst. I was totally hooked from the start and the sexual chemistry and banter between Bishop and Stevie will have you devouring this book in no time.
When Stevie tried to get away from her disaster of a life, her brother offered up his condo for her. So when she meets his next door neighbour lets just say it didn’t go as well as you would think. But when said neighbour gets hurt she is the one who does him a favor by helping him out, that is her job after all. And a favor for a favor, she helps him and he becomes her first professional athlete on her list. As usual things don’t always go as planned and feelings get involved the more time these two spend together, but Bishop has so much on his plate that will he have time for a relationship and will Stevie be able to get over pasts hurt??
This author has become a favourite of mine since I read her Puck series and this one was no different. Definitely a book that will have you LOL but also looking forward to the interactions between these two characters.
I absolutely loved Bishop & Stevie’s story. From the first time they meet it’s on! This Enemies to Lovers Romance takes a sweet ride, after the hilarious antagonism in the beginning, to friendship and a delicious slow burn. It’s really during the friendship that it’s the funniest. The one liners will make you snort & laugh out loud. Bishop’s brother Nolan is great as is Stevie’s friends Jules & Patty. Any book with Alex & Violet is gold for me. But ultimately this is about how Bishop & Stevie find that they are each other’s person and they are perfect for each other. This is such a great book and will easily be your next 1 click!!!
A Favor for a Favor is the second book in a spin-off series from Helena Hunting’s Pucked series. It is a slow burn enemies to lovers, sports romance told in dual pov. I loved the first book in the series but this is in a class of its own!! What will she have in store for us in the third book Kingston’s book!!
One of the things about Helena’s books you can always count on a funny, quirky, laugh out loud “meet cute” and she did not disappoint on this one.
Helena opens the story up with Stevie (RJ’s younger sister from A Lie for a Lie) arriving at RJ’s empty apartment to stay. This is due to the fact that she was going to surprise her boyfriend at their new apartment, but she is the one that is surprised finding him plowing someone else on their brand-new couch!! Arriving at her brother apartment really late after having one terrible day, she looks a mess, she broke her suitcase, and she can’t get the key in the door. The door across the hall opens and this good looking but rude man starts yelling about all the noise she is making. What a way for her day to end her birthday no less!!
Misunderstanding on both of their parts, him thinking she is sneaking into his married team captain’s apartment, so he is rude and disrespectable to her. Her thinking he is a womanizer who seems to have a constant stream of women in and out of his door and extremely grumpy.
Stevie does not know he is a member of the new Seattle’s hockey expansion team, the same one her brother is the caption on. Bishop does not know Stevie is the little sister of his new captain…the one that he does not see eye to eye with!!
These two start a love hate relationship that is so hot is could just combust. With all the tempers and snarky attitudes, full of banter and humor and one-liners with sizzling chemistry. There is this cat and mouse game in the hall in the mornings as they pick up their newspapers with him in his boxers with sayings on them and her wearing sports bras and yoga pants. They antagonize each other but all it is doing is arousing them both!! Their reactions are so hilariously funny!
During one of Bishop’s game he suffers a groin injury and is worried about being off the ice for too long. Even thou this was not funny some of the scenes you could not help to laugh out loud, him struggling to get into his apartment. Stevie finds him passed out in the hall and allowed him to stay on her couch overnight. She discovers he is a hockey player and eventually they make the connection!!
Stevie offers to help, she’s a is physiotherapist specializing in sports therapy and would love to get some experience rehabbing an NHL player without her brothers help. She could get him back on the ice faster so he finally gives in. This is where the fun begins and boy was it fun!! Their friendship/relationship was a slow and steady build, they seemed to bring out the best of each other. But they were not without obstacles on their road to love!!
I enjoyed this story from start to finish and can’t wait for the next book coming.
I loved spending time with the Pucked family, and oh boy I’ll just say omg Violet!!
This book was the perfect five-star read I needed to start off 2020!! Anytime I read H Hunting, I know I’m going to be laughing and falling for unique and fun characters and this book was no different. I fell for Bishop & Stevie immediately.
From the first scene when these two meet, their chemistry was on fire. Bishop had my attention with his original and quirky briefs and cocky attitude, and Stevie was a unique yet relatable heroine who I adored! As much as Bishop tries to be a jerk to Stevie, their little games with one another are hilarious and addicting.
Stevie is working through heartbreak, a new job and living in her brother’s shadow, yet navigates it all with a fun and refreshing attitude. I absolutely LOVED the way she handled Bishop and his cocky attitude and antics. Although she was not 100% confident in life and in love, she showed all of her true spunk and confidence when dealing with Bishop, and that made their relationship believable and real. They were playful and honest with one another. Their relationship felt like they had known each other for years, not weeks. And when Bishop let his cocky walls down, I swooned over his big selfless heart and the way he cared about Stevie. He was protective, loyal, and oh so passionate.
I laughed, I broke a little, and I swooned over these characters and their story. The chemistry between them is oh so steamy and I fell in love with both of them, and the side characters as well. Can’t wait for more of this series to come! Well done once again H Hunting!
This is the second book in the All in Series. Stevie moves to Seattle and her life changes when she finds out her boyfriend is cheating on her. Her brother, RJ from A Lie for a Lie, let’s her use his condo. Bishop is one of RJ’s hockey teammates and lives across the hall from the condo. This was a fun, entertaining read. I loved the banter between Stevie and Bishop but also the relationship that develops. In addition we get a bit more of the characters from the previous book (not necessary to read prior, but will make it even more enjoyable) Definitely recommend this book.
After reading A Lie for a Lie I wondered who would be the focus of A Favor for a Favor and felt completely validated when I guessed right: Bishop, the mysterious new disgruntled player mentioned at the end of the first book in this series, and Stevie, RJ’s sister. These two had a bumpy start–lots of wrong perceptions and hilarious one upping of each other to provoke snarking and I was totally here for it. It was fun to know what was going on while the characters didn’t and then to see them go from prickly personalities to these really warm yet somehow assholish characters. It was an interesting journey. On the one hand I thought they were both jerks at some point or another and then they’d each do something completely endearing and wonderful. Somehow it all worked and I zoomed through their book completely entertained and am now just tapping my fingers waiting for the third book in this series (King’s book–and it looks to be equally entertaining!).
Helena Hunting’s books are a fun, light escape from the daily grind and has definitely got me on a romcom reading kick.
5 STARS
Helena Hunting has created another memorable couple. Stevie and Bishop have amazing and intense chemistry laced with witty banter. As with all this author’s books, you will not be disappointed. I highly recommend reading this if you enjoy sports romance filled with humorous antics.
This is the second book in the All In series and can be read as a standalone. A Favor For A Favor by Helena Hunting is an EPIC read and will join the ranks of the BIBLIO-ARISTOCRACY!!!
Bishop and Stevie!! This book had me laughing throughout at various times. The author always gives me a smile, she’s my go to author when I want to laugh. I swear I believe I love Bishop and Stevie as much as I do Alex and Violet! You can’t go wrong with hot hockey players and their sassy counterparts. The author gives us amazing stories each time and I’ve loved all of them. Definitely a must read!
Just to begin with, Stevie is the younger sister of RJ who we previously met in a Lie for a Lie and although they don’t NEED to be read in order I will suggest you do because you’ll love the brother as much as you’ll love the sister in this book.
After an incident with an ex Stevie is left with no where to stay and no one to go to except her brother who just so happens to have a penthouse empty but once see gets there she meets the neighbour, the neighbour who isn’t too friendly. As things get off on the wrong foot Stevie stands her ground and gives him as much as he gives her. She’s badass and won’t take shit from anyone especially not him.
Bishop is an NHL player, he’s big and intimating and a huge asshole. After getting a hit in hockey he’s out with an injury and help comes in form of an unexpected woman. He’s cranky and irritated almost always but he’s damn hot whilst being that way. I love how he is on the outside and is completely different on the inside. There’s more to this man than meets the eye and it’s fun getting to see it.
The back and forth between these two is absolutely brilliant, I absolutely love banter between characters and these two hit it on the head. I loved every moment we get between them. Their funny moments, the sensitive moments, just everything. They’re so different in many ways but similar in others, they compliment each other well and they’re just perfect. They were both struggling with real issues throughout this book and although it’s sad to read I love that Helena included them.
I also adore that their relationship was gradual, slow and steady throughout the book, there was no rush for them to bed each other and the build up was just spot on.
RJ makes quite a few appearances in this book and I love it. He’s protective and cares so much for Stevie like a big brother should. He’s made some mistakes but we see him make up for them. Also I just want to add in Kingston, I truly hope we get a story from this man because he intrigued me so much. He’s kind of reminds me of Darren (Pucked Over) he keeps himself to himself and honestly, that makes me want to hear his story more.
Helena truly did an incredible job of bringing Stevie and Bishop’s story to life. This is actually my favourite from this series so far even though I loved RJ and Lainey’s book so much.
A Favor for A Favor is a sports romance filled with fun moments and sad times. It’s a gripping romance that’ll leave you needing more and it’s without a doubt one of the greatest books of 2019.
I love a good Hockey Romance and Helena Hunting writes them so well!! A favor for a favor gives us so many laughs with some feels thrown in the mix. This was book was very much needed. I love a good rom com. Ms. Hunting is one of my favorites and will always be a one click author for me. Absolutely a must read!
BOW DOWN TO THE GLORY THAT IS STEVIE BOWMAN!
When I found out that Stevie was going to be the heroine in A Favor for a Favor, I was ALL CAPS excited. When we met her briefly in A Lie for a Lie I completely fell in love with her. I’m pleased to say that I was not disappointed in the slightest. There’s no question that this is my new favourite book from Helena Hunting.
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Hunting and her way of writing. I always know I’m going to get a story that will make me forget life and I can just get lost in it. But what makes her stories fantastic is that you never feel like you’re reading the same thing over and over again. With over 20 books under her belt, that’s no easy feat.
She’s able to give all of her male and female narrators a unique voice. Also, you can’t help but fall in love with each and every one of them. With all of the books of hers I’ve read, I can’t even say which of her male MC’s is my favourite. They’re all complete book boyfriend material. I also thought I’d never be able to pick a favourite female MC until Stevie came along. She’s the perfect amount of soft and hard, sass and compassion, and she gave me #HairEnvy. I’m sure these words will come back to haunt me, but as of right now, I feel like she’ll never be topped. She is currently my number one favourite female contemporary character.
If you’re a fan of Hunting’s Pucked series, I’ll tell you that there aren’t as many cameos in this one as there were in A Lie for a Lie, but the few we did get were fantastic.
It seems crazy for me to say this, but I think this is going to end up being my favourite overall series of Hunting’s. I know it’s just going to be a trilogy, but the stories she’s telling here are top shelf. I’m eager to find out what will happen with King in book 3!
Side note: if you need any more convincing that Hunting is a brilliant author… her heroes for this series are named Rook, Bishop and King. I have no idea how she comes up with this stuff, but I’m forever grateful for that brain of hers.
This author does not write anything less than five star reads! Another winner winner from the fabulous Helena Hunting!
Seattle, hockey, hot guys, amazing couples…this sports romance spin-off has it all! New city, new team, new heroines…
Stevie and Bishop, lets just say it’s not insta-love lol
But what happens when your enemy for all intents and purposes ends up helping you?!?
H Hunting delivers another fantastic read full of heat, laughs, chemistry, love and an all around fantastic story! I can’t get enough from this author!
Highly recommend
Stevie has arrived at her brothers penthouse after the worse day of her life. On her birthday no less. What worse can happen. Oh yeah, the hunky neighbor who opens his door in his underwear and sneers at her while trying to get through the front door.
Bishop needs his sleep, but the hot mess making so much noise in the hallway of his floor has him in a bad mood. Plus she’s attempting to enter the penthouse to the one teammate he loathes. So he sneers even more with his assumption that his new neighbor is a home wrecker. He can’t let anything distract him as he has a brother to care for.
A battle ensues with these two living next door. Until a hockey accident leads Bishop off the ice and locked out of his own apartment. But Stevie’s general outlook won’t let her leave him in the hallway to suffer. Her generosity reveals that Bishop is hurt and also works with her brother. Her brothers fame has always made Stevie feel she was to be wary of who she let into her life and has kept her relationship with her brother a secret.
When Stevie reveals her occupation to Bishop, he just may be able to return to the ice sooner with some help from his neighbor. She can attempt to heal a professional athlete on her own merits and not on the coat tails of her famous brother.
The two ask each other for a favor. Can they both fulfill the terms of their favor or will the stubborn and conflicting emotions between these two leave them in the penalty box?
***I received an ebook copy from the publisher at no cost***
Nobody writes hockey romance like Helena. And nobody has created such a hot, irresistible set of leading hockey men as Helena.
A Favor for a Favor is the second installment in Helena’s All In series. Stevie Bowman is going through a bit of a personal crisis. Her boyfriend betrayed her, on her birthday of all days, leaving her with no place to stay. Fortunately her big brother Rook has a place she can crash at … and a sexy, a-hole neighbor who is bound and determined to get under Stevie’s skin.
Bishop Winslow is the a-hole neighbor. He also plays on the same NHL team as Rook, and the two don’t have the best relationship. Bishop mistakes Stevie for a puck bunny and after that, things are on between the two.
There are fireworks from the start between Bishop and Stevie—and not of the good kind. These two despise one another from the get go and they do everything they can to annoy one another. When Bishop gets injured and finds out Stevie is a physiotherapist, the pieces of the wall between the two slowly start to crumble. Stevie works on Bishop, helping him rehab quicker … in secret. Not gonna spill any beans here but, trust me when I say that things heat up both on and off the ice.
Stevie is awesome. From the pink hair to the snark and sass, I adored her. She’s a tough cookie, she refused to tolerate any bs from her ex or any of the other men in the story, and she was very relatable. I loved Bishop from the first time he appeared in the story. He’s a good guy who’s determined to make the most of his place on the team. He also struck me as honorable, and I loved that.
This is a fun, sexy, and slightly angsty story. Despite the low points in the story, Helena kept me laughing throughout, and the book is filled with the banter I’ve come to expect in her stories. Also, we get to see Alex and Violet again in this book and that made me all sorts of happy.
If you’re a fan of sports romances, rom coms, hockey, snark … grab this book and start reading it today! This can be read as a standalone, but I’d read A Lie for a Lie too. And the Pucked series. Really, just read it all.
Five stars to this novel!
I totally loved Bishop and Stevie’s story. Talk about starting off on the wrong foot. Right off the bat Bishop has the wrong idea about who she is in relationship to his team’s captain. Add to that he is not of big fan of the captain and these two butt heads right always. Lots of fun moments, I love all the boxers he owns. An injury pulls him from being able to play but also helps him to find out who Stevie really is. Stevie wants to make a name for herself without using her famous brothers name to her there. When the chance to do rehab come up with Bishop she makes a deal with him. Slowly these two start to form a friendship and then something more. I don’t want to give anything away because each scene is wonderful and I can’t say enough good things about it. Pick it up for yourself and see.
Overall Grade:
Shhh…I have a secret. I hate to admit it, but A Favor for A Favor is only my second Helena Hunting book. I know, I know. Where have I been living given her prolific reading list filled with lots of $exy hockey players and their heroines? Well, apparently, I’ve been living too far under a rock, and I need to come up for air and get to her reading list immediately BECAUSE A Favor for A Favor has everything I love in a rom-com: a cranky hero, a sassy heroine who puts him in his place more often than not, some serious chemistry that quite literally explodes after a serious slow burn, and lots and lots of hilarious banter between the two. Add to that a hero who loves to wear underwear with messages written over his junk and a game of catch the other one in his/her skimpiest of clothing, and you have a BIG hit. Because that is what A Favor for A Favor is…a must-read.
Emotion is a measure for me of a great book. Do you make me cry? Do you make me laugh? Do you make me want to launch my phone or Kindle at the wall in anger or frustration or fright? If you can pull any one of these reactions from me, then you have sold me on your book. Helena Hunting’s A Favor for A Favor did two of these: it made me laugh and it made me shed a tear. That last reaction might seem strange for a rom-com, but everyone knows that a rom-com has to have some level of tension in it because we cannot simply let the hero and heroine go easily into their happily ever after. Right? That is indeed the case for our hero and heroine in Helena Hunting’s story.
However, up to that point, laughter is the best medicine when you have a hero with a serious attitude. From Stevie’s overbearing brother to Bishop’s playboy brother to a cat whose name will make you spit-take to a neanderthal ex-boyfriend to friends that challenge our hero and heroine, there are so many opportunities to laugh out loud. As I turned the page, I wanted more and more of Stevie and Bishop. Their chemistry, their underwear game, his groin injury which leads to so many sentences about his balls, and her handling of his “ball” issue grab your heart and drag you into their feud. These two start out as pseudo-enemies and allow their chemistry to build a slow burn towards their connection. It’s that slow burn and their obvious interest in each other that engages you and makes you fall for them more and more.
Yet, it’s also the hearts of these two that catapult you into this book. It’s clear that each of them cares for the other once their misconceptions are resolved. Reading them fall in love on the page brings about a sense of completion that you hate to come to because it means their story is over. I hadn’t read Stevie’s brother’s book, A Lie for A Lie. And I found myself one-clicking it because this world, the one where Stevie and Bishop reside, quickly became the favorite part of my reading week.
From Bishop’s statement underwear to Stevie’s strength in challenging Bishop, A Favor for A Favor became a favorite rom-com of mine. With hockey players, injured balls, a slow-burn romance, and a heroine who helps a hero live out his depth, Helena Hunting’s romance reminds us that people are brought into our lives to challenge us while loving us. As Bishop falls deeply for Stevie, you can’t help but feel like everything in life is complete. I mean, if a cranky hero with a serious attitude can find his happily-ever-after, can’t we all? And yes, there is more Helena Hunting in my future.
Helena Hunting has crafted, yet again, another series that is fun, emotional and brings to life characters that you will just fall in love with. I adore the Pucked Series and Alex is my favorite but I will tell you this now…Bishop is about to steal your heart like he stole mine!
I love for my heroes to be a little more on the “not so nice” side and Bishop fits that bill perfectly. Stevie surprised me by being a character that can give as good as she gets and man, I think I have a girl crush!
Stevie and Bishop meet in the most unusual, hilarious way which follows them throughout the course of their relationship. The push and pull, their hilarious and witty banter, and their overall chemistry had me so enamored in it that I didn’t even realize I spent an entire afternoon wrapped up in their love story!
Everything about A Favor for a Favor is a win for me! From Stevie and Bishop, cameos by the Pucked gang and even a bit of Rook (A Lie for A Lie) in a different light made this one hell of a way to start 2020!
Hunting has quite the knack of writing a male character who has the perfect amount of “rough around the edges” but a great heart. Bishop comes across as a cantankerous brute, but what I found to be most amazing is that despite him being crusty, his moral compass doesn’t waver in the slightest. Talk about a diamond in the rough. So of course that sets up the perfect antagonist situation with the kin of the one person he can’t stand…the team captain. And as cranky as Bishop can be, he’s more than met his match in Stevie. She’s smart, motivated, and a really good physical therapist. and she won’t take his crap. Can you smell where this is going?
It’s a great story that reminds us that we really can’t judge a book by its cover and sometimes we love calls the shots, even if we’re not ready to get in the game. A really fun observation…the main guys in the book are all named after chess pieces: Rook, Bishop, King. I guess they are all pawns in the game of love.
You can’t go wrong with a Helena Hunting novel. She does a great job in her worldbuilding and writing a follow-up in the series!