From the New York Times bestselling author of the Pucked series comes a romantic comedy about instant attraction, second chances, and not-so-little white lies.Sometimes I need an escape from the demands, the puck bunnies, and the notoriety that come with being an NHL team captain. I just want to be a normal guy for a few weeks. So when I leave Chicago for some peace and quiet, the last thing I … quiet, the last thing I expect is for a gorgeous woman to literally fall into my lap on a flight to Alaska. Even better, she has absolutely no idea who I am.
Lainey is the perfect escape from my life. My plan for seclusion becomes a monthlong sex fest punctuated with domestic bliss. But it ends just as abruptly as it began. When I’m called away on a family emergency, I realize too late that I have no way to contact Lainey.
A year later, a chance encounter throws Lainey and me together again. But I still have a lie hanging over my head, and Lainey’s keeping secrets of her own. With more than lust at stake, the truth may be our game changer.
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Sometimes I need an escape from the demands, the puck bunnies, and the notoriety that come with being an NHL team captain. I just want to be a normal guy for a few weeks. So when I leave Chicago for some peace and quiet, the last thing I expect is for a gorgeous woman to literally fall into my lap on a flight to Alaska. Even better, she has absolutely no idea who I am. I did enjoy this book just not as much as others by Helen Hunting unfortunately. It started off interesting and just kind of morphed into something sickly sweet, the characters had some chemistry but they were quite dull. The sex was hot and the story line was what I would call a sweet romance that you would read on a rainy day.
I highly recommend any of Helena Huntington’s books!
A Lie for a Lie is funny, sexy, and romantic read. It charms you with banter, humor, conflict, and heat. I love that Lainey and Rook get their second chance. I Can’t wait for the second book to come out.
Rook, an NHL star, is tired of being pursued by puck bunnies. He escapes to rural Alaska for some fishing and a little down time. While there his paths cross with Lainey, a biologist who is in Alaska studying the wildlife. They embark on a heated affair but Rook doesn’t tell Lainey the truth about who he is. A family emergency leads Rook to leave Alaska unexpectedly with a chance to tell Lainey goodbye. Their paths cross a year later and both of them are in for a surprise.
This was a fun read. I enjoyed the first part of the book with the two of them in Alaska. It was steamy and I enjoyed seeing them get to know each other. The second half of the book was only so-so for me. I felt like their reunion was somewhat contrived. There wasn’t a whole lot of angst at the end–you knew Rook was step up and do the right thing.
I have read and loved Helena’s other hockey romances and can add “A Lie for A Lie” to my list of favorites. In order for me to give a five-star review I have to love and admire the hero and heroine. Rook RJ Bowman was the Captain of professional Hockey Team in Chicago where he lived. He met our heroine and his future bride, Lainey, on a plane to Alaska where he was headed to get in some much needed downtime in the offseason and fish.
I LOVED that they just met by happenstance. He wasn’t the brother of her friend, or her boss, and they didn’t have to get married so she could inherit a business. It was a fun meet cute on plane and he proved his hero-worthiness from that moment on. RJ was such a class act. He was a gentleman with great character, had a sense of humor, and believed in family (both his own and his hockey family). He was charming, protective, generous, and selfless.
I could go on and on about all of his positive traits but the true test of his loyalty came after they had lost touch and met again. Lainey was so open and honest and I loved her quirkiness. She was a super smart marine biologist and independent even though she grew up sheltered with her parents controlling her life. I admired how she took charge of her own destiny, and how levelheaded, polite, and respectful she was.
She was easy-going, kind, and fun to be around, and these wonderful traits are why RJ became enamored with her. She was a natural beauty and they genuinely enjoyed spending time together, both in and out of the bedroom. She didn’t treat him like a fan-girl because he never told her his occupation, and even though it was only for a short time, he relished being liked for just who he was.
Life and situations happen and these two star-crossed lovers become separated and then get a second chance. There are big surprises in this book, especially in the second half, and it kept me turning the pages until well after midnight. The writing is excellent as is the character development, and I especially enjoyed all of the secondary characters who appeared throughout the book including his family and teammates.
These two were meant to be. I love how honest and drawn to one another they were, and how patient he was when trying to regain her trust. And Swoon, swoon, swoon when he meets a certain someone that came as a surprise, for she had a “Lie” of her own.
A heartwarming read. RJ is on holiday and avoiding the NHL life. Lainey super intelligent and on to her third masters. Opposites attract. Their romance was sweet and then heartbreaking. Lovely’s journey.
Rook (RJ) goes on his annual fishing trip to Alaska, alone. His father had passed and his brother was staying home with his pregnant wife. Ready for a change of pace of women through themselves at him, he stumbled across Lainey.
Their attraction is palpable. And ending up being neighbors in Alaska didn’t hurt. During a months time their connection grows. But an abrupt departure by RJ ends things before they can figure out their next steps.
Nearly a year later they th into each other. This time RJ is ready to prove that he is worth a second chance. Go pick up this great read today.
No lie this book is a good one! I loved reading about RJ and Lainey. They loved and lost and their story back to each other is beautiful!
If anyone knows how to write a hockey romance, it’s Helena Hunting. A Lie for a Lie spins off of her best-selling Pucked series, giving us new characters to love while reminding us why we love her hockey series so much. A Lie for a Lie is a complete standalone story that is connected to her Pucked world. Fans will love catching up with some of their favorites (Alex, Lance, Violet, Sunny, et al) while new readers will meet these characters and instantly want to know more about them. For those of you new to Hunting, do yourself a favor and read the Pucked series because it is solid gold!
I loved Rook/RJ! He’s so much more than I expected going into this story. We first met him in the Pucked series and he was a total loose cannon back then. What we get here is a more mature character who is so much more than a manwhore hockey player! I loved his naturally nurturing ways and how he immediately stepped in to help Lainey when she was a virtual stranger to him. And Lainey….oh how I loved this quirky, unexpected woman! She was so genuine and not afraid to be real. These two together were just plain adorable. I loved their easy nature and their fun banter. They were organic and natural….nothing forced with these two and their relationship was written beautifully.
Hunting brings her A-game to this story so be prepared for stellar writing and her signature comedic zingers. You’ll laugh and you’ll swoon as you fall for both of these beautiful characters. There are many surprises in the book and each one is written perfectly. I loved A Lie for a Lie something fierce!!! 5 stars
Great book! Love this author!
5 Super Goals for this new series from Helena Hunting! Such an amazing story of second chance romance with a touch of the unknown. When one is caught in a lie that he needs to fix, only to find out the one that he fell in love with also has a lie of her own, things can get messy. But the love story of RJ and Lainey is beautiful. Starting out as a chance meeting in Alaska, an amazing descriptive story about being Alaska, ends with another chance meeting in Chicago. The plight of the hockey hunk and the nerdy chick is awesome.
Loved this story!!
I don’t know what I loved more, the characters or the plot or the author’s writing. This was one book I enjoyed from the first line to the last and would have loved to go on reading about Lainey and Rook (or RJ). They are both so adorable together!
Rook is the captain of Chicago’s hockey team. He took over from Alex Winters (Pucked), who stepped down last year. Once a year, during downtime, Rook takes off for a few weeks to Kodiak island in Alaska with his father and brother and chill out there, boating and fishing. His father died two years ago, but Rook and his brother continue the tradition. This year, he needs it more than ever, after the craziness of his first year as captain. Unfortunately, his brother couldn’t make it this year, so he’s traveling solo. In the last two legs of his trip, he meets Lainey, who is also traveling to Kodiak, to work on her thesis about the mating rituals of whales and dolphins.
Lainey suffers from extreme anxiety and panic attacks. She doesn’t do good in public, where there are crowds and noise. She was home-schooled and very sheltered by her parents and raised to be afraid of the outer world. She feels smothered by her parents, so she’s branching out and daring out into the world, studying for her third Masters degree. Since she’s awkward, shy and anxious, she’s scared out of her mind on the plane flights and RJ feels compelled to help her. He tells her he’s her human teddy bear, so endearing! He finds her refreshing, adorable and intelligent, a combination that turns out to be just perfect for him.
They spend six wonderful weeks in Alaska and when he suddenly has to leave due to a family emergency, they lost contact. Fast forward one year later…
Rook is attending a birthday party of a teammate’s kid at the Chicago Aquarium and gets a huge surprise. The woman he’s been pining for during the past year is there working as a tour guide. Their reunion is not a happy one because he forgot to mention a very important detail, that he’s the captain of the hockey team. She thought he was an alpaca farmer. Turmoil ensues because Rook was really into Lainey and wants another chance but Lainey is angry about the lies. She also hates that he’s such a famous public person. And then more secrets surface.
The story has all the elements I love in a book, wonderful love story, some angst, some humor and great pace. I loved Rook and Lainey and loved the way their story developed. Lainey gave him hell for his lies and kept up the anger for an appropriate time. I was so glad she didn’t turn this into a drama case!
I also loved meeting up with old friends from the Pucked series. It was such a page-turner, entertaining read. I loved how Rook was so understanding about Lainey’s anxiousness and how he always maneuvered to ease her way into his life which is hectic, public and noisy. He didn’t push her to accept his life, but rather he adapted to her life and meshed his friends, their spouses or girlfriends and made a happy group of people for Lainey that also served as her support group. He was courteous and respectful with her parents, even though they weren’t exactly nice the first times they met. Lainey’s mother was loving but horribly over-bearing. I loved Lainey, she was super intelligent, caring and open minded. Once she makes up her mind to enter Rook’s world, she was a good sport and very thoughtful. They were a perfect couple, he calmed her anxiety and she centered him. Together, they made the other the best person they could be, and as a team they were strong. Loved it!
I don’t know how Helena Hunting does it but each and every time, her books are perfect balance of romance and laughter with charming characters, so I think, I need to stop being surprised with this 🙂
‘Lie for a Lie’ is the first book of Helena Hunting’s brand new series ‘All In’. Since this is a spin-off series of ‘Pucked’, after finish reading ‘Lie for a Lie’ for the first time, I went back and re-read the whole ‘Pucked’ series 😀 It was amazing to re-unite with my beloved Pucked characters, starting from Lance, Randy, Violet and this book gives you a chance to see bits and pieces of their lives after ‘Pucked’. Also, by going back to read the ‘Pucked’ series, I got a glimpse of the wild NHL years of our hero Rook Bowman, a.k.a. Rookie or RJ. But those were his former years. Now that Alex is retired and RJ becomes the captain, he has more responsibility and big shoes to fill.
RJ is definitely sweet, charming, funny and hot. His relationship with his family is so sweet, especially with his sister, Stevie. Every year, as a family tradition, after the hockey season ends, RJ goes to Alaska for a fishing trip with his father and brother, Kyle. It gives him a chance to rest, unwind and be away from the spotlight for a while. After his father passed away, it is only Kyle and RJ but due to RJ’s sister-in-law’s high-risk pregnancy, Kyle cannot make it to Alaska so this year RJ is all alone. Lainey Carver is a smart cookie 🙂 She is one of Helena Hunting’s unique heroines. She is super smart, sassy, and funny. Lainey comes from a large and very protective family. Her third Master’s degree thesis, gives her a chance to spend sometime in Alaska without her protective family. Her trip to freedom has an interesting start. Thanks to her misbehaving scarf, she finds herself on a super hot stranger’s lap. When this kind of embarrassing thing happens, you always think it is ok since you will never see that person again. However, hot stranger ends up sitting next to her on her next flight and after another embarrassing flight moment, they find out they are neighbors. Realizing Lainey doesn’t really know what RJ does for living only makes RJ more intrigued by Lainey. When you are on an island, that doesn’t really have a tropical climate, with not much to do and sharing a cabin with someone you are attracted to, what do you do? Of course you stay in the cabin and enjoy hot, blissful time with the hottie 🙂 Annnd that is how RJ and Lainey mostly spend their time in Kodiak Island, they really enjoyed each other and appreciate all the important body parts 😉 Unfortunately, their Kodiak Island bubble bursts, when RJ has to fly out earlier than plan because of a family emergency. He realizes that he doesn’t have a way to contact Lainey, but then it was already too late. Life being full of surprises, their roads crosses each other after a year in a birthday party. This time around RJ doesn’t want to leave Lainey but before moving forward, they both have to reveal the secrets they kept from each other. Both secrets being life changing, will they be able to get over them and take a chance on each other?
‘Lie for a Lie’ is a heartwarming, inspiring, sexy and so much more. RJ and Lainey is an amazing couple. Even though they are totally different, they fit each other perfectly. I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book of the series ‘A Favor for a Favor’ which will be release on January, 2020.
Would I recommend this book: Yes.
Would I re-read this book: Yes.
Would I read future books by this author: Yes.
4.5 stars. Not gonna lie, when I first started reading this, I thought hot damn I’m going to Alaska. I loved this book so much and their time in Alaska was so precious. Yes, I totally used that word, is was also perfect. They first meet when she gets on the plane and her scarf is so long that it tangles her up and she falls in his lap….hilarious. Of course we don’t find out until later that she is ogling him and that’s what causes her to loose focus and get tangled up. Rook aka RJ is a hockey player, or maybe I should say a hot af hockey player *winks*.
One thing leads to another and she ends up staying with him in Alaska for weeks of sex filled bliss. An important situation comes up causing him to have to leave Alaska abruptly….with no cell phone number exchanging. This broke my heart a bit and it was not intentional, truly an accident. And since he omitted a few details about himself, there was no way for her to find him. Instead a year goes by with both of them heartbroken. Because lets be honest, soulmates do not come a dime a dozen.
Fast forward that year and he sees her again, and does not give up this time. These two were sweet, sexy and so romantic. He was totally smitten with her right from the start, so patient and sweet to her. They just made my heart happy. He really is a good guy, despite his very colorful past. But it’s his past, he is no longer like that. Oh and we get to see a lot of our Pucked series favorites and they are just as funny as ever. Seriously, Violet and Alex are still my favorites….laughed so hard, I can’t even. Baby batter, epilogue and an hea.
Well.. A lie for a lie? The world of hockey is never boring with these group… RJ Bowman knew that he is a public figure… Ladies will be chasing around like maniacs.. Relax vacation to Alaska was the best thing happened to RJ and Lainey . I adored the sweetness romance .. It felt right everywhere.. I read the book in one seating.. so for a quick romance.. this was perfect.
This is the second series of Mrs. Hunting’s that I have read at the start of the series and I am enjoying it. The other series I’ve read is the Shacking Up series and I loved that series. I haven’t had a chance to read the Pucked series even though I know the characters from this series are in the All In series.
Rook (aka RJ) is the team captain of the NHL hockey team in Chicago and when he first was in the NFL, he used his popularity to get the ice bunnies. After an incident with a crazed fan, he changed his ways and back off the bunnies. On his way to Kodiak Island, Alaska for his summer fishing getaway, something he would usually do with his father and brother but his dad passed away 2 years ago and his brother’s wife had complications from her pregnancy so had to cancel at the last minute, RJ runs into a shy lady named Lainey. The 2 get along with each other and RJ realizes that Lainey doesn’t know who he really is so he is glad about that since he wants her to get to know the person, not the player. They have a summer romance which ended up being more for both of them even though they never admitted their feelings to each other. When RJ gets a call from his brother saying that his sister in laws is in the hospital and having her baby soon, RJ rushes to LA from Alaska telling Lainey he will call her when he gets there. Well there was a big storm in Alaska and the power and phone lines were down so RJ and Lainey couldn’t connect before Lainey had to leave Alaska.
RJ thought he had lost Lainey and was sad because she didn’t leave him a way to contact her. Lainey thought that RJ though their relationship was just a fling since he never contacted her. When they see each other again over a year later, at the Chicago aquarium for one of RJ’s teammate’s kids’ birthday, they are both definitely shocked to see each other! The birthday party scene was so funny it had me laughing out loud especially when the kids see what the dophins were doing. And the male adults weren’t any help in the situation.
Lainey also finds out that RJ is not his real name (even though his siblings call him that) and that he isn’t an alpaca farmer but a hockey player. RJ thought this was his opportunity to get back with Lainey but because of his lies, Lainey doesn’t want to deal with him since she doesnt’ trust him. RJ has his work cut out for him to get Lainey to forgive him and give their relationship another chance. Lainey was hurt that RJ never tried to contact her and she has a secret of her own. She figures if RJ wants to be together, he will have to know about her secret and then he can figure out if he still wants a relationship. Once RJ knows that Lainey is hiding, he is more than determine to be with her. He goes about helping her with whatever he can and she will accept and hope that by doing that, she will realize that he meant what he has said to her about wanting to be with her.
This is such a great story about 2 chances and/or kismet about two people that are meant to be together and the universe has a way of getting them together but the rest is up to RJ and Lainey. RJ eventually wins Lainey and her family over and it is so great for these 2 people and the love they have for each other.
I am always pleased to renew my my acquaintance with Helen Hunting and hockey. The stories are well written and are not predictable. She is a favorite of mine and I recommend this book.
I am beyond excited to finally read some work from this author. This story had me hooked right from the beginning.
RJ and Lainey have the chemistry the keeps you reading more of their story.
Here is more of my review~ https://youtu.be/g1MKkUIqoDc
Loved this new one from Helena Hunting! I adore her Pucked series, so when I heard that she was giving us a spin-off series, I was crazy excited. And the first installment did not disappoint. It was everything! Adorable meet-cute, piles of chemistry, real life issues that they must overcome. It was fun and steamy and a bit angsty. It was great to see some old friends from the Pucked world, and even better to meet new characters that I fell in love with! Can’t wait for more from this world!
A Lie for a Lie is one of the best romcoms I have ever read!
Oh, so perfectly hot, funny and sweet. But oh, so compelling that you pulled in!!
Swoon!!