When opposites attract, it’s not just the team that’s in for a shake-up.When a stipulation in his father’s will throws Mark back into a family that disowned him, he has only two things on his mind; buying his way out of contractual obligations and running in the opposite direction as fast as he can. When neither option pans out, he finds he is now a one third owner of the struggling Arizona … struggling Arizona Raptors hockey team, and that is just about the worst thing he could have happened to him. Not only does he hate hockey, but the Raptors are a bottom-of-the-league team, rife with jealousies and anger in a locker room that only knows self-pity. How is he supposed to help turn things around when the only way to start fixing things is to form an alliance with the estranged siblings he’d run from fifteen years earlier?
Then there’s Rowen Carmichael, a stubborn, opinionated, irritating man with superiority issues and questionable taste in music. Butting heads with Rowen, who he’d never even wanted to hire in the first place, is one thing, but there is no way in hell that he will allow the growing attraction to the new coach become anything more. Until with everything on the line, he has to make decisions that will change his life forever.
After years of collegiate coaching, Rowen is given an offer that he simply can’t refuse, although perhaps he should. When he’s presented with the chance to take one of the worst teams in the league and mold them into a future cup contender, the challenge is just too alluring to pass up. He leaves his beloved Ontario behind and moves west to the arid city of Tucson where he is faced with a broken team, shoddy management, and players overflowing with resentment and bigotry.
Never in his twenty years of hockey has he ever seen such a raging dumpster fire of an organization. Yet there’s something about this team and this city that compels him to roll up his sleeves and start dismantling. He has his eye on a new associate coach that’s bound to makes waves, and several key players who should be sent packing. Now all he has to do is convince the new owners of the team that his choices are for the best. If only Mark Westman-Reid, one of three siblings who now own the Raptors, wasn’t so damned rock-headed, so damned snooty, and so damned appealing his job might be a bit easier.
Word Count: 57,412
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I love the feeling of the team being family in the hockey romance genre, so I was curious to see how the authors would approach a dysfunctional team that is far from unified. Although the Raptors have a long way to go in that regard, their story mirrors that of Mark and his family. Both the team and his family start in a similar mindset, with mistrust and a not so great history. I liked how both stories worked together, alongside Mark and Rowen’s growth from initial dislike and preconceptions, to friendship, to more. Very nicely done!
I liked both Mark and Rowen as characters. They’re opposites in so many ways, yet slowly and grudgingly find common ground in which to connect, and not just through their instant physical attraction. I enjoyed their interaction and banter, and thought alternating their perspectives gave an interesting insight into their personalities and situations through not just their eyes, but each other’s.
I enjoyed catching up with characters I already knew, like Ryker, and the glimpse of the Railers when both teams face off in a game. I liked Henry, Alex, and Colorado too. They have quite different personalities and I enjoyed their interaction. As an aside, I had to smile at the names of a couple of the new Raptors, and wondered if I picked up on a deliberate Batman reference or whether it was me being a geek.
The new assistant coach is great. I loved that Rowen choose the best person for the job.
On the flip side, Aarni is a thoroughly unpleasant guy, and I was torn between being happy about what happened to him, and horrified at the consequences of what finally brings everything to a head.
The hockey games are exciting, and I got caught up in the action, despite still not having much of a clue about the game. I like that I can read these stories, and I don’t feel on the outside because I don’t follow hockey.
I found this story a very satisfying read that kept me turning pages. I got invested in the characters very quickly, and enjoyed their interaction with each other, and the wider cast. I’m very happy that this is the first of a new series as I’m already looking forward to book 2.
5 out of 5 stars.