He’s a Special Forces veteran making his pro hockey debut. She’s a dogged sports reporter determined to get a scoop. She’s also his best friend’s widow . . .Fans can’t get enough of Levi Hunt, the Special Forces veteran who put his NHL career on hold to serve his country and fight the bad guys. So when his new Chicago Rebels bosses tell him to cooperate with the press on a profile, he’s ready to … profile, he’s ready to do his duty. Until he finds out who he has to work with: flame-haired, freckle-splashed, impossibly perky Jordan Cooke.
The woman he should not have kissed the night she buried her husband, Levi’s best friend in the service.
Hockey-stick-up-his-butt-serious Levi Hunt might despise Jordan for reasons she can’t fathom–okay, it’s to do with kissing–but her future in the cutthroat world of sports reporting hangs on delivering the goods on the league’s hottest, grumpiest rookie. So what if he’s not interested in having his life plated up for public consumption. Too bad. Jordan will have to play dirty to get her scoop and even dirtier to get her man.
Only in winning the story, she might just lose her heart …
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I enjoyed this story very much. Levi and Jordan belong together and are role models with courage, confidence, and compassion.
Levi Hunt put his NHL career on hold to serve his country. Now he is getting a second chance at playing the sport he loves but unfortunately it means he has to deal with the press. Being forced by his boss to cooperate with the press is the last thing he wants to do, even if it means talking to the one woman he shouldn’t want.
I read the Chicago Rebels series a few years ago and really enjoyed it so when I saw that she was making another series about the Rebels I was all over it. Unfortunately, time got away from me and I am just now getting to this series but that just means I don’t have to wait long for the next book. I really enjoyed this book. Meader writes amazing characters with so much personality that you can’t help but fall for them.
Levi and Jordan parted on awkward terms. Jordan thinks Levi hates her and has always disapproved of her. Levi pushes her away because he always was attracted to her, even when she was married to his best friend. The chemistry between these two is so hot and intense! I just loved it.
I really loved Jordan in this book. Meader really knows how to write a strong female character with some sass. Jordan is an amazing journalist who wants to make the NHL, and sports in general, more open to female workers and less sexist. I loved her determination to do the right thing, even when it was breaking her heart.
While Jordan is very outgoing and open Levi is the opposite. He is very private and doesn’t want anyone to know his past struggles or what he does in his spare time. We find that he is also a social justice warrior in his own way. He is determined to help homeless people, especially veterans, get the help they need. I really liked him even when he was being a grumpy jerk.
Overall, I really enjoyed this new series and I can’t wait to read the next one, especially since it’s Theo’s (Superglutes) book.
Reader Warning:
Discussions of domestic violence, sexual harassment, bullying, and social media bullying.
Wonderful tale of a Special Forces veteran coping with adjusting to life after service. He also has to cope with the loss of his best friend and the fact that he has always been in love with his bff’s wife. Tough circumstances can’t alter their outcome…it was always meant to be.
Good Guy is essentially the first book in a spin-off from Kate Meader’s Chicago Rebels series which follows Levi Hunt, a Special Forces veteran who finally has an opportunity to live his dream of playing professional Hockey; albeit at the seasoned age of 30!
This story, as with so many others by this author, touches on the reality of life; service to country, sacrifice and loss, learning to accept the person you are and never allowing harassment of any kind to impede your dreams of success and happiness. Jordan was also a pleasant surprise. Journalists are quite often self-serving and intrusive in their quest for the crucial career defining story, but Jordan was a genuinely nice person with ethics and a conscience that would never allow her to destroy someone’s character simply to gain fame.
Throw into the mix Levi and Jordan’s history and the heartache that they have both endured and losses shared, this is so much more than a sports romance; Good Guy is a heartfelt, emotional and often funny account of two fabulous characters and their eventually resolve that love can happen when least expected and with someone you previously deemed totally forbidden. I can’t wait to see what Ms Meader has in store for us next!
OMG, I loved this book talk about a hottie, a special services dude turned NHL hockey player can’t get better than that. This book has a great story and the characters were amazing. Levi is an older rookie having spent time in the military before his pro hockey career. I loved the bond between Levi and Jordon, someone from the past, someone kind of taboo, but someone you have feelings for. I enjoyed the older Rebels that visited this story. Great hockey romance.
3.25- 3.5 stars. Good Guy was a pretty good read. It is the first book in the new Rookie Rebels series, which is a spin off of the Chicago Rebels series, and is focused on the rookies on their NHL team. Good Guy was Jordan and Levi’s story. Jordan is a widow and a scrappy, up and coming hockey reporter. Her husband was a Green Beret in the military, worked with and was best friends with Levi, who was also the best man at their wedding. Jordan was married for two years when her husband died. Since then she has been reporting on NHL hockey and trying to work her way up in the press. Now, five years later, her big break has come in the form of Levi. He has retired from the military and has gone back to playing hockey, as he did prior to the military. He is now a rookie for the Chicago Rebels. The press is interested in him for his older age for a rookie and his intriguing background as a Green Beret, but Levi is fiercely private. Jordan gets an assignment to write a long term article about Levi since she knows him and she is assigned to be embedded with the team for several weeks. Levi is very reluctant to spend any time with Jordan or tell her anything, but she is persistent and sees the article as a chance for a big career break. As the two spend time together, they develop feelings for each other and things get very complicated, but it all works out for them in the end.
I liked Good Guy, but I didn’t totally love it. It was a little slow at times, especially at the beginning. The relationship between Jordan and Levi begins with an enemies to lovers feel. Their past is very messy. I found the book to be a little too angsty for my taste. I liked Levi and Jordan, but they were wishy washy about their feelings towards each other and whether they could start a relationship. They both hurt each other badly, at times. Levi and Jordan’s relationship had a slow progression. There were no I Love You’s exchanged, nor real time together in an official relationship, until the very end. I didn’t love that the conflict was resolved at the very end of the book. Still, I did enjoy the book in general. I did like Levi and Jordan together by the end. I did feel like they loved each other and I was happy that they could finally find happiness that they deserved.
Overall, Good Guy was not my favorite book by Ms. Meader, but I still enjoyed it. I found it to be a good beginning of this new series and am intrigued by the new characters introduced. I look forward to more from the Rookie Rebels series and from Kate Meader in the future!
This is the first book in a new series by this author, but more of a spin-off from the Chicago Rebels series. I haven’t read that series yet but it certainly didn’t cause me any problems when reading Good Guy — it can absolutely be read as a standalone. That being said, I think a reader would get the most enjoyment out of these reads if they’re really into hockey — which I’m not! Nevertheless, I still liked the characters and the flow and the plot of this one,. I can’t say I was as invested or connected to Levi and Jordan as I was with her previous series (Laws of Attraction) — that series I adored! If you like sports romances, especially hockey romances, you’ll love this one — I would definitely recommend it. I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC for NetGalley.
Kate Meader scores with GOOD GUY (Rookie Rebels #1). In this story, Special Forces veteran, Levi Hunt, is making his debut in the NHL as the oldest rookie. He’s the hottest story in the NHL. Reporter, Jordan Cooke, is given an exclusive to report his profile. The only problem is that these to share a past and Levi is a private person. This contemporary sports romance is suitable for adult audiences.
Kate Meader did a great job with this spin-off of the Chicago Rebals series. Yes, some of the characters from that series play a role in the new series. The plot was original. I like the idea of a player putting his career on hold to serve in the military first. I also thought it was compelling how Jordan and Levi know each other. Jordan combats female in male-dominated field problems that added to the novel. There are a lot of interesting facets and complications in the story.
The characters are likable and believable. They face emotional issues. The story is skillfully written and interesting. The GOOD GUY is a heartfelt read. I recommend this story to people who enjoy sports romances and/or military romances. I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.
Good Guy turns fantasy romance into realistic heartache. Meader brings her special brand of seasoning into the real world. Levi and Jordan have bumped down the highway of life with some heartbreaking results. Now both are looking for inspiration. Can these bruisers find the courage to score goal in the love department? Good Guy ventures a bit off the beaten path to deliver heat and heart with humor and sprinkles of wisdom along the way.
I am so happy the Chicago Rebels, new generation, have their own stories. Ms. Meader’s writing is engaging and fun and to die for. The characters all interact in fun and sexy ways. I absolutely loved Levi. What was there not to like about him. Jordan was just as likeable and I loved her standing and message. As a woman who loves sports I dislike when men assume that we are not smart enough (or base enough) to understand sports. So, you go girl! The dynamic between the main characters and their friends is so heartwarming you wish you were there with them. Excited about the next story? Bring it on.
I received a complimentary copy from the publisher through NetGalley.
Let me make this clear, folks. Levi Hunt, the hero, was the best part of this book. From serving his country, to feeding the homeless/taking a personal interest in doing so, to donating generously to worthy causes, to just being a downright, all round, great guy, who respected women, he was darn near perfect in my eyes. He certainly didn’t deserve to be hounded the way he was so others could profit from the private life he respectfully kept asking to be kept private. No means no, and others should have just let his talent speak for itself. The villainous, grumpy label Jordan, the heroine, unfairly attached to him didn’t make any sense to me. Frankly, I felt he deserved a better leading lady than someone so quick to judge him.
Speaking of Jordan, we were told she was sweet, pretty, perky, a formerly grieving widow, and now on the hunt for a story that could help launch her into sports reporting stardom. It took riding on Levi’s coat tail to set that plan in motion. It made her come across incapable of doing this on her own, even co-dependent. I just didn’t see what Levi saw in her, now or in the past when they first met/would run into each other when she was still married to his best friend. I felt I was told she was this rising, upcoming, great journalist surviving in a man’s world, but I didn’t particularly feel it.
Sure, the sweet smile, overly perky part I’ll go along with, but I found her rather annoying/immature at times, and too complacent, even spineless, for not putting a stop to something that is offensive to the sisterhood. I didn’t buy her argument for just putting up with getting vulgar pics on her phone, especially when she knew the guy sending them to her. For Pete’s sake, the man deliberately would even approach her in person, and she didn’t put him in his place. It seemed she was always too busy smiling and swinging her perky ponytail. At least that was still the case when I stopped reading out of frustration about mid-way through.
Color me crazy, but I also didn’t understand the passionate kiss we were told she shared with Levi at her husband’s funeral either. I don’t care who initiated it. That just felt wrong. I got the impression she didn’t even really know Levi that well at the time either.
I have a l-o-n-g history of loving this author’s writing style and will continue to do so. I’m a huge fan of her “Hot in the Kitchen”, “Hot in Chicago”, and “Chicago Rebels series. This go around the female lead character and even the scenes scripted between her and Levi just didn’t feel right. Here’s to hoping it was just me or the ARC version I read, folks. I found this book to be just an average read. Not feeling Jordan justly deserved Levi likely got in my way of bonding with their relationship. I also didn’t think their scenes were scripted on the level I’m used to with the numerous, past books I’ve ready by this author.
Romance Safety Gang: Jordan met Levi and her deceased husband (who was his friend) at the same time. She fell in love with the other man at first sight..while he was sitting right next to Levi. He was mostly just her husband’s friend, since they were overseas more than at home. Hearing about a kiss at her husband’s funeral with Levi felt off to me. Like it was thrown in just to establish a type of past passionate romantic connection to build upon in this book. I have difficulty imagining lip locking at a funeral, folks.
Title: Good Guy, Series: Rookie Rebels (Book 1), Author: Kate Meader, Pages: 322, stand-alone but part of a spin-off series, former military now hockey player hero, sports reporter heroine, steamy scenes, was married to a friend of his, stopping reading at 50%, lost interest.
(I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I was not given any payment or compensation for this review, nor is there any affiliation or relationship between this reviewer and the author/publisher/PR firm.)
3.5
What I liked:
The writing style
The characters
Part of a series: Rookie Rebels
Standalone
HEA
Epilogue
I look forward to reading the other books in this series.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC from NetGalley.
I am not a fan of hockey or sports players, but I was intrigued when I read the summary of this story.
Glad I gave it a try.
Levi Hunt joined the Special Forces as a Green Beret, to fight for his country and now is back to the sport he loves.
Jordan Cooke, a young report , has been assigned to get a story on Levi. A story that can make her name known in the sports writing world. A world filled with backstabbing and a lot of competition.
But what I didn’t mention is that these two have a history. She is the widow of his military best friend, and the woman he kissed the night of the funeral.
The plot was engaging, and the characters complex with a strong woman character. I always enjoy seeing that .
I am looking forward to what else the author has in store for us in the next book of the series.
Levi Hunt is the world’s oldest Hockey rookie. Instead of going into the NHL out of college, he joined the Green Berets and served his country. He is an all around great guy, ex-military special forces, works anonymously with the homeless, and is a leader with the new guys on his team. Of course, the journalist the team decides to embed with the team and do an in depth story on Levi has a history with him. Jordan Cooke is a widow who has been given the opportunity of a big break in sports journalism by doing an in depth profile of the man who was the best man at her wedding. Problem is she thinks that Levi cannot stand her. This is an enjoyable enemies to lovers/forbidden romance. I really like Levi’s character, he is complex. Not only is he a good guy, he had to overcome a tough childhood and deal with the survivor’s guilt. This is a nice start to a new series, as you are introduced to other teammates that will be in future books. I did think the book dragged a little when Jordan kept equivocating when it came to having a relationship with Levi. Overall, it was an enjoyable book. I was given a ARC of this book from NetGalley for my honest review.