The NHL’s most charming player is ready to score a hat trick on and off the ice…As the star forward for the Boston Blades, I’ve earned a reputation for no-strings attached hookups and a mean slapshot that has all the ladies purring — but it’s never been the one woman I want to see all fired up and ready to score.Boston’s own Ice Queen Gwen James has had my emotions all tangled up for years. … emotions all tangled up for years. I’ve played the games. I’ve sat on the sidelines.
No matter her reasons, I’m done being benched.
When she approaches me for a second chance, I accept on one condition: she’s got to prove she’s all in.
No kissing. No sex.
It just might kill me to keep my hands to myself, but it’s time Gwen knows what it’s like to beg.
At the end of the day, I play to win, and I want what no other man has ever had…her heart.
Hat Trick is the third book in the Blades Hockey series, but can be read as a complete standalone. If you like quirky characters, hot as puck heroes, and scenes that will have you fanning your kindle, then Hat Trick will definitely be your jam.
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Hat Trick continues to be a great book in the Blades Hockey series- Gwen and Marshall wow! Hot, fun and real! I loved these two as a couple and really loved the relationships with all the characters from the first 2 books in the series! Girls being girlfriends and honest friendships and guys just being guys- who still have each other’s backs! Gwen and Marshall have troubled pasts and together work to make their future together!
I received a complimentary copy of this book (and I also purchased a copy) and I am voluntarily reviewing it.
This was a fantastic book. I just loved how the characters interacted as well as how they “talked” to themselves. I laughed so hard at times it, that I was glad that I wasn’t out in public. The characters are so realistic and the plot was incredible. The book just hooks you in from the beginning. I was saddened to see the end come. I just loved Marshall and Gwen.
This is an amazing book and I highly recommend it to anyone.
A bit grittier than the others in the series. There was more angst, more drama, more emotions. Easily my favorite so far.
Awww, this book has *all* the feels! Hat Trick is our third visit with the Boston Blades, where ice queen Gwen finds the courage to allow her heart to thaw for playboy Marshall. It’s great to see the other side to a Regina George-type character, and Ms. Luis does a fabulous job of making her sympathetic and vulnerable.
We get all the much-anticipated backstory for both Marshall and Gwen, all the steamy tension and fireworks we expect from these hot hockey players, and we get to visit with Zoe and Charlie, even a little with Duke and Andre, as well.
Marshall and Gwen have to overcome a complicated frenemies history and their own anguished childhoods that have left scars on their hearts. The steps involved are sometimes hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking. The witty dialogue is always hiding a layer of vulnerability, and the two-steps-forward-one-step-back pace really comes across as real and familiar.
All along the way, you can see right through to Marshall’s and Gwen’s true feelings as the story is told in alternating POV. I loved how the author really addressed the source of Gwen’s heart and trust issues at the end. The HEA is beautiful, and I can promise you’ll never look at a blueberry pie the same way again! I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.
Another fantastic story by Maria Luis. This book was cute, funny, and heartwarming. Marshall and Gwen are perfectly amazing together. They are both hiding their true selves from everyone and in some aspects from themselves. She acts like an Ice Queen and he puts on an act as an Outgoing, playboy. When deep down they both know that is not really who they are. I did not care for Gwen at all from the previous books. In this book we get to see a different side to her. We see it through Marshall’s eyes and what he has experienced with her. They met in college, he has wanted to be with Gwen since then but she has dodged his advances. He has been there for her when she felt her lowest, but they never spoke of it. Finally Gwen wants to take a chance and see where it can go with him, but he has had enough and tells her No for once. I felt bad for her because it took a lot for her to ask him out but at the same time commended Marshall for standing up for himself, he didn’t want to just give into her and get hurt. Their chemistry is outstanding. We get a softer side to her and a beautiful, romantic side to him. They are both dealing with things but their connection with each other helps them both through it. It proves that there is no harm in trying something, you just might find your true love.
Highly Recommend!
The truth behind why Gwen is the Ice Queen and why Marshall always appears to be such a charming playboy.
Entertaining read with lots of steam!
So I didn’t like Gwen in the previous books but I think that’s because I didn’t know her. I’m glad she got her own book because she quickly became one of my favorite characters! I understand why Hunt loved her for so long.
Speaking of Hunt: holy moly he’s H.O.T!!!! He’s a sweet “playboy” but only because Gwen would not give him the time of day for the longest time! Once she did though, holy fireworks!!! I seriously cannot get enough of Maria Luis. She takes me to another world entirely when I’m reading her books and she’s so good at what she does!!
Hat Trick is book three in the Blades Hockey series by Maria Luis. I loved the first two books in this series. This book is Gwen James and Marshall Hunt’s story and to be honest with you, going in, I wondered how in the world these two would work together. They seemed completely ill matched. But, I was wrong. Because they did fit, perfectly.
Gwen James otherwise known as Icy Gwen James or the Ice Queen, is twenty eight years old and works at a top PR firm, Golden Lights Media in Boston. Gwen first met Marshall when they were both in college. She is three years older than he is. He pursued her relentlessly but he was too young for her. Now, Marshall is a pro hockey player for the Boston Blades and he once again has his eye on Gwen. But Gwen doesn’t do relationships. She was taught by her mother who was at least on husband number four by now, that you don’t trust men. That love isn’t real.
Marshall Hunt has it all, or it seems from the outside that he does. He’s rich, has the job of his dreams, and constantly dates beautiful models. But for Marshall, the models are all just temporary until he finally convinces the woman of his dreams to take a chance on him. It’s been six years of rejections, though. Maybe it’s time to finally give up. So the last time Gwen turns him down, he finally tells her that’s it. That he’s done. And he walks away.
Gwen has spent the last year really working on herself. Trying to undo the damage her upbringing did. I loved seeing how her friendship with Charlie and Zoe has grown into best friends. When Marshall walked away from Gwen, she felt like her heart was going with him. All those years of trying to get her to go out with him and she never trusted him enough to take the leap. But now he had given up.
“For the first time in my life, I’m going all in.”
Gwen convinces Marshall to give her another chance. But this time, it’s going to be on Marshall’s terms. No sex, not even kissing, until he’s convinced that she’s really in it. Watching these two find their way was such a beautiful thing. Watching Gwen let down her defenses for Marshall little by little. But, both Gwen and Marshall have pasts that haven’t let go of them yet. Both have trust issues. And there is something surprising that ties them together. Of course, just when that last little bit of a wall is about to come down, that past has to come back and rear it’s head and threaten all the progress they’ve made together.
“In my arms, she’s an open book whose pages are begging to be loved.”
I loved this one. Gwen and Marshall both deserved happiness and they were the perfect fit for each other. They just had to leave the past behind and find their future with each other. The next book in this series, the fourth and final book, Body Check, is a second chance romance. It is Holly and Jackson’s story, and I can’t wait to read it.
I expected the sexy. I did not expect this to be such a tearjerker in places. And to think I started out hating Gwen James. This may actually be my favorite of the series, but I haven’t read the last one yet and I heard it’s amazing. Anyway, this was a great combination of sweet and sexy.
Maria Luis is a one click author for me so I was excited to read this installment in the Blades series. This is Gwen and Hunt’s story. I was curious to read more about Gwen as she was quite frankly a B in the other books. I seriously wasn’t a fan, but in Hat Trick, I not only became a fan, but I also started rooting for her HEA. Marshall Hunt is a ladies man who can charm the pants off any lady, but has had his sights set on Gwen since college. Gwen, being, Gwen didn’t really give him the time of day. Gwen then decides that she’d like a second chance with Hunt. I love the fact that he makes her earn it! The chemistry between the two is off the charts. Plus add in the humor and witty banter that I’ve come to expect from Maria’s books and you have a thoroughly enjoyable read
I forgot to mention in my reviews of Power Play and Sin Bin that I am loving these covers! I love the way they all have some similarities, it’s easy to tell that they are an interconnected series. I feel like I should also start this review with a standing ovation, applause, applause, queue insane clapping… OK, so that was all for the ability to make me like Gwen!! I know, it you’ve read only book one you probably won’t believe it’s possible. If you’ve read book 2, you’re thinking eh, probably not, but there’s this nagging possibility in the back of your mind. Here we are at book 3 though, and I like Gwen. Now, that doesn’t mean she wasn’t always on my good side, she wasn’t. But this ability right here just shows the talent this author has!
You’ll find yourself understanding and you’ll see another side to her. One that you might struggle with a bit just out of habit but you’ll find yourself routing for her.
So here we are with Hat Trick, book 3, another fantastic read with wonderful characters that have you feeling a wide range of emotions. This book was a slow burn and really everything unfolded so slowly and it just fell in place. Marshall and Gwen still had a fun and witty-type of relationship. Hat Trick felt a little more serious to me than the other two books. It was definitely a bit more emotional for me. I felt my heart break a bit, and OK, I was a mess near the end. But Luis didn’t leave me that way long!
I received an ARC of this book with the hope that I will leave an Unbiased Opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that… my opinions.