From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Sawyer Bennett comes a new story in her Arizona Vengeance series… live. In that moment, nothing mattered more than getting home to North Carolina to be by his side. That meant asking for the unthinkable—a trade to the Carolina Cold Fury.
Now I’m home and when I’m not on the ice with my new team, I’m helping care for my dad. And in the midst of my grief, I find comfort from the one person I never expected.
Calliope Ramirez stole my heart at a very young age. The beautiful, smart, headstrong girl next door, she was my first… everything. She has never forgiven me for leaving her, believing that I chose hockey over a future together. What she doesn’t understand is that every decision I made was for her, and I’ve never given up hope that one day we’d be together again.
Watching my dad slip away is a harsh reminder of how short life can be, and having Callie by my side makes me realize I was a damn fool before. That changes starting right now. Calliope Ramirez is mine and I’m not going to waste the second chance that I’ve been given.
Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series. We hope you’ll enjoy each one as much as we do.
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There’s just something so incredibly satisfying about reading one of Sawyer Bennett’s hockey romance books. I love all her hockey heroes equally and could not wait to read Rafe’s story after being introduced to him in Book 6 of her Arizona Vengeance series. Rafe’s story is a second chance romance read that takes place at the worst possible time in a person’s life. Forced to change teams right before the playoffs because of his father’s cancer diagnosis, Rafe heads back home. Home being also where he left the love of his life 8 years earlier. To say that his ex is bitter and angry is to put it mildly but she’s also concerned for and about him. During this difficult time, both Rafe and Calliope come to terms with their past, present and future; a future that includes a very sweet and sexy happily ever after. TBR and enjoy.
Rafe and Calliope’s story could have easily been a full length novel. But Sawyer did an amazing job getting their entire second chance story into this beautiful, heartbreaking novella. If you’ve been following the Cold Fury or the Vengeance this is a must read. If you’re new to either of those worlds, this quick read is a great way to get a taste of these hockey hunks and the amazing women in their lives.
Rafe an Arizona Vengeance Novella by Sawyer Bennett tells the story of Rafe and Callie and can be read as a stand-alone.
Rafe is traded to the Carolina Cold Fury to care for his father who only has weeks to live due to pancreatic cancer. Callie was Rafe’s first everything and has never forgotten that after all of their plans to stay together, Rafe left her to play professional hockey.
Rafe is navigating being back and the feelings that arise when near Callie, but also the grief of his father’s illness. Callie is afraid of getting hurt and asks to be friend with benefits, but Rafe wants more. Will she take the risk or continue to fear that she will be hurt again?
This is a sweet, quick story with very little angst, but heartbreaking at times. One never knows what is in store when reading Ms. Bennett’s books, but you are always in for a great read. Hopefully, we will be able to re-visit Rafe and Callie in a future story.
This was SO GOOD. A second chance hockey romance with a very emotional side story, the fact that Rafe is back home because his dad is dying. I shed a few tears reading this. Well, and Rafe when he and Calliope were younger, broke up with her because he was an idiot. I mean he thought it was a good reason but it was dumb. And she points that out in the present. Something I love about second chances is that the emotions just start off at a deeper level, not just the love, but all the past resentments to get over.
These 1001 Dark Nights are shorter, but it didn’t feel short, or rushed, or incomplete. I loved their love story and I love how it ended. And the mention of his new teammates, who we had read in previous stories.
One thing I can say is that whatever Sawyer Bennett writes, a novella or a full story they are filled with so much emotion and keep you coming back for more. Rafe is surely no different. A novella but the emotions you experience while reading it will keep you glued to every word. You will shed tears of joy and tears of sorrow. You will feel everything that Rafe and Calliope are feeling. Rafe left her 8 years ago because he felt he was doing the right thing. Calliope always felt that she did something wrong. Now he is back and has some explaining to do. Once she hears his reasons she understands but doesn’t forget what she went through these last 8 years to get over him.
Rafe is back because his dad is dying. He reconnects with Calliope and she offers to help him and his mom get through this horrible ordeal. Although she is a Labor and Delivery nurse she tries to explain to Rafe and his mom what is going on with his dad. Rafe has never forgotten his feelings for Calliope and now they are back. But she is weary and afraid that he will break her heart again. Something she has no intention of letting happen. She suggests friends with benefits. Can Rafe settle for this or will he be able to let her see the future they can have together and get over the past.
Sawyer Bennett has touched my heart with Rafe’s story!! Such an emotional and heart wrenching book!!
A heartbreaking second chance romance! Ashley @ Carolina Chic’s Read
I was hoping for Rafe’s story but when he was traded I was afraid we would never see him find his happily ever after, but like Sawyer does she found a way to give us him heartbreaking story. What we know Rafe’s dad is dying and he has been traded to the Cold Fury. What we don’t know about is what he left at home when he made it big. Calliope the girl next store that was Rafe’s first everything including heart break. Can these two move past their heart break and find their way back to each other.
This is a short sweet novel was one I couldn’t put down and read it in one sitting. I love all Sawyers words and can’t wait for the next Hockey book!
Oh man, I love this series, and Rafe, well, I’ve been waiting for Rafe since we met him in Dominik. Having to leave the Arizona Vengeance due to his dad’s health he’s taken on by the Carolina Cold Fury. Mixing both the Cold Fury and the Arizona Vengeance series it’s a perfect read for ice hockey fans (and especially those of Sawyer Bennett’s writing), whilst yes, you can read as a stand-alone, it’s always great to read previous books. Second chance sports romance, with so many emotions, truly wonderful characters, no angst and no games of the heart, just hockey, family and romance. I was invested from page one, I needed Rafe to get his happy ever after. A perfect novella. I received an advanced copy of this book. This is my honest review.
I have been waiting for Rafe’s story since I met him in Dominik, bk #6 in the Arizona Vengeance series, and it did not disappoint! I loved everything about this emotional and sexy second chance romance! Rafe asked to be traded to the Carolina Cold Fury so he could be with his dying father during his last days. Rafe is unprepared to handle watching his father dye and his mother grieve. When Rafe reconnects with his first love and longtime family friend, Calliope, his long buried love for her instantly resurfaces. He harbors so much guilt for leaving her behind, and has never gotten over her. Calliope is a nurse now and helps his parents when needed. When Rafe is struggling with his emotions, she helps him understand his father’s illness and his own struggles with saying goodbye. Calliope has a hard time seeing Rafe after all this time. He never explained why he left without her but she is stronger now, and knows what she want’s because of it. The love they both have for each other is still there, but how do they get past the hurt and heartbreak they’ve had for all these years? I loved this bold, emotional and steamy story. This may be a short novella but it packs such an emotional punch. It had me in tears of heartbreak and of joy and I loved every word of it!
When I think of describing Rafe I think of: Wise, strong, decisive, committed, good hearted, mature. This is a story that is sad but uplifting at the same time. Because with great loss Rafe manages to reinforce a lost love. Not just with Poppy but also with his family. He gets a chance to reconnect and not leave anything unsaid. This book is simply beautiful and very focused on family. Makes you glad that with a lot of help from his team, he gets a second chance.
Rafe Simmons was happy playing on the Arizona Vengeance on the cusp of the playoffs, but one phone call about his dad’s health set off a chain reaction that culminated in him being traded to the Carolina Cold Fury so he could be home with his father and family.
It also brings him right back into the life of his first love, Calliope Ramirez. And she is still holding a grudge for how he left things. She is the girl next door and the one he left behind to follow his hockey dreams.
It’s a whole new world for Rafe to navigate, but his new team and Calliope are there for it. But will she just end up being his friend…perhaps with benefits…or more? Is this their chance to finally have it all or will she just help him get through this hard time?
I really liked these two together. They have history and a connection that is easy to find again. They have serious chemistry. Calliope knows her own mind and heart and is trying to deal with her unresolved feelings. She is cautious and rightly so after how things ended the first time. And Rafe has a lot on his plate now and dealing with emotional turmoil.
It is a heartfelt story about living life with no regrets, coming home, and second chances. It brings back some of our Cold Fury friends and Wylde from the Vengeance is featured, but can be read as a stand-alone.
Arc provided in exchange for an honest review
A Novella or A Full Length Book Sawyer Bennett knows how to bring out all the feels.
Rafe Simmons has seen his life change on a dime, asking for a trade, finding out his dad is dying and going home knowing you are going to see one of the biggest regrets you ever made in Calliope Ramirez.
Calliope has grown over the years, became a nurse has moved on from her first love but when circumstances bring them together again, can she forgive him and move on or still live in the past.
This story will bring out so many emotions but all you know is that you will get so caught up in it that the only thing you will say when it’s over that I wish there was more
Rafe is one of those books that I’ve been looking forward to, but I had a feeling it was going to be an emotional one and I was definitely right about that.
Rafe was part of the Arizona Vengeance hockey team and when he learned that his father was sick and had very little time left, he let owner Dominick Carlson know that he wanted to be back on the East Coast to be near his Dad and amazingly, Dominick was able to make it happen by orchestrating a trade to the Carolina Cold Fury.
Rafe comes back to Raleigh and in the meantime reconnects with his first love, and childhood friend, Calliope Ramirez. Calliope is bitter about the way that Rafe ended their relationship when he got drafted, but with Calliope’s background as a labor and delivery nurse, she’s able to offer information and explanations regarding his father’s condition that he can’t get elsewhere.
The chemistry between the two former lovers is obvious and while they both try to fight it for a while, it isn’t meant to be. Can Calliope forgive Rafe for what he did so many years ago? And, can they really make a go of things?
This novella packed quite the punch even though it was a shorter story. It was emotional, heart-wrenching and moving. You could really see how Rafe and Calliope had friendship as the foundation of the relationship they had, which was wonderful. I enjoyed this immensely and I’d highly recommend it.
Rafe is going through one of the hardest things a person can during one of the best moments in his career is happening. He must return home and asks for a transfer to the local team right as the playoffs for the cup are beginning. His father has weeks to live, and Rafe wouldn’t be anywhere else. Upon return he must face the unknown with his dad’s illness as well as seeing the one he let get away.
Calliope still lives close to her parents. She’s a labor and delivery nurse, and she helps where she can with Rafe’s parents. Calliope and Rafe grew up together. Celebrated everything including being everything to each other until Rafe told her he changed his mind about her leaving with him at 18.
Rafe must try to convince her she’s still the love of his life while being strong for his parents. This was an extremely touching story. I highly recommend this book even if you haven’t read any of The Cold Fury or Arizona Vengeance series.
What a beautifully sexy and sad story at the same time. Rafe is exchanged from the Vengeance to the Cold Furies as a favour from Dominic Carson in order for him to be close to his dying father. The story is tear jerking sad and at the same time sexy sweet, when Rafe reconnects with the girl he left behind and is the one for him! Caliope soon realizes that the guy she knew is now a man and when he broke her heart he also broke his for a crazy reason. The story will pull at your heartstrings and will also soothe your soul. Sawyer Bennett, this was a nice tear jerker in and the cameos of the Cold Fury players was fun. I honestly volunteered to review this story.
Rafe’s story is a great second chance romance that is heavy on emotion. His homecoming is bittersweet at best as he has to balance the learning curve of playing on a new team, figuring out how to say goodbye to his dad while supporting his mom, and navigating shark-infested waters when it comes to reconnecting with his first – and only- love.
Decisions made with the best intentions can still haunt you for years to come, and Rafe learned that lesson the hard way when he made the choice to leave the girl he loved behind in his hometown to pursue his career. Calliope has always been the one who got away for him, but he never realized how very badly he hurt her when he left. Now she is the one person who can help him cope with the loss he is about to face, but she looks like she would rather knee him than speak to him when they come face to face for the first time again.
It doesn’t take long before old feelings rise to the surface again, and once she hears his explanation for leaving the way he did, she has to decide if holding onto the anger and hurt is the path she wants to walk. Their chemistry is still off the charts, and once she decides to try for friends with benefits, she quickly learns that age and maturity only improves the experience. Protecting her heart may be in her best interests but Rafe isn’t giving up without a fight particularly being faced with the perfect of example of life being too short.
I was upset to see his trade go down in Dominik’s book, but I love this story for him. The heartbreak is offset by the joy of reconnecting with the girl who should have been his for the last 8 years, and the camaraderie of both the Vengeance and Cold Fury players supporting him adds a heartwarming element to a highly enjoyable addition to the author’s hockey universe.
ARC received from author
Absolutely Amazing! This may be a short novella but it sure packs a full size novel emotional punch! What a beautiful story about life, love, regrets and second chances. Sawyer Bennett never disappoints and always gives readers everything they are looking and hoping for with her wonderful characters. I love this series so much and love how this is sort of a crossover in a way, since Rafe leaves the Arizona Vengeance to play for the Carolina Cold Fury (yes we get some old favorites in this one). He does this so he can be with his dad during the end stage of his illness. What he doesn’t expect is for the one woman he has always loved but whose heart he broke many years earlier to pick him up from the airport and proceed to help him through it all. Calliope and Rafe still have the chemistry they had back when they were teenagers. But can she forgive him for the way he left her? Will he be able to work through his grief to show her she has always been the one?
Remember this is a novella, so it’s short and to the point. However, that doesn’t lessen the punch it makes. Rafe and Calliope are going to get a second chance, but it’s more than a romance. This story has to do with family. It has to do with both Rafe’s immediate family and hockey family. Oh, Sawyer, I love both the Cold Fury and The Vengeance, so what you do to me in this book is torture. Warning, I really think you may need a tissue or two during this book. Dual point of view. No cliffhanger.
5 star Review Rafe (Arizona Vengeance #6) by Sawyer Bennett
Rafe is a second chance at love story that ticked the boxes for me. From the first to the last chapter I was riveted to the story that Sawyer Bennett wove and couldn’t put it down. I knew that Rafe’s story was going to be an emotional one but I had no idea just how much it would get to me.
Rafe and Calliope Ramirez have history and now that he has returned home to look after his dying father, Rafe realizes just how much he still cares, in fact he has never given up hope of getting her back. Whilst on the other hand, Calliope has never forgiven Rafe for leaving her behind when he chose to chase his dreams in the NHL.
This was an emotional and at times heartbreaking story that will have you in tears, but is also heartwarming at the same time. I loved how all in Rafe was for Calliope and her support of him as he struggles with his father’s illness was inspiring.
The chemistry between Rafe and Calliope Ramirez is intense and I loved the banter and humour that flowed between them whilst navigating such an emotional time in Rafe’s life.
Each time I read a new book in this series, I have a new favourite, they just keep getting better and better. This was an entertaining read that I thoroughly enjoyed.
I received a free copy of this book to read and review for Wicked Reads, so here is my review.
Rafe is part of the new hockey team, the Arizona Vengeance. When he gets a call from home that his Dad only had a few months to live, cancer sucks and it affects everyone close to the patient.
When Rafe goes to talk to the vengeance owner, Dominik Carlson (who is yummy and you need to read his story if you haven’t, sorry I love Dominik) about needing to go home. Dominik does all he can to get Rafe home, even trading him with one member of the Carolina Cold Fury.
Now that Rafe is home, he is picked up at the airport by Calliope Ramirez, the girl who stole his heart at a young age and they were going to live happily ever after. That is until Rafe decided to leave her behind when he got drafted.
Calliope is not happy to see Rafe, she has to deal with all the old feelings coming back. But she will be there to help him deal with losing his dad in any way she can.
Can Rafe make Calliope understand why he left her when he was drafted? Will she forgive him and they move on? Can they act on these old feelings and make a future together?
I love everything about the Arizona Vengeance series and this one will break your heart but the ending is perfect. So sit back and enjoy this quick read from author Sawyer Bennet because Aaron Wylde is next.
**Wicked Reads Review Team**