Author: Jami Davenport
Publication Date: September 29th 2014 by Cedrona Enterprises
Plot: A billionaire’s mission to bring hockey to Seattle clashes with his passion for the woman who holds his heart.
Ethan Parker, a billionaire determined to bring professional hockey to Seattle, will stop at nothing to realize his dream. After signing an agreement to purchase another city's team, Ethan plans to make the move to Seattle, but a gag order by the League forces him to keep the sale a secret until the season ends, leaving him no choice but to go undercover as a consultant to study his team during the playoffs.
Lauren Schneider, Assistant Director of Player Personnel for the Giants hockey team, gets no respect from the team's testosterone-loaded staff. So when Ethan bursts onto the scene, full of charm and genuinely interested in her opinions, she shares the team's weaknesses and discovers a weakness of her own--for Ethan. But when his true identity is revealed, and he starts cleaning house based on her unwitting input, his betrayal cuts deeply on both a professional and personal level. Bound by an employment contract, Lauren reluctantly moves to Seattle to work for the newly christened Seattle Sockeyes and her sexy, infuriating boss.
Lauren and Ethan must come to terms with their passions--for the team, for hockey, and for each other. Will their situation build a frozen wall between them, or will their love burn hot enough to melt the ice shielding their hearts?
☆✮ My Review ✮☆
☆ I received an ARC from Tasty Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. Thank you SO MUCH!! ☆
#What a cute, sports romance! <3
This book was basically:
Undercover boss
Meets hockey
But with love(♥), lies, and twists and turns in the midst...
My thoughts and some brief plot info and explanation:
# For Ethan Parker, rich, billionaire business mogul--
hockey is his life. Determined to bring the sport he loves to Seattle, he purchases the franchise of another city's team in hopes of pursuing his dream.
However, with a contract that binds him from making his latest purchase public, Ethan decides to go undercover boss on his new investment, and ends up committing the most taboo sins a employer can do: falling in love with one of his employees.
# As for Lauren Schneider, Assistant Director of Player Personnel for the Giants hockey team--
it was about proving herself. Being the only estrogen in the testosterone driven hockey world, Lauren receives no respect from fellow staff. Resigned and hopeful that this will someday come to pass, Lauren begins to feel more optimistic after meeting Ethan--a man who actually listens to her and values her opinions. And whom she's slowly falling for.
But what happens when the truth is revealed and Lauren learns that he is not a consultant for the team but, in fact, her boss?...Not to mention, thanks to her big mouth, Ethan begins using her insight of the team's infrastructure to christen his new hockey team. What will she do?
One thing's for certain: ANYTHING is possible in the game of love!! What will be the fate of Ethan and Lauren? And will they ever achieve their dreams?
Read and you will find out!
So all in all: A sweet romance that even non-sports fans can enjoy!! Jami Davenport makes one hell of a great splash from her patented Seattle Lumberjacks series (which focuses on football) to ambitiously bringing hockey to Seattle as well! I already can't wait to see what's in store for bk2!
My Rating:
-Overall : 8.5
-Plot : 8
-Writing : 8
-Characters : 8
-Cover : 8.5
Ethan
Parker came into this world with a silver spoon in his mouth. He would’ve
preferred a hockey stick in his hands, but sometimes those were the breaks.
He’d never
skate in the pros or hoist the Stanley Cup in victory, but that didn’t squelch
his enthusiasm for everything hockey. Two to three times a week, he played for
an adult league in a rink minutes south of Seattle, while he dreamed of one day
bringing professional hockey to the Emerald City.
And maybe,
just maybe, he’d realize that dream in the near future.
Months ago
the Sleezer brothers—yes, seriously that was their name—contacted the Puget
Sound Hockey Alliance through Ethan’s attorney, Cyrus North, with an offer
Ethan couldn’t refuse, so he did what any billionaire with a hockey obsession
would do—he wrote them a big check and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Increasingly
impatient, he slid a blank check for expansion fees under the table to the
league and waited some more. Nothing happened. Not a damn, fucking thing. So
much for money talking. His considerable bankroll wasn’t even whispering to the
hockey powers that be.
It’d been
months since he’d heard even a peep. While a day didn’t go by that he didn’t
wonder what the hell was or wasn’t happening, tonight wasn’t about his
frustrations with professional hockey. Tonight was all about immersing himself
at the game’s most basic level while getting down and dirty with his amateur
teammates. Tonight was about playing the game he loved with a bunch of guys
equally as rabid. And tonight reminded him of all the reasons why he couldn’t give
up until Seattle had a big-league hockey franchise.
Hockey fans
like these deserved a team. The city deserved a team. And the effing Canucks
deserved an effing rival. Oh, yeah, he could picture it now. Ethan grinned at
the thought of trading trash-talk with some of his Canadian business
associates.
Regardless,
he forced himself back to the here and now. His team, the Mercer Mets, were
playing for the adult league trophy, against the too-many-fucking-time champion
Bothell Bombers. He’d looked forward to this game all day long—hell, all week
long—and had arrived early to take practice shots at the net until he was
cross-eyed.
Both teams
traded scores in the first two periods until the Bombers took the lead with
three minutes remaining in the third. Ethan skated down the ice after a runaway
puck only to have Hal Johnson, a dirty player who’d had it out for Ethan all
season, slam an elbow into his face. Skidding on his shoulder, Ethan hit the
boards head first, sending waves of pain through his neck and back to all parts
of his body. Even his dick hurt. Gathering his bruised wits about him and
angrier than hell, he shot to his feet, head down, and rammed into Johnson,
lifting the asshole off his skates and catapulting him across the ice.
Whistles
blew and striped shirts stepped between them before they could do real damage
to each other. Ethan attempted to lunge at the asshole but his teammates held
him back. Fighting didn’t go over very well in this amateur league, but that’d
never stopped Johnson before, and Ethan had been known to drop the gloves a
time or two when absolutely necessary. He deemed this necessary. Obviously, the
referee didn’t agree. Within seconds Ethan cooled his ass in the penalty box.
Fine.
Whatever. Fuck this.
He pounded
his hockey stick against the boards in a futile effort to spur his team on to
winning the trophy.
The Mercer
Mets’ goalie, a convenience store clerk who spent every spare penny on hockey
equipment and fees, pushed up his mask to wipe away the sweat then hunkered
down again as Bothell Bombers skated toward his net. Nat, the Mets’ best
defenseman and a laid-off Boeing machinist, cut off the Bombers’ center and
took a hack at the puck. Not pretty, but it shot down the ice away from the net
where Syd, their top scorer and a city cop, sped after it and a hit slap shot
toward the net. It missed by a fraction.
Ethan
glanced at the scoreboard. Seconds left. Leaping to his feet, he shouted
encouragement, but it was too late. The final buzzer sounded. With a heavy
sigh, Ethan skated back onto the ice to shake hands with the opposing team like
the good sport he really wasn’t. Except for Johnson. Instead he trash-talked
the jerk as he walked by and engaged in a pushing match until their respective
teammates pried them apart once more. Since he wasn’t going to get any
satisfaction, Ethan headed for the locker room, sad to see the season end. It’d
been damn fun while it lasted, but there was always next year.
“Ethan.”
Cyrus, his attorney, stopped him short as he stepped off the ice.
“Come to
watch me skate like crap and blow the game for the guys, Cy?” Ethan managed a
grin despite how pissed he was at himself. Sure it was just a game in an adult
league, but he hated losing. Hell, it could’ve been a pickup game of basketball
in the parking lot and he’d treat it like the NBA finals.
Only Cy was
grinning, and Ethan doubted it was because he enjoyed Ethan’s pain—which the
bastard usually did.
“They’re
ready, E.” He kept grinning, and Ethan could not for the life of him understand
what the fuck they were ready for.
“Ready?”
Ethan halted and squinted at his friend, not making sense of the words. That
blow he’d taken to the head earlier must’ve have done more damage than he’d
originally thought.
“All our
hard work is about to pay off.” Cy looked ready to pee his pants from
excitement.
Ethan went
still inside, as Cy’s words sank into his thick skull. His heart stopped
beating. His lungs stopped heaving. Nothing moved. Not an eyelash. Cy waited
patiently, still grinning.
“What did
you say?” Ethan pushed his dark hair off his forehead and wiped his face with a
towel Nat tossed his way.
“They want
to sell. The league is on board. Everything’s in place but with the stipulation
that the sale be kept absolutely quiet as long as the Giants are in the
playoffs.” Cyrus, a hockey fan in his own right, hopped from one foot to the
other as if he were walking over hot coals. His hips swayed, and he danced to
the disco music constantly playing in his head. He wouldn’t win Dancing with
the Stars, but Ethan gave him points for enthusiasm.
“Playoffs?”
Ethan said.
“Yeah, the
Giants made the playoffs tonight by a thread.”
Ethan sat
down hard on one of the bleacher seats, looking up at Cyrus. “As late as last
week, the Sleezers swore they’d go down with their sinking ship.”
“That was
before they lost a harassment lawsuit to a few former employees. Now a couple
hundred million in their pockets is looking damn good.” Cyrus checked his
watch. “I have the private jet idling on the tarmac at Boeing Field before the
flakes change their minds. Again.”
“Did you
call Reynolds?”
Brad
Reynolds had been Ethan’s best friend since junior high football. The Reynolds
family represented old Seattle money. Even if their fortune might be somewhat
diminished of late, they still commanded instant respect and brandished major
political clout. That political clout was proving to be more valuable than the
cash when it came to getting permits approved for the new ice arena. Brad, the
middle Reynolds brother, had jumped on board immediately as the family
representative, while his two brothers, parents, and a sister came along for
the ride as somewhat silent partners. None of them knew a damn thing about
hockey, but they loved sports and were more than willing to learn.
“Yeah,
Brad’s on his way. He’ll meet us at Boeing Field.”
Ethan
checked his watch. Six-thirty on a Saturday. It was going to be a long but
profitable night. “Crap. Let me shower, and I’ll be out in fifteen.”
Ethan made
it out in nine minutes. The only reason he wasn’t quicker was because of the
required commiserating with his teammates over the abrupt end of their season.
Several
hours later, Ethan and Brad signed on the dotted line as majority shareholders
and main representatives of the Puget Sound Hockey Alliance.
Seattle had
a professional hockey team.
Only no one
could know it.
Not yet.
An advocate of happy endings, Jami Davenport writes sexy sports romances, including her bestselling Seattle Lumberjacks football series and her new adult spinoff titled The Rookies. Jami lives on a small farm near Puget Sound with her Green Beret-turned-plumber husband, a Newfoundland cross with a tennis ball fetish, a prince disguised as an orange tabby cat, and an opinionated Hanoverian mare. She works in computer support in her day job and juggles too many balls, but she wouldn't have it any other way.
Author's Links:
☆✮ Buy Links ✮☆
Link to Follow Tour: http://www.tastybooktours.com/2014/08/skating-on-thin-ice-game-on-in-seattle_20.html
Thank you for hosting today! Love the review!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for hosting my tour today and for reading and reviewing my book. Love the pics!
ReplyDelete