They had me at “hockey player” 🙂
Mr. Perfect has found his kind of trouble…
Professional hockey player Zac Elliott is in top form. He’s having the best season of his career, the local fans can’t get enough of him, and he’s in the middle of the most successful contract negotiations of his career. When the sexy little spark between Zac and the team owner’s daughter blazes to life, no matter how forbidden, he can’t resist.
Philanthropist Heather Ryan can’t keep her hands off of Zac. If her father finds out, it could end Zac’s career and ruin her reputation. What they share is deeply passionate and intensely private…until the press exposes their illicit relationship.
Now the fans have viciously turned against Heather, Zac’s game is faltering, and even his team has deserted him. The only way out of the penalty box is for Zac to play hockey like life— and love—depends on it…
Seriously, they had me at “hockey player”. I just knew I was going to be all over this book. 😉
Flirting on Ice is a quick, fun read. I loved Zac, the captain of the Atlantic City Hustlers, and Heather, the only daughter of the team’s owner. Their romance was a bit fast-paced, but presumably the two have known each other for a while before the story began and both had already felt an attraction, so it’s not totally unbelievable.
It worked for me, anyway. 😉
Heather’s dad would rather she didn’t get involved with any of his players, and he definitely doesn’t want one of the team’s biggest players to hit on his baby girl, so their relationship isn’t supposed to go anywhere from the start. But they have a meet cute at the beach with a dog, and the rest is history…
Except Zac’s team suddenly isn’t doing as well as expected–and everyone knows that once a team does well one year, the fans expect bigger and better every year after that–and Zac himself seems to be in a bit of a slump. It’s not totally unheard of for fans to latch onto and blame player or team “bad luck” on totally unrelated things, like who a player’s dating (remember the wholeTony Romo/Jessica Simpson drama?), and Heather starts to get booed at games.
Plus, Zac’s contract is up for negotiation, sparking all kinds of lovely comments from all quarters–especially from his opponents on the ice–about what he’ll need to do to get a better deal this time around.
Yeah, our hero and heroine are pretty much stuck between the infamous rock and its lifetime companion, hard place. How can they possibly stay together? Should they even try?
I was glad that this was a quick read–because it’s November, AKA NaNoWriMo, and I’m supposed to be writing–but I did feel like the entire story could have benefited from a longer treatment. Don’t get me wrong–I loved the characters, liked the way the drama was ratcheted up, and believed in their romance–but ultimately more story here would have been a good thing. Everything was resolved just a tad bit quickly at the end (especially when the man who hired the antagonist of the story turned around and decided he was slime after about a millisecond of evidence–that was a bit abrupt), though their epilogue to their presumed-HEA was admittedly adorable.
Long story short–I am totally on board for more from this series. Bring on the sweaty guys in shoulder pads; I’m ready!
Rating: 4 stars / B
I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.
Veronica Forand is an attorney and an award-winning writer of romantic suspense.
She’s lived in Boston, London, Paris, Geneva, and Washington, DC and currently resides near Philadelphia. An avid traveler, she loves to roam across continents with her husband and kids in pursuit of skiing, scuba diving, and finding the perfect piece of chocolate.
Veronica is represented by Michelle Grajkowski of 3 Seas Literary Agency.
Susan Scott Shelley is an award-winning author of contemporary romance and romantic suspense.
She currently resides outside Philadelphia with her very own Superhero and spends her days writing about tough heroes, smart heroines, and love being the strongest magic there is.
In addition to writing romances, she is also a professional voiceover artist. Her favorite things include running, sports, hard rock and old Hollywood movies.
Susan is represented by Michelle Grajkowski of 3 Seas Literary Agency.
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