IF YOU KEEP ME
by Helena Hunting
Toronto Terror #6
Release Date: March 5th
Things I should never, under any circumstances ever do: ask my secret crush, aka. the most notorious (reformed) playboy in pro hockey, to take my virginity.
Too bad, I did.
After a string of terrible dates, I did the unthinkable. I propositioned Flip Madden.
Of course, he said no.
It isn’t that he’s almost a decade older than me, or that I’m still in university.
It’s because I’m his coach’s oldest daughter.
Not to mention my dad would bludgeon him with his hockey stick if he found out.
Which he won’t, because it will never happen.
And now things are awkward because there’s no going back.
Except Flip is more protective than ever, and his eyes follow me around every room we’re in together. He brings flowers to my recitals and reads all the books I recommend.
Things I should never, under any circumstances ever do: hope Flip Madden might actually want me too.
Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FZC64LCK?
Paperback:https://www.amazon.com/dp/1998657221
Audiobook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GP1XSVD7
Review:
The final Tortonto Terror book–I can’t believe it’s over! But oh, what a way to go… 😉
Flip and Tally’s story was a long time coming–since it’s an age gap romance, Tally needed to become old enough to make the story work. And Flip needed to get his horndog f-boy ways over and done with. So yeah, we had a bit of a wait for this one.
We start out with a bit of miscommunication–after Tally’s awkward proposition–but really don’t have to wait long for them to start a relationship, honestly. Tally does still have a bit of a wait before she gets what she originally wanted, but no worries, they do other things. A LOT of other things.
They run into some problems as the story progresses–Flip’s past comes back to haunt him in a big way, as does the secret readers only found out about recently; Tally buckles under the pressure of some major family drama and her final semester at school–and the angst level dials up to about a million. TBH I’m not sure the media excitement (which causes a lot of the relationship and personal problems here) would *really* be this extreme–I also live in a big hockey town and no one seems to care about the s*x lives of our players, but maybe they’re all super well behaved and really boring? (Or maybe the national media only cares that much about players on teams who have actually ever won a national championship? Sigh…)
I loved all the updates we get along the way into the HEAs of all the other couples here–pretty much all of them play pretty big roles in Flip and Tally’s story too–and it was lovely to see both our MCs find the relationship they deserved in the end. But I couldn’t shake the vaguely concerned feeling I almost always get when reading an age gap romance with one of the characters barely into their twenties, knowing that they’re still years away from a fully formed frontal cortex. (Sure, I got married at 24 to a 25-year old; we weren’t quite there either. As a mother of 2 twentysomethings, I often wonder what the heck we/our parents were thinking. But we were both at about the same stage, at least…not 4 years before/4 years after that milestone.)
So, final thoughts. Adored seeing all the other Terror players and their SOs come out for these two in such a big way. Loved Tally, but she is so young. So happy Flip found happiness and quit his self-destructive behaviors, but he makes such a complete turnaround here (and so fast!) to a one-woman love bomber that it almost felt like he was a different guy than the one we knew from the other books. He didn’t quite have the personality zing that we’re used to, if that makes sense? I wasn’t always super comfortable with the spicy scenes–there were so many, and after reading so much about Flip’s escapades in other books, I just…IDK. Wanted more relationship depth, I guess. Though I also read most of the book while traveling to CA, so probably a lot of that discomfort was just hoping no one in the seats near me looked over at what I was reading…especially my mom 😉
Sad to see the Titans go, but excited to get back to Tilton University!
Rating: 4 stars / B+
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book
About the author:
A NYT and USA Today bestselling author, Helena Hunting lives outside of Toronto with her amazing family and her adorable, emotional cat, who thinks the best place to sleep is her keyboard. Helena writes everything from emotional contemporary romance to romantic comedies that will have you laughing until you cry.
Website: http://www.helenahunting.com/
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