sports

Offsides by Juliana Stone

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Offside (The Barker Triplets, #1)
Grade-C
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-None
Series-The Barker Triplets #1
Reviewed by Kay

Billie-Jo Barker was a pro hockey player in Europe who has come home after a career ending injury. She lives with her sister Bobbi-Jo, who’s rude and hateful. Also with her father suffering from dementia and her grandfather who has his hands full dealing with all of them. She joins the town hockey league as their first female player. Most of the men in the league and the town are opposed except for the man who broke her heart years ago.

Logan Forest is a mechanic of some sorts in his home town. He is shocked to see Billie-Jo at home. He has always known of her but not really paid much attention to her because he only saw her sister, Betty-Jo. He thinks it will be great to watch Billie-Jo play hockey because of her talent. Not to mention his attraction to her.

  • These two characters are really into each other in a big way. Billie-Jo has loved Logan forever and has a secret to go along with that. Logan has these crazy feelings for Billie-Jo that leave him at a little loss for words. There was some conflict in this novel but not what I would call high level. I enjoyed it and may continue on with the series. 

Empty Net by Toni Aleo

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Empty Net (Assassins, #3)
Grade-A
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-None
Series-Assassins #3
Reviewed by Kay

I got this book right before I went to the Romantic Times book convention in Kansas City, so it took me a while to finish it. Those fifteen hour days didn’t leave much time for reading or I would have finished it very quickly.

Audrey Parker is the heroine for this story. If you’ve read the second book in the series, and you need to read them all in order, you’ll remember she is the sister of Fallon Brooks. Audrey works for the family wine business and hates it. She has deplorable taste in men also. She’s a full figured gal but not to the point I considered her heavy. She has had to make tough decisions and even made some bad decisions. After hooking up with her brother-in-law’s best friend at her sister’s wedding, she runs out not bothering to wake him the next morning. In her defense, she didn’t fully connect who he was until after they had slept together.

Tate Odder is the new goalie for the Nashville Assassins. He has learned to speak English and fully embraces his new country. He lost his family to an auto accident and struggles to deal with anxiety that is caused by their deaths. He takes one look at the woman at his best friend’s wedding and thinks she is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. He feels that they really connected(no pun intended) when they spent the night together and he’s very hurt that she snuck out while he was sleeping.

These two characters were both kind of broken due to the terrible losses that they suffered. Audrey fought her attraction to Tate for a long time. She was still sort of hung up on her horrific ex. Tate was very sweet and patient with her. He was all-in and let her know it. Let me tell you how sexy I think that is! The only problems I had with Tate were that he kept the reason for his sadness to himself even while wanting Audrey to open up. Also, he betrayed her trust regarding a secret that wasn’t his to tell. I don’t want to give anything else away so I’ll stop there. You just have to read this book, this series.

I had the pleasure of meeting Toni Aleo at the conference I just attended. She was very nice and kind. I enjoyed our brief conversation and am looking forward to any and all of her books. They are filled with wonderful characters you get to revisit and emotional scenes that will leave you in tears. If you haven’t read Toni Aleo yet, you really should.

Trying To Score by Toni Aleo

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Trying to Score (Assassins, #2)
Grade-B
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-None
Series-Assassins #2
Reviewed by Kay

This is the second installment in Toni Aleo’s Assassins Hockey series. It is about Lucas Brooks, who has recently been traded to Nashville, where the Assassins are from. He is no stranger to hockey or the lifestyle that comes with being a professional athlete. He’s cocky and very self assured. He just wants to play hockey and win back the girl he lost.

Fallon Parker is that girl. She and Lucas had a love affair when they were younger and was heartbroken when it ended with Lucas’ infidelity. She left town, which at the time was in California, and came home to Nashville. She is in charge of Rocky Top Wines, lives with her sister, Audrey, and her son, Aiden.

I love this series and this book was no exception. I loved Lucas even with all his faults and there are some. I loved Fallon too. She had to make herself into the woman she was because of Aiden, who as you probably guessed, is Lucas’ son. Lucas never knew about him until he came to Nashville. You as the reader get to go through that with them also. Understanding both sides of the situation, it was still a moral dilemma. Toni Aleo knows just how to write an emotion packed novel. This is a great example of a sports based romance series. I can’t wait to read the next one.