4 Star Review: Erik (Arizona Vengeance #2) by Sawyer Bennett

Monday 15 October 2018

Another Arizona Vengeance star and another highly entertaining story.

We had a taste of Erik Dahlbeck in Bishop’s story so we knew a little about his playboy ways. Unfortunately for Erik, so does team flight attendant, Blue. Despite Erik’s obvious interest in Blue, she appears oblivious to his charms, the reasons for which become clear as the story progresses. Erik is confounded by Blue’s obvious resistance to his flirting but he’s not about to give up trying to win Blue over.

When he sees another side to Blue, Erik knows that he has to make her see him for who he is and not just his womanising ways. Blue is not only a beautiful woman but a hardworking carer with a brother who has complex support needs. Clearly, a loving and loyal sister, Erik comes to realise that Blue’s time is split between working for the team and looking after her brother and in order to make inroads, where her heart is concerned, he must do so in the knowledge that she comes as a package deal. What Erik doesn’t expect is to develop a new found friendship with Billy and an even greater appreciation for Blue.

When Blue sees the way Erik interacts with Billy her heart gives a squeeze but she still cannot see past his behaviour in the past. Despite her desires to keep away from Erik, he slowly but surely becomes a permanent fixture in her and her brother's life, along with the rest of the team. The team accepts Billy into their friendship group with ease, especially the enigmatic Tacker. Both Blue and Billy draw Tacker out of himself as he slowly starts to open up whilst enjoying spending time with Blue and Billy.

The story progresses with the usual push and pull of emotions, some of which are all too predictable as the story progresses towards its conclusion. What I did love about this story though was the side story of Billy and the team’s behaviour around him. Of course, I’d be remiss in not singling out Erik where Billy is concerned as he clearly falls as hard for Blue’s brother as he does her.

This was an extremely sweet story but one which felt slightly at odds with the author’s normal writing style. On this occasion, the story was crying out for more depth and more of the author’s usual magical storytelling flourishes. That said, I still loved it and I loved Erik. I’m even surprising myself with my love of hockey-themed books!