Monday 18 March 2019

Hard Hitter (Brooklyn Bruisers #2) by Sarina Bowen
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

I feel like these characters are now part of my family. When I'm in a book funk I just know that picking up a book in this series will put me right. 

O'Doul has been a bit of a shy and retiring character to date. Yes, he's an enforcer on the ice but off the ice, he's more of a recluse and being one of the older players, lives life at a more sedate pace. 

When his injuries start to become more than a nigglesome pain, he is forced to seek the care and attention of team massage therapist, Ariana or Ari. O'Doul doesn't like to be touched and struggles to settle when Ari is working on him but he respects her as a person and tries to do what his team expects of him. 



When Ari and O'Doul's phones get unexpectedly swapped, O'Doul starts to see that the carefree yoga and therapist has a dark side to her and an ex that is determined to make her life hell. With O'Doul running to her assistance, Ari's wish to keep her private life just that, private, is soon squashed especially when her ex sees her and O'Doul kissing and decides O'Doul needs to be taught a lesson. 

Before he knows it, a bad decision made by O'Doul comes back to haunt him and rather than making inroads with Ari, where their tentative relationship is concerned, he soon finds himself wondering if he will be outed from the team and Ari's life in one go. 

O'Doul started out as a bit of an enigma but it wasn't long before I really appreciated him as a player and a person. He was kind and supportive towards Ari. His loyalty to the team was second to none and he is clearly a player that you'd want to spend more time around.

Something stopped me giving this story 5 stars, and I still can't quite put my finger on what it is, but I will settle on giving it an easy 4.5 stars. 


No comments