In a Nutshell Reviews: Beyond YA

In a Nutshell Reviews are my version of mini-reviews, because sometimes, you just want the highlights. This edition is featuring some of my recent non-YA reads, and I just realized they all feature hockey players.

Run Away with Me
Mila Gray
Series: Come Back to Me, #3
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Rating:  4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Emerson Lowe and popular ice-hockey player Jake McCallister have been best friends since third grade but just as their friendship starts to morph into something more, a terrible event occurs that heralds the end of innocence for both of them. Within a week, Jake’s living on the other side of the country and Emerson is left alone to pick up the pieces of her life in a small town determined to paint her as a liar.

Seven years on and Emerson is still living on the beautiful Pacific West island of Bainbridge, helping her family run their outdoor adventure company. The last thing she needs is Jake turning up, bringing with him old memories and opening up old wounds. But Jake—even better looking than Emerson remembered and on the cusp of a bright sporting future—seems determined to revive their friendship no matter how much Emerson tries to push him away and soon they’re in the midst of a passionate summer romance that neither of them wants to end.

But if they’re to have any kind of future, they’re first going to need to confront the past, a past that most people want to stay buried.

When I saw this book, I immediately knew I had to read it. I had enjoyed the previous books in this series, and couldn't wait to see what sort of "Come Back to Me" story Gray had in store for me. 

• Pro: This is a friends-to-more and sort of second chance romance, which are among my favorite kinds of romances. Although the sparks were just starting to fly, when their worlds were shattered, Em and Jake still held a piece of each other in their hearts for the years they were apart. I couldn't help but ship them. 
• Pro: Jake, Jake, Jake. Jake had so many great qualities. I loved how he wanted to make things better for people, and he understood what they needed in order to feel good about themselves. He was very giving and so persistent. He was tender, caring, and a rather wonderful hero. However.....
• Con: Jake made some bad choices. Notice the use of the plural there. For someone, who was very dedicated to his sport, his academics, and doing kind things for others, he just kept getting into one thing or another, which could have cost him his future. I just kept shaking my head. 
• Pro: I liked that flashbacks were used to help us understand what happened. I found it more meaningful to get the story from 13 year old Em and 14 year old Jake. It wasn't colored by life experience or time that way, and since that was their last impression of each other, I think it was a great choice. I always love when they are interspersed throughout the story as well, because it keeps us wondering. I wanted to know why Jake left and what happened to Em, but as I got those answers, more questions arose, which were eventually answered in strategic parts of the story. 
• Pro: I totally loved Toby, and the role he filled in the story. I thought Shay, Em's best friend, and Em's parents were great too. Em had not had it easy, but she had some great people on her side. 
• Con: Jake's "troubles" crossed into OTT (over the top) territory at one point. I think, at one point, I stated, quite loudly, "You have got to be kidding me. " However, when I saw the big picture and figured out what Gray was trying to accomplish, I dismissed my initial feelings, because it did serve a purpose. 
• Pro: I appreciated that Gray didn't make it easy for Jake to re-enter Em's life. Given the way he left, the lack of communication, and the betrayals she had suffered, it made sense that she was wary. She made him earned it, and gosh darn it, Jake rose to the occasion. 
• Pro: The camping trip!! I am a hopeless romantic, so that stretch of the books like oxygen for me. Absolutely fabulous!
• Pro: I feel like my luck is going to run out soon, because I have been on a roll with endings. Add this to my list of fabulous endings, because I had closure, Gray gave the characters a promising future, and I found tears of joy in my eyes. 

I loved reliving Jake and Em's first kiss

Overall: A touching and heartfelt story about friendship, love, and healing. I experienced my romance trifecta: I laughed, I cried, I swooned, and best of all, I was left with happy tears in my eyes.

Head Coach
Lia Riley
Series: Hellions, #2
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Avon Impulse
Rating:  4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Neve Angel’s life is all work and no play, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. One of Denver’s top sports reporters, she's fought hard to make it in a male-dominated world, and she won’t back down from a fight with anyone–not even the Hellions’ gruff head coach, Tor Gunnar. Her hostile relationship with the icy Scandinavian is the stuff of local legend.

Tor Gunnar hates dealing with the media; at best, they are a nuisance and at worst, a distraction. And no one distracts him more than the scrappy, sexy reporter who gets him hot under the collar. When he wins a not-so-friendly bet with Neve, he decides it’s high time they either kiss or kill each other, and invites her as a date to an out-of-town wedding.

But what happens when enemies become lovers? Will they be able to smother their sizzling attraction, or is it time to start playing for keeps?

I l-o-v-e hockey romances, and am always looking for new series to add to my TBR. I had never read a Lia Riley book, but from page one, this book was so much fun, that I actually bought the first book in the series, and added the third to my wish list.

• Pro: A fun and fantastic enemies-to-lovers story. Tor saw the media as the enemy, and Neve was always there to get her story. The two verbally sparred like gladiators, which was fun to watch, but even better was seeing all that hate turn to love. 
• Pro: This was low drama. The major source of strife was Neve being a hockey reporter and Tor being the coach of the local team, and that was enough for drama for me. 
• Pro: These were two passionate people and when they were together, there weren't just sparks, there was fire.  
• Pro: There was a lot more to Tor than the angry vibes he gave off. I loved the way Riley slowly unwrapped him for us, revealing these wonderful things about him, bit by bit. He was a loving brother, doting father, committed co-parent, with a hidden sense of humor and a little bit of baggage too, which resulted in one great hero. 
• Pro: Neve was a little spitfire, and she was lugging about some serious baggage too. I loved when Tor was able to help her unload some of that, and made her see what he saw when he looked at her. 
• Con: I wish the book had been a bit longer, because I wanted more Tor and Neve, but I also would have liked a little more from the ending. It was an good ending, in that I know where this couple is going, and it was quite fun, but it was a little abrupt.  
• Pro: This book was fun, fun, fun! I just kept grinning the whole time I read this book. Seriously, people were staring, because I just could not stop smiling. 
• Pro: The wedding weekend was so brilliantly done. Riley found this perfect balance of comedy, angst, and heat, and I loved every second of it. 

It was like this, but without the gun

Overall: A fun, sexy, sweet enemies-to-lovers romance, which left me smiling from ear to ear.

So Over You
Kate Meader
Series: Chicago Rebels
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Pocket Star
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Three estranged sisters struggle to sustain their late father’s failing hockey franchise in Kate Meader’s sizzling Chicago Rebels series. In this second entry, middle sister Isobel is at a crossroads in her personal and professional lives. But both are about to get a significant boost with the addition of a domineering Russian powerhouse to the Rebels....

Isobel Chase knows hockey. She played NCAA, won Olympic silver, and made it thirty-seven minutes into the new National Women’s Hockey League before an injury sidelined her dreams. Those who can’t, coach, and a position as a skating consultant to her late father’s hockey franchise, the Chicago Rebels, seems like a perfect fit. Until she’s assigned her first job: the man who skated into her heart as a teen and relieved her of her pesky virginity. These days, left-winger Vadim Petrov is known as the Czar of Pleasure, a magnet for puck bunnies and the tabloids alike. But back then... let’s just say his inability to sink the puck left Isobel frustratingly scoreless.

Vadim has a first name that means “ruler,” and it doesn’t stop at his birth certificate. He dominates on the ice, the practice rink, and in the backseat of a limo. But a knee injury has produced a bad year, and bad years in the NHL don’t go unrewarded. His penance? To be traded to a troubled team where his personal coach is Isobel Chase, the woman who drove him wild years ago when they were hormonal teens. But apparently the feeling was not entirely mutual.

That Vadim might have failed to give Isobel the pleasure that was her right is intolerable, and he plans to make it up to her—one bone-melting orgasm at a time. After all, no player can perfect his game without a helluva lot of practice...

"Oh for Gretzky's sake", this book delighted me! There was this one quote, that pretty much summed it up for me: "This family is a soap opera looking for a daytime network slot."

• Pro: So much delicious drama. I am NOT a fan of too much drama between the hero and the heroine, but I tend to enjoy it, when it is largely outside of the relationship, as it was with this book. Mommy issues, daddy issues, identity issues -- there were a lot of issues, but Meader did a great job weaving all these things together. 
• Pro: Isobel was a woman to be reckoned with. With her impressive hockey pedigree and sassy wit, I couldn't resist her, but what really made me love her, was her vulnerability. Isobel was sort of adrift following a career ending injury, and I was really rooting for her to find her way. 
• Pro: Vadim was broody perfection. He was so complicated and I loved each and every new nook and cranny I learned about him. His adoration for Isobel totally endeared him to me, and even when he was a total grump, he made me smile. 
• Pro: This is a second chance romance, and you know who loves second chance romances? This girl! These two had a short lived relationship back when they were teens, and Vadim always held a small flame in his heart for his Bella. It was great to see them back together fanning the flames, and I loved the way Meader slowly kindled the fire. 
• Pro: I enjoyed all the relationships that were explored. There was the relationship between the "Chase" sisters, Vadim and his sister, Vad and his mother, Isobel and her father, but of course, my favorite was the relationship between Vadim and Isobel. 
• Pro: The Chase sisters are an interesting bunch. I liked learning their history and seeing them their affection for each other grow as they supported each other through the good and the bad times. 
• Pro: Meader knows how to write great banter and how to judiciously use pop culture references to spice it up. From Friends and Dirty Dancing to soup in bread bowls, there were all these little additions that made me smile. 
• Pro: The epilogue was satisfying and did a great job setting up the next book.

Overall: This is my first Meader book, and I am already reading my next one (Irresistible You). I loved the drama, the complications, the romance, the banter, the characters. The Rebels have won me over, and I cannot wait to read more.

**I would like to thank the publishers for the advanced copies of these books.

Have you read any of these books?

Let us know in the comments!