Danica Flynn

In Take The Shot, we are introduced to Dinah and Noah. Dinah lives next door to Noah and his teammate TJ. Two years ago, she unexpectedly lost her husband and in her grief and the tragic aftermath, Noah stood by her side, a friend when she needed one the most. Now though, Noah is finally ready to tell her just how strongly he feels for her, and she is running scared. Not only is he much younger than she is, but she isn’t sure she is ready to open her heart to possible loss.

The author is brilliant at writing strong men who are sensitive and caring. Noah has no idea how to get through to Dinah, but he knows to gently keep pushing his way in her life and heart and it makes for a great story. This book introduces the wonderful dynamic between these teammates and starts to bring in the characters that fill out this world. In addition to being a great love story, it is a terrific start to what I hope will be a long series.

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Rating: 5 out of 5.… (meer)

In Score Her Heart we meet Aaron Riley and Fiona Gallagher. Their families are close and they have been best friends plus since high school. They are in Vegas for Fiona’s wedding to her longtime boyfriend who has decided that he doesn’t want to get married after all. Riley, of course, is there for his bestie and he convinces her that she should get married anyway, to him. It only takes a few moments of sobriety for her to realize that marrying her best friend on the rebound might not be the smartest move, but Riley has been in love with her forever and he is determined to show her they belong together.

I will admit the “jilted/marry someone else in Vegas” trope is not one I usually find enjoyable or believable. However, in this case, Riley is so earnest that I was on board from the start. Riley is another great leading man. Proving that he and Fi should be together forever sounds great in theory, but actually making it work with real-world obstacles is something else. Riley rises to the occasion the best way he knows how and he drags Fi along for the ride. It is good reading. This book takes place in time with book one so I was anticipating the juicy details of Riley and Fi’s story from the beginning and I really enjoyed getting to see elements from Noah and Dinah’s story retold from a different perspective in this book.

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Rating: 5 out of 5.… (meer)

Against the Boards is book three in this series and is brand new this week. It is the story of Roxanne Dejardins and Michael Bennet, Rox and Benny. Rox careens through life with a chip the size of a cornerstone on her shoulder. As a main character, she comes off as quite not likable. She is aggressive and prickly and she can hold a grudge (for understandable reasons). Her first instinct is to take offense and fight it out, without a moment’s thought for whether or not it is warranted. Her strike first and hit hard mentality takes some getting used to. She is scary enough to make grown men who carry sticks and pound on each other for a living walk cautiously, most of them anyway.

Benny has been among my favorite Bulldogs from the beginning. Despite his horrible taste in women, he seemed like a great guy and I enjoyed getting to know him and what drives him better. Thank goodness he has hockey skills because his girl skills need some polish. In the previous books, his love life causes some eyes to roll, but Rox really has his tongue tied in knots, or maybe it is that he is always trying to fit both feet in his mouth at the same time.

This is actually my favorite book of the series because it shows the most growth for the characters. Benny is able to get to the root of Roxy’s issues with the world in general and he manages to have a conversation without talking between his toes. While Roxy may never be the soft sweet girl next door, she does learn to stop leading with her chin. She also learns to let someone in. Toxic as the mix between the two is, there is satisfaction in how they work things through. I am all in for the next book.

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Rating: 5 out of 5… (meer)