Friday, January 6, 2017

Review & Giveaway: Hard Hitter by Sarina Bowen


Publication Date: January 3, 2017 by Berkley
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

About the book:

From the USA Today bestselling author of Rookie Move comes the second novel in the series that’s hot enough to melt the ice.
 
He’s a fighter in the rink, but he’s about to learn that playing nice can help you score...
 
As team captain and enforcer, Patrick O'Doul puts the bruise in the Brooklyn Bruisers. But after years of hard hits, O'Doul is feeling the burn, both physically and mentally. He conceals his pain from his coach and trainers, but when his chronic hip injury becomes too obvious to ignore, they send him for sessions with the team’s massage therapist.

After breaking up with her long-term boyfriend, Ari Bettini is in need of peace of mind. For now, she’s decided to focus on her work: rehabilitating the Bruisers’ MVP. O'Doul is easy on the eyes, but his reaction to her touch is ice cold. Ari is determined to help O'Doul heal, but as the tension between them turns red hot, they both learn that a little TLC does the body good...

My Thoughts:
As the rough-around-the-edges team captain of the Brooklyn Bruisers, I was looking forward to Patrick O’Doul’s story, and I thoroughly fell for the man! Under all that gruffness, Patrick has a soft center! The romance started off strong with Ari and Patrick’s sexual chemistry sizzling and sparking off the page!  The massage table scene had me melting and overheated! Along the way, though, I was a little frustrated with Ari pushing Patrick away with the excuse that she was just coming off a long-term relationship.  I would get that if not for the fact that things seemed over with Vince, her previous beau, long before they officially split.  

Still, I’m loving the series; who wouldn’t want a bunch of romances with hot and sexy hockey players?! The recurring characters definitely have me intrigued:  Leo and Georgia are going strong, and I’m very interested in Becca and Nate’s interactions!  I can’t wait for their story (what happened to Becca in the end?) but I guess I’ll have to because Lauren, the ice queen, is up next in Pipe Dreams.  It does sound like she has some reasons for emitting a chill…

3.5 Suns



Connect with Sarina Bowen:



Berkley has kindly provided a Paperback Copy of Hard Hitter to giveaway to one Waves of Fiction follower.  Please fill out the rafflecopter below for a chance to win. The giveaway is open to US or CA residents only.  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

15 comments:

  1. Thanks for the post and your thoughts, I always like reading them. Rachel Gibson's Hockey series and Susan Elizabeth Phillips Chicago Stars football series were my first sports romance and were so great they will be my favorites. :)

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    1. Thanks, that means a lot to me! I'll have to check those out! Thanks for the recommends! :)

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  2. I love basically anything by Bowen. She is the one that got me looking into sports themed romances. I did read an ice skating romance by another author once and didn't like it.

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    1. I do get lost in her romances! Sorry to hear that! I think you'll like this series much better. :)

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  3. I haven't read many. One that I loved was Adrenalin by Sunniva Dee! Thank you

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  4. My favorite sport romances are about car racing. Chasing Daisy by Paige Toon is my absolute favorite and I liked the Driven trilogy

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  5. Great review, Rachel! You know I love Sarina Bowen, Elle Kennedy is another huge one when it comes to sports romances, I recently read Kulti so Zapata made it to the top of my fave list, but type of sports romance, I'm partial to hockey men! LOL ;P Thanks for the chance! xoxox

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    1. Thanks, Maida! I do love Elle Kennedy but haven't tried her sports romance yet. Must get to them soon! Good luck in the giveaway! :)

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  6. Great review! I love the hockey-themed books by Rachel Gibson, Hot Zone series by Carly Phillips, Moonshot by Alessandra Torre, Driven series by K. Bromberg, and the Real series by Katy Evans.

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  7. Probably The Deal or The Score by Elle Kennedy or Cora Carmack's All Played Out. I LOVE hockey and football romance!

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    1. I really need to read The Deal and The Score! I'm like the last person who hasn't and I love Elle Kennedy! :)

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  8. Oh I really loved Breakaway by Ali Parker! That was one of my favorites! Sarina is a new author for me, this sounds so good!

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  9. I have yet to read a sports romance. I really need to fix that. I do have this author on my must read list so I'll have to check out her other hockey romances.

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  10. My favorite sports themed romance is the Pucked series by Helena Hunting.

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