Do you know the feeling when you find a book that makes you cheer and wail at the same time? Cheer because you’ve found a book you love so much. And wail because you know you can’t stop until you’ve read all the previous books by this author/in this series to catch up with every single character and will have the author on your auto-buy list from now on. Just when your TBR stack is falling over as it is. Center Ice is one of those books that give you that feeling.
It's a wonderful story. Full of warm, sweet moments but with a lot of serious stuff going on. Author Julia Connors does an amazing job of weaving all the threads together, making all the connections between the characters work while addressing all the issues and highlighting the seriousness of all the decisions that need to be made.
Drew was a senior in college and Audrey a junior when she tutored him in calculus. They each definitely felt a spark, but neither of them spoke of it. Drew was already on his way to a career in the NHL and Audrey felt dull and drab and unable to compete with all the women who followed this big, handsome hockey player around. Drew was sure that Audrey was too serious and too smart and too capable to be interested in a jock like him. They did connect for one night, one pretty glorious night, but then Drew’s life got complicated, he was selected for a pro hockey team in Canada, and felt breaking ties in Boston was the best bet. He was just too overwhelmed and overloaded to add any more to his plate. No idea how much he would regret that decision.
When Drew is traded to the Boston Rebels he feels he’s been given a second chance. Nothing can jeopardize his staying in Boston: his mother and family need him, and to save his career he needs to erase the mostly undeserved bad press from his time with his last team. As for Audrey, she’s doing just fine. Just ask her. Yes, her life is pretty full, but she has a career she loves running a business with her sister Jules and has always had the unwavering support of her sister and her brother Jameson. So nobody is prepared for what happens at the team picnic Jameson hosts at his house. Drew learns a couple of things for the first time: his agent Jameson is Audrey’s big brother, and Audrey has a 5-year-old son who looks a lot like 5-year-old Drew looked. For some reason Audrey thought she would never run into Drew even though he’s on the Rebels, she goes to all the games, and her brother is his agent. Her brother who has no idea about Drew and Audrey; Jules is the only one Audrey has ever confided in. Audrey didn’t want to ruin Drew’s career even if she would never see him again.
From this point on it’s one situation after another to deal with. Audrey doesn’t want Graham to know who his father is until it looks like he won’t leave; Drew insists he’s not leaving but needs to prove it. And of course he doesn’t control what the team management does. People are going to notice the resemblance between Big Drew and Little Graham soon and who knows what when needs to be carefully planned so Graham is not hurt. Audrey’s last (and only serious) relationship since college resulted in her and Graham’s hearts being broken, so she is dead set against starting anything up with Drew. Drew’s mother has Parkinson’s and he’s working out how best to care for her and be there when he needs her while saving his career and playing good hockey. And while all this is going on and needs to be considered, Audrey and Drew are falling, falling, falling. This wasn’t a college crush; this could be something real and serious and long-lasting – and beautiful – but there are a lot of risks.
Author Connors smoothly takes us through all these life-changing events, with some touching moments as they care about and for one another, some sad, scary moments where they misspeak and misunderstand, some seriously steamy moments, and some laugh out loud funny moments where they are just ridiculous and you want to yell, “Stop it!” It’s a satisfying story about realizing what your priorities are, valuing your family, making sure those you love know how you feel and are cared for.
Thanks to Home Cooked Books for providing an advanced listening copy of Center Ice. In addition to being one of those books that make you cheer and wail, it’s also one that is perfect when read and supremely perfect when listened to. Especially when you have the always fabulous Teddy Hamilton and Andi Arndt as narrators. Teddy Hamilton is like the perfect chameleon of narrators: he becomes the character and you lose yourself completely. Every emotion – regret, sadness, outrage, love, lust, tenderness, a father’s pride – comes through loud and clear. Andi Arndt achieves a perfect balance of strength and vulnerability as Audrey, and just the right amount of peevishness and irritation when needed. I could listen all day and listen over and over. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.
Center Ice (Boston Rebels Book 1)
4.2 | 6,005 ratings
Price: 4.99
Last update: 09-18-2024
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Top reviews from the United States
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