Rookie Move by Sarina Bowen

Title: Rookie Move (Brooklyn Bruisers #1)

Author: Sarina Bowen

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: September 6, 2016

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

The first novel in a sexy new series featuring the hockey players of the Brooklynn Bruisers and the women who win their hearts—from the USA Today bestselling author of the Ivy Years series.

In high school they were the perfect couple—until the day Georgia left Leo in the cold…

Hockey player Leo Trevi has spent the last six years trying to do two things: get over the girl who broke his heart, and succeed in the NHL. But on the first day he’s called up to the newly franchised Brooklyn Bruisers, Leo gets checked on both sides, first by the team’s coach—who has a long simmering grudge, and then by the Bruisers’ sexy, icy publicist—his former girlfriend Georgia Worthington.

Saying goodbye to Leo was one of het hardest things Georgia ever had to do—and saying hello again isn’t much easier. Georgia is determined to keep their relationship strictly professional, but when a press conference microphone catches Leo declaring his feelings for her, things get really personal, really fast…

It's no secret that over the last two years Sarina Bowen has absolutely become one of my favourite and go-to authors when it comes to romance. I've read and loved every book she's written and I'm always looking forward to the next one. Her latest, Rookie Move, was just as fantastic as all the others and I loved every moment of it.

Though it's the start of a new series, I loved Rookie Move because it sort of brought me back to the world of Sarina Bowen's Ivy Years series. That series is one of my favourite romance series and I was so happy when this spin-off was announced. I knew there were more stories to be told about some of the hockey players I met in that original series and I was happy that Leo Trevi's story was the one I got. Especially his and Georgia's story. Because from the moment I heard about their past through DJ in The Fifteenth Minute, I knew that was a second chance romance waiting to happen and second chance romances just happen to be some of my favourites. And this one hit all the right notes for me. I got sucked in right from the start, wanting to see how things would play out once Leo realized that his ex-girlfriend was his new team's PR person and his new coach just happened to be said ex-girlfriend's father. Who seriously has it in for him. I mean, how could things not get interesting when that's your starting point? And from that starting point, it just kept getting better. And as is usually the case for me, the reason I loved this story as much as I did (besides the whole second chance romance thing) was the characters.

I know I'm repeating myself, but I had been curious about Leo and Georgia since they were first mentioned in the final Ivy Years book. I knew there was more to Leo than being the big man hockey player on campus and I was so right. I loved getting to know him better in Rookie Move, getting to see who he really was and how he still carried the past with him, especially where Georgia was concerned. It sucked seeing him struggle with that past, but at the same time he had to work through it in order to be able to find his way with Georgia. It sucked, but it was necessary. And that's also true for Georgia. Because Leo was so tied to that one event from their past, she had to find a way to separate him from that event and be able to be with him without constantly remembering the past. And I loved that they were able to move past it all because Georgia and Leo just made sense together, no matter how much they both tried to deny it at various times. Georgia and Leo were great, don't get me wrong, but what I love about Sarina Bowen's books is that the secondary characters always feel completely fleshed out. And in this particular case, it means I'm already excited by the idea of reading O'Doul's story in Hard Hitter and that I might be holding out hope for a story about Silas. And I wouldn't say no to glimpses of Leo and Georgia here and there. Just saying.

In case it wasn't clear, I really loved Sarina Bowen's Rookie Move. It was the perfect start to what promises to be an exciting new series. I can't wait to see where Sarina Bowen goes next with the members of the Brooklyn Bruisers, but I already know I'm pretty sure I'll love it all.