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.

One Night by A.J. Pine

Title: One Night (Only You #1)

Author: A.J. Pine

Publisher: InterMix

Release Date: April 21, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

When she lost it all, Jess decided to cope by living a lie.

But you can’t keep on pretending forever…

Twenty-one-year-old Jess used to have everything—a loyal best friend, a boyfriend she loved, and a future that was right on track. But in a single night, her whole world changed.

Now, Jess lives for the impersonal connection of drunken hook-ups and to-go coffee cups in the morning. All she needs is one night to pretend everything is fine…until she meets Adam.

Thanks to a sports injury, gorgeous, charming basketball star Adam Carson is stuck in physical therapy at the hospital where Jess interns—giving her the perfect opportunity to see his sweet, considerate nature and making her realize that maybe she does want something more.

But while Adam might be the best thing that’s happened to Jess in a long time, letting him past her carefully constructed walls means letting him know what happened…and why he’d never want her more than one night.

It’s absolutely no secret that I’ve come to absolutely love New Adult in the last couple of years. I just can’t seem to get enough. So whenever I hear of a new one coming out, I jump on it, even when I don’t necessarily know that much about it. And that’s how I found myself reading and high enjoying A.J. Pine’s One Night.

After what happened on that single night, everything changed for Jess. She used to have everything she wanted. Now she just goes on one day at a time, not forming any lasting attachments to anyone around her. It’s easier to deal with impersonal, one night, drunken hookups than to get attached. Because getting attached will mean getting hurt again. But then Jess meets Adam and she starts wondering if she might still want more than just one night. After meeting Jess in physical therapy, Adam can’t stop thinking about Jess. There, he sees a side of her no one else gets to see. And that only makes him more determined to break down the walls she puts up around her heart. But Jess isn’t ready to take down those walls, even if Adam could be the best thing that’s happened to her. After everything, how could anyone want Jess for more than one night?

Honestly, I knew nothing about One Night when I saw that it was available to be requested on NetGalley. All I knew that it was being identified as New Adult and the description made it sound like something I would enjoy. Even as the release date came closer, I didn’t really hear that many people talking about this book. So when I finally read it, I went in with a completely open mind and absolutely no idea what I should have expected. To give you an idea, despite it being mentioned in the synopsis, I hadn’t even picked up on the fact that sports were a part of this story. So yeah, I was going in with a very open mind. And I ended up being rewarded for that. When I first started reading, I thought the story was going to go in one direction, but that’s not where it went and I’m happy for that. If it had, it would have been a little too predictable for my liking. Instead, I got a heartfelt story about two people trying to pick up the pieces after suffering their own tragedies. A story about two people learning to open themselves up to others when they thought they wouldn’t be able to do so again. And despite what I’m making it sound like, One Night wasn’t a heavy story. Sure, there were some deep issues, but it didn’t overwhelm me when I was reading. Because that’s not what it was about. It was just about Adam and Jess and them finding and accepting themselves and each other.

Even though she was the one telling the story, it took me a while to get a handle on Jess. I knew right away that she wasn’t the one-night-stand girl she pretended to be. She just didn’t come across that way even if that’s what she insisted on doing. I just couldn’t seem to figure out why she was putting on that front. It just didn’t make sense. But the more I got to know her, the more I started to put the pieces together and make guesses at what she could be hiding both from me and from the people around her. Once I figured it all out though, my heart broke for her. I didn’t necessarily agree with what she was doing, but I could understand why she was doing it. And then Jess met Adam and things changed. Adam wasn’t who I thought he was going to be. Honestly, I expected him to be your typical cocky college athlete. And he was. But he also wasn’t. Which really doesn’t tell you anything about him. All you really need to know is that Adam was a pretty fantastic guy and it didn’t take long at all for him to charm me. The other character who was a standout for me was Zoe. Zoe was Jess’s roommate and so not what I expected. I loved her personality and how she was with Jess even when she didn’t know her that well. Don’t get me wrong, the romance between Adam and Jess was great, but Zoe and Jess’s friendship was even better for me. Maybe I’ll get a book all about Zoe in the future…?

A.J. Pine’s One Night was a pleasant surprise. I love when I can read a book without any prejudice and be happy with the result. This story was more than I thought it was going to be, and I’m definitely keeping my fingers crossed in terms of who the sequel, One Life, is going to be about.