VAN (Cold Fury Hockey #9) by Sawyer Bennett-Review Tour

VAN
Cold Fury Hockey #9
by Sawyer Bennett
Release Date: November 28, 2017
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, hockey, romance

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Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35018727-van

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 28, 2017

Score one for the Carolina Cold Fury hockey team as a stone-cold badass melts for a woman who makes his blood run hot.

As one of the league’s toughest enforcers, Van Turner is ruthless on the ice. He plays hard because it’s the only way to channel the rage boiling inside, and a reputation as an A-hole is better than everyone knowing the truth. Van has spent his entire life running from a secret that’s kept him from getting involved in relationships—or accepting lucrative deals with East Coast teams. Then the Carolina Cold Fury makes him an offer he can’t refuse . . . and Van meets a woman he can’t resist.

Simone Fournier is the stubborn one in her family—and that’s saying something, considering her brothers are two of the Cold Fury’s biggest stars. Simone gets what she wants, and what she wants is Van. Still, there’s a part of him Simone can’t reach, no matter how hard she tries. In private, he’s all fire and passion. In public, he freezes her out. Van may want to push her away, but Simone won’t let him go that easily. Because this time, she’s playing for keeps.

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REVIEW: VAN is the ninth instalment in Sawyer Bennett’s contemporary, adult COLD FURY HOCKEY erotic, romance series focusing on the men and women of the Cold Fury Hockey team. This is twenty eight year old, team enforcer Van Turner, and Simone Fournier’s story line. VAN can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary. Some of the events of VAN run parallel to and cross over with book eight LUCAS where we are first introduced to our story line couple. Simone is Lucas (#8) and Max’s (#6) younger sister.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Van and Simone) VAN follow the building relationship between the Cold Fury’s enforcer Van Turner, and Simone Fournier, Max and Lucas’s sister, who at the end of book eight-LUCAS-had quit university, and moved in with Lucas and Van. Simone’s parents had always planned for our heroine to attend medical school but a few months before completing her bachelor’s degree Simone walks into Lucas’s apartment and announces she wants something different for her life. Enter brooding and tormented Van Turner, Lucas’s teammate, and the man with whom Simone will fall in love. What ensues is the secret ‘friends with benefits’ relationship between Simone and Van, and the potential fall out as Van’s past is revealed for the world to see.

Van Turner is an unknown entity to the Cold Fury hockey team. A dark and dangerous past has our hero withdrawn, isolated, cold and calculating, refusing to acknowledge the elephant in the room; the demons that destroyed the family he once knew. Emotionally distant, with a temper to match, Van’s own teammates struggle with his attitude and actions, fearing reprisals if pushed too hard. Simone Fournier is a twenty-two year old young woman who struggles with a lack of direction, and her sexual attraction to a man who refuses to accept Simone, and everything she represents. Our heroine’s ‘seduction’ of Van Turner is methodical and calculating including pushing the boundaries of personal space and Van’s on-going rejection of Simone’s advances.

The relationship between Van and Simone is one of immediate attraction but saying that our heroine’s flirting and come-ons are not welcome by our story line hero. Van’s past is rife with betrayal and a darkness he prefers not to acknowledge-a darkness he believes threatens everyone he loves. The $ex scenes are numerous, erotic, intense and edgy but, once again, I take issue with the use of a certain four-letter word that I do NOT find romantic or seductive. Also, while Simone struggles with a lack of direction in her life, the choices she makes are questionable under the circumstances considering the close relationship with her family including two brothers who would do anything to help their little sister. For an intelligent woman she takes risks, and exposes herself to some controversial and problematic situations.

Several of the previous story line couples play secondary and supporting characters including Simone’s brother Lucas and Stephanie, Max and Julianne, as well as Van’s aunt Etta, a woman he loves like a mother.

VAN is an emotional story line of one man’s desperate attempts to move on from the past, and one woman’s frenzied pursuit of the man that calls to her heart. The premise is impassioned and heart-breaking; the characters are colorful but broken; the romance is highly sexual and energetic-Van and Simone like it rough in the bedroom. VAN is a bold and lively addition to the author’s Cold Fury Hockey series.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews

Alex
Garrett
Zack
Ryker
Hawke
Max
Roman
Lucas
Van

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Since the release of her debut contemporary romance novel, Off Sides, in January 2013, Sawyer Bennett has released more than 30 books and has been featured on both the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists on multiple occasions.

A reformed trial lawyer from North Carolina, Sawyer uses real life experience to create relatable, sexy stories that appeal to a wide array of readers. From new adult to erotic contemporary romance, Sawyer writes something for just about everyone.

Sawyer likes her Bloody Marys strong, her martinis dirty, and her heroes a combination of the two. When not bringing fictional romance to life, Sawyer is a chauffeur, stylist, chef, maid, and personal assistant to a very active toddler, as well as full-time servant to two adorably naughty dogs. She believes in the good of others, and that a bad day can be cured with a great work-out, cake, or a combination of the two.

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