HEAT IT UP (Off the Ice #1) by Stina Lindenblatt-a review

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About the book: Release Date June 14, 2016

Some games are hotter off the ice.

Sofia Phillips feels cursed. Her father cheated on her mother, her boyfriend cheated on her she s done with dating. A summer work-exchange program in Finland is the perfect escape. But instead of gaining experience as an athletic trainer, she’s cleaning toilets. Awesome. The trip is a disaster, and even better, she meets Kyle Bennett. In the sauna. Naked.

Sexy hockey player Kyle was the star right wing for an NHL team. But after an accident killed his wife and left him injured, Kyle has appreciated the therapeutic benefits of booze and puck bunnies. Now in Finland for the summer, he s coaching in an elite hockey-training camp for teens. When Sofia’s grandmother decides to set her up with a nice Finnish man, Sofia recruits Kyle as her make-believe boyfriend. Neither expects their first kiss to sizzle. And neither expects, while stranded on an island during a storm, to have a scorching night of passion.

But as their charade, and then their attraction, develops into something deeper, the past comes back, threatening to destroy them. They must decide if their feelings for each other are strong enough to survive or it will be game over.

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REVIEW: HEAT IT UP is the first installment in Stina Lindenblatt’s new adult, contemporary OFF THE ICE romance series. This is former NHL player Kyle Bennett, and American exchange student Sofia Phillips’s story line.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Kyle and Sofia) HEAT IT UP follows the building relationship between Kyle and Sofia. Following a devastating accident that destroyed his hockey career, Kyle finds himself in Finland coaching young teens in a summer hockey program. Sofia, on the other hand, runs at the first sign of trouble and heads overseas to escape the mess that has become her life. Hoping to gain summer work experience in her mother’s home country of Finland as an athletic trainer, Sofia finds herself cleaning toilets and showers at the local arena. An accidental meeting with a naked Kyle Bennett, finds our heroine caught betweenlust, or looking at Kyle as a temporary arrangement. When a friends with benefits relationship turns into something more, Sofia knows that only heartache will come when one or both have to return to the USA.

HEAT IT UP is a new adult story line but the premise and many of the scenarios are nearing young adult (YA) territory including a love triangle wherein our heroine is playing both sides. Although Sofia professes to want only Kyle Bennett, she continues to accept invitations and a weekend away with a young man with whom her grandmother is trying to match up. Conflicting emotions and intentions are always fuel for misunderstanding and broken hearts. For those of you who follow my reviews, I am NOT a fan of the love triangle scenario especially one where promises have been made but actions say something else.

The relationship between Sofia and Kyle is one of immediate attraction but Sofia isn’t willing to risk more betrayal and refuses to accept Kyle into her life. Kyle, is a man, trying to escape the heartache of his past, and hopes for something more with Sofia Phillips. The $ex scenes are intimate without the use of graphic sexual language or imagery.

There are a number of secondary and supporting players including Kyle’s friend and fellow hockey player Nik. We are also introduced to a couple of Sofia’s girlfriends (Maija and Claire), and of course, the young man Joni who is desperately trying to get between Sofia and Kyle.

HEAT IT UP is a story of young love; a romance that may be threatened by secrets and lies; a relationship that struggles with insecurity and the threat of another potential suitor. There is a twist to the story line that reveals a close connection between our leading couple including a mutual home base of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The writing style is a bit sluggish at times as though we are being told a story and not invited into the action. I had a difficult time connecting with the characters or feeling any empathy for what was and what is going to be. Sofia’s lack of direction, and her inability to ‘just say no’ to her second suitor, lacked the maturity I want from my story book characters.

Copy supplied for an honest review

Reviewed by Sandy