WARM UP (Scotia Storms 2: Rebels: The Academy Years) by Cathryn Fox-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 5, 2022

He’s a defenseman on the academy’s hockey team – a well-known player on and off the ice.

It’s a reputation he wears proudly…flaunts, even. The only one he has to look out for is himself. No one expects anything else.

Thanks to past mistakes, I have a whole lot of responsibilities outside of the academy, and have no choice but to put others in my life first. They count on me, but you know what? I’m lonely.

I guess that’s why I got all tangled up in the guy whose only focus is on hockey – and fun.

What I hadn’t meant to do, however, was fall head over heels for the player who only wanted one thing from me. Can you say been there done that?

But I think, underneath it all, there’s a lot more to him than even he knows and maybe his choices aren’t his own. Maybe someone else is pulling the strings.

Either way, when past mistakes catch up with me again, the team’s biggest player must decide whether to follow the path carved out for him and walk away from me, or shape his own future, and become the man he keeps well hidden.

••••••

REVIEW: WARM UP is the second instalment in Cathryn Fox’s contemporary, new adult SCOTIA STORMS: REBELS-THE ACADEMY YEARS hockey, romance series. This is college hockey player Matt Morgan, and single mother/music student Kennedy Walsh’s story line. WARM UP can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous storyline is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Kennedy and Matt) WARM UP follows the building romance and relationship between Matt and Kennedy. Kennedy is a single mother who works two jobs in an effort to support herself and her daughter but getting fired meant Kennedy was desperate for a job, and found herself cooking and cleaning for an on campus frat house that housed several members of the college hockey team. Enter Matt Morgan, the man with whom Kennedy will fall in love. Matt Morgan’s reputation both on and off the ice precedes his introduction to our story line heroine but neither Matt nor Kennedy is looking for a permanent relationship, and a friends with benefits affair is perfect until the heart wants something more. As Kennedy and Matt’s relationship begins to take on a life of its’ own, perceived betrayal threatens to destroy the couple’s tentative hold on a happily ever after, for now. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Kennedy and Matt, and the potential fall-out as Matt’s future plans do not involve a ready made family.

Kennedy Walsh is a single mother, struggling in the wake of betrayal and lies. Living with her mother, Kennedy works two jobs, attends college, and raises her daughter without the support of her ex or his money. Kennedy never expected to fall for a man whose reputation as a one-night stand kind of guy threatens all good sense but Kennedy’s heart wants something Matt may be incapable of giving. Matt Morgan’s plans for the future include making it big in the NHL but Matt found himself falling for a young woman and her infant child, falling hard in the face of warring emotions.

The relationship between Kennedy and Matt is one of immediate attraction that begins when Kennedy is fired without cause. The Frat house needs a new cook and house keeper, and Kennedy is the perfect candidate, desperate enough to ignore all the potential rumors about Matt and the players. Matt Morgan quickly pulls Kennedy under his wings, falling for a woman who is perfect for Matt but not necessarily perfect in the eyes of everyone else. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top sexually graphic language and text.

The secondary and supporting characters include Kennedy’s mother Barb; Kennedy’s friends Amy, and Piper; as well as Matt’s brother Liam, and their grandfather Gary. We are reintroduced to Sawyer and Chase (Away Game #1), as well Sawyer’s friend Daisy, and fellow hockey player Beckett. Piper and Beckett’s story is next in CRASH COURSE.

WARM UP is a story of family, friendships, betrayal and love; a story of relationships, misunderstanding, and acceptance. The character driven premise is captivating; the romance is seductive; the characters are charismatic and perfect for one another.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy