🩷The Romance Line (Love & Hockey 2) by Lauren Blakely-review🩷
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 2,2024
he first rule of handling PR for a hockey team? Never hook up with a player.
That shouldn’t be a problem since the last man on earth I want to give an image makeover to is our goalie. He’s infuriatingly hot, famously grumpy and lives to spar with me after every game.
But shining up his rough edges is my path to landing the promotion I desperately need, so I grit my teeth and do my job. No matter how hard he makes it (especially with that sexy smirk and cool blue eyes.) As we travel from pose-with-a-pet photo opps to cuddle-a-kitten fundraisers, we bicker like it’s foreplay.
Turns out it is.
Because as I get to know the man behind the broody iceman exterior, it’s me that melts – right into his arms as he devastates me with a kiss that turns into the hottest, most forbidden night of my life.
Only once turns into every night as Max shows me how much he wants to take care of me. His possessive touch makes me feel adored for the first time in my life.
But the man is entirely off limits and I can’t risk my job for more of those soul-deep kisses.
Because the only thing worse than hooking up with a player is falling head over heels for him.
•••••
REVIEW:THE ROMANCE LINE is the second instalment in Lauren Blakely’s contemporary, adult LOVE AND HOCKEY erotic, hockey romance series set in the author’s MY HOCKEY ROMANCE world. This is Seattle Sea Dogs goalie Max Lambert, and PR agent Everly Rosewood’s story line. THE ROMANCE LINE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.
Told from dual first person perspectives (Max and Everly) THE ROMANCE LINE follows the building romance and forbidden relationship between our story line couple. Seattle Sea Dogs’ goalie Max Lambert’s popularity with the media and fans is tanking, and the Sea Dogs have assigned their PR agent Everly Rosewood to refine and rebuild Max’s reputation but Max has been struggling in the face of a previous betrayal, and is reluctant to reveal the private side of his life. With the help of Everly, Max’s popularity begins to rise but their attraction to one another forces our couple to keep secrets their burgeoning relationship. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Max and Everly, and the potential fall-out when Max discovers Everly is in line for a promotion, and Max may be her ticket upwards.
The world building follows several paths including the revival of Max Lambert’s ‘likeability quotient’; Everly’s battle to prove Max is worthy of a second chance; the secrets Everly hides from most of the people in her life; and the return of Max’s ex who may or may not be looking for a second chance.
The relationship between Max and Everly is one of the forbidden. Max and Everly work for the same organization, and in this, there is an unwritten rule about fraternizing with fellow employees. Keeping their relationship a secret is difficult when the media wants to match Max with someone else. The $ex scenes are intimate and provocative without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.
There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and eager secondary and supporting characters including several of Max’s teammates; Everly’s co-workers, as well as her best friends; media influencers, journalists and television programmers and executives.
THE ROMANCE LINE is a story of secrets, betrayal, acceptance and love. The character driven premise is slow building, thought provoking and inviting; the romance is spicy and seductive; the characters are sassy and spirited but the appearance of Max’s ex is more of a red-herring as it goes nowhere, fast.
Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one THE BOYFRIEND GOAL
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sandy
“Just let me walk you to the door.””Fine,” she says, her palms raised in surrender.
I set my hand on her back again. A slight shiver seems to run through her when I touch her. I try not to let that go to my head. Or my dick.
But as we go, I spread my fingers wider across the silk of her shirt. Press a little harder. Rub a little more. Curl my thumb around her waist. Register every hitch of her breath.
By the time we’re at the top of the steps, my hand feels too right on her back to let go. “I’m not sure I have made my point, Everly.”
She turns to me, facing me, so I have to drop my hand from her back. Her gaze is wary but intrigued, her eyes flickering with questions. “What’s your point exactly?”
“Like I said earlier, if this was a date I’d walk you to the door.”
“But it’s not. You keep telling me it’s not.” It’s like she’s trying to catch me on a technicality, or maybe to push me into admitting something. She doesn’t make a move to go inside. Her gaze is locked on mine, and the air is charged between us. It crackles with anticipation.
“You’re right. It’s not,” I say, weighing how far I’ll go. What it’ll cost me.
She rolls her lips together, then breathes out, like she’s centering herself. “And you did it anyway.”
“True,” I say. Like I could do anything else with her. I couldn’t have stopped myself from showing up at The Spotted Zebra tonight if I’d tried. I couldn’t have resisted driving her home. I couldn’t have refrained from walking her up her steps. Now we’re standing in the warm October air, the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance, the ocean hugging us. And I’m not walking away—not with her closer than she’s ever been. I look at her lush mouth one more time, then her gorgeous eyes. “And if this were a date I’d kiss you at the door.”
She’s quiet, but her lips curve up. “That’s not what you said at the restaurant.”
Wait. I’m confused now. “That is what I said,” I point out.
She crosses her arms, shaking her head, but she’s smiling and it’s flirty. Inviting. “No, Max. You said you’d devastate me with a kiss.”
And that’s it. That’s enough. Just f*&k it. F*&k everything. “I guess I’d better start.”
A #1 New York Times Bestselling author, Lauren Blakely is known for her contemporary romance style that’s hot, sweet and sexy. She lives in California with her family and has plotted entire novels while walking her dogs. With fourteen New York Times bestsellers, her titles have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller Lists more than eighty times, and she’s sold more than 2 million books. In October she’ll release HARD WOOD, a sexy, standalone romantic comedy. To receive an email when Lauren releases a new book, sign up for her newsletter! laurenblakely.com/newsletter
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