Risk
Good Fit
- Readers who like sports-set «enemies-to-lovers» romance by authors such as Elle Kennedy, Kristen Callihan or Ana Huang
- Anyone interested in hockey and campus life, and in team friendship
- Readers drawn to a young woman's professional struggle and the healing of a father-daughter relationship
Not a Fit
- Readers who dislike explicit sex scenes and strong language
- Anyone looking for a serious, non-formulaic plot: the romance follows a familiar pattern
- Readers sensitive to heavy themes such as pregnancy loss, drug addiction and conflict with a father
The novel begins in Brenna Jensen's voice. Brenna studies journalism at Briar University, her father Chad Jensen is Briar's famous hockey coach. Her mother died in a car accident when she was seven and her father raised her alone. At «Della's Place» diner in Hastings Brenna waits for the boy of her date, who does not come. She has been stood up again by a footballer. The moment she asks for the bill, the captain of the Harvard hockey team, Jake Connelly, sits down at her table.
Jake is Briar's enemy: the Harvard captain, a brilliant player, a man who has signed with the Edmonton Oilers. His coach Daryl Pedersen and Brenna's father have been enemies for years. The two spar with words in the diner, Jake teases her with «Hot stuff» and Brenna calls him «Jakey». Jake states the reason for his coming openly: his team's player Josh McCarthy has fallen for Brenna and is distracted. «Drop him,» he says. Brenna refuses: «I don't take orders from you».
The same night Jake holds a team meeting in his new flat, with his flatmate Brooks Weston. The diligent, demanding personality of the team's best players and the captain shows: his friends are tired but they must prepare for the semi-final with Princeton. He tells Josh McCarthy «drop what distracts you» and warns Brooks about the drugs he uses at parties. This style of captaincy shows the serious side behind his «joking, womanising» image.
In chapter 3 Brenna talks with her father on the phone at home. Her father's voice is always in the tone of an order: the affection that called her «Peach» is long gone. Tomorrow she will go for an interview for an internship at the HockeyNet channel; her father helped through his acquaintance at the channel. Brenna wants to work in sports journalism and knows she will find it hard as a woman in a field dominated by men.
- The language is conversational, and the dialogue and inner monologue are full of jokes
- The alternating narration from the two leads shows both motivations clearly
- The hockey scenes are clear and serve the plot; they are easy to follow even for a reader who does not know the rules
- The side characters (Rupi, Hollis, Brooks, Summer) carry the book's comic thread
- The sex scenes repeat across several chapters and are described quite openly; in the last two thirds they take a more emotional tone
The first Briar U book: the fake-relationship romance of Garrett and Hannah
A romantic comedy about a fake relationship turning into real feelings
Another campus romance set in the hockey world
In the evening, as Brenna talks with her friend Summer, she gets a message from Josh McCarthy: «For the team's focus I need to step back for a while, I'll write after the games». She understands that Jake Connelly has «declared war» on her: he has pulled his player away from her.
The next day at HockeyNet, in the interview, department head Ed Mulder meets Brenna with rude, sexist questions, does not listen to what she says and remarks «so your father is Chad Jensen». In the middle of the interview an employee bursts in and says the hockey star Roman McElroy has been arrested for domestic violence; Mulder suddenly leaves, telling Brenna «come at nine on Monday». Brenna leaves the building saying «disaster».
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