Once Upon A Power Play by Jennifer Bonds

He'll do whatever it takes to get her against the boards…

 

Sidelined by a potentially career-ending injury, the only thing hockey player Ryan Douglas should be thinking about is recovery. But after sharing a near death experience and a night of passion with a spunky brunette, the only thing on his mind is five and a half feet of sexy sarcasm. And he'll do whatever it takes to get her back in his bed--even if it means playing dirty.

 

Chloe Jacobs is done with fairytales. And men. She's kissed her share of frogs and what's it gotten her? Dumped by text--again. Determined to eighty-six illusions of romance and prove she's more than just a good-time girl, the last thing she needs is a pushy, arrogant hockey player testing her resolve. Especially one who's sinfully good with his hands and thinks date-by-blackmail is a perfectly acceptable social convention.

 

Ryan wants to play games? Fine by her, but this is one faceoff he's going to lose.

 

Series: Risky Business #2 |  Publisher: Entangled: Brazen | Release Date: 11/16/2015 | Genre: Contemporary Romance | Source: Publisher | Rating: 3.5

Looking for hot sex and hockey? Then you need to pick up a copy of Once Upon A Power Play.

 

Here’s what’s going on. Chloe Jacobs has just been dumped…via text. Deciding to swear off men, she heads to the bodega in search of margarita ingredients where she squares off against an arrogant yet sexy lumberjack-type who has taken the last lime. During their squabble over the lime, the store is robbed and Ryan decides to play hero. They go back to her place and end up falling into bed together. They part ways, but to Chloe’s surprise Ryan’s a star hockey player whose team her PR company is working closely with. Not willing to let her go, Ryan will do anything, including blackmail, to get her back into his bed. And Chloe’s content to be his bed buddy, but Ryan suddenly wants more.  

 

Okay, so I’m a bit on the fence about this one. I really enjoyed the start. It hooked me and drew me and I really enjoyed the back and forth between Chloe and Ryan, but the game playing in the middle of the novel started to became a little nerve wracking and I was worried that it was only going to be games, sex, and trying to one-up each other. Thankfully, the novel regained its footing at Chapter 12 and it switched into something a bit more substantial and I felt as though I really got to discover who Chloe and Ryan were.

 

I liked Ryan. He’s recovering from a potentially career-ending injury. His first game back is against the team whose player injured him. He’s also dealing with his ex-girlfriend leaving him when the going got tough. So when he meets Chloe in the bodega and she doesn’t have a clue who he is, he’s immediately drawn to her.

 

There were times that I liked Chloe and times I wanted to shake her. She’s been hurt by a string of bad breakups. She’s not looking to start a new relationship but she’s content to slip between the sheets with Ryan any chance she gets. It drove me mad that every time Ryan tried to get close to her, she pushed him away. I was really thrilled when she finally allowed Ryan in.

 

So, Chloe and Ryan had mind-blowing chemistry. And the sex they had was so hot and steamy it could melt the hockey rink. I was kind of hoping that they would have started a more emotional connection sooner, but they did finally find their connection and it was so good.

 

The conflict in this book came it two parts. The first, was Chloe’s unwillingness to enter into a new relationship and I could completely understand where she was coming from. The second, was the BBM and it drove mad that the whole debacle could have been avoided if Ryan would told her what had happened and Chloe would have listened and not jumped to conclusions. Miscommunication between characters just drives me up the wall.

 

This is the second book that I’ve read where the hero was a hockey player and, while I haven’t a clue about hockey, I’m really enjoying this fresh approach. Although I wouldn’t necessarily classify this one as a ‘sports romance’ there was quite a bit about hockey thrown in and I really enjoyed it.

 

Overall, this was a steamy little read. It had a strong start, ebbed a bit in the middle, then finally got it together to turn out to be an enjoyable read.  

Have you read a hockey romance?