Thank you to Helena Hunting and her team for the advance reader copy of If You Want Me, the second interconnected standalone in the Toronto Terror series.
I adored If You Hate Me, devoured it in just a few days and adored how it captured Helena Hunting’s signature blend of spice and laugh-out-loud hilarity. I counted down the days until this ARC landed on my Kindle. The blend of tropes is just to die for! Hockey romance, with an age gap and he’s her dad’s best friend and teammate.
I am a Helena Hunting review team member, but I remain honest and genuine in my reviews.
A standalone age-gap, dad’s best friend hockey romance.
There’s no one more off limits than my best friend’s daughter.
Peggy Aurora Hammerstein. The Toronto Terror’s unofficial team princess. I would never do anything to mess with our team dynamics this late into the hockey season, but seeing her work in the front office changed something for me.
I see her as she is now: a powerful woman with ambition for miles.
When I hold her against me, she fits perfectly.
Her little flirts and taunts push my buttons, if she doesn’t stop–my control just might break.
But I can never cross that line. I can never know what it could be to call her mine.
I’ve never wanted anyone more than Aurora and no one can ever know.
Check out my more detailed thoughts below…
- Characters: Peggy Aurora Hammerstein first introduced in If You Hate Me is the Toronto Terror’s unofficial team princess as her father Roman is the team’s goalie. Peggy now more comfortable going by Aurora has grown up in front of many of Roman’s long-time teammates including Hollis Hendrix. Aurora is incredibly easy to love. She is determined, headstrong, talented, and hardworking. I loved her relationship with her dad Roman, it was so adorable and sincere. Hollis was just as amazing, being very loyal, thoughtful, and of course super hot. Also, I must shout out Hollis’ cat daddy vibes, it was damn adorable how much he doted on his two felines and the dynamic they added to the story. This story, of course, features nice check-ins on our previous couple along with cameos from a wide cast of side characters, all of which I am highly anticipating stories from, so much so that I do not even care whom we get next.
- Setting: This hockey romance is set in Toronto, Canada and follows a fictionalized hockey team called the Toronto Terror. Shout out to Helena Hunting for commissioning a logo with a Canada Goose on it as the team mascot, truly a Canadian terror could not be more perfect. I am so happy to be in the middle of a hockey romance series set in Canada, Helena puts a little Toronto flair on this series, but of course, the players do spend some time travelling and playing in different cities.
- Pacing: The pacing is what took me a while to read this, it is quite long. The first book was decently long but I found I flew through it faster. What made me never want this book to end is just how laugh-out-loud funny this book was, as every Helena Hunting book is. She just has this incredible way of making her readers laugh. Trust me read the first few chapters with a straight face I dare you! Better yet do what I did and make your partner read the first chapters to you.
- Romance: These are two characters dripping in longing, they have such amazing chemistry and attraction, so much so they are struggling not to act upon it. I am a sucker for all things that feel forbidden and for Hollis, nothing feels more forbidden than a girl ten years his junior whose father is his best friend. Not only that as they are teammates he continually fears what he would do to the team’s dynamic if he crosses a line with Aurora. It goes back to just how damn thoughtful he was that he wanted to give her everything she needed in and out of the bedroom but valued his deep friendship with her father and how this new relationship would unsettle that. I loved how Aurora pushed him, as she grew her confidence she did not just go for what she wanted career-wise but also showed Hollis just how good it was to be together.
- Spice: I always trust Helena Hunting to spice things up with the spice. Last time she ensured I would never ever look at a cucumber in the same way again and now I will have the same look in my eye when I behold a scrunchie. This does have a good slow-burn element and when the spice hits it hits hard and never stops!
If You Want Me is 4.5/5 stars
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Thank you again to Helena and her team for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!
