Title: Brooklynaire
Author: Sarina Bowen
Series: Brooklyn Bruisers #4
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2018

Ever since the hints of Becca and Nate’s potential relationship in Rookie Move, I’ve been hanging for Brooklynaire. I mean, who wouldn’t, they’re both kind of brilliant. And wow, this story DID NOT disappoint. It had all of the drama and fun that made me want to keep reading. With all of the sweetness and emotional cuddles that I’ve come to associate with Sarina Bowen.

I love that throughout this story, Becca’s biggest concern is how people will perceive her. It’s a good (and recurring) point – women tend to be judged a whole lot more harshly than men. Particularly when Becca is an assistant and already feels lime her job is on thin ice. I also enjoyed how Nate tried really hard to help ameliorate her concerns. It entertainingly backfired multiple times, but it was nice that he tried.

Brooklynaire also provides some great insights into the past of Becca, Nate and KTech. Another hint of a history to the Brooklyn Bruisers that I really wanted. Bowen did a brilliant job of flicking between past and present. Tying in all of the hints and moments that created such a beautiful romance. I was honestly kind of flabbergasted by Juliet’s betrayal in the past though. And although it was definitely a fairly poetic ending to her story, it was kind of heartbreaking.

This is an amazing story all on its own. But it was far more enjoyable when read immediately after Pipe Dreams. Both stories feature a lot of flashbacks to the past of both relationships. Plus, they are stories that are told in tandem with one another. So by reading them immediately following each other, you get to see how all of the little bits and pieces fit together.

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Title: Pipe Dreams
Author: Sarina Bowen
Series: Brooklyn Bruisers #3
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2017

I’ve been intrigued by this since there were hints of Mike’s romantic past in Rookie Move. And then, there’s all of those hints about WHY alien is such an ice queen throughout Hard Hitter. I mean, it’s a pretty intense history that these two share once you start to find out the bits and pieces of it. It’s pretty heartbreaking too in moments. Hard to see any bad guys, just a whole lot of tragedy. But luckily, this is all beautiful with a happy ending.

For all of the tragedy that gets highlighted in their past (much of it based on miscommunications in the past, but I digress). I do love how Lauren and Mike are able to reconnect throughout this story. They both have some kind of silky hang-ups, but they work through them to a better future. Plus there’s the added complications of Mike’s family, and how they react. Also worked through beautifully.

Although I don’t think there are really any bad guys in this romance, I must admit that Shelly’s letters were pretty heartbreaking. They were a perfect plot piece to move the forgiveness forwards, but still pretty damn heartbreaking. Partly I think it was the whole writing to your daughter on your deathbed that did it for me, but also just the content and context. I can’t even fathom the difficulty and emotional turmoil of both of them in writing this.

Pipe Dreams is beautiful and a romance that comes with premade family. It’s definitely a second chance romance that focuses on moving forward in life and forgiving the past. But it also happens consecutively with Brooklynaire. Another Brooklyn Bruisers book I’ve been hanging to read. I love how this all dovetailed and look forward to diving in again.

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Title: Hard Hitter
Author: Sarina Bowen
Series: Brooklyn Bruisers #2
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2017

Patrick and Ari are a ridiculously wonderful and fun couple. Which, I’m beginning to understand is part of the Bowen charm. I also like that although they’ve known each other for a long while, it’s the changes in both their lives that pull them together and make them realise that there’s something there. It’s a great story of getting to know one another, but not without the super (often) awkward moments of initial meetings.

Patrick’s history is a little bit sad if I’m being totally honest. I mean, a guy who grows up in foster care and all of the hang-ups that come about his not great experiences? It’s certainly tragic. But I do love how it informs the rest of the story and the central conflict. Particularly, I love how it’s his scarring from the past that has actually prevented him from REALLY getting to know Ari.

Ari’s story though is somehow even more tragic and difficult to read about. Mostly because the danger and abuse is actually ongoing. It’s a reminder that we can all find ourselves in abusive relationships and not quite know when things started to go wrong. I spent the entirety of this story with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Spoiler alert, whilst bad things happen, they weren’t anywhere near to the level that I was expecting.

Hard Hitter was a great story about two people with tragedy in their past finding a bright new future. It definitely gave me all the warm fuzzy feelings and was a great reminder to keep doing yoga and visualising a positive future.

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Title: Rookie Move
Author: Sarina Bowen
Series: Brooklyn Bruisers #1
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2016

I’m always a big fan of romances with a couple that have a history. You miss out on the whole instalove / getting to know you part. And spend the whole story waiting to find out just went wrong in the past. I love that slow unravelling of the past and the discovery of (generally) misunderstandings and miscommunications. And Leo and Georgia’s story was no different. And I loved every moment of it.

Georgia’s dad being amongst the storyline, complicating the romance was a fun point of contention. Alongside figuring out Georgia and zero’s history, you have Leo’s history with her father to figure out. And even as you begin to understand what the couple went through; it was pretty surprising what her father’s beef was. Add to the complications the fact that he’s Leo’s coach and there’s potential trial for a draft swap… I loved the drama that all of this entailed.

Admittedly, I’ve only ever watched hockey once. And I freaking loved every moment of it. So it’s maybe not surprising that I’ve got quite a few hockey romances on my shelves at the moment. There is just something so disgustingly yummy about a bunch of men on skates, beating the crap out of each other. And then the imagery of the yummy, yummy bodies at the end of a match… definitely a new subgenre of contemporary romance that I’ve completely fallen for.

As a beginning to a new series, this was scrumptiously yummy. I’m already diving straight into the next book… because yum. But maybe the part that I loved the most? Georgia is a third-degree black belt in tae kwon do… as someone who also studies martial arts, the impressiveness of that idea makes me swoon more than the idea of shirtless hockey players any day…

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