Firebird by Jennifer Loring

Stephanie Hartwell has the opportunity of a lifetime to get the scoop that might just catapult her career in sports journalism further up the ladder but it means confronting the man she spent her high school years in love with and the man that the NHL is currently in love with Aleksandr Volynsky.

Can she face her past and keep her emotions in check?

Eight years and Aleksandr had never loved anyone the way he had loved Stephanie, in fact I don’t think he had ever loved at all after her, so the opportunity to spend time together was a chance for him to alleviate the emotional isolation that he has shrouded his life in. He may be loved by thousands but he was a lonely man and my heart hurt for him. He seemed to be riddled with self-doubt and that was so sad.

Stephanie was already in a relationship but once they are back in touch there was only ever going to be one outcome. But can he overcome the issues that are thrown at them and win back the woman that has owned his heart and soul since high school?

I felt this story in my soul, it was gritty but realistic.

It was captivating and addictive.

It was a step by step examination of what you have to face to get the things you want, even if that means stepping outside the box, turning your back on everything you have even thought, needed or wanted of reaching tough decisions and standing by them and questioning just how much would you do to keep the person you want in your life more than anything else?

There was more than one occasion that I needed to reach for the tissues and for a sports themed story that is not a normal reaction but I have to say that this one hits hard!