Hooked on You

by Kate Meader

Coming in on the last book of the series…duh! Rookie mistake and one that I will have to rectify quickly, I say that because this was an interesting read. It brought two fantastic characters t the page, but it also gave insight to the situation that has obviously been covered in the previous stories, namely the fact that there are three young women who have inherited a hockey team from their father when he passed away.
Vi is a half-sister to Harper and Isobel, and that brings its own dynamic to their relationship, just as the fact that when it comes to Hockey…well, she doesn’t really seem to show much interest initially. I liked Vi, she had fought her own battles, not least with cancer and she continues to defy convention and live her life exactly as she sees fit, her individuality was hard earned and I applaud her for refusing to conform…she earned her spirit the hard was and as a survivor, she needed no-one by her side, she was perfectly well equipped to stride her path alone…but when she met the man mountain that is Bren St James, whilst she was out on the town one night, many months ago, their initial interaction was light-hearted but it was well and truly laced with innuendo, Vi was never one to shy away from what she wanted and Bren was definitely on her radar. It was the surly Scot the put the brakes on them heading any further, but would that knock back come back to bite him on the a**?
Bren was easy to understand, a man that had been through the emotional wars, a man that was doing what he had to get back onto an even keel, to stay sober and find his mojo. Having the added complication of a woman on his tail was not high on his agenda, so he made sure to keep Vi at arm’s length but darn it she was nothing if not persistent and seemed determined to wheedle her way under his skin…I was sniggering when she took to calling him Nessie!
Bren’s personal life gets so much more complicated when his ex sends his daughters to live with him, with the playoffs just around the corner, as much as he loves his girls, and it was lovely to see just how much of a softy this grumpy man was with his kids, their arrival couldn’t have come at a worse time and he is left scrambling with the help of the ladies at the club to find a solution that works for not only him but his family.
His girls took to the spunky Violet straight away but Bren was still determined to keep not only himself but his family out of her reach, I was spitting chips at this time…honestly there is no helping some people or so it would seem because, despite the fact that he was being such a pr**k, Vi was determined to be a friend, one that in all honesty he didn’t deserve but as the story progressed it was easy to see that there was more under the surface for them both that was yet to have it say and I thought the author unravelled their story beautifully. Life and love is complicated and doesn’t necessarily run smoothly so it was refreshing to see that this pair had to work for their opportunity, they had stuff to overcome but none of that stood a chance when they packed in the endless sparring!
I thought the flow was super, the pace was pitched perfectly and even though I hadn’t read the previous books, I was able to follow the story and pick up on previous characters and relationships.