Sometimes scoring off the ice leads to the greatest rewards.
I’ve had only one goal in life since I first strapped on a pair of skates—make America’s pro hockey league.
I left Denmark. I made it to the top. Now, I’m determined to be the best. No distractions. I eat, sleep, and breathe hockey.
Until my birthday when my teammates convince me to live a little.
But living a little takes on a whole new meaning when less than a year later I’m confronted with a crying baby on my doorstep, drooling on a note that declares he’s mine.
Suddenly, I’m a single dad in way over my head.
There is no playbook for situations like this.
Luckily, I have Paisley.
My gorgeous neighbor, my long-time crush, and now—my savior.
She’s there any time I need her.
Helping. Guiding. Gazing at me with those green eyes that make me feel capable of this after all.
With her at my side, I’m quickly learning there’s more to life than winning a hockey game.
| Title: | Scoring Off the Ice |
| Author: | Stacey Lynn |
| Series: | The Ice Kings (Book 2) |
| Pages: | 263 |
| Genre(s): | Contemporary |
| Trope(s): | Neighbours to Lovers Sports Romance (Hockey) Virgin |
| Point of View: | |
| Location: | US |
| HEA: | ✔️ |
| Release Date: | 7th April, 2020 |
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A gentle, sweet tale
I have no interest at all in the sport, but I am a bit of a sucker for a hockey romance. It’s that idea of gruff, big and burly men – all rough and ready on the ice – becoming big teddy bears for the women that they fall for. And I suppose, to an extent, that’s what we get with this story.
Mikah is indeed a big, burly guy – a powerhouse on the ice. Off the ice, well, he’s a bit unsure, and inexperienced – in life and sexually. There’s nothing wrong with this – but I really want my heroes (whatever age they are) to be men I want to get dirty with, not those I want to hug and tell them that things will be alright. He was a nice guy. I liked it when he was direct with Paisley once their relationship progressed. But, I didn’t feel any rousing feelings for him other than ‘ah, bless’, sadly.
Paisley was also young at 21, I believe. I don’t want people to get the impression that I wasn’t keen on these characters due to their age. I’m a big fan of YA or NA romance. I just felt that for a contemporary romance, Paisley was just pretending to be an adult! There were quite a few cameos from other Ice Kings and their partners – women who Paisley looked a little meek and immature next to. She was nice enough and I rooted for her, but again, I had no strong feelings.
“…gruff, big and burly men – all rough and ready on the ice – becoming big teddy bears for the women that they fall for.”
The story was unusual and not one that I’ve read before. Even so, it was a little slow at the start. Very slow. I got to 33% and the pair were still within days of meeting and all they’d done was look after the baby for a night. It was, well, gentle. I enjoyed reading the story but once I put the book down I forgot about it and had no burning desire to pick it back up again. The pace and story picked up as the book went on and I enjoyed the last part of the story – even though it was a little cliche – the ex who is mean and nasty with no depth other than that, the ridiculous “break-up”… it was all a bit silly even if it engaged me more than the earlier part of the story.
The writing was very readable and the author did very well at Mikah’s speech – really making him sound as though English wasn’t his first language. Although, as I kept reading, I started to wonder if English was the author’s second language, too. Some of the sentence structures really threw me for a loop and I found myself re-reading sentence after sentence to try to understand what was being said. I was so convinced, I looked it up. However, English does appear to be Ms Lynn’s native language so who knows what was happening? Perhaps I got so used to reading in Mikah’s foreign English that ‘normal’ English started to sound foreign to me! LOL.
Another thing that worked really well in the story was the introduction of other characters. I was intrigued about the stories of couples already together (Katie and Jude from Playing to Win) and of those I’m assuming will get future stories – Jason, Sawyer and others. I was intrigued enough that I will look out for future books in this series. This one definitely stands alone so I’m assuming that all will.
I got through this book and enjoyed my meandering read. It didn’t set me on fire – or even just a smoulder – but the writing was engaging and the HEA was as sweet as I could have hoped. If you’re a fan of Stacey Lynn, the Ice Kings, or are just looking for a gentle read (it still has sex and profanity FYI), then I would recommend this to you. 3 stars.
Stacey Lynn likes her coffee with a dash of sugar, her heroes with a side of bossy, and her wine a deep shade of red.
The author of over thirty romance novels, many of which have been best-selling titles on Amazon, AppleBooks, and Barnes & Noble, she loves being able to turn her vivid imagination into a career that brings entertainment and joy to her readers. Focused on sports romance and emotional, small-town romance, she also loves stretching herself in different genres.
Born in Texas and raised in the Midwest, she now makes her home in North Carolina and loves all things Southern. Together with her ultimate tall, dark, and handsome hero, she has four children. Her life is a chaotic mess that fights with her Type-A, list-making, neurotically organized preferences and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
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Ice Kings Series:
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