1.5 stars rounded up.
Perhaps it's against some reading etiquette rule that I don't know about to rate free books so low, but this was disappointing.
Reasons:
1) Not enough build-up of the "relationship" (it's really hard to call what Jason and Stella had a relationship, when she got pregnant after their 4-day fling, he ruthlessly blew her off when she came to tell him about the baby 4 months later, then they reunited after another 2 months and when Jason found out about the pregnancy, they basically fell into a relationship after few days, without discussing their issues or without Jason doing AT LEAST a minimum of grovelling for how he treated Stella)
2) I did NOT like Jason - he was the walking definition of alpha-jerk and said gross things like this all the time:
"The thought of what it might take to make her blush makes me hard. Right now, as she sits there in her sports bra and spandex, legs swinging, her skin is the color of coffee with the perfect amount of cream. I can’t wait to see what color that pretty skin turns when I have her underneath me. Please let her fine ass be legal because if she is, I’m going to show her I can score off the ice as well as on it."
(tbh, this excerpt makes me wonder if I shouldn't just give this book 1 star, because...just look at this 30-year old guy, he has no qualms salivating over a girl when he doesn't even know if she's "legal" or not)
"Maybe it’s because she doesn’t give a shit about who I am, even after she found out I was a pro athlete. I’m not sure when that started to matter, but her not caring or treating me any differently made me want to reward her. With my cock."
(don't you just LOVE those guys who act as if they're god's best gift to women? *rolls eyes*
“You like these?” I ask softly, running my fingers over her panties, tiny strings and rhinestones holding them together, and she nods. This girl wore these with fucking in mind."
(this bothered me SO MUCH actually - I remember there has been a rape case sometime ago, I think it was in Irish court, where defendant of the rapist admitted victim's underwear as evidence, claiming that a woman wearing g-string on her evening out, just HAD TO have planned to have sex that night. And this might've been just one (only) seemingly harmless sentence here but it triggered me so much and this line of thinking is just wrong and gross and falls right under rape culture and I cannot believe people still write shit like this)
"Never mind that I would love to take her inside and let her do all kinds of things to me, if only she weren’t a twenty-year-old kid."
"Stella, you’re fucking twenty,” I hiss. “A student, for fuck’s sake. You know what they would say about me in the league if they knew that while I was checking on their draft pick, I went ahead and fell into some college-aged pussy?”
(so...Jason had no reservations about having sex with Stella, in fact he was basically praying that she was LEGAL, but when she came to visit him and his hockey buddies were there suddenly he was all YOU ARE ONLY TWENTY HOW DARE YOU - what a f*cking hypocrite. oh, and she only visited him to tell him she got pregnant but he never gave her a chance to do that)
“I’ll give you that one, Stella, because I treated you like shit the last time I saw you. Go ahead and get it out of your system now, so that we can talk about what we’re going to do, like adults. I’m not the bad guy. In fact, I’m doing my best to be a good fucking guy here. Let me.”
(so that's just so BIG OF HIM because he blew her off and yes, treated her like shit when she came to tell him she was pregnant, and when he learns of the pregnancy 2 months later and ambushes her in her place of work, he suddenly acts all high and mighty and "I'm trying to be the good guy". he claims he's not the bad guy? well, I beg to differ)
3) Stella was OK character I guess but it's hard to tell, because her main purpose seemed to be to tell the reader what a good guy Jason was 🙃 When he comes back, she gives him a hard time for about 5 seconds, then seems to forget all he did and that she had to fend for herself for 6 months while pregnant while he was off enjoying life.
4) Compared to the other points, this seems like a small one, but Jason was definitely NOT celibate during the 6 months he and Stella were apart - which, as usual, LOGICALLY I understand, because they were not together, but it's not something I appreciate in romance novels, especially when heroine is 100% celibate and saying stuff like "I only wanted YOU". It's a thing/trope I hate with a burning passion (hero living his life, heroine celibate and pining after the hero) and authors really need to stop writing it this way.
This book is the first one in the series and usually when I start a series, I need to finish it, it's just how my brain works. But I enjoyed this book so little and it contained so many elements I don't enjoy and actually consider harmful, I don't think I will bother.
Especially since Levi (hockey player, Jason was his mentor of sorts) seems to be a 20-year old carbon copy of Jason. He had some decent moments in the story (acting protective of Stella, for example) but then I read the sneak peek of his book at the end of this one and he says this:
"She scoffs and then smiles sweetly. “No thanks. You’re not my type.” With raised eyebrows, I nod in understanding. “Ooooh, you’re a lesbian. That’s cool. I’m all about one love, bi-love, self-love. Whatever.”
"You're not my type" --> "Oh, you're a lesbian" - sure yeah, that's THE ONLY logical conclusion! I was partially set on MAYBE giving Levi's book a chance until I read this exchange. But no. No, no, no, no, NOPE.
You know what? I think I got angry enough to bump this from 1,5 stars rounded up to 1. I'm too salty and tired to look past stuff like this.
Content warning: hero not celibate after meeting heroine (implied)