3.5 stars!
Offside with #55 is the sixth and final book in the Hockey Hotties series, and is a boss/employee, friends with benefits romance between Kane, the new coach of the Florida Fury team, and Jana, the new owner.
Jana and Kane have been hooking up on and off for years, when he was a player on her dad’s hockey team, but in the space of one evening, their roles in the Florida Fury have changed. Jana’s now the owner, the one running the business side of things, and Kane the coach, the one focussing on the team. Historically these two figures have always butted heads, but with the chemistry and underlying relationship between them, things are about to get fiery. Both are learning on the job, whilst trying to balance their feelings for one another as well as everything else in their life, and when things start to spiral, they know they can no longer continue to see one another. But when they realise that they need to have some kind of bond to keep the team running, they build a friendship which can only prove that they are meant to be. But even if they overcome the obstacle of dating as coach and owner, do they both want the same things out of life, or are their pasts holding them back from a future?
Having read the build up between this couple for a few books now, I knew it was going to be an explosive story and I was right. The back and forth on whether they can still keep their friends with benefits relationship going, despite the fact that both of their feelings had changed, and realising that if they wanted this to work, they would have to keep it professional was very well written. But once they decided they could make it work when being in a relationship, Piper also wrote about difficult things, the questions you have to ask your partner to determine whether you both want the same things from the future and what to do if you don’t.
Jana was a very independent woman, who on the outside seemed like she knew what she wanted and would stop at nothing to get it, but underneath was still anxious and nervous about her new role and proving to her father, the team, and the rest of the world that she was the right woman for the job. It made her human, and relatable, and I really loved her character.
Kane kept to himself, having come from a difficult background he didn’t want history to repeat itself, or to have anyone in his business to offer sympathy. But the introduction of his younger brother helped bring out his lighter side, and I am very much looking forward to Lee’s own book as he is the complete opposite to Kane in many ways, but I am sure they have their similarities too.
This hockey series has been very enjoyable to read, any series that follows a group of friends/family on their individual paths to love are a must read for me and watching the earlier couples flourish in their relationships and settle down just gives you another connection to the world within each book. Piper Rayne never disappoints, and this series lives up to every expectation. I am sad to see it end but one I will always recommend. Piper Rayne is one of my favourites, and whatever genre they write, they draw you in and make you invest in every character, not just the leads.