4.75 out of 5 Stars
I just finished reading the final two books in this Fire on Ice series, Drive and Release and realized I hadn’t recorded this book on GoodReads. Well, of course that called for a reread as I didn’t want to do it from memory because as with all the previous books in this series, I loved it.
Luke Hudson is in the big leagues and one of the premier players on the team when he is ‘kneed’ by an opposing player.
(From Sporting Charts.com: Knee-on-knee collisions are very dangerous and often times result in significant knee injuries. A player who executes a knee-on-knee collision is more susceptible of a major or match penalty than a player who uses his knee only to stop an opponent. Intentional knee-on-knee hits often result in a suspension. Knee-on-knee hitting is considered to be a cheap shot and a dirty play by NHL players, and players who clearly hit using the knee can expect retaliation from opponents”
As anyone who knows hockey, this is a dirty play meant to injure and injure Luke it does. He is out of the game for months and before he can play at the major level, he has to do a stint of rehab in the minors. The trainer of the minor league team he is sent to is Adella, or better known as Della Price. Hockey is in her blood as her father is one of the best coaches in the league. I simply LOVED her. As a female in a predominantly male sport, she manages to strike just the right balance. She can trash talk with the best of them and most of the players kind of look at her as a little sister who fixes their booboos. She’d made a mistake a few years ago and gotten involved with a hockey player and now a single mother, doesn’t want to make that mistake again. So when Luke starts making the moves on her, she shuts him down right away. But Luke is persistent and she feels something for him she’s never felt before. But they still can’t do anything about their attraction as she is in a sense his employee as she helps him with his training to get back to the big leagues.
But when he’s called back up, well, that takes care of that issue and they act on their growing temptation.
Luke, and I really enjoyed him too, has really fallen hard for Dell. For the first time, hockey isn’t his number one focus.
So this book is how they overcome the obstacles in front of them and there are a few, to be together. I love both characters and a couple of secondary characters become the stars of their own book.
Everything connected with me in this book; Luke and Della, Ryker her son, her job, his hockey – just everything. This is a second read and it was just as good if not better than the first time I read it.
As I said in a previous review, Ms. Rothert has really done her research on hockey and it shows. This whole series has been such a great find and I look forward to reading more of her delicious books by this author.