Fallon Parker’s dream has always been to turn her family’s wine company into a runaway success and eventually start a cellar of her own. Since graduating from college, she has worked relentlessly to make that dream a reality, especially after taking a chance on love—and losing. By the time Fallon becomes an official sponsor of the Nashville Assassins, she feels like all her hard work is finally paying off. And then the man who broke her heart skates back into her life.
On the ice, Lucas Brooks is the NHL’s leading scorer—at least when he’s not in the box. Off the ice, he’s a mess, with all his anger and misery bottled up inside. He threw away the most important person in his life and has regretted it ever since. But when Lucas returns to Nashville in a trade, he’s determined to convince Fallon that he’s a changed man. The attraction is still there. The tension is electrifying. But the odds are stacked against them—especially after Lucas finds out that Fallon has been keeping a devastating secret.
Fallon met Lucas one night at a bar. They went home together and that began a two year relationship. When Fallon found Lucas in a compromising position with another woman she breaks up with him and bolts. She neglected to tell him that she was pregnant however and continues to keep that secret from him for the next seven years.
Lucas gets traded from his California hockey team to the Nashville Assassins. He’s excited to be on the new team and to be in the same city as Fallon. Though he knows he screwed up he’s never stopped loving Fallon and he wants her back. He sets out on a campaign to win her back but Fallon has serious trust issues and isn’t an easy sell. He doesn’t give up on being with Fallon and as he loves his son, Aiden, and looks forward to them being a family.
I love the premise of this book. The couple who were once together getting back together and the father finding out about the secret baby just hit the right spots. Unfortunately the heroine in this book really came up lacking and that put somewhat of a damper of my enjoyment of the book.
Let me start with Lucas. Lucas is kind and loving; a great dad and son; a great hockey player – all of those wrapped up into one. He knows his strengths and his weaknesses but lives life working with what he has. He was once an alcoholic and a drug addict but he found sobriety and by the time he moves to Nashville had been sober for four years. I admired so much about this man. I absolutely adored how wonderful he was with his son Aiden and loved reading the scenes when they were together.
Fallon is a great mom and business woman but her personal life is crap. Yes, she’s got her son and her sister, Audrey, that she lives with but there’s no spark, no excitement there. When Lucas comes back in to her life she is scared that he’ll find out about Aiden. I didn’t care for the fact that she kept Aiden a secret because of how he had hurt Fallon. I get that she was upset and scared but come on! I swear this chick was so passive aggressive it was almost painful to read at times. She was kind and loving one minute and the screaming bloody murder the next. Her temper was hot and she wasn’t afraid to let it loose. I didn’t like the way she treated Lucas at all. She thought several times that she didn’t deserve him and quite frankly I thought she was right. She spent a huge part of the book crying and that rubbed me the wrong way.
Now for all the parts of this book that I didn’t like there were many that I did. As I said the scenes with Aiden in them – especially those with Lucas – were really great. He was written as a sweet, confident child and he was a great character. When Fallon and Lucas were not at each others throats they were great together. Shea and Ellie from book 1 were in this book quite a bit and I loved reading more about them.
Despite my issues with this book I enjoyed Aleo’s writing. She definitely keeps me interested (even when the heroine is actually like a bitch) and that’s a definite plus in my book. I will continue with this series as I’m curious to see what happens next with the Assassins.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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