Reviewer: Holly Undressed by Shannon Richard
Series: Country Roads #5
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: February 3rd 2015
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 224
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She knows the rules of the game . . . but she can't resist his moves
Publicist Abby Fields's career is on the rise. And with failed romances in her past, she has no time for men. When a job opportunity opens up with a sports team in Florida, Abby eagerly packs up and heads south. Yet after a work event in Mirabelle, Florida, Abby finds herself in the arms of a hockey player whose heartstopping smile leads her to the steamiest night of her life . . .
Logan James is hot on and off the ice. With his team on an epic winning streak, life couldn't get better . . . until he meets Abby, the fiery redhead assigned to protect his team's image. Now Logan's finding it difficult to concentrate on anything other than getting Abby undressed. But after a secret is leaked to the press, the taste of betrayal opens old wounds. If they can't learn to trust each other, they may risk losing more than their hearts.
(50,000 words)
I haven’t read any of the other books in this series. I was kind of hoping to get a feel for the author’s writing by testing out a novella first. I enjoyed it enough to search out the first full-length book.
Abby recently moved to Florida and accepted a position in PR for the Jacksonville Stampede, a professional hockey team. Career-wise, this a great move for her. It’s also a good move for her on a personal level, since she recently had a bad breakup and wants nothing more than to be away from her ex and to focus on her career. All is going well except when it comes to star player Logan James. They rub each other the wrong way on a personal level, and professionally Logan blocks her attempts at promoting him at every turn. He wants his private life to stay private, which makes Abby’s job very difficult.
There’s an undercurrent of attraction and desire neither acknowledged until they ended up snowed in a small cabin on their way to a publicity event. They start drinking and playing a game and …well, it wasn’t long before they spent the best night of their collective lives together. Abby has a no-fraternization policy in her contract, so she pushes to keep their night quiet and a single thing. Logan understands why, and he’s all for keeping it quiet since he’s a very private person, but he doesn’t want it to be a one-time thing. He realizes there’s more to Abby than he first thought and he wants more of her – both in bed and out.
When the reason for Logan’s private reserve is made public, Abby and Logan have to take a hard look at their relationship and decide if what they have is worth fighting for.
I liked both Logan and Abby. Their antagonism toward each other in the beginning was kind of fun, and I liked how much chemistry they had. The main conflict – the no-fraternization clause in Abby’s contract – seemed believable given her profession and his position with organization. It was easy to see they had physical chemistry, but they formed a deeper connection as the story progressed. Their solid connection early on helped see them through their tribulations.
This was a sweet, well done romance. I fell right into the story and look forward to finding more from Richard.
3.75 out of 5
Hmm, I only read the first couple of books in this series so I don’t know who Abby or Logan are. When are they introduced into the series? Did you read the other books as well? This sounds cute though.
I still haven’t read any of the other books. This remains the only book I’ve read by this author period, so I don’t know when they were introduced. I got the impression it was in her best friend’s book, though (not that I know what book that was…).
LOL, it must have been in a book that I haven’t read. Oh well.