All wrapped up . . .

One more game. That's all that stands between NHL star Asher Westmore and a major career milestone. But then his brother bashes him against the hockey boards, sidelining him for months. Over Christmas holidays, no less. If staying off the ice doesn't drive him crazy, staying with his family will. The only bright spot amidst the mistletoe and twinkle lights: His best friend, Emma, is a physical therapist. And working out with her improves his body and his spirit.

One last time. Emma Callaway was in trouble the minute she and Asher added benefits to their friendship. How is she supposed to resist a funny, caring guy who makes her toes curl? Her heart was safe while he lived in a different state. Now that he's back home recuperating, though, it's only a matter of time before she blurts out her feelings. Emma's only hope is that with a little holiday magic, she'll get the best Christmas gift of all.

Asher Westmore is completely focused on hockey.  He plays professionally for the Devils and though he injured his ACL he keeps playing.  His brother Ben, who also plays professionally for a rival team, received an award for playing 1000 games.  Asher is at game 999 and he’s not about to sit out because of an injury. He wants the same award his brother received.  He’s very competitive with Ben. Instead he plays through the pain and self-medicates.  During his 999^th game he’s hit and goes down.  He is taken into surgery for the ACL and is told that recovery is 8-10 weeks.  He’s bound and determined to play his next game which is 6 weeks away.  He can only do that if he gets help from his best friend, Emma.

Emma was once as focused on her career as a snowboarder as Asher is on hockey.  Unfortunately a stupid mistake on her part and a severe injury changed all of that.  She is now a physical therapist and is focused on getting her doctorate.  Emma loves Asher than more than a friend and when they started making it friends with benefits, she was thrilled.  Asher, however, keeps pushing her to get back onto the snowboarding circuit and she just isn’t going there again.  Emma wants to be with Asher forever but Asher has no intention of taking his focus off of hockey for one minute – even for a woman that he thinks he might be falling in love with.

This was a cute story that I enjoyed reading.  I liked Emma a lot and admired her determination to go as far as she could in her chosen field of physical therapy.  Asher…I never truly liked him until the end of the book.

Emma and Asher had been best friends for years but had been sleeping together for the last couple of years.  Even though they were sleeping together I found it very strange that these supposed “best friends” couldn’t talk to each other.  Emma hadn’t told Asher about her acceptance into the doctorate program in Florida (they lived in Colorado) and Asher kept his mouth shut about his feelings on Emma giving up snowboarding for good.  He never voiced to her his thoughts that he wouldn’t settle down until after his hockey career was done, which wasn’t slowing down at all (except for his injury of course). I guess I felt if they had been such good friends they could have talked to each other.  There was a decided lack of communication between them and that started to grate on my nerves.

Asher was just so bull-headed that he annoyed me for much of the book.  He was very self-centered and it was hard to like him.  When he finally started pulling his head out of his ass he was a much better person.

I have to say that they were cute together when they were just being together and not worrying about other things in life.  It was easy and comfortable but still exciting and sexy.  I liked the way Snow made their time together special in a lot of ways.

Overall it was enjoyable and a sweet Christmas story.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5