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burnt_out_bookworm's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.0
ashleyanreads's review against another edition
4.0
I have been eyeing this series for a while..I mean who wouldn't. Such a hottie on the cover.
Anton is the the Captain of the Chicago Blaze and for the past 2 years has had his eyes on his teammate, Adam's wife, Mia. Even though the feelings he has for her are strong. He is respectable and does not pursue Mia as he would never want her to cheat on her husband. He goes to the bar one evening with his brother, and he see her working there. Shock by this development, he approaches her and ends up giving her a ride up.
We find out Mia, has left her husband and is trying to get him to divorce her but he will not give. He is emotionally and verbally abusive and she wants. out. Mia is hiding from Adam, living in a two bedroom apartment with a woman and her son, working at a bar and attending college. After that night when Anton gives her a ride, he lets her know that he just wants to be friends. Although we know and he wishes for more, he understands the situation and wants to be there for her in any way he can. They develop a friendship, even though they both want more. Things get interesting when Anton ends up asking Mia to assist taking care of his Uncle Dix, who by the way, had me in tears laughing with everything that came out of that mans mouth. lol
This read was a slow burn, but it kept you intrigued because you wanted to know what and how Mia was going to get away from her husband and if Anton and Mia were going to have their moment .. ;) It had that insta love vibe, with Anton pretty much falling for her the minute he saw her at an event. Friends to lovers as they truly formed a friendship before getting intimate.
I am thankful, while reading this, Anton stood his ground and did not condone cheating. Neither did Mia. Mia and her husbands relationship was toxic and the way he talked to her was disrespectful and abusive. There is a scene with domestic violence...FYI. Now the thing that had me laughing through the book was Anton's Uncle Dix. This guy is dirty! lol The comments that flew out of his mouths were hilarious. He and Mia formed a special relationship and I am happy that she had him in her corner as well.
Anton is the the Captain of the Chicago Blaze and for the past 2 years has had his eyes on his teammate, Adam's wife, Mia. Even though the feelings he has for her are strong. He is respectable and does not pursue Mia as he would never want her to cheat on her husband. He goes to the bar one evening with his brother, and he see her working there. Shock by this development, he approaches her and ends up giving her a ride up.
We find out Mia, has left her husband and is trying to get him to divorce her but he will not give. He is emotionally and verbally abusive and she wants. out. Mia is hiding from Adam, living in a two bedroom apartment with a woman and her son, working at a bar and attending college. After that night when Anton gives her a ride, he lets her know that he just wants to be friends. Although we know and he wishes for more, he understands the situation and wants to be there for her in any way he can. They develop a friendship, even though they both want more. Things get interesting when Anton ends up asking Mia to assist taking care of his Uncle Dix, who by the way, had me in tears laughing with everything that came out of that mans mouth. lol
This read was a slow burn, but it kept you intrigued because you wanted to know what and how Mia was going to get away from her husband and if Anton and Mia were going to have their moment .. ;) It had that insta love vibe, with Anton pretty much falling for her the minute he saw her at an event. Friends to lovers as they truly formed a friendship before getting intimate.
I am thankful, while reading this, Anton stood his ground and did not condone cheating. Neither did Mia. Mia and her husbands relationship was toxic and the way he talked to her was disrespectful and abusive. There is a scene with domestic violence...FYI. Now the thing that had me laughing through the book was Anton's Uncle Dix. This guy is dirty! lol The comments that flew out of his mouths were hilarious. He and Mia formed a special relationship and I am happy that she had him in her corner as well.
pnwdermnrs's review against another edition
2.0
DNF at 60% Some parts of this were enjoyable, but I eventually gave up based on the numerous sexist and racist comments and remarks by several characters that really didn't make sense in context nor added anything besides cringiness to the story. The writing itself wasn't great, and I just didn't care enough about these characters to keep slogan through the mess.
thanys_thoughts's review against another edition
3.0
A quick, easy read. It reminded me very strongly of a shorter, less dark version of Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan. I enjoyed it though. I liked Anton and Mia. I liked Anton's relationship with the uncle, and the depiction of Mia's grandfather with Alzheimer's (although we never saw him again towards the end).
I might check out the others in the series. I'm interested in Luca's story. So we'll see.
I might check out the others in the series. I'm interested in Luca's story. So we'll see.
booklovinmamas's review against another edition
5.0
Full Review posted at Book Lovin' Mamas
The first book in Brenda Rothert’s Chicago Blaze series Anton is an emotional rollercoaster that was hard to put down. This also happened to be the first book I’ve read by Author Brenda Rothert and will not be my last.
Overall, I give this book 4.5 stars and highly recommend it to readers that love reading sports themed Contemporary Romance books. Don’t worry there are scenes of hockey playing with the Chicago Blaze teammates. You’ll find out how great Anton is on the ice and how amazing he is in bed too. 🙂 This book is all about the drama and emotions before the romantic scenes though, which is something I enjoyed about this book. You get to know the characters and their stories and how they finally get their HEA.
The first book in Brenda Rothert’s Chicago Blaze series Anton is an emotional rollercoaster that was hard to put down. This also happened to be the first book I’ve read by Author Brenda Rothert and will not be my last.
Overall, I give this book 4.5 stars and highly recommend it to readers that love reading sports themed Contemporary Romance books. Don’t worry there are scenes of hockey playing with the Chicago Blaze teammates. You’ll find out how great Anton is on the ice and how amazing he is in bed too. 🙂 This book is all about the drama and emotions before the romantic scenes though, which is something I enjoyed about this book. You get to know the characters and their stories and how they finally get their HEA.
merny88's review against another edition
4.0
Probably more of a 3 star read than a 4 (Adam was basically a cartoon villain, while the two protagonists were a little more bland) but I enjoyed it anyway and managed to zip through it in a couple of hours without getting distracted. I figure the extra star is for making me tear up momentarily at a certain point.
tita_noir's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
A fairly shortish book (under 200 p) that felt longish.
I think it was the very slow burn aspect of the central romance. At the start the heroine, Mia, is trying to get out of an abusive marriage. Her husband is a professional NHL player and a teammate of the hero, Anton. Anton has had a from- afar unrequited love thing going on with Mia for years.
As the story begins, Anton realizes that Mia and Adam (her estranged husband) are separated and she is in a bad way. Slowly he befriends her and tries to help her in small ways. Until she can get out from under her abusive marriage and rebuild some self esteem.
This was a very engrossing read that in the end I did enjoy. There were some places that I was like "can we get on with it already" but I did like that Anton took his time. He was an actual hero. And Mia was a very root worthy heroine.
Nice book to end my 2019 reading year on.
A fairly shortish book (under 200 p) that felt longish.
I think it was the very slow burn aspect of the central romance. At the start the heroine, Mia, is trying to get out of an abusive marriage. Her husband is a professional NHL player and a teammate of the hero, Anton. Anton has had a from- afar unrequited love thing going on with Mia for years.
As the story begins, Anton realizes that Mia and Adam (her estranged husband) are separated and she is in a bad way. Slowly he befriends her and tries to help her in small ways. Until she can get out from under her abusive marriage and rebuild some self esteem.
This was a very engrossing read that in the end I did enjoy. There were some places that I was like "can we get on with it already" but I did like that Anton took his time. He was an actual hero. And Mia was a very root worthy heroine.
Nice book to end my 2019 reading year on.
phoenixinthecity's review against another edition
1.0
This was way more angst then I was expecting in a sports romance because I was expecting a romcom. That being said, there were shades of Kennedy Ryan’s Long Shot and this was a very pale comparison.
We have Mia, who is mixed - she mentions being raised by her maternal black grandparents so her mother was black and her father was white - who left her husband Adam and Anton, who is her estranged husband’s hockey team captain. He fell in love at first sight with her over 2 years ago and had been pining for her ever since. Adam appeared to be largely emotionally abusive until she finally took Anton’s help and filed for divorce and that’s when he lost it and almost strangled her to death but she’s saved by her baseball bat wielding roommate.
Adam is arrested and when he’s out on bail, Anton follows him and beats the crap out of him in an alley for Mia and when he returns home bruised and roughed up himself, she knows it’s because he’d defended her honour, blah blah blah and was like, thank you. That was not the reaction I was expecting. Adam gets a misdemeanor, is released from the team and ends up playing hockey in Europe.
Anton’s crusty not-uncle dies of a stroke and the end.
I was hoping this was a new sportsball series that I could get into to break my book funk but this is a nope. It was published in 2019, a year after Long Shot so there’s probably some influence here given that the heroine is mixed like Iris was and August was the franchise player of his team. If you want to read a romance that has an HEA after intimate partner violence, give this a hard pass and pick up Long Shot for the OG. Thank goodness this was free and I didn’t have to pay for it.
We have Mia, who is mixed - she mentions being raised by her maternal black grandparents so her mother was black and her father was white - who left her husband Adam and Anton, who is her estranged husband’s hockey team captain. He fell in love at first sight with her over 2 years ago and had been pining for her ever since. Adam appeared to be largely emotionally abusive until she finally took Anton’s help and filed for divorce and that’s when he lost it and almost strangled her to death but she’s saved by her baseball bat wielding roommate.
Adam is arrested and when he’s out on bail, Anton follows him and beats the crap out of him in an alley for Mia and when he returns home bruised and roughed up himself, she knows it’s because he’d defended her honour, blah blah blah and was like, thank you. That was not the reaction I was expecting. Adam gets a misdemeanor, is released from the team and ends up playing hockey in Europe.
Anton’s crusty not-uncle dies of a stroke and the end.
I was hoping this was a new sportsball series that I could get into to break my book funk but this is a nope. It was published in 2019, a year after Long Shot so there’s probably some influence here given that the heroine is mixed like Iris was and August was the franchise player of his team. If you want to read a romance that has an HEA after intimate partner violence, give this a hard pass and pick up Long Shot for the OG. Thank goodness this was free and I didn’t have to pay for it.