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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
Originally posted on Undeniably Book Nerdy book blog
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
I was very excited to get my hands on Moonlighter because I absolutely LOVE Sarina Bowen's Brooklyn Bruisers series (Rookie Move, Hard Hitter, and Pipe Dreams that she published with Berkley Romance) and her spin-off Brooklyn series (Brooklynaire, Bountiful, Overnight Sensation, and Superfan, which she self-pubbed). Moonlighter features Alex Engels, who we met in Brooklynaire (Nate Kattenberger's college friend and one-time hook up disaster), and Eric Bayer, who is part of the Brooklyn Bruisers hockey team and had been a secondary character in several of the Brooklyn Bruisers books.
BUT! But, don't let the long list of connected books intimidate you because despite the fact that Moonlighter is connected to Sarina Bowen's hockey series, it can absolutely be read as a standalone. Actually, Moonlighter is a good entry book to Sarina's hockey romances if you haven't picked up any of them yet as it is technically book #1 of a new spin-off series called The Company.
I really enjoyed Moonlighter A LOT! In fact, it's a stand-out from the last couple of Brooklyn books I've read because I thought we got a much meatier story, with not only a friends-to-lovers romance between Alex and Eric, but we also got a very interesting mystery/thriller-y secondary plot featuring Eric's family's global security company and Alex's tech company.
Eric got pulled into his brother and father's security company when they asked him to play Alex's boyfriend during her trip to Hawaii where she's attending a conference. Eric and Alex knew each other when they were children, but when they saw each other again at a party (a few months prior to the start of the novel) Alex didn't recognize Eric at all and gave him a rude brush off thinking he's just some rando trying to hit on her. Awkward! And now they have to play a couple as a front in order for the Bayers' security company to go undercover and figure out who is trying to sabotage Alex's company's product launch.
Not only does Alex have to deal with security issues in her business, but she's also pregnant with with her asshole ex's baby. Good thing she and Eric were able to get past the awkwardness of their last encounter and quickly become friends again--with benefits, at least during the duration of the trip. But, the threat against Alex becomes more serious as their friendship start growing into something more...
Moonlighter is an excellent start to the spin-off series! I loved the new characters we met and the cyber security/spy tech/cyberespionage aspect of it. I can't wait to delve in more into the Bayers' security company because not everything was tied up at the end of Moonlighter in terms of the hacking mystery. Eric and Alex themselves were great on their own--they were both going through their own issues with their jobs and personal life--and together as they had excellent chemistry and overall a great couple. I'm a sucker for protective heroes and Eric was just that without being an asshole about it, and the way he took care of her during her pregnancy and the scenes in the last chapter--swoon!
Sarina Bowen is always a winner for me and Moonlighter is no exception! Great start to a new series, fantastic characters, superb writing as always--I loved it! And as an added bonus as a long-time reader of the series, I really loved the cameos the previous characters in the series in the book. Highly recommended!
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
I was very excited to get my hands on Moonlighter because I absolutely LOVE Sarina Bowen's Brooklyn Bruisers series (Rookie Move, Hard Hitter, and Pipe Dreams that she published with Berkley Romance) and her spin-off Brooklyn series (Brooklynaire, Bountiful, Overnight Sensation, and Superfan, which she self-pubbed). Moonlighter features Alex Engels, who we met in Brooklynaire (Nate Kattenberger's college friend and one-time hook up disaster), and Eric Bayer, who is part of the Brooklyn Bruisers hockey team and had been a secondary character in several of the Brooklyn Bruisers books.
BUT! But, don't let the long list of connected books intimidate you because despite the fact that Moonlighter is connected to Sarina Bowen's hockey series, it can absolutely be read as a standalone. Actually, Moonlighter is a good entry book to Sarina's hockey romances if you haven't picked up any of them yet as it is technically book #1 of a new spin-off series called The Company.
I really enjoyed Moonlighter A LOT! In fact, it's a stand-out from the last couple of Brooklyn books I've read because I thought we got a much meatier story, with not only a friends-to-lovers romance between Alex and Eric, but we also got a very interesting mystery/thriller-y secondary plot featuring Eric's family's global security company and Alex's tech company.
Eric got pulled into his brother and father's security company when they asked him to play Alex's boyfriend during her trip to Hawaii where she's attending a conference. Eric and Alex knew each other when they were children, but when they saw each other again at a party (a few months prior to the start of the novel) Alex didn't recognize Eric at all and gave him a rude brush off thinking he's just some rando trying to hit on her. Awkward! And now they have to play a couple as a front in order for the Bayers' security company to go undercover and figure out who is trying to sabotage Alex's company's product launch.
Not only does Alex have to deal with security issues in her business, but she's also pregnant with with her asshole ex's baby. Good thing she and Eric were able to get past the awkwardness of their last encounter and quickly become friends again--with benefits, at least during the duration of the trip. But, the threat against Alex becomes more serious as their friendship start growing into something more...
Moonlighter is an excellent start to the spin-off series! I loved the new characters we met and the cyber security/spy tech/cyberespionage aspect of it. I can't wait to delve in more into the Bayers' security company because not everything was tied up at the end of Moonlighter in terms of the hacking mystery. Eric and Alex themselves were great on their own--they were both going through their own issues with their jobs and personal life--and together as they had excellent chemistry and overall a great couple. I'm a sucker for protective heroes and Eric was just that without being an asshole about it, and the way he took care of her during her pregnancy and the scenes in the last chapter--swoon!
Sarina Bowen is always a winner for me and Moonlighter is no exception! Great start to a new series, fantastic characters, superb writing as always--I loved it! And as an added bonus as a long-time reader of the series, I really loved the cameos the previous characters in the series in the book. Highly recommended!
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book set my expectations high in the beginning with the environment of the Company backing up the main plot and with Alex who was supposed to be a genius business shark. Naturally you would expect from a successful woman to be a strong character, but this was not the case. Her anxious internal monologues were neverending and annoying, her irrationality and indecisiveness were gradually infuriating.
All of this whining and drama served one purpose though - so that the "hero" could step in and satisfy her primal urges (besides her feeling of safety) which were mostly food and sex.
To me the whole story spinned around those, backed up by her business issues that seemed to be the main plot in the beginning of the story. Apparently only seemed because after the biggest plot twist there was no explanation how Alex eventually solved the whole thing.
So the relationship between Alex and Eric was built upon physical urges because there wasn't almost any communication on a deeper level between them, but yeah, that's apparently called "love" nowadays...
In my opinion the MCs were mostly shallow as a teaspoon and I found the side characters from the Company much more interesting which says it all...
All of this whining and drama served one purpose though - so that the "hero" could step in and satisfy her primal urges (besides her feeling of safety) which were mostly food and sex.
To me the whole story spinned around those, backed up by her business issues that seemed to be the main plot in the beginning of the story. Apparently only seemed because after the biggest plot twist there was no explanation how Alex eventually solved the whole thing.
So the relationship between Alex and Eric was built upon physical urges because there wasn't almost any communication on a deeper level between them, but yeah, that's apparently called "love" nowadays...
In my opinion the MCs were mostly shallow as a teaspoon and I found the side characters from the Company much more interesting which says it all...
For me this book was just meh. I liked the characters. I liked the setting and the idea of the company. But the pregnant chick romance did not work for me. As soon as I found out she was pregnant with someone else’s baby I almost quit reading. Totally took the sexiness and excitement out of it for me. Now he’ll raise someone else’s kid and all the drama that comes with that. That’s real like mess and not what I like to read about. The hacker plot was a bit dull for me too. And became obvious who it was so lost some of the mystery quick.
It was cute and well written, but not enough of an escape for me - which is why I read.
It was cute and well written, but not enough of an escape for me - which is why I read.
Zu viel Aktion, zu wenig Hockey..aber ok, ist ja auch eine andere Serie...
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love overlap in series if they are done well and this one is.
We have a member of the Bruisers who ends up helping out his family security business by playing bodyguard to his crush from childhood.
I really liked that this book has a pregnant heroine. She tells the hero in the beginning.
I love a good bodyguard/ guarded romance. This one is also a friends to lovers.
We have a member of the Bruisers who ends up helping out his family security business by playing bodyguard to his crush from childhood.
I really liked that this book has a pregnant heroine. She tells the hero in the beginning.
I love a good bodyguard/ guarded romance. This one is also a friends to lovers.
Sarina Bowen absolutely never disappoints, and I am over the moon(lighter) for her newest series. Along with her trademark steamy sports romance expertise (laced with witty dialog of course), she throws in some business suspense that was so darn intriguing! We met both Eric Bayer and Alex Engles briefly in prior Brooklyn Bruisers novels, but Moonlighter would read perfectly fine if you were meeting them for the first time here. This book falls squarely in the both the fake dating and friends to lovers tropes, but there's also a surprise trope in there that turns out to be a huge part of the plot and brings us some wonderfully swoony moments. I adored Eric and Alex together and enjoyed getting to see some favorites from the Bruisers world again (Bingley!)
okay, i was NOT expecting a hockey spy action book at all lol i didn't saw it coming until they were racing in the middle of manhattan, but i quite like it.
honestly i felt like the how action part was kind of boring... it's just not my vibe when it comes from books. or maybe i'm just not used to that. neither way i didn't love it.
BUT i did love everysingle thing about eric and alex relationship. the way eric went from get stupdily surprised when alex told about her pregnancy to when he started to feel the need to feed her.
and i hope to see in other books what carrer did he chose.
honestly i felt like the how action part was kind of boring... it's just not my vibe when it comes from books. or maybe i'm just not used to that. neither way i didn't love it.
BUT i did love everysingle thing about eric and alex relationship. the way eric went from get stupdily surprised when alex told about her pregnancy to when he started to feel the need to feed her.
and i hope to see in other books what carrer did he chose.