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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
There are all flavors of wrong with the goalie stick on this cover. He’s holding it wrong, it’s too short/small for an adult man to use ... but this story is probably my favorite from this series so far. I liked the take on a second chance romance this book took. It was different, it was layered, and it was complex.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Death of parent
Moderate: Pregnancy
3.5 stars.
I like Sarina Bowen's writing but I liked the first two books in this series more. I love Lauren and Mike was good too but I was very unsatisfied by him. Their situation only was kinda messy but Mike could have been better. Nonetheless, overall it was a great read. Now, I CANNOT WAIT FOR NATE AND BECCA'S BOOK!
I like Sarina Bowen's writing but I liked the first two books in this series more. I love Lauren and Mike was good too but I was very unsatisfied by him. Their situation only was kinda messy but Mike could have been better. Nonetheless, overall it was a great read. Now, I CANNOT WAIT FOR NATE AND BECCA'S BOOK!
“Are you going to win tomorrow night?” she asked suddenly.
“Maybe,” he hedged. “Does Snapchat need to know?”
The phone was her means of communication with all the friends she’d left behind on the island.
“Yup,” she chirped. “Also, I need to call my bookie.”
“Elsa!” She laughed, and it sounded like music.
*SCREAMS WITH RAGE* GUYSS. Guys. I had almost had this review done and I had stupidly been typing it in GR and it was the end of work and what do I do?! I click out of the fucking window!!!!! And it had been one of those reviews that was really starting to flow, too. UGH. Well here's to me trying to recreate what I had already typed (as I type this in a Google Doc side-eyeing the computer).
For more of my reviews, please visit:
Ironically enough I KNOW I started that first review off by saying "wow five out of five reviews...I feel like I just ran a GD marathon"....joke’s on me, because here I am on review 6 of 5, typing this on my phone as I rock my daughter to sleep, a crazed look in my eye.
To finally get this review started, again, I really liked this book more than I thought I would. I usually am not a fan of romances that involve children or even surprise pregnancies. That might seem weird considering I have a child myself but let’s face it, I pick these sports romances up for a fun and sexy escape. Children and babies are not sexy, they’re really not. For some reason though, it just worked in this story.
I absolutely loved getting to know Lauren more in this book. In the previous ones we see a few snippets of her cold and frosty exterior but don’t know why. I figured there was obviously a good reason for it and boy was there ever. Lauren and Mike Beacon, the goalie of the Brooklyn Bruisers, met and had a connection with each other years before the team turned into the Bruisers from Brooklyn. A week after Mike walks in on his wife cheating on him and deciding that it’s high time for them to get a divorce, he seeks Lauren out and they get together. The thought of them being together after years of longing was so intense. The two are together for a blissful year and a half until Mike’s ex finds out she has terminal cancer and his daughter needs him. Like the idiot that some men are, he doens’t tell Lauren any of this and practically ghosts her, moving back in with Shelley without telling Lauren how sick she is and why he doesn’t want his daughter to feel abandoned. She’s wrecked, OBVIOUSLY and now hates hockey.
Fast forward two years. Mike has been a widow for a year and Lauren is in Manhattan, running Nate’s tech office, never stepping foot in Brooklyn if she has to and especially never watching any hockey. Cue Becca’s injury and Nate moving Lauren back to the Bruisers and back to Mike.
Watching them come back together, especially him apologizing to her, was a special thing because it’s so easy to see how much they belong together. Their chemistry was explosive. I did feel like he was almost a little too pushy in a few places but….didn’t really affect things overall. I was so happy when Lauren was finally able to make a connection with Elsa, too. I was worried about how that was going to end up panning out. Great example of a second chance romance!
There, I did it. I rewrote this freakin review and didn’t even end up tearing all of my hair out. Hurray!
She smelled of expensive perfume and sunshine. She smelled so fucking whole and alive that his eyes stung with happiness.
Side note: It should be mentioned that every book in the Brooklyn Bruisers and Brooklyn series can be read as standalones. In my own personal opinion though, once you read one, you won’t stop until you read the rest.
For more of my reviews, please visit:
“Maybe,” he hedged. “Does Snapchat need to know?”
The phone was her means of communication with all the friends she’d left behind on the island.
“Yup,” she chirped. “Also, I need to call my bookie.”
“Elsa!” She laughed, and it sounded like music.
*SCREAMS WITH RAGE* GUYSS. Guys. I had almost had this review done and I had stupidly been typing it in GR and it was the end of work and what do I do?! I click out of the fucking window!!!!! And it had been one of those reviews that was really starting to flow, too. UGH. Well here's to me trying to recreate what I had already typed (as I type this in a Google Doc side-eyeing the computer).
For more of my reviews, please visit:
Ironically enough I KNOW I started that first review off by saying "wow five out of five reviews...I feel like I just ran a GD marathon"....joke’s on me, because here I am on review 6 of 5, typing this on my phone as I rock my daughter to sleep, a crazed look in my eye.
To finally get this review started, again, I really liked this book more than I thought I would. I usually am not a fan of romances that involve children or even surprise pregnancies. That might seem weird considering I have a child myself but let’s face it, I pick these sports romances up for a fun and sexy escape. Children and babies are not sexy, they’re really not. For some reason though, it just worked in this story.
I absolutely loved getting to know Lauren more in this book. In the previous ones we see a few snippets of her cold and frosty exterior but don’t know why. I figured there was obviously a good reason for it and boy was there ever. Lauren and Mike Beacon, the goalie of the Brooklyn Bruisers, met and had a connection with each other years before the team turned into the Bruisers from Brooklyn. A week after Mike walks in on his wife cheating on him and deciding that it’s high time for them to get a divorce, he seeks Lauren out and they get together. The thought of them being together after years of longing was so intense. The two are together for a blissful year and a half until Mike’s ex finds out she has terminal cancer and his daughter needs him. Like the idiot that some men are, he doens’t tell Lauren any of this and practically ghosts her, moving back in with Shelley without telling Lauren how sick she is and why he doesn’t want his daughter to feel abandoned. She’s wrecked, OBVIOUSLY and now hates hockey.
Fast forward two years. Mike has been a widow for a year and Lauren is in Manhattan, running Nate’s tech office, never stepping foot in Brooklyn if she has to and especially never watching any hockey. Cue Becca’s injury and Nate moving Lauren back to the Bruisers and back to Mike.
Watching them come back together, especially him apologizing to her, was a special thing because it’s so easy to see how much they belong together. Their chemistry was explosive. I did feel like he was almost a little too pushy in a few places but….didn’t really affect things overall. I was so happy when Lauren was finally able to make a connection with Elsa, too. I was worried about how that was going to end up panning out. Great example of a second chance romance!
There, I did it. I rewrote this freakin review and didn’t even end up tearing all of my hair out. Hurray!
She smelled of expensive perfume and sunshine. She smelled so fucking whole and alive that his eyes stung with happiness.
Side note: It should be mentioned that every book in the Brooklyn Bruisers and Brooklyn series can be read as standalones. In my own personal opinion though, once you read one, you won’t stop until you read the rest.
For more of my reviews, please visit:
4.25/5
- second chance; single parent; forced proximity; prickly h;
- second chance; single parent; forced proximity; prickly h;
3 stars
Still not totally on board with the ghosting.. I’m a heartless b***h sure, he had some reasons but no, today’s mood is the unforgiving type
Still not totally on board with the ghosting.. I’m a heartless b***h sure, he had some reasons but no, today’s mood is the unforgiving type
Es ist zwei Jahre her, seit Torwart Mike Beacon sich überstürzt von Teammanagerin Lauren getrennt hat. Nun treffen die beiden wieder aufeinander, weil Lauren die verletzte Becca vertreten und Besitzer Nate und das Team der Brooklyn Bruisers auf Reisen begleiten muss. Für sie eine unerträgliche Situation, weil sie sich endlich ein Leben ohne Beziehung eingerichtet hat, für Mike hingegen eine Chance, wieder an die Vergangenheit anzuknüpfen. Doch das ist aus den verschiedensten Gründen nicht so einfach wie gedacht.
Im dritten Band der Reihe von Autorin Sarina Bowen erfahren wir endlich mehr über die so spröde wirkende Lauren, die bisher nicht gerade positive Aufmerksamkeit erhalten hat. Nun, wo sich jedoch klärt, woher ihr Verhalten rührt, erweist sie sich als sehr liebenswerte Person, die sich fürchtet, erneut verletzt zu werden. Mike hingegen ist ein guter Freund und Vater, jedoch manchmal etwas naiv. Er stellt sich Dinge immer ganz leicht vor und kann nicht so recht nachvollziehen, was Lauren oder auch seine Tochter Elsa alles mitgemacht haben.
Die Handlung verläuft natürlich wieder nach dem üblichen Schema, aber genau das macht auch den Reiz der Serie aus. Man weiß einfach, was man bekommt und es ist auch schön, immer wieder sämtliche Mitglieder der großen „Familie“ der Brooklyn Bruisers wiederzutreffen – sei es, dabei an vorherige Bände erinnert zu werden oder neugierig auf die nächsten zu werden. (Ich sage nur: Becca und Nate!)
Speziell dieser Band hat mir wieder sehr gut gefallen, wenn gleich er auch ein wenig schwächer war als Band zwei. Positiv waren auf jeden Fall die wichtigen Themen, die in diesem Buch angesprochen werden und dass mit Mike auch einmal ein Familienvater zum Protagonisten wird. Negativ hingegen fand ich sein überstürztes Handeln. Natürlich haben Lauren und er jede Menge Zeit verloren – dennoch glaube ich, dass man solche Lebensentscheidungen, vor allem als Familienvater, nicht so spontan und aus einer emotionalen Laune heraus treffen sollte. Dennoch passt es natürlich zum grundsätzlichen Aufbau der ganzen Reihe, in dem Liebe ganz klar den Ton angibt.
Im dritten Band der Reihe von Autorin Sarina Bowen erfahren wir endlich mehr über die so spröde wirkende Lauren, die bisher nicht gerade positive Aufmerksamkeit erhalten hat. Nun, wo sich jedoch klärt, woher ihr Verhalten rührt, erweist sie sich als sehr liebenswerte Person, die sich fürchtet, erneut verletzt zu werden. Mike hingegen ist ein guter Freund und Vater, jedoch manchmal etwas naiv. Er stellt sich Dinge immer ganz leicht vor und kann nicht so recht nachvollziehen, was Lauren oder auch seine Tochter Elsa alles mitgemacht haben.
Die Handlung verläuft natürlich wieder nach dem üblichen Schema, aber genau das macht auch den Reiz der Serie aus. Man weiß einfach, was man bekommt und es ist auch schön, immer wieder sämtliche Mitglieder der großen „Familie“ der Brooklyn Bruisers wiederzutreffen – sei es, dabei an vorherige Bände erinnert zu werden oder neugierig auf die nächsten zu werden. (Ich sage nur: Becca und Nate!)
Speziell dieser Band hat mir wieder sehr gut gefallen, wenn gleich er auch ein wenig schwächer war als Band zwei. Positiv waren auf jeden Fall die wichtigen Themen, die in diesem Buch angesprochen werden und dass mit Mike auch einmal ein Familienvater zum Protagonisten wird. Negativ hingegen fand ich sein überstürztes Handeln. Natürlich haben Lauren und er jede Menge Zeit verloren – dennoch glaube ich, dass man solche Lebensentscheidungen, vor allem als Familienvater, nicht so spontan und aus einer emotionalen Laune heraus treffen sollte. Dennoch passt es natürlich zum grundsätzlichen Aufbau der ganzen Reihe, in dem Liebe ganz klar den Ton angibt.
Read full review HERE
It shouldn’t come as news by now that Sarina Bowen is one of my favorite authors. I’ve read most of her work, and I always love her books. This series and this book is no exception. I loved Rookie Move and I really liked Hard Hitter, so obviously Pipe Dreams also stole my heart.
I’m a sucker for second chance romances… and also single dads, so this book had a pretty great premise for me. Once again I really enjoyed the writing. Third person is still not my favorite style, but Sarina does it well.
I really liked the characters. Lauren was fierce and independent and Mike was loyal and amazing. Together they were fantastic, and my only wish is that they had talked about the past before they actually did. I understood Lauren’s heartbreak, what Mike did in the past was shitty, but it was also understandable, and I never felt like he truly lied to her or anything like that.
Elsa, Mike’s teen daughter, was an acquired taste. I understood her feelings and issues completely though, and I LOVED that Mike didn’t give up his pursuit of Lauren because Elsa didn’t approve of it. I LOVED THAT! Though I still think that some more talking would have been the way to go there…
Overall, I really liked the characters and the romance, and I liked the plot a lot. For a little while there I was a bit worried by the way it was going, but it ended up being really cool, so everything was awesome.
I have to say, Sarina, I NEED A BOOK OR A NOVELLA ABOUT NATE AND BECCA! Come on… so many tidbits, but I want and need the real thing… pretty please?!
SO, GUYS, HAVE YOU BEEN READING THE BROOKLYN BRUISERS SERIES BY SARINA BOWEN? IF YES, DON’T FORGET TO PICK PIPE DREAMS UP, BECAUSE IT’S AWESOME. IF NO, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR????
It shouldn’t come as news by now that Sarina Bowen is one of my favorite authors. I’ve read most of her work, and I always love her books. This series and this book is no exception. I loved Rookie Move and I really liked Hard Hitter, so obviously Pipe Dreams also stole my heart.
I’m a sucker for second chance romances… and also single dads, so this book had a pretty great premise for me. Once again I really enjoyed the writing. Third person is still not my favorite style, but Sarina does it well.
I really liked the characters. Lauren was fierce and independent and Mike was loyal and amazing. Together they were fantastic, and my only wish is that they had talked about the past before they actually did. I understood Lauren’s heartbreak, what Mike did in the past was shitty, but it was also understandable, and I never felt like he truly lied to her or anything like that.
Elsa, Mike’s teen daughter, was an acquired taste. I understood her feelings and issues completely though, and I LOVED that Mike didn’t give up his pursuit of Lauren because Elsa didn’t approve of it. I LOVED THAT! Though I still think that some more talking would have been the way to go there…
Overall, I really liked the characters and the romance, and I liked the plot a lot. For a little while there I was a bit worried by the way it was going, but it ended up being really cool, so everything was awesome.
I have to say, Sarina, I NEED A BOOK OR A NOVELLA ABOUT NATE AND BECCA! Come on… so many tidbits, but I want and need the real thing… pretty please?!
SO, GUYS, HAVE YOU BEEN READING THE BROOKLYN BRUISERS SERIES BY SARINA BOWEN? IF YES, DON’T FORGET TO PICK PIPE DREAMS UP, BECAUSE IT’S AWESOME. IF NO, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR????
Sarina Bowen is one of those authors who writes books I cannot put down once I start reading them. Pipe Dreams was no exception to this rule. Even though I know nothing about hockey I find myself fascinated by the story because it is so well written. The whole Brooklyn Bruisers series is a must read.
I am reviewing this book based on an ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion.
I am reviewing this book based on an ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion.