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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
Beim aktuellen Reread war ich mehrheitlich genervt. Also 2,5 * Es war mir zu schnell zu explizit, außerdem habe ich die Anziehung nicht so wirklich verstanden, abgesehen davon, dass die beiden natürlich super aussehen und zarte Haut haben ...
Gerade sein Verhalten ist aus aktueller Sicht grenzwertig. Vielleicht einfach Überdosis B Bruisers während der Ferien....
Gerade sein Verhalten ist aus aktueller Sicht grenzwertig. Vielleicht einfach Überdosis B Bruisers während der Ferien....
I hate this book because I hate Mike SO MUCH. Oh god, all his actions, every single one is selfish, horrible, and ill-though out. He barely takes responsibility for anything and constantly plays at being the victim. I'm just, ugh. Cannot think of a character I've hated this much in a long long time.
You know who loves second chance romances? This girl, and I got a fantastic second chance romance that warmed my heart and left my eyes shiny with this book.
Mike had abruptly ended his relationship with Lauren to return to his ex-wife, and she had spent the last two years wondering why. Now a widower for the past year, a temporary assignment brings Lauren back to the Bruisers organization, and back into Mike's orbit. This revived Mike's hope that he could rekindle their relationship, as he had never stopped loving her.
I loved getting to know Mike better. He may have made some mistakes with respect to Lauren, but those decisions were made putting the needs of others above his. He was working so hard to be a fantastic father and he had a heart of gold. It was about time he put some of his needs first.
My heart ached for Lauren. Between her parents and the out-of-nowhere break up with Mike, I understood why she was the way she was, and I wanted her to be able to find some happiness. She was tough on Mike, she made him work for it, but I agreed with her holding him off.
Another fabulous addition to the Bruisers series. My heart broke and was put back together so many times. The flashbacks were largely responsible for the sad tears, but the present day brought me many happy tears. The ending was so sweet and joyful.
Mike had abruptly ended his relationship with Lauren to return to his ex-wife, and she had spent the last two years wondering why. Now a widower for the past year, a temporary assignment brings Lauren back to the Bruisers organization, and back into Mike's orbit. This revived Mike's hope that he could rekindle their relationship, as he had never stopped loving her.
I loved getting to know Mike better. He may have made some mistakes with respect to Lauren, but those decisions were made putting the needs of others above his. He was working so hard to be a fantastic father and he had a heart of gold. It was about time he put some of his needs first.
My heart ached for Lauren. Between her parents and the out-of-nowhere break up with Mike, I understood why she was the way she was, and I wanted her to be able to find some happiness. She was tough on Mike, she made him work for it, but I agreed with her holding him off.
Another fabulous addition to the Bruisers series. My heart broke and was put back together so many times. The flashbacks were largely responsible for the sad tears, but the present day brought me many happy tears. The ending was so sweet and joyful.
Another second chance romance. I feel like those are a little bit of a cop out since we don’t get the actual beginning of the relationship.
Can we talk about the fact that his first wife has to die? Couldn’t they just be divorced? And I’m sorry if it’s callous but the whole reason they got married was because she got pregnant. There are these things called abortions - she didn’t have to ruin her life and then be punished for cheating by dying.
Nevertheless these books are funny and charming and next up is the one I really wanted to read.
Can we talk about the fact that his first wife has to die? Couldn’t they just be divorced? And I’m sorry if it’s callous but the whole reason they got married was because she got pregnant. There are these things called abortions - she didn’t have to ruin her life and then be punished for cheating by dying.
Nevertheless these books are funny and charming and next up is the one I really wanted to read.
Lauren Williams used to love hockey, but after Brooklyn Bruisers goalie Mike Beacon suddenly dumped her without warning, she stays far away from the game, and is very grateful that her boss, Nate Kattenberger, has her running his office in Manhattan, so she can focus on moving on and building a life for herself on her own. She's about to graduate from college, with a lot of bright career prospects in her future and she's planning on having a baby, by herself. She's none too happy when Nate's former assistant, Becca, who now helps manage the team gets a concussion, so Lauren has to help cover for her and brings her up close to the hockey team on a daily basis again.
Mike Beacon got married to his high school sweetheart after he knocked her up, and while he never regretted the daughter he got, his wife never really wanted to be married to a top athlete, and their marriage suffered. When they finally separated, he made his move on Lauren, who he'd dreamed about for years, but kept things professional with until it was clear his marriage was a thing of the past. Mike and Lauren spent a deliriously happy year together, but just as Mike's divorce was about to come through, he discovered that his soon to be ex-wife had terminal cancer, and the situation was unbearable for his little girl. Making the difficult choice to move back in with his wife and daughter, he didn't really tell Lauren the severity of the situation (he kept claiming to have a good reason for this - I never really got what the heck he was thinking).
Now, two years later, Mike is raising a thirteen-year-old and regretting screwing things up with Lauren. Since she appears to still be single, he decides to try to win her back, but he has his work cut out for him, both with Lauren, and his daughter, who because of malicious gossip from other players' wives believes Lauren to be some evil home wrecker.
I hadn't read any [a:Sarina Bowen|7737308|Sarina Bowen|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1402702789p2/7737308.jpg] for a long time when I picked up [b:Brooklynaire|35053870|Brooklynaire|Sarina Bowen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1516744572s/35053870.jpg|56342351], which turned out to be a fun, if a bit flawed, read. Since I still had about a week left on my Audible romance deal, I decided to check out the previous book in the series, with a plot that clearly runs at least partially concurrently with the sequel. I was surprised at how much overlap there actually was, and if I'd read these in order, I probably would have rated [b:Brooklynaire|35053870|Brooklynaire|Sarina Bowen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1516744572s/35053870.jpg|56342351] lower, since there were whole scenes that were more or less repeated entirely. I read them in the right order, though, as there is no way I would have wanted to pick up the sequel if I'd read this one first.
This was, to be honest, quite a slog. While I liked Lauren as a supporting character in [b:Brooklynaire|35053870|Brooklynaire|Sarina Bowen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1516744572s/35053870.jpg|56342351] and she was a perfectly agreeable romance heroine in her own right, I didn't really care for Mike at all, nor his plot moppet adolescent with her temper tantrums and jealousy fits, even though her male nanny/live in violin teacher was pretty cool. His reasons for going back to his wife were noble enough, but the way he handled things with Lauren was abysmal, and he certainly didn't deserve to have her back in any way. I didn't care for the way he pretty much nagged his way back into her good graces, and her heart. If you see nothing romantic or attractive about the book's hero, the romance isn't really going to work. That was the case here.
MINOR SPOILER! Also, I never thought that I'd find something worse than the still frequently occurring "pregnancy epilogue". This book, however, ends with an actual, extended description of childbirth, which is no one's idea of a good time. That was pretty much the final nail in the coffin for me, and I think Sarina Bowen is on extended hiatus for me again.
Judging a book by its cover: You can tell that it's a book about hockey because the burly, muscular dude on the cover is holding a hockey stick. Of course, the hero of this book is a goalie, so should really be wearing a lot more padding. In general, this guy is wearing way too little for a hockey player, even in a friendly team practise, I would think going on the ice wearing nothing but some dark trousers would be inviting all sorts of injuries. But how could we tell it was a romance if there wasn't man titty on the cover?
Mike Beacon got married to his high school sweetheart after he knocked her up, and while he never regretted the daughter he got, his wife never really wanted to be married to a top athlete, and their marriage suffered. When they finally separated, he made his move on Lauren, who he'd dreamed about for years, but kept things professional with until it was clear his marriage was a thing of the past. Mike and Lauren spent a deliriously happy year together, but just as Mike's divorce was about to come through, he discovered that his soon to be ex-wife had terminal cancer, and the situation was unbearable for his little girl. Making the difficult choice to move back in with his wife and daughter, he didn't really tell Lauren the severity of the situation (he kept claiming to have a good reason for this - I never really got what the heck he was thinking).
Now, two years later, Mike is raising a thirteen-year-old and regretting screwing things up with Lauren. Since she appears to still be single, he decides to try to win her back, but he has his work cut out for him, both with Lauren, and his daughter, who because of malicious gossip from other players' wives believes Lauren to be some evil home wrecker.
I hadn't read any [a:Sarina Bowen|7737308|Sarina Bowen|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1402702789p2/7737308.jpg] for a long time when I picked up [b:Brooklynaire|35053870|Brooklynaire|Sarina Bowen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1516744572s/35053870.jpg|56342351], which turned out to be a fun, if a bit flawed, read. Since I still had about a week left on my Audible romance deal, I decided to check out the previous book in the series, with a plot that clearly runs at least partially concurrently with the sequel. I was surprised at how much overlap there actually was, and if I'd read these in order, I probably would have rated [b:Brooklynaire|35053870|Brooklynaire|Sarina Bowen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1516744572s/35053870.jpg|56342351] lower, since there were whole scenes that were more or less repeated entirely. I read them in the right order, though, as there is no way I would have wanted to pick up the sequel if I'd read this one first.
This was, to be honest, quite a slog. While I liked Lauren as a supporting character in [b:Brooklynaire|35053870|Brooklynaire|Sarina Bowen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1516744572s/35053870.jpg|56342351] and she was a perfectly agreeable romance heroine in her own right, I didn't really care for Mike at all, nor his plot moppet adolescent with her temper tantrums and jealousy fits, even though her male nanny/live in violin teacher was pretty cool. His reasons for going back to his wife were noble enough, but the way he handled things with Lauren was abysmal, and he certainly didn't deserve to have her back in any way. I didn't care for the way he pretty much nagged his way back into her good graces, and her heart. If you see nothing romantic or attractive about the book's hero, the romance isn't really going to work. That was the case here.
MINOR SPOILER! Also, I never thought that I'd find something worse than the still frequently occurring "pregnancy epilogue". This book, however, ends with an actual, extended description of childbirth, which is no one's idea of a good time. That was pretty much the final nail in the coffin for me, and I think Sarina Bowen is on extended hiatus for me again.
Judging a book by its cover: You can tell that it's a book about hockey because the burly, muscular dude on the cover is holding a hockey stick. Of course, the hero of this book is a goalie, so should really be wearing a lot more padding. In general, this guy is wearing way too little for a hockey player, even in a friendly team practise, I would think going on the ice wearing nothing but some dark trousers would be inviting all sorts of injuries. But how could we tell it was a romance if there wasn't man titty on the cover?
This wasn't my favorite book by this author. It felt like it was going way too slow. The characters were OK. Mike Beacon was OK, but really he should have just opened his mouth and told Lauren the truth from the beginning. Mike Beacon needed to stand up to his daughter more. ALthough, I'm glad Mike Beacon owned up to his mistake and his faults. I liked Mike Beacon's grovel.
Did I say Mike Beacon enough? What drove me nuts in this book was that Lauren constantly used his full name when referring to him. It made no sense. There were no other Mikes in the book. We all knew who she was referring to. Seriously, each time she thought of him, it was as Mike Beacon, not just Mike. It took me out of the story.
Did I say Mike Beacon enough? What drove me nuts in this book was that Lauren constantly used his full name when referring to him. It made no sense. There were no other Mikes in the book. We all knew who she was referring to. Seriously, each time she thought of him, it was as Mike Beacon, not just Mike. It took me out of the story.
It took me awhile to warm up to Lauren and Mike, in part because they weren't really in the previous stories much. I liked them, but didn't like them as much as the other two couples--the complications between them seemed to not resolve as well as they could have been. But I liked her potential friendship with the other women. Anyway, give me Becca and Nate's book, thaaanks!
I enjoyed this very much but I spent the entire time wanting more of Nate and Becca. COME ON YOU TWO. Also, this book is one of those "could have been solved by one conversation on page 2" novels ... so take it as you will.
Rounds out the series really well, I think, with another story that's sweet and emotional, without the edginess that you might expect from hockey romances.
Pipe Dreams is a second chance romance, and mostly it worked for me. Due to his ex-wife's cancer and its impact on his daughter, Mike Beacon ghosted on the love of his life, his girlfriend Lauren, breaking her heart. While I do understand and sympathize with his decision, I did struggle a little bit with believability here. I can see why he didn't want to be talked out of what he'd planned, but ghosting is such a shitty thing to do. I also don't know why it took him a year to talk to Lauren again after his wife passed.
Setting that aside, they're a pretty good couple. Admittedly, this isn't as much my sort of romance, because Lauren's very eager to have a baby, and that's never my jam. But they're on the same page, so that's nice. I did actually like Mike's daughter, Elsa, and their nanny/violin teacher Hans (I wish he'd been more present).
If you like the tropes of second chance romance and pregnancy, I'd definitely recommend this one. They're not optimal for me, but Bowen writes such great books that I generally like them even when they're less my thing, as is the case here.
Pipe Dreams is a second chance romance, and mostly it worked for me. Due to his ex-wife's cancer and its impact on his daughter, Mike Beacon ghosted on the love of his life, his girlfriend Lauren, breaking her heart. While I do understand and sympathize with his decision, I did struggle a little bit with believability here. I can see why he didn't want to be talked out of what he'd planned, but ghosting is such a shitty thing to do. I also don't know why it took him a year to talk to Lauren again after his wife passed.
Setting that aside, they're a pretty good couple. Admittedly, this isn't as much my sort of romance, because Lauren's very eager to have a baby, and that's never my jam. But they're on the same page, so that's nice. I did actually like Mike's daughter, Elsa, and their nanny/violin teacher Hans (I wish he'd been more present).
If you like the tropes of second chance romance and pregnancy, I'd definitely recommend this one. They're not optimal for me, but Bowen writes such great books that I generally like them even when they're less my thing, as is the case here.
This relationship felt very unequal, and I spent most of the book wanting to tell Lauren to run hard and fast. I just never bought that Mike understood her concerns and her hurt, just plowed straight ahead into "I'mma get what I want no matter what wheeeeee!"
Like, okay. There was some limited recognition that the way he chose to end things was materially damaging to Lauren, some recognition that he had deliberately ignored the impact of his actions on her because that made it easier on him, but his response to that recognition seemed to be "¯\_(ツ)_/¯¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I always make the worst decisions and it's so hard for me but that's just the way I am ¯\_(ツ)_/¯¯\_(ツ)_/¯!"
I wanted so much more. I was so intrigued going in, because it seemed like an interesting, gnarly conflict of the hero legit hurting the heroine but for truly difficult, sad reasons! Instead it seemed like the author brushed aside a lot of the difficult sadness (in part, I think, to further the romancelandia narrative of Only One Real Love, which, ugh) and really leaned into "she's just holding onto her anger and needs to get over it 'cause they're so hot together!" Which. NO.
Also I found the entire pregnancy plot line enraging. Honey, no, don't have a baby with that man. Or if you are, don't have it while you're still debating whether or not to get back together. Lauren even articulates the exact reasons this is a bad idea - irrevocably bringing another human into the mess of their relationship before they've even figured it out! - and somehow she (and the reader) is supposed to be cool with, "C'mon baby, you know you want to bang me, and *I* think it's a great idea, so hush with your worrying!"? I don't think so.
Like, okay. There was some limited recognition that the way he chose to end things was materially damaging to Lauren, some recognition that he had deliberately ignored the impact of his actions on her because that made it easier on him, but his response to that recognition seemed to be "¯\_(ツ)_/¯¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I always make the worst decisions and it's so hard for me but that's just the way I am ¯\_(ツ)_/¯¯\_(ツ)_/¯!"
I wanted so much more. I was so intrigued going in, because it seemed like an interesting, gnarly conflict of the hero legit hurting the heroine but for truly difficult, sad reasons! Instead it seemed like the author brushed aside a lot of the difficult sadness (in part, I think, to further the romancelandia narrative of Only One Real Love, which, ugh) and really leaned into "she's just holding onto her anger and needs to get over it 'cause they're so hot together!" Which. NO.