A review by malissac
Anton by Brenda Rothert

4.0

The first book in a new hockey romance series from Brenda Rothert, Anton is a great start to what I hope will turn into a series full of heart and steam. This is my first book by Brenda and I truly enjoyed it. There are a lot of emotional moments in this book and I won't get into them because I think it would take away from your enjoyment, but what I will say is don't go into this thinking its a fluff read about easy going hockey dudes and the girls they fall in love with. There is so me real pain and hurt that goes hand in had with this story and it just made it all that much of a better read.

I loved Mia, the heroine. She has basically being pulling herself up all her life and when things get bad she doesn't shy away from hard work, she doesn't shy away from doing her very best for those she loves and cares for. It's upsetting some of what she does but if the choices she is given are all she has not one person can fault her for what she does. The only thing I could have wished from her was due to something that happened toward the end of the book and me just wishing she had fought back a llittle harder against people with bad attitudes.

'Father' Anton, true to his nickname. He's really just a great guy. I loved how sweet he was, how he wasn't the typical alpha hockey player guy you might expect, but instead a man who is always fighting for his place, by being his best, and who is truly all heart. I loved that going into this he had become the man he is because of Mia, that she knew nothing about his motivations but that he knew no other woman would be who he wanted or needed I loved his patience and his kindness.

One thing I will say, and this will just take a little digging on my part that I haven't done at this point, is there was the slight feeling that this was perhaps a spin-off series. It is most definitely a stand-alone, but at the same time I felt like I should already know some of these characters we meet in the story. It doesn't in the end take anything away but just leaves a little feeling of 'should I know this person'.

I am really looking forward to more in this series, with Vic and Luc ( I am loving how there stories are already being laid out) and then most definitely Alexei, that one is going to be a wild ride of a book I think. This is going to be a great series to follow. Anton is a quick read that will have you happily, even when you're shedding a tear or two, turning pages and rooting for the couple and a few of the secondary characters. And you 'guys' Uncle Dix! You are going to be laughing out loud, cringing a time or two, and just falling in love with this outlandish old coot! He was a highlight of this story and stole just a little bit of my heart! I was so not ready for him, but I loved him immediately! Grab this one up for a good, sweet, easy read...you won't regret it. Also, I mean lets just talk about that cover, Brenda is going to have a hard job matching future books in the series to it, because Anton's cover...can you say COVER LOVE!

~ HAPPY READING ~