A review by lisaluvsliterature
If You Love Me by Helena Hunting

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-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

4.75

Of course I always love Hunting's books, especially her hockey series. And this one was really no different in how much I ended up loving it! At first I will admit I was a little unsure about this one, because as anyone who has read my blog before knows, I've mentioned that I'm not a huge fan of age gap stories. It gives me a bit of ick with the older man too much older. And in the prequel novella the author shared in her newsletter, I got a bit of that feeling. However, once I started the actual book, I fell in love with the characters as I should have expected from all the other books of hers that I have loved.

It obviously made a bit of difference at how much things had changed between when they first met and when Lexi became an assistant coach for Roman's team. She was older, and her life had changed enough that it made her seem more mature and not so much younger than him. She'd gone through some loss with the death of her mother and stepfather, and then having to step up and basically become a stand-in mom for her two younger sisters definitely changed her life. When she came into the organization to meet her new team, it was obvious it was going to be hard for the both of them. But Lexi knew she couldn't give in to any want/need for Roman. First of all it obviously was against rules for a coach to date one of their players. Not to mention how it would look to everyone, that she only got or kept her job because she dated him. Or that she was a gold digger and only after Roman for his money. 

They did so good for so long holding out. But Roman quickly fell in love with her sisters, and the way he was with them, yeah, he is a good dad. The emotions of how to get through holidays and just life itself without their parents took it's toll on all of them. And Roman was able to be there sometimes in a way that was just for support, not taking advantage or giving in to their physical attraction. All the things that he did, as well as our wonderful cast of friends and family from the other books so far, to help this family and make them part of the big Toronto Terror family was so sweet and perfect.

And of course I have to talk about all of the characters we know and love from the other books. Some definitely were what we were used to. Others maybe not quite the same seeming since we saw them from the newcomer Lexi's POV. But the way they all swooped in and swept them up under their wing was exactly why I want to be friends with these characters and wish they were real! 

I also love that the author made the final drama of the book NOT a breakup. It was done perfectly. Even when the two of them felt they had to stay away from each other, neither did anything overly dramatic to push the other way and both understood why they felt that way. And they always talked it through.