spanglish_literature_karina 's review for:

Sin Bin by Teagan Hunter
4.0

Owen Smith...I am disappointed in you. You were fortunate enough to meet Emilia a few years ago. You were already a "veteran" player in the league but you were still married to the game instead of slowing down and trying to meet your future happiness. Fate brought Emilia to you, you spent an amazing weekend together, worshiping each other, and you let it slip away. Mere weeks later, you learned that she was going to be working for the same team you were playing for, and, like a dumbass, you stayed away. Eventually, the team came up with a rule that you were not allowed to get involved with someone in the organization. Your opportunity passed you by. However, for some reason (you were both horny and getting jealous of your teammates), you came together again in a secret relationship. And yet, you still remained silent! You almost lost Emilia again because your love of the game, your need to prove yourself, got in the way. Thank goodness Lowell talked some sense into you. Really, at 38 years old, after a decade and a half as a professional NHL player, and you still weren't able to give it all up for love because acknowledging out loud your feelings was too overwhelming and scary?

So here we have Owen Smith, a 38-year-old hockey player who has been with the Comets for 15 years. He has already won 1 Stanley Cup and is trying to win one more before his career is officially over. He doesn't want to step away from the game because he has dedicated his entire life to it and would feel lost and empty without it because he has nothing else going for him (or that is his perception).

Emilia works on the social media team for the Comets and is currently applying for a promotion as director of the team, once her current director steps away from the role for personal reasons. She is not allowed to have a relationship with Owen; however, when she first moved to the city 2+ years before, she had a one-weekend hook-up with a random guy from the bar, and, what do you know, it happened to be with Owen Smith. This is not allowed for many reasons. 1. Her uncle is his coach. 2. She works for the team that he plays on. 3. He was supposed to only be a 1-night hook-up to rebound from her boyfriend cheating on her.

While they have been avoiding each other as much as possible over the previous 2 years, they need to work together on some social media posts and this project is what will help Emilia get the promotion she so badly wants. Time together leads Emilia and Smith to rekindle their weekend attraction and keep it hidden from everyone. However, mistakes are made, and their secret gets out at the same time Emilia is granted a promotion. Now she must decide what is more important: work or a hook-up (because neither Emilia nor Owen have confessed the depth of their true feelings for each other). Owen, instead of confessing his love and volunteering to step away from his career (which is already almost ending), decides to let Emilia go. That is until he comes to his senses and faces his fears of no longer being in the NHL.

I'm not going to rate the performance on the audio portion of this story, as Tim Paige and Callie Dalton have done the voice performances of the entire series and this is now the fourth book I have heard them in. My opinion remains the same. I have also now gotten accustomed to the performance they have with this group. I can tell that they understand the feelings and the dynamic of each character and are able to bring it out when they each have their stand-alone (pair) novel.

I recommend this series, and I can't wait to finish with the rest of the team.

Also, the spice just gets better and better. What a great hockey team. I want to know who is on the recruiting team. They seem to have a check-list.
Good hockey player: check
Good looking: check
Charitable: check
Sweet and dirty talk: check and check
Knows how to make a girl come via fingers, tongue, and cock: check, check, and double-check.