C+
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Theme: Fake Relationship, Sports
Archetype: Athlete
When I read the following scene near the start of Big Stick Energy, I knew I was going to have a good time with this hockey romance.
The captain, Eric (our hero) describes his teammates getting off the bus by saying “I watch as they file toward the front, a procession of exhausted millionaires griping like toddlers before nap time.”
It made me hoot with laughter. I thought, here was a sports romance that a non-sports fan could enjoy and that proved an accurate prediction.
Eric doesn’t date, he only does casual. Darcy, the team GM’s assistant, also only does short term (mostly because she picks duds). When both are invited to the same family/family-adjacent wedding, they decide to be each other’s date and act as buffers when their respective families become too much. It is the wedding of Darcy’s half brother and a close family friend of Eric’s. On both sides of the family, there are heaps of hurt feelings and shitty behaviour. Their arrangement escalates quickly into a fake relationship. Cue sexual fireworks and big feelings.
The truth is Darcy has had a crush on Eric for years, but never acted on it because he ‘dates’ models and other celebrities. She is (in her words) just an admin. Eric has been paying attention to Darcy for years though (he knows how she takes her coffee and what her favourite pie is) but never considered dating her.
The conflict between them is frustrating, mostly because of Darcy. Early on in the story, Eric and Darcy admit to each other that they’re crushing on each other. At that stage, Darcy claimed that Eric couldn’t possibly be interested in her.
When he is clearly interested in her, she changes her tune and is then adamant that nothing lasting can come from their fake relationship. She talks about the real perils of workplace romances and how she’ll come off second best if things between them go badly and the choice is between keeping on ‘an admin’ or the captain of the team. I would have liked more consistency on the barrier to them being together, rather than Darcy shifting the goalposts as they grew closer. But that might be a personal preference.
This is the second book in the series and the couple from the first feature quite heavily. I’m sure I would have got a real kick out of that if I’d read book one! I had no problems reading this as a standalone though.
There is a fair amount of spice in Big Stick Energy, including the lightest touch of role play and bondage. Sometimes Eric wiggles his eyebrows too much when he uses innuendo. I realise that is a very specific turnoff, but I’m a firm believer that eyebrow wiggling should be kept to a minimum. Naturally, your mileage may vary on this point.
While I enjoyed this one and read it (almost) voraciously, it didn’t stick with me long after I finished it. To use a common aphorism, this story was ‘here for a good time, not a long time’ with me. I don’t think this book will set anyone’s world on fire, but it is a very pleasant diversion.
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