After putting down several books out of disinterest, I can proudly say that Mister Hockey was the one to break that pattern. It was funny and sexy and I really enjoyed both main characters. However, what kept the book from really knocking it out of the park was the narrative’s aversion to really getting down and dirty with the serious issues the hero and heroine were facing.
Briana “Breezy” Angel is a children’s librarian and all around nerd. Her sister, Neve, is a sports journalist. Both sisters are huge fans of the Denver Hellions, their local NHL team. Jed West is the captain of the Hellions. I’m sure you can all see how these people are connected. Neve is interviewing Jed when she gets a call from her younger sister. The coach of the Hellions was supposed to show for an event at the library, but can’t make it due to flight issues. Neve asks Jed if he’d mind stepping in and, being the nice guy he is, he says yes.
There’s a bit of a hiccup though, as Neve doesn’t tell her sister who she’s bringing as a replacement because well…Breezy is Jed’s biggest fan. She has a life-size cardboard cutout of the guy at home, plus an assortment of other merch: calendars, mugs, bobbleheads, etc. Jed is immediately taken with Breezy, though she makes a point of hiding her “fan-ness.” She doesn’t want him to think that she’s weird or obsessive or make him uncomfortable. Jed also doesn’t feel right dating a fan, as he doesn’t want people to think he’d take advantage of a person’s interest.
Breezy’s hidden Jed West fandom is “the lie” their relationship is built upon. Jed likes that Breezy isn’t a fan because he just wants to be seen as a normal dude and not a championship winning athlete. Meanwhile, Jed is dealing with some internal stuff, namely the end of his career. He’s suffered an injury in his last game and is still experiencing some effects. He doesn’t want to let anyone know about it, and his own brother had his career ended because of a brain injury while playing football. There’s obviously some baggage here.
But as romance readers, we all know that a lie (no matter how small) will come back to bite the couple in the ass and there will be a dramatic misunderstanding and someone will storm off without letting the other party offer an explanation. This ain’t my first rodeo.
Breezy is so adorable and funny. Her inner monologue and embarrassing ogling of the hero had me in stitches. She’s also a heroine on the taller side (5’11”) and is plus-sized, if you’re looking for more representation. Her weight/height isn’t something she harps on, for those readers who want a heroine who doesn’t agonize over her body. Which, yes, I’m on board.
But back to the inner monologues! Here is the first time Breezy meets Jed in the flesh:
The nerves connecting her feet to her brain snapped midstep into the hall. She froze, her gaze raking a pair of vintage Adidas sneakers and climbed up gray sweatpants hanging off a trim, narrow waist. Shadows played on the cotton, highlighting the merest suggestion of a bulge. Then up to a broad chest and even broader shoulders. The distinctive chin. The scruffy jaw. Those eyes that were . . . that were . . . what were colors? What was life?
And there’s this gem:
Whenever she fantasized about a guy putting ranch dressing in her Hidden Valley, he was the one wielding the big, big bottle.
She’s a pervy, goofy geek and I loved it.
Jed, as a hero, is sweet and swoony. He’s an alpha hero in the bedroom only, but in his day-to-day interactions with Breezy, he just loves being a provider and nurturer. He runs her baths and gives foot rubs! He and Breezy get giddy over their love of shared kitchen gadgets. Jed can even make a mean stack of waffles.
Their connection is just so effortless. The love felt easy and right. I bought every bit of it.
What I didn’t buy, however, was how they overcame their personal problems without much adversity. And these were some serious problems.
Breezy has a strained relationship with her mom. Neve was the one who blossomed in figure skating, a sport that her mom loved and coached. Since then, Breezy felt she wasn’t as worthy of her mother’s love or attention. There’s one particular scene that made me so mad on Breezy’s behalf; she overhears her mom talking to another relative about how she can’t figure out what Jed wants with or sees in Breezy. There is a reconciliation of sorts between Breezy and her mom, but I didn’t buy it at all. I couldn’t identify the catalyst for things to be fixed. Why did this relationship carry on like this for long? I needed more insight to the past and what specifically about the present had caused a new step forward.
There are also some financial hardships that Breezy experiences in the later half of the book and those problems find solutions in a matter of paragraphs.
What?! This is all a lot to take in and figure out so quickly. Personally, I would be a fucking witch to be around with the amount of stress just infusing my body. The solutions to Breezy’s financial distress happened so casually, as if she’d just been replacing a lightbulb and not deciding the future of her career and finances.
The problems Jed faces are handled much in the same way. He knows what it’s like to live in the shadow of an older sibling, like Breezy has. His father was obsessed with his brother Travis’ football career until a frontal lobe injury changed everything. As someone who has a parent with a frontal lobe injury, I know firsthand how much it can change a person. Since then, Jed’s parents have isolated themselves. Travis has a young family and they are struggling with his erratic behavior and gambling addiction. Plus, Jed is dealing with a head injury as well and is afraid to seek guidance from his brother and father.
Unlike with Breezy and her mom, there really isn’t a moment where things get patched up between Jed and his family. A lot of the “action” about Jed and his brother and father happen internally, with Jed feeling guilty for living his sports dream, while his own brother’s career was cut short. Toward the end of the book, Jed goes to visit his family to deal with things, but all of this happens off the page and is summarized following his return back to Denver.
I had the sense that this story was not sure what it truly wanted to be: a romantic comedy vs. something a bit more angsty. Of course, there are books out which are definitely both, but Mister Hockey fell too much into the rom com spectrum that it didn’t allow for enough time or weight to fully handle any angst introduced.
I felt like I was missing an extra hundred pages to flesh out those problems and give them more satisfying resolutions. The details that were introduced and the way they seemed to affect the characters weren’t treated with enough care and attention, especially when they were easily resolved, either off-screen and within a few paragraphs.
Mister Hockey was still an enjoyable read! If you want something quick and steamy and that’ll cause a few laughs, I recommend it. If you prefer romances that go a bit deeper with character and family dynamics, you’ll find yourself disappointed and frustrated. Just know what you’re getting before going into it.
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“dream of opening a bookstore and takes out a business loan”
Good luck with that.
This one was a miss for me, I couldn’t deal with the name “Breezy Angel” and didn’t find the plot or writing strong enough to overcome it.
I didn’t recognize the title on sight, but I recognized the description immediately. I liked it when I read it because hockey romance, and read the sister’s book as well. I don’t recall being all that distressed by the angst resolution, because I was engaged with the characters and the humor. Basically, I recall the book with pleasure but no detail. Sometimes I just like to read about nice people.
I think I got this one based on the blurb but DNFed after about a chapter or two. don’t remember why, but it just didn’t work for me.
I really enjoyed this one, especially the sense of humor infused into the characters. I also really appreciated how the author delved into the realities of traumatic brain injury, specifically CTE, for professional athletes and what this meant for Jed and his career. There were a few things toward the end that didn’t make complete sense but I really didn’t care because of how much I enjoyed the story and characters.
I want to know how she managed to get a business loan for a dying business model while both unemployed and burdened with a home loan.
I mean, I get that there’s a suspension of belief in romance, and let’s face it, logic simply cannot be applied to some plots, but for me that’s a DNF for a contemporary. And that’s before even getting to the family issues.
I misread the post title as “Mister Hickey”. I haven’t had my IV of chai to wake up yet.