Saturday, June 15, 2013

[Kame's Review]: "Empty Net"

Empty Net by Toni Aleo
Publisher: Loveswept (April 23, 2013)
Series: Assassins, 3
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Definition of an Empty Net: When a team pulls the goalie for an extra attacker, desperately seeking a goal.

Audrey Parker was in a horrible place.

She hated her job, her sister was getting married and moving out, but worst of all, she was in love with a total jerk. No matter what she did, every guy she met hurt her. All she wanted was her happily ever after. Her Prince Charming. Her Lucas Brooks! She didn’t know how to change her life but she knew she needed too.
Feeling like she was about to hit rock bottom, Audrey wakes up next to Tate Odder.

Tate Odder had lost everything.

After being brought up from the Assassins’ farm team, the Florida Rays to the Nashville Assassins, Tate hopes he’ll forget everything he has lost. He doesn’t. Each day gets harder to live in a place he doesn’t know. Even being the first rookie goalie to shut out an opposing team three times during the Lord Stanley Cup Finals, he still felt empty. With the loss of his parents and sister still heavy on his heart, Tate isn’t sure how to live like everything is okay.

But when he wakes up beside Audrey Parker, things start to change. She turns his life upside down with her kooky sense of humor and her bright clothing. She is intelligent and beautiful, and for once, he doesn’t feel empty.


Will Audrey be the person to fill the holes in Tate’s heart, making him whole again?




Or will another player ruin everything, leaving him feeling forever like an empty net?









Where to Buy*:
AmazonKindle | BN | NOOK | ARe
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Kame's Review:







Empty Net is the third story in the Assassin’s Hockey team series by Toni Aleo.  This installment centers on Audrey, Fallon’s sister and Tate the new rookie goalie for the team.

As we know from the end of Book 2 – Trying To Score Audrey has been in a bad relationship with Levi her soon to be brother-in-law’s friend.  At the beginning of this book Levi has yet again left Audrey, while out for Fallon’s bachelorette party Audrey meets an incredible looking man at the bar and whisks him away to her hotel for a night of incredible passion and leaves before he can find out her name.  Since she has never met Lucas’ teammate Tate, Audrey does not realize that the man she left at the hotel and now can’t get out of her mind is in fact the neighbor and one of the Assassin’s that her sister and future husband have been trying to introduce her to. There are many things that hinder the start of a romance between these characters; Audrey is hesitant because of the age difference between her and Tate, she also has something in her past that she feels will never allow a man to want forever with her.  Tate is patient and shows maturity beyond his age, he is ready to take his time to show Audrey his love.


“She was the girl who made him want to have a girlfriend”



I read this book because I loved Audrey so much from Trying To Score.  I could feel her pain as I read that book and I craved a happy ending for her.  I was surprised to find out her love interest in this book was Tate, I will admit I felt he was a little young for her, but as I read his dialog and learned more about him I realized he truly was the perfect person for Audrey. Tate is more than just a hockey goalie and the layers to his character are unexpected. He is dealing with some issues from his past that impedes his happiness. I think Toni Aleo does a great job dealing with Tate’s issues from his past and Audrey’s self-image issues; along with her constant issues with the former boyfriend. Toni Aleo also uses music references that are so perfect in the moment (she has done this in all three books); I highlighted each one and then went and searched for the song if I was unfamiliar with it – making a playlist that evokes all the great scenes in the Assassins series. The conflict at the end is gut wrenching and I could not put the book down from that point until the end.  Thank you Toni Aleo for writing about pain and letting these characters grow to such fantastic ones! I especially loved a scene at the end where Tate is in the shower and comes to grips with what has happened!


“Here is my question,” Elli said.

“When your mind wanders, who comes up? Because that’s the person who matters, that’s the person you want. “





If you want a book that has hockey players in it or if you want to try something from Toni Aleo, try this one.  It can be read as a stand-alone with little confusion. The hockey references are light so if you are not a fan (which I am not) you will not be lost. It’s got some angst, lots of love, and a few smiles thrown in. A great relaxing read.



4 1/2 STARS!





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Kame received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for her honest opinion.

*Note: The quotes used belong to Toni Aleo; Kame and TBQ's Book Palace do not claim them.
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Meet Kame:

Kame is part of a family of readers; one day she picked up the Nook she purchased for her husband and discovered her love of e-books. A few months later he purchased one for her so he could have his back! Kame’s Nook is never far, and she is hard pressed to pick a favorite book, genre or author. As long as there are characters that make her want to sit down and have a chat and a plot keeps the pages turning, she’ll read it.

Kame's GoodReads 
 



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Great review, Kame, I'm glad to hear you liked this one--I'll have to continue the series one of these days! :D

Have you read any of Toni Aleo's books? Do you have a favorite? What about sport romances--like 'em or hate 'em?






Enjoy!



Until Next Time,
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*TBQ's Book Palace is a member of both the Amazon and Barnes and Nobles affiliates program. By using the links provided to buy products from either website, I receive a very small percentage of the order. To read my full disclosure on the matter, please see this post!

1 comment :

Colleen Isolde said...

Another great review! Yuuuuuuuup! :) I loved Tate and Audrey together! I agree that at first the age difference seemed to be an issue but clearly with Tate's past, his maturity made his physical age disappear. I really like this series (especially being a diehard Blackhawks hockey fan) but I think the writing would appeal to those who don't know anything about hockey as well. Looking forward to your reviews on her upcoming releases of "Falling for the Backup" and "Blue Lines."