Review by Booklist Review
Bearcat hockey player Sig Gauthier has finally found his dream girl, but being with her is turning into a nightmare. A chance encounter at the Darien Country Club with Chloe Clifford leaves Sig smitten. Sig's plans to get to know Chloe better quickly go awry, however, when he later shows up to meet his father's new fiancée and discovers she is Chloe's mother. Since Sig's future hockey career plans as well as Chloe's dreams of becoming a world-class harpist depend on both of them remaining free from scandal, especially a romance between step-siblings, this means any relationship other than friendship is out of the question. The latest sensually hot and sweetly heartfelt addition to Bailey's Hot Shots hockey series, following Fan Girl Down and The Au Pair Affair (both 2024), rewards readers with an ingeniously inventive cast that not only includes some memorable secondary characters, including a fierce and fabulous harp mentor, but also a perfectly matched pair of protagonists, whose combustible sexual chemistry provides the fuel for several incendiary love scenes.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Bestseller Bailey follows The Au Pair Affair with another irresistible sports rom-com. After a difficult childhood with a struggling single mother, Sig Gauthier basks in his newfound financial comfort as a member of the Boston Bearcats hockey team. When his truck breaks down while he's driving through Connecticut with a dead cellphone, he walks into a nearby country club for help, where he meets Chloe Clifford, a beautiful blonde harp player. The pair are smitten from the first glance and share a passionate kiss. There's just one thing standing in the way of their relationship: Sig's absentee father, who wants back into his life, happens to be engaged to Chloe's mother. After Chloe moves to Boston to study at Berklee College of Music and play with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the pair try to avoid each other--and their feelings--to stave off a scandal that would put both their futures in jeopardy. But the chemistry between these soon to be stepsiblings is explosive and ignoring it proves impossible. Readers who don't like the instalove trope may not buy into the immediate connection between the leads, but Bailey backs it up with thoughtful characterization and red-hot sex scenes. This is a winner. (Feb.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Chloe Clifford captured Sig Gauthier's heart the moment he met her. Chloe is bright, funny, and the most beautiful woman Sig's ever seen. Chloe falls quickly for Sig too. He's coarse and calloused and kind, nothing like the young men her socialite mother has been setting her up with. Unfortunately, they are about to be stepsiblings, which means they can't be together romantically. Instead, they try to stay friends, with Sig helping Chloe escape her privileged life to live independently in Boston. They think they're doing a good job of hiding their feelings, but everyone around them--including the press--sees the deep emotional bond between them. The rumors about them jeopardize Sig's hockey career and Chloe's ambitions as a professional harpist, not to mention upending the lives of their soon-to-be-wed parents. This love-at-first-glance romance between a gruff cinnamon-roll hero and a naive dream girl is swoon-worthy. The tension between the characters is palpable, and readers will be on a knife's edge waiting for it to break. VERDICT Fans of Bailey's "Big Shots" series, hockey romances, and alpha male characters will clamor for this title.--Heather Miller Cover
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A professional hockey player has feelings for the one woman he can't have: his soon-to-be stepsister. Sig Gauthier loves his job playing defense for the Boston Bearcats, and he's proved himself a real asset to the team. When this season ends, he will renegotiate his mediocre, low-paying contract, one he accepted while injured and desperate for any team to sign him. When his father asks him to come to dinner to meet his new girlfriend, Sig decides to go, since it's only a few hours' drive to Darien, Connecticut, and he's curious. On the way, his ancient truck breaks down, and he pulls into a country club parking lot where he meets Chloe Clifford, the most beautiful, alluring woman he's ever seen. Chloe dreams of accepting a seat as a harpist at a conservatory in Boston; however, her wealthy, controlling mother wants her to stay in Darien. That night at dinner, Sig is surprised to find Chloe there--and when they discover their parents are planning to marry each other, they realize they can only be friends themselves. Sig encourages Chloe to come with him to Boston, where he rents her an apartment despite it being a massive financial burden. Several months pass. They long for each other, but studiously ignore their incendiary sexual chemistry and remain friends. When the press realizes that Sig's biggest fan is his soon-to-be-stepsister, his new general manager tells him he must choose between Chloe or re-signing with the team. Everything rests on the premise that two people who meet as adults would be entering into a taboo, forbidden relationship because their parents are about to marry. Although Bailey does her best to sell it, the pretext keeping her characters apart is thin and underdeveloped. Chloe and Sig are wild for each other from the second they meet, which negates any attempt to create tension or conflict. The forbidden romance trope fails because the conflict is so pedestrian. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
