Read by Dane Anderson & Alex Picard
D.C. Eagles Hockey, Book 1
From the publisher:
I’m the notoriously angry, grouchy D.C. Eagles defenseman who just can’t keep his temper in check—a temper that leads to a fifteen-game suspension from the NHL.
As if that’s not bad enough, I’m forced into a short-term youth-hockey coaching gig—which my manager swears will “rebuild my image.”
But what I didn’t expect was for a gorgeous, spunky blonde to stomp onto the ice on day one and lecture me about being rude to her little brother.
Something about this spitfire of a woman, and the boy she’s so protective of, has my defenses melting.
And if I’m not careful, I’ll burst into flames, forever melting the ice I’ve carefully kept around my heart.
This is a closed-door romcom with mild language. Trigger warnings include parental substance abuse and dealing with grief/loss of parents.
I had to suspend my disbelief here; a hockey suspension for fifteen games is most unusual, but it does happen so I was able to go with it. Happily, it was worth it because I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book. And no worries if you are not a hockey fan, it will not affect your reading of this sweet romance.
Andie lost her parents and is raising her much younger, 12-year-old brother. Mitch is a defenseman for a fictional pro hockey team who gets this huge suspension for fighting. His coach orders him to therapy, and to help with a peewee hockey team as part of his penance for letting his team down. That’s where he meets Andie, whose brother plays in this league.
This isn’t instalove, but there is definite attraction from the start. Andie and Mitch have similar traumas in their backgrounds, but there is a lot of cute banter that keeps the story light. There was a really funny scene where Mitch is listening to an audiobook that turns out to be quite a spicy romance, which this book is not. This is a closed-door romance, but that said, there is still plenty of innuendo, and you can definitely feel the sexual chemistry between Andie and Mitch.
This was a fun read, and the narrators did a great job bringing me into the story. This was one of those books that I really couldn’t put down. While the narrators often make the difference, in this case, it was the collaboration between the writer and the narrators that made this such a good listen.
Note: there is a novella that starts before this, even though this is the first book in the series. I was able to borrow it from Hoopla through my library. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get all the books in this series that way.
2/2025 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
DESIRE OR DEFENSE by Leah Brunner. Narrators: Dane Anderson, Alex Picard. Dreamscape Media; August 15, 2023. Listening Length: 7 hours and 52 minutes.
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