• Home
    • Contact Me
  • Reading Challenges
    • Pondathon II
    • Completed Challenges
      • CannonballRead 13 Bingo
      • SpringIntoLove Bingo
      • SnowInLove Bingo
      • JingleBooks Bingo
      • FallIntoRomBingo 2020
      • 2020 Ripped Bodice Summer Read Along Bingo
      • 2018 Romance Roundabout Challenge
      • Read Harder 2018
      • January – March 2018 Quarterly Challenge
      • Title Hunt Quarterly Challenge: January – March 2018
      • Cover Hunt Quarterly Challenge: October – December 2017
      • October – December 2017 Quarterly Challenge
      • Ripped Bodice Summer Read Along Bingo
  • Reviews
    • Reviews by Author
    • Reviews by Title
    • Reviews by Series
    • Reviews by Year
      • 2017 Reviews
      • 2018 Reviews
    • Reviews by Rating
  • Rating System

Llama Reads Books

This llama reads - mostly romance, fantasy and science fiction

Reviews

Review: On the Edge of Scandal – Tamsen Parker

February 5, 2018 Leave a Comment

Review: On the Edge of Scandal – Tamsen ParkerOn the Edge of Scandal
by Tamsen Parker
Series: Snow & Ice Games #3
Also in this series: Love on the Tracks, Seduction on the Slopes, Fire on the Ice
Publisher: Swerve
Publication Date: February 6, 2018
Genres: Romance
Pages: 250
Source: NetGalley

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Bronwyn Perry is the star of the US women’s hockey team, and she and her boyfriend Brody Hill have been hockey royalty since they’ve been in high school. Brody unexpectedly fails to make the men’s team but still comes to Denver to support his girl at the Snow and Ice Games. Or so Bronwyn thinks.

Ash Levenson is the coach of the women’s SIG hockey team. His primary responsibility is to keep his team happy, healthy, and primed to win. Though he’s close in age to his players, he’s been doing this for a while and mostly, it’s easy to keep his eyes on the puck. He’s always been able to discard any crush he might have on any of the women he’s coached…until Bronwyn.

When Bronwyn and Brody’s romance comes to a very public and very ugly end, Ash has to get his star player’s head back in the game and ready to dominate on the rink. Which may mean spending a little time off the ice…

Amazon  Apple  Barnes & Noble  Kobo

Goodreads

4 stars icon contemporary icon hockey romance icon sports icon


Finally, the hockey romance!  I’ve read a lot of hockey romances, but this is the first, I think, that had a female hockey player.  This is the third in the Snow & Ice Games series, but each can be read as a standalone.

Bronwyn is a college hockey player who’s made it on to the Olympics team for US women’s hockey, and Ash is the team coach.  Though they’re at different colleges, women’s hockey is a small enough world that they are each familiar with each other, plus they’re both at colleges in the Boston area.  When Bronwyn and her boyfriend break up in an incredibly public and messy way, Ash fears that it will tank her performance, and that of the team.  So, naturally, he offers to be her distraction, to predictable results.

“’I’ll be your anchor. I’ll fill the gaps. If you feel like calling Brody, call me instead. If you usually eat lunch with him, I’ll meet up with you. There must be a hundred things you do every day that make you think of him. Don’t think of him, think of . . .’
Me. Think of me. ‘Uh, hockey.’
She smiles at me, a funny twisted-up thing that makes me think she’s trying not to laugh. Which is fine. She could totally laugh at me and I wouldn’t care. ‘So, you’re going to be the nicotine gum to my Brody cigarette?’
Whatever you do, do not think of being in her mouth. For fuck’s sake, I may have to move this clipboard lower if I get any more filthy ideas. But yeah, she’s got the gist. ‘Yep. Sure am.’”

First off – this is a taboo romance.  Ash is the coach and Bronwyn is one of his players, so immediately there’s the issue of a power imbalance.  There’s definite lines crossed, which may prove to be too squicky for some readers.  While normally I’m not a fan of power imbalances like this, I think it was handled well enough that while I was aware of it, it was enough in the background that I could enjoy the romance part.  One of the things that helped is that they’re not that far apart in age – Ash is in his late twenties and Bronwyn is in her early twenties.

The thing that didn’t help is that it felt like Bronwyn acted so much younger than her actual age, and Ash older.  So, the thing that gets them together in a way that starts their relationship is that Ash offers to be a distraction from Brody – if Bronwyn  wants to call Brody, she should call him, etc.  This ends up with her calling him and coming over to his room in the middle of the night to cuddle… because she can’t sleep by herself.  Also, their big breakup is spurred by Ash denying that he’s having inappropriate relations with anyone on his team, which, you know, she agrees is the only course of action he could take, because, yeah, this is hella inappropriate.  Plus, Brody, Bronwyn’s boyfriend, was such an awful person and I don’t really understand why she stuck with him for so long, especially since she seems to rebound so quickly from him.  It really made me wonder – I mean, obviously, Brody was no prince, but seriously, she went from one relationship to another, so it really made me question her judgment and maturity.

“Ash is really strong. Not in the could-bench-press-me way Brody was, but in a quieter way. I don’t think I’d be able to dedicate my life to helping people get better at something I used to love but could no longer do. How is he not bitter as fuck? I would be. I don’t even think there’d be anything wrong with that.”

It’s not like Ash doesn’t screw up, himself.  Though he seems mostly able to separate his personal and professional interactions with Bronwyn, he does almost nearly blow it at one point.  I especially loved his back story and that he suffered from chronic pain.  It gave him a good reason for being such a young coach, and I admired his maturity and his love for the sport, especially in terms of women’s hockey versus men’s hockey.  It feels, sometimes, like the physical consequences of playing high impact sports are not very well addressed in romances – and I get it, it can be a downer – but I thought this was done in such a masterful way to lend a lot of depth to the story.

Overall, though I may have had some issues with the trope, I did really enjoy this book.  I hope Ms. Parker writes more women’s hockey books in the future!

Related Posts

  • Snow & Ice Games Series
  • By Tamsen Parker
  • Same Genre
Seduction on the Slopes
Review: Seduction on the Slopes – Tamsen Parker
Love on the Tracks
Review: Love on the Tracks – Tamsen Parker
Fire on the Ice
Review: Fire on the Ice – Tamsen Parker
On the Brink of Passion
Review: On the Brink of Passion – Tamsen Parker
Love on the Tracks
Review: Love on the Tracks – Tamsen Parker
The Inside Track
Review: The Inside Track – Tamsen Parker
Fire on the Ice
Review: Fire on the Ice – Tamsen Parker
On the Brink of Passion
Review: On the Brink of Passion – Tamsen Parker
Heroine's Journey
Review: Heroine’s Journey – Sarah Kuhn
Highland Dragon Master
Review: Highland Dragon Master – Isabel Cooper
Review: Before Daylight – Andie J. Christopher
Just a Little Bet
Review: Just a Little Bet – Tawna Fenske

You might also enjoy

Fire and BoneReview: Fire and Bone – Rachel A. Marks
In a HolidazeReview: In a Holidaze – Christina Lauren
Hearts AlightMini-Review: Hearts Alight – Elliot Cooper
Previous:
Review: By the Book – Julia Sonneborn
Next:
Review: Fire on the Ice – Tamsen Parker

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Me



READING LLAMA

Hi, my name is Lauren, and I’m the Reading Llama! I love reading books. My favorites usually include a female protagonist with at least a little bit of romance.

Twitter    Goodreads    RSS    email

Follow

Currently Reading

May Reviews

Something Wilder by Christina LaurenJust Like Mother by Anne HeltzelForged in Flames by Ali WilliamsA Show for Two by Tashie BhuiyanUnder Fortunate Stars by Ren HutchingsIf You Want Me Close by Skye KilaenBlame It on the Brontes by Annie SerenoThe Prince's Poisoned Vow by Hailey Turner

Recently Read

Goodreads Challenge

2021 Reading Challenge

2021 Reading Challenge
Lauren has read 7 books toward her goal of 250 books.
hide
7 of 250 (2%)
view books

Reading Challenges

CBR13 Bingo

CBR13 bingo
July 1 - October 31

hide
12 of 25 (48%)

Badges

25 Book Reviews Reviews Published Professional Reader Frequently Auto-Approved Romanceopoly 2019 Participant

Latest Tweets

Tweets by llamareadsbooks

Archives

Currently Reading

Wanting a Witch Wanting a Witch by Lauren Connolly
Legends & Lattes Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
The Stardust Thief (The Sandsea Trilogy, #1) The Stardust Thief (The Sandsea Trilogy, #1) by Chelsea Abdullah

Archives

  • Ghosts, a secret library and magic collide in a dystopian Edinburgh. Highly recommended!
  • This month’s sticker from the #RomStickerClub is super cute and SHINY!
  • Finished up my ARC of Jackie Lau’s His Grumpy Childhood Friend (out this Tuesday) and I loved this quote! “Practice”
  • Starting off with a quote from one of my favorite books, Charlie Adhara’s The Wolf at Bay, second in Big

Categories

  • Book Tour
  • Challenge
  • Cover Reveal
  • Excerpt
  • lol
  • Most Anticipated
  • PondathonII
  • Reviews
  • Sunday Update
  • TBR
  • Uncategorized
  • Wrap-Up

Copyright © 2022 · Dreams Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in