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Blurb

Only in my family could a professional hockey player earning seven million dollars a year be considered a slacker.

I’m at the height of my athletic career. Yet my arrogant brother is always trying to recruit me into the family business: a global security company so secretive that I don’t even know its name.

Pass, thanks. I don’t need a summer job.

But the jerk ambushes me with a damsel in distress. That damsel is Alex, the competitive, sassy girl I knew when we were kids. Now she’s a drop-dead gorgeous woman in deep trouble.

So guess who’s on a flight to Hawaii?

It’s going to be a long week in paradise. My job is keeping Alex safe, while her job is torturing me with her tiny bikinis. Or maybe we’re torturing each other. It’s all snark and flirting until the threat against Alex gets serious. And this jock must become her major league protector.

Moonlighter is a stand-alone novel. No cliffhangers, no prior experience necessary. Contains: hackers, hockey players, and a hotel room with only one bed.

 

 

 

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Review

5 stars!

I love this book so much! Funny and sexy with fantastic banter and chemistry, it’s a great blend of laughs and feels, a beautifully heartfelt friends-to-lovers/fake-romance/sports romance and a clever twist of suspense. It sucked me right in, and I loved these characters and their story.

This book is the first in The Company series, a spin off from the Brooklyn Bruisers series. I think I may be one of the only people on the planet that hasn’t read the Brooklyn Bruisers, and given my love of Sarina’s other books I have no idea why I haven’t read them. I honestly have no excuse, but I’ll definitely be getting on to them now! But rest assured that you don’t have to have read the earlier books in order to follow this one. There is some character crossover, but no real spoilers, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to delve back into this world.

This is the story of NHL player, Eric Bayer. He’s an older member of the team, well liked and respected among his team mates, and as much as he loves hockey, he’s looking forward to some down time during the season break Until his brother calls him in to work a job for the ‘family’ business.

It’s the most successful company that you’ve never heard of.
In contrast, I’ve been a professional athlete for fifteen years. I make seven million dollars a year, and I’m basically the family slacker.

Eric’s brother and father run a hugely successful, ludicrously wealthy security firm and their latest client is tech billionaire CEO, Alex Engels. Eric and Alex spent a summer together as children, and she now needs somebody with security skills to accompany her to a conference in Hawaii… while acting as her boyfriend. Given their history, Eric is well placed to step into the role, and though it’s the last thing he wants, he figures a week in paradise with a gorgeous woman won’t be too hard to handle.

From the moment these two are together, sparks are flying! There is an obvious attraction between them, and the banter is entertaining and so freaking funny as they get used to being all up in each other’s space.

“Morning.” She blinks at me. Specifically at my abs, I think. “Where are your pajamas?”
“Don’t own any.” I glance down at my boxers. All the important bits are covered. “Does it matter? I could put on my bathing suit instead. It’s more or less the same thing in a brighter color.”
“Right.” She clears her throat. But I don’t miss her eyes making another quick sweep of my body. And I have to hold back a laugh. Could Alex be having a moment of regret? “Um…” She shakes her head once. “Thank you for dealing with the delivery.”
“No problem.” I lift a hand to my chest and stroke a palm down my bare skin.
And, yup, her eyes lock onto my fingers, and she follows my movements like a hungry dog eyes a piece of meat.
How funny is this? Now I’m definitely not putting on a shirt this morning. Not until I absolutely have to. Why ruin the fun?

The chemistry is off the charts as they flirt and tease, and all of that anticipation builds beautifully until they can’t keep away and holy hell, it’s hot! The sexy time is passionate and intense, and it all happens so naturally and feels so right. Though neither of them are in a place where they can do a relationship, so they keep things simple and restricted to the brief time they are away together.

But when the danger threatening Alex becomes more extreme, Eric finds it difficult to walk away, and it seems they may be a whole lot more invested than either of them ever expected to be.

I loved the setup to this story. Eric and Alex’s childhood together created a wonderful bond that became something entirely different once they reconnected as adults. They are honest and completely upfront and everything between them felt so natural and easy, and just sizzled with chemistry, and I honestly loved each and every interaction between them – whether they were bantering, arguing, flirting, getting sweet and thoughtful, their constant playfulness or getting down and dirty. They are gold together, and watching things shift and change for them over the duration of the book was absolutely gorgeous!

The trip to Hawaii is only the beginning Eric and Alex’s story. There are some fantastic surprises and twists that add SO much to the story, and are best discovered as you read. I never knew what to expect, which I loved, and I love that they had individual stories where we got to learn so much about them, but we also got this irresistible romance that I couldn’t get enough of!

I loved Alex as a character. She’s strong, sensible and confident but has a relatable softer side, and she’s a fantastic heroine. And Eric… I’m in love! Smart, funny, sweet and caring, he is protective, slightly arrogant, irresistibly charming and sexy as all hell and just adore him! And any man that throws himself all in with a pregnant woman and cares for her and that baby like his own absolutely melts me! Those final scenes with him in the role as ‘Daddy’ had me sighing and swooning like a gooey moron.

I loved the tie in with Eric’s hockey career, seeing his teammates and the camaraderie there. I also loved the introduction to Eric’s family and The Company. Alex being targeted in a case of deadly industrial espionage adds a really intriguing element to the story, and I loved the excitement and intensity, and the details of the security and tech that forms the suspense part of the storyline. It’s woven in really well as a part of Eric’s story, and I loved the snarky relationship he had with his brother, Max (I’m hoping he’ll get a book at some point!). And as a way to bring Eric and Alex together, the drama and suspense is really well done.

This is such a fantastic read. It has all of the elements of a great romance, with so much more, and it finishes off beautifully, with no cliffhanger and great closure for this couple but definitely more story to be told.

Love, love, loved it. 5 stars!

An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

 

 

 

The Company

 

Check out more great reads at our Sarina Bowen Author Spotlight