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Review

4 stars!

The second book in the Pittsburgh Titans series, this is a sweet and gorgeously emotional story about loss, grief and healing, with a beautifully functional romance. I loved it.

This series follows the new Pittsburgh Titans NHL team. Only a few weeks previously, the team’s plane crashed on landing killing everybody on board, and now a new bunch of guys have been bought on to take their place. It’s a difficult legacy to step into, and Stone Dumelin is feeling it even more than most because he lost his estranged younger brother in the crash. Stone was previously in the NHL until a shoulder injury forced him down into the minors. This is his chance to resurrect his career, but he’s doing it with the ghost of his brother everywhere he looks.

Harlow is an attorney, and was Stone’s brother’s best friend. She knew him better than anybody, and when she’s tasked with carrying out Brooks’ final wishes, she needs to get in touch with Stone. Except he wants nothing to do with her, or his brother’s estate. But she’s bold, tenacious, and doesn’t take anybody’s crap (which I love). She eventually connects with him, and she proves to be the lifeline that Stone didn’t know he needed.

This is a beautifully written story which is just as much about Stone’s personal journey dealing with his grief and his conflicted feelings about his brother, as it is about the romance. There are complex and damaging dynamics in Stone’s family, and those are explored in great detail while Stone comes to term with his loss, and gets to know his brother all over again through his journals, and through Harlow, who shares so much of Brook’s life, and her own, with Stone.

Even after Stone’s animosity when they first met, Harlow is such a confident, kind, drama-free person that she quickly moves on, and she is there for him, talking about Brooks, helping him deal with his grief, and letting him into her world, while allowing him to open up about his. Their friendship develops quickly and easily, and that naturally becomes more when they start to develop feelings for each other. They don’t run from it, they don’t hide, they just follow their hearts (and their libidos), into an honest, playful, sexy and emotional relationship that is so beautiful to see.

Given the backstory to the series, and the highly emotional first book, I was expecting this one to be full of feels, and it totally delivered. The balance of romance to high drama and emotion is really well done, and the different aspects of the story are woven together beautifully to create a gorgeous love story for Stone and Harlow. There’s a lot that Stone needs to work through, and that does impact on their relationship, but as with everything else in the story, they address it, they deal with it, and they find a way through it without there being too much angst, and I thought their journey was really beautifully written.

I’m loving this series. The timeline of this book overlaps with the timeline of the first book in the series, Baden, but there is very little repetition, and I actually found it really nice to see the events from a different perspective. The sports aspect is exciting, that backstory is captivating, and as we get to see more of the boys on the team, I’m getting really excited for their stories. There is a lot of emotion to come, and I am here for it.

Loved this one – 4 stars.

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