New Release & ARC Review: If You Need Me (Toronto Terror, #3) by Helena Hunting

If You Need Me
by Helena Hunting

Released – 14 November 2024

Available Today!
Amazon US | Amazon Universal | Paperback

Blurb

A standalone enemies-to-lovers, fake engagement hockey romance.

I’ve been secretly in love with Wilhelmina Reddi-Grinst since the third grade.

I should be the one taking her to our small-town high school reunion. The prom king finally gets his chance with the valedictorian.

Except she hates me.

‘To the world, I’m a pro hockey player with a million dollar smile.

To Hemi, I’m the menace who (accidentally) sank her bike to the bottom of the lake.

I never thought I’d be able to right my wrongs until she took the team’s PR job.

I’d hoped I was making progress, winning her over—one geriatric polka party at a time.

Until I got drunk one night and made a mistake. A very big mistake.

Now the world thinks we’re both very much in love–—except Hemi is absolutely in loathe.

To save our jobs and reputations, we have to convince all our friends, family, and bosses that our fake relationship is the real deal.

I’ll do anything to protect her, especially if it means I get to be the best boyfriend Hemi never expected.

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Review

5 stars!

If You Need Me is the third book in the Toronto Terror series and is my favorite so far. This series just keeps getting better and better! I love fake romances and this one is one of the best!

Hemi and Dallas grew up together. He made her life awful at school and now they are working together. She’s the PR director for the Toronto Terror hockey team, the team Dallas plays for, and he still makes her life hard. However, though she thinks he’s always trying to annoy her because he doesn’t like her, this couldn’t be further from the truth. He wants her attention and always has. It doesn’t matter how he gets it, just that he does.

To the world and to Hemi, it looks like Dallas hates her so when Dallas posts on social media that Hemi is the love of his life, it complicates everything in their lives. Now to avoid a PR nightmare and breaking the no-fraternization policy at work, these two are “dating.”

I adored Hemi. She’s such a great character and I felt awful about what happened to her in high school with her ex-best friend and her crush at the time. Then, there is the added torment that Dallas dished her way, yet we don’t know what actually went down until much later in the story. I felt her anxiety about attending her reunion and love that Dallas was the person to help her out even though his help was unconventional.

I’m living my dream right now, but I’m making her live her worst nightmare.

Dallas. Dallas. Dallas. He was all in when it came to Hemi. I just couldn’t stop swooning over everything he did to prove how he felt and to try to apologize for the past. His support, his patience, and his love. OMG, his love! I couldn’t get enough of Dallas.

You know how these fake romances always go – it doesn’t stay fake for long and I loved every single moment. I loved how they did things “backwards.” From fake dating to fake engagement to finally real feelings, I loved the progression of their relationship. There’s no doubt these two are meant to be. Dallas wanted her and she didn’t know that he was exactly who she needed.I believed their feelings, I was rooting for them. I just wanted them to be together without fears, reservations, or second guessing themselves.

I have to give a shout out to the secondary characters because they are awesome. I loved seeing the Toronto Terror gang again, and all of their support for their friends.

Overall, I loved If You Need Me. This story has the perfect amount of seriousness to go with the fantastic humor that pours from the pages, and it’s such a wonderful read.