From one fantastic moment to the next, Pucked Love was a joy to read and as a long time reader I could not have asked for a better ending to this series! ~ Slick, Guilty Pleasures
Blurb:
As an NHL player, relationships haven’t been my thing. Shrouded in secrecy and speculation, they never last very long. But then that’s what happens when you require an NDA before the first date.
Until Charlene. She’s like a firefly. She’s elusive, and if you catch her she’ll burn bright, but keeping her trapped dulls her fire and dims her beauty.
I caught her. And as much as I might want to keep her, I’ll never put the lid on her jar. Not at the risk of losing her. So I’ve let her set the rules in our relationship.
But as long hidden secrets expose us both, I discover exactly how fragile Charlene is, and how much I need her.
We’re all broken. We’re all messed up. Some more than others. Me more than most.
Back in early 2015 an author I adore said I needed to check out Pucked by Helena Hunting so I did and I fell immediately in love with her
boisterous, crazy, in your face writing style. Back then I said, “Every once in awhile an author comes along and just jumps up and hits me other the head and that’s exactly how I feel about Helena Hunting.” I still feel that way and she brings this series to an amazing conclusion in Pucked Love. While this was a romance and the couple in this book was front and center, this book was so much more. It was about relationships of all kinds; strained family ones, messed up family ones, those between friends, those between teammates, and those between a man and a woman. As this series has progressed, the books have changed and that’s not a complaint. I think that shows a writer who doesn’t stick to a formula, she writes the book the character need in the way it needs to be told and Ms. Hunting gave this couple exactly what they needed. This book was filled with landmines as both the hero and heroine have messed up childhoods that shaped them into the people they are and they have baggage, a lot of baggage they haven’t shared with anyone even their closest friends or each other even though they’ve been a couple for two years. What I loved about this book is that this in addition to learning so much about each other during this book, they learned so much about themselves allowing them to open their hearts to one another. I have loved many of the books in this series, but Pucked Love stands out in the very best of ways.
Charlene and Darren pinged my interest a couple of books back and I was so excited their story finally came to fruition and it was totally worth the wait. After a bit of a faux pas, not only have all of Darren’s friends and teammates seen Charlene naked, they think they know all about their sex life which is far from the truth. I was a bit surprised by how this situation played out, and I don’t want to say a lot other than I’m glad it didn’t go down to some deep, dark place. I’ll admit my heart kind of hurt for Charlene and Darren because they were both so cautious with one another not wanting to put pressure on the other asking for too much. It was like neither one of them felt comfortable to ask for what they might want from the other in their relationship other than sexually and while they were happy with one another, there was so much missing. Both their childhoods were a bit messed up and it skewed their thinking on relationships, but I loved watching them move forward as this book went on. There was a lot of going forward only to have them take a step or two back, but that only made the reward of staying together that much sweeter. These two fumbled their way through their relationship and it was endearing and a joy to watch. I adored them together and I especially grew very fond of Darren who was always stoic but as this book unfolded his personality came out more and more. He was such a sweetheart underneath all of his hard outer shell.
All the couples from the previous books were integral to this story and featured quite a bit as the team is once again in a playoff run. I enjoyed seeing how their relationships were progressing and the bond they all had making them this wonderful family unit.
So many secrets come to light in this book, some crazy, some sad, some downright scary, but through it all this group persevered, and most of all Charlene and Darren found that facing their pasts together only made them stronger.
From one fantastic moment to the next, Pucked Love was a joy to read and as a long time reader I could not have asked for a better ending to this series.
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