Author: Cate Cameron
Series: Corrigan Falls Raiders #1
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publisher: Entangled Crush
Publication Date: May 19th, 2015
Page Count: 196 pages
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher via Netgalley in exchange of my honest opinion.
Summary:
The hometown hockey hero won’t know what hit him…
Karen Webber is in small-town hell. After her mother’s death, she moved to Corrigan Falls to live with strangers—her dad and his perfect, shiny new family—and there doesn’t seem to be room for a city girl with a chip on her shoulder. The only person who makes her feel like a real human being is Tyler MacDonald.
But Karen isn’t interested in starting something with a player. And that’s all she keeps hearing about Tyler.
Corrigan Falls is a hockey town, and Tyler’s the star player. But the viselike pressure from his father and his agent are sending him dangerously close to the edge. All people see is hockey—except Karen. Now they’ve managed to find something in each other that they both desperately need. And for the first time, Tyler is playing for keeps…
*The Reader’s Review*
My rating: 3.5/5 stars
Center Ice was a cute read. It had the feels, it had the drama, and it had everything else that a good YA Contemporary book should have. Oh, and it has HOT HOCKEY PLAYERS. Soyeah, that was my first reason why I wanted to pick this book up and I’m glad I did so because I liked my hockey players in here.
But more than just being a book about cute guys, it’s also an emotionally packed story. It’s a book about letting go and giving a chance to new possibilities. We get to read about the lives of Karen and Tyler who are dealing with their own family issues and life struggles. Karen is full of heartbreak because of her mother’s recent death and the fact that she had to move in with her cheating father and his perfect family. Tyler who is the famous hometown hockey hero and the biggest player around, is trying to find a way to get his father off his back. These characters are bright and witty, despite their pains, specially when they meet and start to fall for each other, so their story instead of being dark and heavy, turns into a light read filled with good humor and love.
I liked that Karen and Tyler stayed true to themselves. Even though they are so different from each other, they made their relationship work. Karen gave Tyler the necessary break from hockey that he needed since she wasn’t into the sport like everyone else, and Tyler gave her the love and support she desperately craved. I really liked them as a couple.
What I would have loved is to have read more action on the ice-rink. Hockey is a huge theme in this book in Tyler’s POV, but we rarely see him play professionally. The cover is a little misleading too since I was expecting for Karen to at least kiss him once when ice-skating, but nope, they don’t even skate together. They do run every morning though, and those scenes were among my favorites in the book. Pretty funny bantering!
I didn’t know Center Ice was going to be part of a series until I reached the last page and got a sneak-peek into the next book. It will be focused on two new characters, and though I am going to miss Karen and Tyler’s POVs (good thing they make cameo appearances), I’m excited to read their stories.
This sounds like a really cute read. I can't say I've read books featuring hockey players, so that's fun. Cool review, Melissa! 🙂
Gaah, I really hate it when a character is said to be good at something but we don't get to do it. It annoys me so much.
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