Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Head Coach (Hellions Angels #2) by Lia Riley

* * * 3/4

Neve Angel’s life is all work and no play, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. One of Denver’s top sports reporters, she's fought hard to make it in a male-dominated world, and she won’t back down from a fight with anyone–not even the Hellions’ gruff head coach, Tor Gunnar. Her hostile relationship with the icy Scandinavian is the stuff of local legend.

Tor Gunnar hates dealing with the media; at best, they are a nuisance and at worst, a distraction. And no one distracts him more than the scrappy, sexy reporter who gets him hot under the collar. When he wins a not-so-friendly bet with Neve, he decides it’s high time they either kiss or kill each other, and invites her as a date to an out-of-town wedding.

But what happens when enemies become lovers? Will they be able to smother their sizzling attraction, or is it time to start playing for keeps?


Source: advance e-galley provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review


If ever anyone needs to get me in a good mood, just hand me a Lia Riley book, any one of them because that'll do the trick. Revisiting the Hellions Hockey World was such a joy for me because Riley always mixes humour with the serious.

Tor is the Hellions head coach who's facing a tough season without his ace player (Jed West from Mister Hockey) and it's only gotten more stressful with the lockout. Everyone wants a piece of him or the latest scoop from him and none more so than Neve Angel, a reporter who seems to be more of a pain in his backside than anything. They've had an adversarial relationship for as long as they can remember that they both seem to hate and love. Hate because Neve pushes his buttons. Love because Neve pushes his buttons unlike any other woman in a freaking long time. And Neve is equally as affected by their frequent jabs at each other.  With hockey on hold that buffer that was between them has been removed. It just so happens that Tor's still tight with Jed who's girlfriend is Breezy Angel, Neve's sister. So when they wind up at a bar together one night and agree to a bet that she loses (to be his date for a weekend at his ex-wife's wedding), you know what that means. TROUBLE. Now all that underlying attraction that's been brewing will finally erupt. 

I enjoy these enemies-to-lovers stories because it's always fun to see who gets to whom first and how they respond. Additionally, with both of them being in the same business but on different sides of it makes things tricky for them. Getting involved with a coach could ruin her credibility as a journalist. As a coach, dating a journalist would be a huge conflict of interest for Tor. What keeps it all moving is Riley's effortless wording and humour. I just like how she gets creative with her descriptions. And oh my goodness, I died laughing through all the puns because who doesn't love puns? Especially when it involves a moose. 

The only thing that was off to me was how quickly a resolution presented itself because I don't think I got an inkling of it at any point as a possibility. It is also entirely possible that I might have even missed it if it was mentioned earlier but that's minor in comparison to the fun, sweet, sassy and sexy story that Head Coach is. If you're looking for something featuring two people who seem to barely stand each other but secretly want to jump each other's bones, you must read Head Coach

~ Bel


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