Dropping Gloves by Catherine Gayle!

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She left to follow her dreams; she’s back to follow her heart.

Katie Weber left her heart in Portland to chase a career in Hollywood. Now she has returned to sing the national anthem for the Portland Storm for their annual Hockey Fights Cancer night. Her longtime crush, Jamie Babcock, is hurting just as much as she is. One look in his eyes is all it takes to know that. She's done the Hollywood thing, though, and she's over it, but it might be too late to dig herself out of the hole she’s dug with him.

Jamie’s already done everything humanly possible to let go of Katie, but she keeps coming back, and she keeps crushing him all over again every time she leaves. His heart has been trampled on more than enough already. At some point, he has to draw the line. Doesn't he? Only, when it's Katie, he's not sure that's even possible. She's in Portland again right now, but he can’t be sure for how long.

Katie knows she has a fight on her hands, in more ways than one, if she’s going to convince Jamie she deserves another chance, but she’s willing to drop her gloves this time. Because in the game of love, all bets are off.

Description found on Goodreads.

Review:

Finally! Katie and Bab's story. I was so excited to get this and read it especially because I knew they would get their happy ending. I just wanted to know how. And again, Catherine Gayle does not disappoint. This book was a real tear jerker as many of her books are and I honestly can say it might be good to have tissues handy. I had a hard time putting Dropping Gloves down and I can tell you that this book is well worth the money!

One of my favorite things is how little updates are dropped here and there about different characters. Sometimes the news makes you sad because they characters are no longer with the Portland Storm but they are with the Tulsa Thunderbirds so that's a bit of hope as Catherine Gayle is writing this spin off series. 

I also enjoy Catherine's writing style. It's one of the few times I enjoy first person perspective. I'm not sure if it's just the characters voices or what exactly it is but I do enjoy it. 

There are happy moments to take away from the sad but Catherine Gayle makes sure that it is kept pretty realistic. Life isn't always happy and that is portrayed in this book. Although they do get their happy ending.

Dropping Gloves was well worth their wait and I cannot wait for more of the Portland Storm and also the Tulsa Thunderbirds!

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Double Major by Catherine Gayle

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"He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat, and a rush of peace washed through me." -Catherine Gayle, Double Major

It's Draft Day for the NHL but for the Portland Storm team, it's something much more. It's time to see two of their own married. But with the possibility of teammates getting traded, new players being drafted and so much more, can they come together as a team to celebrate the nuptials? Find the official description on Goodreads.

So, the first thing I'm going to point out is that we get to hear things from the perspectives of all our favorite characters, some newer than others but all loved just the same(especially Babs). I loved that it wasn't just focused on two characters as it seems to fit this book the best. It's meant to be a sort of epilogue from the other books and I'm really glad that Catherine Gayle chose to write from different perspectives. I definitely enjoyed the depth it gave to the story.

There's also this feeling of happiness but underlying that is a sense of dread. After all with it being draft day, players could get traded. So, I almost didn't want to read more just because of that possibility, but while reading Double Major I suffered, there were also happy moments. So, I felt like it made things worth it to just experience and see the joy the couples are experiencing for the most part.

It was also a chance to see that even after the couples of previous books are together, it's not always perfect, and it's not always a fairy tale. This made the characters seem even more real to me as I read along and I felt that it was marvelous to see the troubles that they were going through but also to see that they work things out. Not to mention we got updates on how everyone was doing and where everyone was.

Throughout Double Major there were a mixture of emotions. And I felt all of the emotions that the characters were. And without going into too much depth, I was proud of the characters. I feel like they, especially two of them, made the right decision even if it was hard and my inner fangirl was crying, one that will hopefully affect the future positively. 

And we also got some more time with Nicky. I've kind of felt like he's sort of been on the outskirts of my notice many times because we don't get to see him a whole lot in the books but I'm glad that he was brought forward in this novella. I'm really hopeful that someday we'll get his story and get to learn even more about him than we did in Double Major.

Once more Catherine Gayle has created an emotional, amazing hockey romance and I am so excited to see where she goes from here. I can't wait to see more of the Portland Storm either.

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Delay of Game by Catherine Gayle

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“For me, it’s all or nothing. I can’t half-ass this. If we do this, I will pursue you like no man has ever pursued you before. And even after I’ve caught you, I plan to continue pursuing you like my life depends on it. If you’re not prepared for that, if you’re not ready to be treated as something special and treasured and precious, then I need you to roll over, go back to sleep, and pretend none of this ever happened.” -Catherine Gayle, Delay of Game

WARNING: This book contains mature content. Not meant for younger readers.

Sara is scared. She’s trying to protect her father, and keep him healthy and so she keeps her pregnancy a secret. And yet when Cam “Jonny” Johnson protects his team and earns a ten game suspension that throws everything out of the window. Cam feels guilty and tries to put things right but with Sara and Cam attracted to each other, it definitely makes things harder to keep from touching her. And yet Sara will do anything to keep them apart. Cam’s got to be quick on his feet or he’ll lose it all. Find the official description on Goodreads.

I was so excited to receive a copy of Delay of Game to review. If you haven’t already seen my reviews of the previous three books than you should give them a peek! The Portland Storm Series book reviews and here’s my review of Taking A Shot, a novella in the series. And yes, that is a bit of a longer quote than I would normally use,  but seriously, read that and tell me that it doesn’t make you want to sigh and pull out the ice cream because you don’t have a man like that. Or sigh and be thankful that you have a man like that. Either or.

While we’ve met both Cam and Sara in previous books, we also haven’t gotten to go as in depth with their personalities as we do in Delay of Game. I was definitely in love with Cam(and don’t hate me but he even overtook my love of Babs for like half a chapter! But no worries, my Babs love came back and overtook him again) because he was such a sweetheart and he was definitely stubborn enough to win Sara over. Plus he has Buster, who more than once served up an adorable moment. And then Sara. Well I felt bad for her situation, there were also several moments where I wanted to smack. Sure, she hasn’t had the best track record but some of that was her running them off and I felt like she was letting her fear talk. Which made for a very realistically portrayed character but also someone who frustrates the reader at times.

And we can’t forget that we do get some Babs time. And this time, he starts growing into a bit of a leadership role, at least momentarily. And that was great to watch. I feel that in one scene if I wasn’t at work on break I would have been cheering out loud. Yes, I can’t resist Babs. Read this series and see if you could resist talking about him. It's impossible I tell you!

At the same time as all of this was going on, readers are emotionally drawn into the book. Sara’s emotions were everywhere at points in this book and I felt everything she felt as well as Cam’s emotions. It was eye opening and definitely made me appreciate what I have even more than I did before.

Then there was also the feeling of the team. There was just this sense of family, even for players that we haven’t gotten to see more than a couple times or heard of. It just made it seem as if everything was a big, happy family and they would be there to support each other through anything. If someone were to get traded I might just cry a whole lot. That’s how connected you felt to that family throughout the book.

Delay of Game was an amazing addition to the Portland Storm series, and I can’t wait to get more! Delay of Game was released August 16th, and I strongly suggest you give it and the rest of the Portland Storm series a chance! I assure you, you’ll fall in love quickly.

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