Loving Hard: A Chesapeake Blades Hockey Romance by Lisa B. Kamps
Plot:
Sammie Reigler lost the love of her life the day he served her divorce papers while he was deployed.
No explanations or chances to talk things through and understand.
Nothing at all.
With a baby girl to take care of, she picks herself up and tries to start a new life working as a kindergarten teacher and a professional hockey player for the Chesapeake Blades.
As a single mom, working two jobs is not easy but every day she does her best to do right by little Claire.
Jonathan Reigler lost himself to the violence of war.
Overcome by the atrocities and cruelty on the battlefield he felt like a monster and made the worst decision of his life because he could not bare to taint the people he loves most.
His wife and child.
Struggling with PTSD and with forgiving himself he realizes he cannot live without them.
Two years are a long time though and while Jonathan is determined to get his family back, Sammie is determined to stay away from men, especially the one that broke her heart.
Personal Thoughts:
This is a sweet second chance love story about forgiveness.
The hero learns to forgive himself for what he had to do in war while trying to cope with his PTSD and the heroine learns to forgive his choice to abruptly leave her and break her heart without giving her the chance to stand by him when he most needed her.
I’m absolutely ELATED by the fact that the hero, Jon, is celibate during the separation.
It’s a rarity in the romance genre!!!
Being unable to even think of sleeping with another woman makes Jon’s feelings toward Sammie truly believable.
He never stopped loving his wife and he’s very aware he made a stupid choice the day he signed the divorce papers, even if he felt war had turned him into a monster.
That said…I’m a picky reader and I couldn’t help noticing some things that didn’t work for me:
● the hero’s dropping the word Fuck/fucking added to every concept or frase.
It is supposed to convey his frustration and anger towards himself but it just bothered me.
What a fucking crock of shit. The only thing he’d been was a fucking coward. Scared shitless. And too fucking stupid to realize it at the time, no matter how much his buddies had tried telling him otherwise.
Whole pages full of this kind of language.
I mean… it’s common to springle a bit of “fuck” here and there but in Jon’s sentences is way overused!
● The little girl’s speech. She’s 3 but she doesn’t sound like it..
– She looked at him over her shoulder, her brown eyes so trusting, then held the book up to him.
“Read me story. Now.”
– A big smile blossomed on Clare’s face as she bounced up and down. “Watch a movie, Daddy. Now.”
– Clare giggled, bouncing up and down as she clapped her hands. “Mommy. Go kick butt. Now.”
Why does the girl finish most of her sentences with “now”??
● The reason why he approaches his wife and kid after 2 years of silence. What made him finally see reason?
His answer “because I love you” was not enough for me.
Overall this book is an engaging read, with a lovable MC and cool secondary characters.
Those issues I mentioned above, expecially the last one, are the reasons why my rating is 2.5 stars and not 3.
I loved both Jon’s friends (all ex-military) and Sammie’s teammates (all great women fighting for their dream of playing professional hockey)
Even if this wasn’t quite a 3 stars read for me, I’ll definitely keep an eye open for Shannon’s story!
⭐2.5 Stars rounded up ⭐
” Loving Hard: A Chesapeake Blades Hockey Romance by Lisa B. Kamps ” is book #2 in The Chesapeake Blades series. Can be read as a STANDALONE.
~ My Ratings ~
Writing: 3 /5
Plot: 3 /5
Hero: 2.5 /5
Heroine: 3/5
Secondary Characters: 3.5 /5
MC’s chemistry: 2.5 /5
Steam: 2.5 /5
Triggers: Second chance love story with separation but there’s no sex with OW/OM. The hero has PTSD.
Recommended to: Contemporary Romance Readers looking for a Second Chance love story.
Loving Hard: A Chesapeake Blades Hockey Romance by Lisa B. Kamps
❤❤ Are you looking for a specific mix of ingredients for your next read?
FIND YOUR BOOK MATCH HERE!
