SIMMERING ICE by Veronica Forand & Susan Scott Shelley: Review

Simmering Ice by Veronica Forand, Susan Scott Shelley
Series: Atlantic City Hustlers #2
Published by Entangled: Lovestruck
Publication Date: July 7th 2015
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Source: Publisher
Format: eARC
Goodreads
Buy Online: Amazon ♥ B&N ♥ Kobo

Disclaimer: I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely mine.

Physical therapist Annie Davidson is great at her job but unlucky when it comes to love. She’s just out of a bad relationship. A really bad relationship. All she can do is focus on work…that is until she runs into professional hockey player Alec O’Meara. She’s a touch insecure and doesn’t understand why he’s interested in her.

Despite being one of the biggest players on the team, right wing Alec O’Meara prefers finesse over force. After the tragic death of his wife, he likes to keep things loose on and off the ice. But the red-headed Annie challenges his beliefs and makes him think about taking their relationship to the net.
The passion and fun they share is addicting and makes them long for more. But her insecurities that she’s not good enough, and his anxiety over a long-term commitment will keep them apart, unless they can find a way to break through the defenses they’ve built around their hearts.

 

In the years since he lost his wife to cancer, hockey player Alec O’Meara hasn’t shown any interest in relationships until his teammate introduces him to physical therapist, Annie Davidson. A shared love of all things sports-related creates a bond between them that strengthens as they spend more time together and for the first time since his wife’s death, Alec finds himself open to the possibility of loving someone again.

Annie’s self-esteem has taken a major hit since she got dumped by her ex and her mother’s constant digs chip away at what’s left, so even though she’s interested in Alec, she does not think that she’s his type and it’s up to Alec to convince her otherwise.

SIMMERING ICE is a well-written, fun and heartwarming story of two bruised and cautious people who get an unexpected chance at love. Alec is a thoughtful, caring, generous and sweet man and surprisingly down to earth for an athlete of his caliber. Annie is gorgeous, fun, friendly, athletic and very successful at what she does but a lifetime of criticism from her mother has made her very insecure about her ability to attract and keep a man.

For a novella, there is depth to the story and the characters are very well-developed. I especially love that the relationship between Alec and Annie developed over a period of time and that Alec was patient with Annie in spite of her many doubts about his commitment to her. Annie and Alec are very likable characters and the inclusion of Alec’s teammates and their interactions with them add some levity to the story. My only issue was that Annie never got to stand up to her mom and deal with the issues between them, especially because she was responsible for Annie’s insecurities.  All the same, SIMMERING ICE was fun and I look forward to more from these authors.

 

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