Review – Hard Fall by Brenda Rothert & Kat Mizera

Posted September 14, 2021 by Carole in Reviews / 7 Comments

I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review – Hard Fall by Brenda Rothert & Kat MizeraHard Fall by Brenda Rothert, Kat Mizera
Series: St. Louis Mavericks #1
Published by Silver Sky Publishing Inc. on September 14, 2021
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Contemporary
Pages: 350
Format: ARC
Source: Publicist
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four-stars

The St. Louis Mavericks are having the best season in team history. On pace for a pro hockey record, the unexpected death of their captain and star player knocks them off course in ways they never expected.

Weston

My world was turned upside down the day Ben Whitmer died. Best friends since junior hockey, Ben was like a brother to me. My voice of reason and a grounding force on and off the ice. But as heartbroken as I am, I don’t have the luxury of grieving his loss.

Not only do I have to hold our team together, I was named guardian of the two young children Ben and his wife left behind. Well, not just me—me and his wife’s best friend, Hadley. We’ve been left with the impossible task of deciding which of us will raise the kids, but there’s no way I’m letting that uptight ball buster have them.

Lines are drawn, but they begin to blur as I find out there’s more to Hadley than I thought. A lot more.

Hadley

I can’t take the place of my beautiful best friend in her children’s lives. But I love them so fiercely that I’ll do whatever it takes to raise them the way their parents wanted.

Wes Kirby is an obnoxious womanizer, and I won’t let him take Ben and Lauren’s children from me. Deciding to temporarily live together in our friends’ home, we attempt to provide the kids stability while we figure out which of us is better suited to raising them.

As we learn parenthood together, my enemy Wes slowly becomes something different. Something more. And I’m left wondering not only if I’m enough for the kids, but if Wes and I are enough to last.

Oh, I had a good time with this one! If you have followed my reviews for any amount of time, you probably already know that I am a sucker for a good hockey romance. What can I say? So when this book made its way to me and I saw that it was a hockey romance set in my hometown, I knew that I would have to give it a try. This story grabbed my heart early on and I couldn’t wait to see how everything would work out.

Wes and Hadley have known each other since their best friends, Ben and Lauren, fell in love and married. As much as their friends had hoped that they would hit it off as well, Wes and Hadley barely tolerate each other. When Ben and Lauren are killed in an accident, Wes and Hadley are both devastated and shocked to learn that they have been named guardians of the two small children.

I really liked Wes and Hadley. It was obvious how much they both cared for Ben and Lauren’s children and I loved how they quickly learned to work together to make the household work. They have a long history of disliking each other but they learn a lot about each other once they start living together and becoming part of a family unit. They had fantastic chemistry together and I liked how they grew to trust each other’s opinions. The kids in this story were great and played a huge role in the story. I also loved the men on Wes’s hockey team and how they were willing to lend a hand whenever they could.

I would recommend this book to others. This was a very well-done hockey romance with fantastic characters. I would have loved to see a little more of St. Louis in the story but that didn’t have an impact on my enjoyment. I cannot wait to read the next book in this series!

I received a digital review copy of this book from the publicist/authors.

7 responses to “Review – Hard Fall by Brenda Rothert & Kat Mizera

  1. Having lived in MN so many years you’d think I would be more into hockey romance because it was all over, including on the lake behind my home. and down the street on a pond. These private rinks were not only always shoveled, they had lights too!

    I’m glad you enjoyed it.

  2. I had to check out your review. Like you, I love hockey romances and am always looking for new ones. Glad to hear this was a fun one