Saturday, August 16, 2014

[Double ARC Review]: "Risky Business"

Risky Business by Melissa Cutler
Publisher: InterMix (August 19, 2014)
Series: Bomb Squad, 1
Genre: Contemporary Romance


Welcome to Destiny Falls, New York, home of the Bomb Squad—an ice hockey team full of rugged military heroes. But the season’s biggest match-up isn’t on the ice as one of their own prepares to go head to head with his new boss…

Allison Whitely’s ex left her with a mountain of debt and Cloud Nine, a struggling boat rental business. With zero job skills, her only hope of getting back in the black lies in a brooding ex-soldier who has her seeing red…

Theo Lacroix’s teammates are counting on their star player to help them win an upcoming high profile hockey game. But when a sexy tornado of a woman sweeps into town and expects him to help her with Cloud Nine, Theo is tempted to skate away from it all.

Theo vowed to never again be someone’s knight in shining armor, but his feelings—and desire—for Allison are becoming harder to ignore. He longs to save her, but to win Allison’s love, he’ll have to throw out his old playbook and take the ultimate risk…playing from the heart.



Where to Buy*:
More Info:

Reviews of Cutler's Previous Books:

Cowboy Justice (#2) -- Kame
How to Catch a Real Man (#3) -- Kame

Tempted into Danger (#1) -- Kame


Kame's Review:

A good start to a new series


Allison is making drastic changes in her life. She is moving to a small town and taking over a business she knows nothing about just to try to give her young daughter a good life. She knew her employees may not be pleased but she never thought she would meet the resistance she had from Theo; and she never imagined he would awaken parts of her she thought her ex-husband long since killed.

Allison has great spunk and determination. I don't think anyone can read this book and not like her. I especially liked how she was taking back her life; and I even liked her hints of stubbornness. I did not warm up to Theo as quickly as I did Allison; and I wonder if that was by design. Melissa Cutler did this neat twist on the story and kept the reader in the dark about Theo. We learned about Theo when Allison does; I really liked this. My impression of him changed right along as things were revealed. I sort of fell for Theo right along with Allison. 






“That was Theo?”

“Yup.”

“You didn’t mention he was….was…”

“A jerk?”

“That too, but….”

“That he spoke French?”

“That too, but ….” Chelsea shifted Katie to one arm, then held her hand out, miming a broad shoulder, then a bulging biceps. “An eleven. No – a twelve.”

“Yeah, that too.”

In the garage, an engine revved in a long, loud, brash roar of sound. Chelsea startled. “What’s that?”

“His motorcycle.”

After a lengthy pause, Chelsea let out a low whistle. “Screw wine. This situation is code level: vodka.”





The secondary characters in this book were wonderful. They weren't bland and one sided. I have to say my favorite secondary character was Katie - she made me giggle, the detail in her mannerisms was great and really helped make scenes shine. Then there were the guys, the other members of the Bomb Squad (which by the way is the name of the hockey team - they no way have anything to do with law enforcement!) each has a fantastic personality and great care was taken to give them character traits that would make you love them even before they get their own book in the series. There is one character I want to slap upside the head; that would be Chelsea - Allison's sister but I am sure in some future book Melissa will redeem her.


The plot is easy to follow and does not contain too much hockey jargon so someone like me new to the sport can follow it. I like how the progression of the love story between Allison and Theo takes time and that we do see our fair share of other characters - it is a good first book in a series, it lays a great foundation.


This is not my first Melissa Cutler book - she can write a great cowboy - and it won't be my last - I will definitely be following the rest of this series.



4 STARS!




Pat's Review:


Allison Whitley hates water, and it seems to haunt her. She nearly drowned as a child and the worst things that happen to her, water always seems to be involved. Her husband, Lowell, was arrested for embezzlement at a local "Gentlemen's Club" and it was raining buckets, worse, she subsequently went into labor with her  baby at the same location, in the rain.   Lowell left her broke and very angry, but she has her beautiful daughter Katie who makes up for it all. Her dreams of being a stay at home Mom are over. After a discussion with her attorney, she finds out she is the owner of a rental boat business in Destiny Falls, New York.  She has no idea how to run a boat business or any business for that matter, but she has to provide for Katie and herself so she's going to learn.



Theo LaCroix is a bad ass biker, hockey player and wounded veteran of the Canadian Army.  He is also very much a loner and likes it that way. His life is his houseboat Lanette, hockey and his dream to own Cloud Nine Landing. He just found out that the man he was employed by and owner of the business has been arrested for embezzlement.  His dreams seem to be going up in smoke, but wait, that's another part of the story.



The Bomb Squad is a hockey team made up of wounded veterans with disabilities and lovers of all things hockey.  They have formed a brotherhood of sorts and look out for each other. Their dream is to have the chance to play in an exhibition game, sponsored by a Veterans Organization against a team of Russians. They are fighting hard for that chance.



This is a very enjoyable read that has it all. A very sweet love story with lots of heat, wounded vets trying to get on with their lives and their amazing day to day struggle some of them have.  Of course there is a Harley and a very sweet baby, but unfortunately for Allison......a lot of water!


4 STARS! 

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Pat and Kame both received an e-ARC of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for their honest opinions.

*Note: The quote used belong to Melissa Cutler; Kame and TBQ's Book Palace do not claim it.

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Thanks for the review, ladies! :) This entire series was on Lusting for Covers a few months back -- for obvious reasons! *wink* I am so glad to hear you enjoyed the first book in the series. 

Have you read Melissa Cutler before? Do you have a favorite book of hers?



Enjoy!


Until Next Time,


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  *TBQ's Book Palace is a member of both the Amazon and Barnes and Nobles affiliates program. By using the links provided to buy products from either website, I receive a very small percentage of the order. To read my full disclosure on the matter, please see this post!

5 comments :

Pat Egan Fordyce said...

As always, fun to share a review! Thanks Kame and TBQ!

KAMEBookReview said...

Sure thing Pat - it was fun!

Janie said...

Putting this on my list.

Sophia Rose said...

You gals have me convinced that I want to read this one. Thanks!

Ada H said...

I do love a good hockey romance. I haven't read any books by Melissa yet but this new series is added to my TBR list :)