Tag Archives: Cessna U Hockey series

Review – Face Me Off

09 Thursday Jan 2025

Posted by in Blog Tour, Book Review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Face Me Off

Cessna U Hockey, Book 2

by Kimberly Readnour

Blurb:

She’s the temptation I can’t escape, no matter the cost.

Maddy Grimes wants to shed her good-girl image, and somehow, I’ve become the guy to help her do it.

The problem?

She hates my guts. And who can blame her after what I did?

Her family is about to crush everything my dad and I have worked for, yet … I can’t stay away. One heated mistake turns into a pact we swear will stay secret.

But the more time I spend with Maddy, the harder it is to pretend this is just a frenemy-with-benefits fling. She’s chaos to my discipline, temptation to my control, and the one thing I want more than the future I’ve been fighting for.

When secrets unravel and loyalty is tested, I’ll have to choose: protect my family or risk everything for the girl who has the power to ruin or save me.

Falling for Maddy could cost me my dreams. Letting her go might cost me everything.

Book Two in the Cessna U Hockey series, Face Me Off, is an enemy-to-lover, forbidden hockey romance featuring a slow burn that sizzles from the first chapter. If you like hot hockey men with big-sized packages to back their claims, click to add Ryan Sorensen.

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/48OzSQS

Download today on Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play, Barnes & Noble!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3YZ75FP

Apple Books: https://apple.co/3UNM7XQ

Nook: https://bit.ly/4eMZqil

Kobo: https://bit.ly/3BFDWa0

Google Play: https://bit.ly/4gyHutA

*****

Review:

Deke Me was the first of Readnour’s books that I’ve read and I enjoyed the heck out of it. Face Me Off takes place about the same time frame with related characters. And while you don’t HAVE to have read the first book there were a few moments that would make a bit more sense afterward – only because both Maddy & Ryan are friends with Amanda & Blake so some of their romance is mentioned here.

I felt like this one has a bit more steam than the previous one – I mean it does start as a “with benefits” situation so you gotta have those bennies, right? But I still loved the characters. Both are struggling with balancing what they want against the expectations of others. They also have some history together that has left them with hurt feelings and baggage. It’s a nice little Romeo & Juliet story – with a better ending, of course.

I did have some issues tho. While Readnour gives us some delightful characters, and I found Ryan’s cheekiness and confidence appealing, if I had to hear about the size of his package one more time …. it wasn’t even him! Yes, honey, I’m thrilled for you. There was also some overuse of metaphors and similes. It can make the writing interesting but if there are so many that I notice how often “like” and “as” are used then it might be a bit much.

These are nitpicky things but the one that I think needed a bit more development were Maddy’s parents. Are they caring parents that just didn’t understand their daughter? Were they looking out for the family and doing what they thought was best for everyone? Are they rich aholes? I wanted to understand them but I just never could get a good feel for them and in this case it’s really important.

But Readnour’s writing is smooth, her books move quickly, and are easy to read. Her characters are interesting, fun, and have a conflict that may be somewhat predictable but it isn’t heavy handed or overdone. Based on these two books I am definitely going to keep an eye out on the next one in this series and will be adding some of the others to my TBR pile.

*****

Author Info:

Kimberly Readnour lives in the Midwest with her husband and a very snuggly cat.

Having a true passion for romance and HEA’s, she took the leap from the young adult genre to romance and never looked back.

Kimberly worked as a Registered Nurse for fifteen years before hanging up her stethoscope. When she isn’t running her own business, you can find her tucked away writing.

Connect with Kimberly

Website: www.kimberlyreadnour.com  

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10814504.Kimberly_Readnour 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Kimberly-Readnour/e/B00PZ6GHZG   

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkimberlyreadnour   

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1734619093516871   

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimberlyreadnour   

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kimreadnour    

X: https://www.tiktok.com/@authorkimberlyreadnour  

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kimberly-readnour   

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/authorkimberlyreadnour/    

Verve: https://ververomance.com/app/KimberlyReadnour

~

Review – Deke Me

11 Thursday Apr 2024

Posted by in Blog Tour, Book Review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

From Author Kimberly Readnour comes a fake dating sports romance in the anticipated new Cessna U Hockey series! This new, star player, ordinary girl, college hockey romance leaves you laughing while sizzling the pages. Because we all know that when it comes to the charade of hearts, love scores the winning goal.

Deke Me

Cessna U Hockey, Book One

by Kimberly Readnour

Blurb:

My life is a mess. The last thing I have time for is to fake date Blake Morton, the arrogantly charming captain of the hockey team. But with my grandmother’s looming rent and a paycheck that’s playing hide and seek, I have little choice but to accept Blake’s bizarre proposition: pretend to be his girlfriend.

The deal is simple—no strings attached, just play the part and collect the payment. Easy, right?

Wrong. Emotions don’t play by the rules, especially when you’re teamed up with someone who’s supposed to be nothing more than an arrangement.

I come from a world where every penny counts, while Blake has everything—a sizable trust fund and effortless talent. Yet, as our charade deepens, so do the glimpses of vulnerability behind his perfect facade, and the more I fall for the real Blake.

My job was to fend off distractors, not become one. As lines between reality and make-believe blur, I’m left questioning: Can my feelings withstand the ultimate test, or will they prove to be the most compelling distraction of all?

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/42yPd4L

Download today on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and Kobo!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3PrCeg5

Apple Books: https://apple.co/491fNoX

Nook: https://bit.ly/49X5ymK

Kobo: https://bit.ly/4akrlox

Google Play: https://bit.ly/43G70HV

Kimberly’s Store: https://bit.ly/DekeMe

*****

Review:

Readnour could easily have leaned too heavily on the rich boy/poor girl dynamic here but she does a good job of balancing it. Blake may be privileged but he isn’t snobby and has several moments of recognizing his good fortune, as well as understanding Amanda’s perspective and her pride. Finding himself drawn to her strength and spirit, he soon wants more than a few fake dates.

Amanda has worked hard to get where she is and doesn’t really have a lot of time for Blake or his troubles. But her big heart doesn’t let her just leave him struggling. One good deed quickly leads to another and before she knows it she’s more involved than she expected.

It’s not all smooth sailing. There are mean girl moments and family drama, as well as doubts about what the other is feeling – it did start with a fake date, after all. But they actually, and somewhat surprisingly, talk to each other pretty darn well. It’s refreshing that Readnour didn’t go that route (of course, they have enough troubles without miscommunication being one of them).

This is the first book by this author that I’ve read and I enjoyed the heck out of it. Her writing is easy, her characters are enjoyable, and the story has the right amount of angst & heat. The pacing was perfect too – the beginning is a quick introduction to the characters with a lead up to their agreement, it doesn’t take all that long for them to start to realize that things may not be as fake as they thought, and then we move into their issues on their way to a HEA. I did feel like I’d have liked a little more about where they go next but I’m hoping since it is the beginning of a series we get a bit more of their relationship as we move through the rest of the stories. Which I’m definitely looking forward to reading 🙂

*****

Author Info:

Kimberly Readnour lives in the Midwest with her husband and a very snuggly cat.

Having a true passion for romance and HEA’s, she took the leap from the young adult genre to romance and never looked back.

Kimberly worked as a Registered Nurse for fifteen years before hanging up her stethoscope. When she isn’t running her own business, you can find her tucked away writing.

Connect with Kimberly 

Website: www.kimberlyreadnour.com  

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10814504.Kimberly_Readnour 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Kimberly-Readnour/e/B00PZ6GHZG   

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkimberlyreadnour   

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1734619093516871   

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimberlyreadnour   

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kimreadnour    

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@authorkimberlyreadnour  

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kimberly-readnour   

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/authorkimberlyreadnour/    

Verve: https://ververomance.com/app/KimberlyReadnour    

~