In Toni Aleo’s third novel in her hot Assassins series, the chiseled men of this Nashville hockey team can make anything happen when they go all out for the women they want—even turn a one-night stand into a happily ever after.

Audrey Parker is up against the boards. She’s stuck in a job she hates and pining for a total jerk. Meanwhile, her sister Fallon is moving out and getting married to hockey star Lucas Brooks. Where is Audrey’s Prince Charming? Nothing she does has ever seemed to be good enough for any of the men in her life. Audrey’s about to hit rock bottom . . . until she wakes up next to Tate Odder.

The thrill of moving up from the minors to the Nashville Assassins was a welcome distraction. But not even becoming the first rookie goalie to tally three shutouts in the Stanley Cup finals alleviates the pain. With the loss of his parents and sister weighing as heavily on his soul as ever, Tate Odder can’t keep pretending he’s okay. That’s when he meets smart, sexy Audrey. Her gentle warmth and quirky sense of humor make him feel whole for the first time in too long. But to stay that way forever, Tate must find a way to accept his past and learn to live for love.

I should accept by now that these Assassins books are just going to be an emotional rollercoaster. I’ve read Taking Shots and Trying to Score and both of them broke my heart at least a couple of times. Empty Net proves to be no different.

Audrey has some serious self-esteem issues that she has to work through and a pretty big secret that has caused her to seek out only bad relationships. We got a glimpse of how bad her latest one with Levi is in Trying to Score but we get a little bit more of it here. Unfortunately those issues cause her to fight her feelings for Tate for most of the book. There is a lot of back and forth on her part and that man has the patience of a saint to put up with it. But the nice thing is that once she gets everything straight in her head it goes much better for them.

The blurb makes it seem like Tate has some issues of his own to work through, but I didn’t really see it. For being only 21 years old, he is amazingly mature and he handles the curveballs thrown by Audrey with a lot of grace and understanding. He’s centered and caring and giving, the Prince Charming that Audrey needs. He just has to wait for her to realize it.

I love that we get some updates on the previous characters and a hint at what is to come. Blue Lines looks to be just as much of a heartbreaker as the stories that have come before it, but I’m looking forward to every heart wrenching moment.

If you are brave enough to take it on, and I totally suggest you do, Empty Net may leave you wrung out but it will also leave you satisfied.