HAT TRICK by E.M. Lindsey
Blurb:
“For five million dollars, would you send a relative to jail?”
“Bud, I would pay five million dollars to send a few there.”
Problem number one: Almost everything the world thinks they know about me is a lie.
Problem number two: Two people know the truth.
Problem number three: One of those two is a stalker and he’s having a blast using that information against me to get his way.
The good news is, the second person who knows the truth about who I am seems pretty dedicated to taking my stalker down.
The bad news is, it’s NHL goalie Vanya Maximov, and he and I had a one night stand that I can’t stop thinking about. And while Vanya might be walking sunshine so bright he can make even my blind ass see light, we have no business being together.
I’m a mess, and while Vanya is everything I’ve ever wanted in a partner, he deserves better than me.
If only he was willing to listen to reason. If only he was less stubborn and able to give up on a lost cause.
But with his ability to give me exactly what I want—a little pain with my pleasure—and his refusal to treat me like I’m fragile, something dangerous starts happening.
I’m beginning to think that maybe—just maybe—he’s right, and I am worth everything he sees.
Hat Trick is the second book in the Punk as Puck spin-off series, Legends and Fury. It’s a high heat, friends to lovers romance with a sunshine NHL goalie who also might be a golden retriever in disguise, a PPHL goalie with big black cat energy, a stalker, and no faith in himself, hooking up in a friend’s car, praise and pain, high stakes romance, hockey bro banter, tons of chirping, and the swooniest happily ever after.
Buy Link:
Available in KU
Sunny Shelly’s Review: 3.5 Stars
EM Lindsey is a new-to-me author; I’ve only read Hat Trick and the previous book in the series, Stick Around. I enjoyed both, but I found Hat Trick to be a little more intense and deeper (thanks to Micah’s stalker) than the last.
I really enjoyed watching Micah’s relationship with Vanya go from a one-night stand to something more. He was so hesitant to let Vanya in and allow anyone to see behind the playboy mask he presents to the world. The real guy underneath was wildly insecure and carrying around a ton of trauma, so it was interesting to see how Vanya became a safe space for him.
However, I thought that the story was a little one-sided; I wanted to get to know Vanya more and felt that the character development was heavily focused on Micah, almost to the point that Vanya was a supporting character and not the other MC. I would have liked to have seen his relationship with his sister/roommate padded out more, and loved the bits that we got from his hacker brother.
Overall, Hat Trick was an engaging story with a disability representation (Micah’s blindness) that was handled well. Especially when it came to how his stalker’s actions really impacted him.
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
Meet E.M. Lindsey:
E.M. Lindsey is a Romance author, an ancient historian, and avid lover of nerdy things. EM lives on the East Coast of the United States.
Connect with E.M. Lindsey:
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