Hooked By Love is finally here!
But to understand the end – you must first start from the beginning…
BOARDED BY LOVE
(Bellevue Bullies #1)
Jude Sinclair here, hockey player for the Bellevue Bullies and lover of all ladies. Hockey’s in my blood, and not to sound full of myself, but I’m good at it…really good. The draft is within my reach—it’s mine to take—but that’s not the only reason people know my name. They know me because of my way with women. They know the score, and I aim to please. I just tend to stay away from repeat performances. In other words, I don’t do relationships beyond my family and friends. I’m happy with life. However, I should warn you that my story and how I see it playing out is about to change due to a certain redhead on campus.
She’s beautiful. Stunning. Breathtaking.
She’s my game changer.
***
He’s trouble from the moment I see him. I don’t know what I’m thinking, but from the moment I meet his gaze, I’m his. It’s a scary feeling.
I’ve never trusted anyone outside my aunt and uncle—and even that took months. I didn’t have it easy growing up. My mom was usually strung out, and she didn’t give me a second thought. Drugs and the men who paid her were more important to her. It was horrible, but I’m stronger today. Because of my past, security is what I need most. Money assures me that I can take care of myself today, tomorrow, and next month. I don’t want to ever be hungry or go without again, so I work hard for every penny.
Oh, by the way, I’m Claire Anderson. I’m a hard-studying sophomore at the University of Bellevue, dancer for the school dance team, and a burlesque dancer at a club, but that’s my secret.
You may think you know how our story ends, but you have no clue. It’s not easy falling in love… or living happily ever after. At first it may seem so, but when is anything worth having ever won without a fight?
Especially when you’re boarded by love.
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CLIPPED BY LOVE
(Bellevue Bullies #2)
Things are heating up for the Sinclair boys! With one already in the NHL, Jayden Sinclair is hoping to be next!
This has been the toughest year of my life. I watched my brother go into the draft without me, my mom got divorced, and the weight of my family’s issues is heavy on my shoulders. I feel like it’s my job to fix everything while working my butt off in school and trying to make my game better. I have to go into the draft. It will give my family the support they need, and it will prove that I’m good enough. But to get there, I have to show I can be the best captain for the Bellevue Bullies. The spot is mine—no one can take it. First though, Jude is making me go on a brother’s weekend. Innocent enough, I guess…until I see her. She’s the biggest competitor I’ve ever faced. Not only for my spot but also my heart. It’s hard to ignore someone like Baylor Moore.
***
I don’t lose. I can’t. My dad has bred me to be the best in anything I do. I am driven, I am smart, and I am going to be the first woman in the National Hockey League. No two ways about it. I’ve worked too hard. I’ve been through too much not to have what I want. I know I can do it. I will make my dad proud, and no one will stand in the way of that. That is, until I let him in. He scares me. He makes me feel. And he could very well be the one person who can make me want more than just to win.
We both have the same goal. Victory. But how do you compete against the person you want to win? It’s not easy. Love isn’t something you can control. It isn’t like a puck that can be handled by a stick.
No, it has a mind of its own and does what it wants.
Neither of us saw it coming, and we really don’t know if there is a way to score, especially when you’re being Clipped by Love.
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HOOKED BY LOVE
(Bellevue Bullies #3)
Things are out of control for the Sinclair boys! With two already in the NHL, Jace Sinclair is ready to follow in his brothers’ HUGE skates in the last Bellevue Bullies novel…
Jace Sinclair here, and I’m amazing. There is no other way to describe me. I am the leading scorer for the Bellevue Bullies, I’m the captain, and people love me: my family, my teammates, my coach, and the NHL. This is my last year in college–I already have one foot in the draft. Hockey keeps me warm even when it’s freezing. It’s always there when nothing else is. And it pushes me to be the best I can be. It’s my one and only love.
That is, until I see her against a tree with a guitar.
Avery.
The last thing I wanted was to meet anyone. My heart is on the bench because of what happened with my parents, and I don’t want that for myself. I don’t want to be hurt by anyone. I can’t give them that power.
But my heart is begging for ice time, and I can’t control it around her.
* * *
I’ve always been in the background. No one has ever had time for me and that’s fine; I’ve learned to cope. Coming from a family where hockey is life, the last thing I want is some big, burly hockey player charging at me. I don’t have time for it, but Jace Sinclair isn’t one to be deked around.
I didn’t want to meet anyone. I didn’t want to end up freezing the puck with him. It’s not what I want.
I have demons.
I have issues.
Living in the shadows, no one even knew until it was too late. But Jace wants to know.
He wants me.
And that scares me the living hell out of me.
We were so worried about what would happen if we fell, but we never thought what could happen in the process of falling. We never saw it coming. But it’s here, and the repercussions are not pretty.
We should have known that there is no way out of the zone when you are being Hooked by Love.
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***Review***
Boy are the Sinclair boys something else! They’re an amazing trio of hockey studs whose love of the game can only be rivaled by their love of their family and the girls who own their hearts.
In Hooked by Love, readers finally get the youngest Sinclair’s story, and at the beginning, Jace is all about benching his heart and having fun this year; he’s going to focus on hockey and the draft and experience as many puck bunnies as he can. He’s going to live up to his eldest brother’s reputation, pre-Claire, and get that number one spot just like his brothers before him. But with one look, Jace finds himself all in with a girl whose baggage makes her detest the game Jace loves and is so closed off that he has to work his ass off to make her his woman.
All Avery has ever wanted is to be loved and put first for once, but even when Jace does just that, she doesn’t know how to handle it because her fears and anxiety consume her and force her to hold back way more than she should. Avery struggles with self confidence every where but with her music. Her goal is to see her name in lights, living out her dream as a musician and proving to her parents and her brothers that she matters regardless of how they’ve acted towards her, her entire life.
Neither Jace nor Avery was looking for a relationship – their goals were all they could see, but now that they’ve found one another, they have to adjust their plans because as much as they want to succeed in their future careers, they want their lives to include one another regardless of how difficult it may be.
Toni Aleo always delivers a highly emotional and intense story and that’s exactly what she does with Jace and Avery’s story. Jace is done living in his brothers’ shadows, and he’s out to prove to himself and to everyone else that he might be the youngest, but he has the drive and the strength to be the best at the game his entire family adores. But this wannabe player is so much more than his last name or his hockey prowess. He’s an extremely caring and compassionate person who loves with his whole heart, which is both a blessing and a curse. There’s a depth to him that very few people, outside his family see, but Aleo allows readers that insight and by giving us who Jace really is, we understand why, despite the amount of turmoil that Avery puts his life in with her lack of communication and full disclosure, he’s willing to see beyond Avery’s scars and dishonesty and prove to her that he’ll never let her down.
Avery is pretty much a hot mess, but Aleo makes it more than clear why Avery can easily lose herself in the past. She wants Jace, but she also wants her dream, and she doesn’t think she can have both, but she’s willing to try to make things work with Jace because he’s proven himself to her on more than one occasion that she’s it for him. Avery’s back story is not pretty and what she puts herself and Jace through due to that baggage is emotionally draining, at times, for both her and Jace as well as readers. Jace and Avery take two steps forward and one step back on multiple occasions, which almost destroys them both, and as Toni Aleo takes readers through their highs and lows, we see firsthand why Jace and Avery are more than worth the effort.
Hooked by Love is about family; it’s about fighting for one’s dreams; it’s about making difficult choices that might not seem like the right ones but choosing them anyways because it’s right for the situation. Jace and Avery aren’t perfect; in fact, they make a string of bad decisions that almost cost them everything. But despite the difficult times, they more than prove that without each other, they’ll never be whole and their dreams will never feel fully fulfilled.
Lame Line Larry and No Dating Diane may have thought their connection was only for one night, but Toni Aleo illustrated how they were hooked on each other from the start and would work until the final minute to prove that they’re both worth any struggles that come their way.
A complimentary copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 Poison Apples
Fairest Of All Book Reviews 