This story...Tal always writes very sweet emotionally charged romances, but he really took it a step further this time with the found family and encompassing the entire team into the plot. I absolutely loved Morgan from the beginning and Shea surprised me in how sweet he was. Brody takes the cake though, I was rooting for him this whole time and I can't wait to read his short novella. 

TW/CW: survivorship themes, assault, mental and physical abuse 

•minor spoilers• 

Morgan and Shea's relationship was the typical Tal Bauer swoony adorable sweet perfect adoration that you love to read about. It was a very slow burn physically, but they had a great emotional and mental connection. To make it even better they were such strong leaders for the team with their care and support for each and every player. 

I would say the main plot was the found family and the team, and then the romance. I had no idea what I was getting into in the beginning, I thought it was going to a normal "trade to a new team, fall in love" story but I was way off. I was hooked from the beginning and rooting for the team the whole time. Also, Brody. He is one of the best parts of the story, and why I cried so dang much. A side character that definitely stole the whole show and I'm not even mad about it because he deserves all the good in his life forever. 

The writing was a lot like his other books. If you don't like an, at times, over the top sugary sweet romance, then you probably won't love this. There were a few phrases that I felt repressed too much and lots of feelings and metaphors but I loved this story. 

Read if you like: 
• found family 
• hockey romance 
• Cinderella-story sports team