* * * 3/4
A new stand-alone hockey romance from USA Today bestseller Sarina Bowen.
On the eve of her thirtieth birthday, sports agent Bess Beringer is ready to make some changes. Armed with a five-year plan—indexed and color coded—she’ll tackle her personal life with the same zeal that she brings to her successful agency.
A big, tall, ripped hunk of hockey player who’s just been traded to the Brooklyn Bruisers is not a part of that plan. Mark “Tank” Tankiewicz has a lot of baggage. He’s a ride-or-die loner with a bad reputation. He’s on the rebound. He’s also the sexiest thing on two legs, and for some crazy reason it’s Bess that he wants.
She knows better. But then she falls stupid in love with him anyway. And for a while it seems like maybe he’ll do the same.
Until she asks him for the one thing he can never give her…
Source: advance e-galled provided in exchange for an honest review
Tank and Bess are at two drastically different stages in their lives. Tank's coming off a divorce, relocated to Brooklyn after being traded from Dallas, and dodging all the rumors surrounding his failed marriage and clashes with former teammates. Bess is just turning 30 and is a successful sports agent who has now branched out to start up her own agency. After years of putting her career first, she's ready for the next phase - meet a great guy with whom she can have a future. Tank is not that guy right now. Right now what they have is great spine-tingling, rock-their-worlds chemistry in the sheets and that's as far as it'll go. That's all Tank can offer and Bess knows there's no future there. Even though they know this they still keep circling back to each other. Years might have passed since their original interlude and brief hookup but there still remains this effortless companionship and ease when they're together. It's like they understand what they need in that moment, and that's comfort and the need to feel wanted.
They really do have great chemistry and Tank's maturity since they first met when he was 23 shows. Bess has also grown from that starry-eyed youngster she was to become a determined, successful woman in a male-dominant industry. As older and wiser versions of themselves, they bring more to the relationship that they appreciate about each other. I was with the story up until it kind of veered off in a different direction for me. I'll have to delve into a bit of spoilery in order to explain ...
Like I said, the story worked for me when Tank and Bess hit it off again. He was getting used to his new life and she was kicking butt at her job. What threw me off was that all of a sudden Bess wanted kids when they'd only just reached the decision to become official. It was mentioned at the beginning of the story that she had put a plan together for her life but - and herein lies my problem - there was absolutely no inkling about this particular detail until she dropped that bombshell on Tank. I can't help wondering if I missed something earlier because apparently it was something she had wanted for a while but I don't think I came across a hint of it in her POV prior to that revelation. When they realized that their individual goals for their future didn't mesh, it made sense that they'd part ways. The the next thing you know, they got back together a month later with that "having children" elephant still in the room (and she had been researching her options while they'd been apart). Tank explained what he was feeling emotionally and Bess finally understood where he was coming from, and it seemed like they were going to take their time. Instead, things seemed to move even faster.
I guess I felt I was suddenly reading a different book with completely different priorities that sprung up overnight. Maybe if there was a physical section break with a "Part 2" that happened a few months (or even a year) later that would've allowed for more time and introspection rather than just the one month pause, then I would've felt it a more organic progression in their relationship. Tank's emotional baggage about children seemed to be glossed over too easily by Bess' idea of a compromise. I'm all for happily ever afters but the second half of the book fell into place way too suddenly for me.
My reservations aside, I was still won over by the tight-knit Bruisers hockey family that provided laughs and what felt like a massive group hug. There's always joy and guaranteed ridiculousness when they're around, so you're hard pressed to not love them. Although aspects of the story confused me, I still liked Bess and Tank, and had fun reading Sure Shot. I know that a lot of fans will be excited for this!
Bel
