BLURB
Coen Highsmith was a league star, but he lost more than his team the day the Pittsburgh Titans’ plane crashed. Can he be saved from his downward spiral of guilt and regret to become the man he once was?
I had it all—a successful hockey career, the respect and adoration of the fans, a rotation of beautiful women warming my bed, and a feeling of self-worth and contentment with the direction of my life. But that all changed the day the team plane went down, taking my only chance of redemption with it. Now I’m left with the daily reminder of all my failures and my inability to correct them.
My new teammates are tired of my attitude and following my suspension, I hole up in a mountain cabin to get away from all of it. The isolation is exactly what I need to get out of my own head, and I’m beginning to think I could be content in this quiet forever.
Tillie Marshall isn’t the type of woman who would usually catch my attention, yet she manages to do so for all the wrong reasons. I’m here for the peace and seclusion but the quirky artist is hell-bent on destroying that by cutting down the trees that separate our properties so she can open a pottery studio. If it’s a fight she wants, it’s a fight she’ll get. I have the money and the time and no issues bringing her down through the court system. While I see flashes of steely determination within her, I’ve found that being a jerk comes naturally these days and she won’t be hard to intimidate.
Unfortunately, that gorgeous and somewhat odd neighbor who has been causing me grief is creating another type of feeling within me. And once that spark is lit, Tillie displays a faith in me that for the first time since the crash I desperately want to believe. Now it’s time for me to step up and become the man—no, a better man than I once was.
“Couldn’t have done that to you if you’d have cut the trees down, now, could I?”
ARC REVIEW
Since the start of this series I have been intrigued by Coen. He is one of the “Lucky Three” who hasn’t on the plane when it crashed, but that accident changed him and I was dying to know why. The guilt is getting to him and he doesn’t feel like he should be a part of the team anymore. Living in a cabin in the woods in a smalltown away from the city and his team is just what he wants. The peace, the quiet, and the privacy. Tillie lost her parents and is working hard to setting up an art studio at her new cabin property….however, her new neighbor isn’t a fan of her plan.
The chemistry between Coen and Tillie is insane. These two were a raging inferno that probably could have started a fire if they kept up with their outdoor activities. I loved the back and forth banter between them and the tension. I loved seeing them progress from strangers and neighbors, to enemies and slowly forming a friendship and more. Tillie is exactly who Coen needed to help him move on from the past and move on from his guilt, but it isn’t easy and it may always be something that is on his mind.
Also, Coen and Chip…..I love it so much. Those scenes had me laughing with the mental image that popped up in my mind and I was living for it.
This story can be read as a standalone, however, I think it is best to read the story from the beginning to get the whole picture and understanding of Coen.
If you’re looking for an enemies to lovers, forced proximity, sports romance this is one to check out.
