Rushing the Goal/ Overtime (Assassins 8 & 7) by Toni Aleo-reviews

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RUSHING THE GOAL (Assassins #8) by Toni Aleo

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release DateMarch 28, 2016

Introduced in Toni Aleo’s Bellevue Bullies Series, it’s the Sinclair brothers’ big sister’s turn to find love in the next installment of the New York Times and USA Today best-selling series, the Assassins.

Lucy Sinclair was no stranger to pain.

She grew up with three younger brothers, met a bad boy, got pregnant by him, married him, and then suffered through a nasty divorce from him. Pain. That was pain. To top it off, she even had to go through the heartbreaking divorce of her parents. Through it all, she survived. All she cared about was making sure her daughter was happy and taken care of. Despite an ex-husband hell-bent on ruining her life, she fought to overcome. She’s gotten to the point that she’s okay with being just okay. She never cared about herself because she never had the time. It was Angie and only Angie she focused on, but that all changed when Benji Paxton offered to help her daughter on the ice.

Benji knew the moment he saw Lucy, he’d never be the same. Especially when she came with the bundle of crazy that was her daughter. His heart wasn’t ready for them. After years spent sobering up and finding who he was without the alcohol, he never forgot he was being punished for not appreciating the love he had when he was younger. Because of his past, he had gotten used to being alone, a recluse, but even he had to admit it was getting old. He was lonely. Hockey wasn’t enough anymore. He wanted a family; he wanted his true love.

And Lucy and Angie were just that.

They were just two lost souls.

Floating through life with no purpose.

But finding each other gave them direction, a chance at a future.

And had them both Rushing the Goal to be together.

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REVIEW: RUSHING THE GOAL is the eighth full length installment in Toni Aleo’s contemporary, adult ASSASSINS hockey , romance series focusing on the men and women the professional hockey team –the Nashville Assassins. This is Benjamin ‘Benj’ Paxton, and interior designer/single mother Lucy Sinclair’s storyline. Lucy and her brothers were first introduced in Toni’s BELLEVUE BULLIES series; some of Benji’s history and story is first revealed in book seven-OVERTIME. RUSHING THE GOAL can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Benji and Lucy) RUSHING THE GOAL follows Lucy in a constant battle with her ex-husband- a man who continues to make Lucy’s life miserable-resulting in a heroine who is always angry, anxious, and over protective of the seven year old daughter she adores. Enter Benji Paxton, a professional hockey player for the Nashville Assassins, and a man whose dark and deadly past controls the man that he is today.

Benji Paxton lost everything twelve years earlier when a transport truck destroyed the family that he loved. Following years of alcohol abuse Benji lost his wife and daughter, and a brother to an accident he believes could have been prevented if not for the addiction that controlled his life. Fast forward to present day, and Benji is a changed man; a man who believes that he has found the woman who will pull him out of the past, and into a future he hopes to deserve.

The relationship between Benji and Lucy is one of immediate attraction. Benji helps coach a group of children for minor hockey, and Lucy’s daughter is about to enter into the family game that everyone loves so much. The $ex scenes are intimate, provocative and intense. Benji is looking towards the future; Lucy is trying to survive one day at a time.

All of Lucy’s brothers and their respective significant others from the Bellevue Bullies series play secondary and supporting roles, as well as several members of the Nashville Assassins. We are introduced to the Sinclair matriarch who is about to enter into a new life of her own; and the family patriarch who is desperately trying to make amends for the sins of his past. Lucy’s ex husband plays significant role in the story line as he sets about to destroy Lucy and the man with whom she has fallen in love.

RUSHING THE GOAL is an emotional story line that focuses on the disintegration of the family; separation and divorce; and the battle for custody of a little girl who only wants to be loved. The premise is exciting, entertaining and frustrating; the characters are colorful, charismatic and emotional; the romance is a slow build to a happily ever after.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

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OVERTIME
(Assassins #7)
by Toni Aleo
Genre: adult, contemporary, romance, hockey

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 10, 2015

Down and out with an injury keeping him away from the game, Assassins’ defenseman Jordie Thomas lives for the blades of his skates on the ice and the feeling of oblivion off it. With no choice but to heal, he’s forced away from the sport that runs through his veins. With everything at stake and darkness setting in, he quickly finds himself spiraling even further out of control. As his life begins to come crashing down around him and his contract with the Nashville Assassins on the line, he’s given an ultimatum. Ready or not, Jordie is forced to face his past, the fears that consume him, and the one woman he let walk away.

Kacey King had her professional dreams come true, yet her heart was battered and broken. With an Olympic gold medal around her neck, she’s ready to look forward to the future but without the one man she wanted in it. She’s missing the key pieces of her heart she left months ago with the only person who was capable of destroying it, causing her to falter in all her plans to move on.

In the game of life, there are winners and losers, and neither Jordie nor Kacey want to be on the losing bench. If only Jordie could convince Kacey he’s a changed man and that he wants her right by his side as his MVP for the biggest and best parts of a life they build together. With emotions running high and the game on the line, can two proud people find happiness with each other, or will their hearts and souls be left in the cold? Will they see that sometimes having someone by your side who knows the good, bad, and broken is better than going it alone and losing everything through the back of the net? They are out of time on the game clock and fighting for the win of their lives.

But overtime was made for an Assassin like Jordie.

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REVIEW: OVERTIME is the seventh full length installment in Toni Aleo’s adult, contemporary ASSASSINS erotic, romance series focusing on the members of the professional hockey team the Nashville Assassins. This is Assassins’s defenseman Jordie Thomas, and Olympic Hockey champion Kacey King’s (Karson’s sister LACES AND LACE) story line-a second chance at love for two people destroyed by demons from the past. OVERTIME can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. There is a prequel novella tobKacey and Jordie’s story-WANTING TO FORGET- but it is not necessary for the comprehension of OVERTIME.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Jordie and Kacey) OVERTIME is the second chance at love for Kacey and Jordie. Following four months together wherein Kacey fell in love, Jordie walked away without a backwards glance. Fast forward to present day Jordie finds himself in a disciplinary hearing fighting for his career and his professional life. Too much partying, manwhoring and drinking, and a positive drug test he knows nothing about Jordie is given no option but to enter rehab or face down a trade to another team. What ensues are Jordie’s battle with temptation, and his recovery from an injury that almost ended his career. Jordie’s return to civilian life finds our hero facing the biggest challenge of his life-asking for forgiveness and a second chance from the person whose life he destroyed the most.

OVERTIME looks at the destructive nature of addiction, and the precipitating factors that destroyed a young boy’s life when his mother all but kicked him to the curb and denied any and all responsibility for the abuse and neglect inflicted upon the four year old boy. Jordie’s life is haunted by his mother’s rejection, and his inability to get passed what was and what will never be. Jordie’s relationship with Kacey finds our hero pushing away the woman that he loves fearing rejection once again. OVERTIME is the culmination of betrayal, heartbreak, rehabilitation and redemption for one man, and the woman that he has always loved.

The secondary and supporting characters include Kacey’s brother Karson, and his wife Lacey; Kacey and Karson’s parents, as well as some of the members of the Assassin’s hockey team, their owner Elli Adler and her player/husband Shea. Kacey’s parent see more than anyone thought possible, and it is great to see a set of parents who support their children, and tell it like it is.

OVERTIME is an emotional story line with a broken hero; a heroine who loves a man that destroyed her heart; and a couple whose lives are pushed to the limits when the past comes back looking for something more. The premise is a bit of a slow build as Jordie struggles with the past, and Kacey refuses to acknowledge his existence. The characters are colorful, charismatic and heartbreaking-once again, it took some time for Kacey to forgive Jordie’s betrayal, all the while condemning his actions at every opportunity; Kacey’s anger knew no boundaries; her heartbreak was palpable. The romance is a second chance story of forgiveness; and looking forward to so much more.

Reviewed by Sandy