I love all of Ms. Martin's hockey books. In fact, I can honestly say that everything I know about hockey I've learned from her. She definitely knows her hockey.

About halfway through this book really took off for me, and I couldn't put it down. I enjoyed both Michelle and Esa. Since I have a penchant for asshole heroes, Esa's tendancy to be a jerk didn't bother me one bit. I loved seeing his transformation to a caring, unselfish person. ( )

Too often good romance novels are undermined by their cover art. Hip Check is a case in point. The cover says sassy, fun nearly chick lit, but the story itself is a poignant, sometimes sad tale of an orphaned little girl and the two adults who are trying to make her world a bit happier.

Professional hockey player and good-time ladies’ man Esa Saari, known as “The Finn” because of his nationality at birth, is stunned when a year after his sister dies in a plane crash, his 8-year-old niece is sent to live with him. Her previous caretaker, his sister’s good friend, has accepted a job requiring a lot of travel.

Sometimes thick-headed and juvenile acting, Esa’s not stupid. He immediately hires a nanny for the child. Former teacher Michelle Beck’s mother died when she was a child, so she’s immediately empathetic with Nell. And they get along beautifully from their first moments together.

The first downside to the job is Esa who runs from any sort of responsibility, including decision making. If he had his way, his life would go back to playing hockey and partying—which includes banging puck bunnies. So at every turn Michelle must get him to toe the line and be the responsible uncle his sister expected him to be.

Another downside to the job is Michelle’s father and brother who have read and believe Esa’s press accounts and don’t want her around the slick, handsome Lothario. When they try to talk her out of the job, she says she can’t leave for Nell’s sake since the girl is still grieving her mother’s death.

Read the rest of my review at AAR: http://www.likesbooks.com/cgi-bin/bookReview.pl?BookReviewId=9447 ( )

When deciding how many stars to assign to this story, it occurred to me that the lower star rating was NOT due to an unlikeable hero, but rather the author's lack of comfort with her characters.

Admittedly, Esa Saari is a difficult hero to work with; his chronic and cavalier use of puck bunnies, requires creativity to overcome, to turn him into someone the reader would "root" for. Additionally problematic, is Esa's deliberate ignorance towards what his mother-less, 8 year old niece needs from her uncle. But, I do believe these two major issues were overcome, albeit a bit later in the story than I would have liked.

The heroine Michelle Beck, nanny to Esa's niece Nell, had her own likeability-issues. She bordered on scolding bitchiness quite a bit; not with Nell, but with Esa. Michelle often discounted other characters' opinions or feelings; again, except for Nell's. This problem, too, seemed resolved or explained adequately.

It is the niece, Nell, that I feel Ms. Martin was uncomfortable in examining or writing for. Nell seemed human enough, but the writing lacked warmth when Nell was discussed or interacted with by either of the H/H.

This book is entertaining; just not to the level of most other of the Blades' tales. ( )

Really enjoyed this latest installment in the Blades Series. Really love it when I can connect with the characters as I did with this book. Could not put it down. ( )