I enjoyed this book a lot and have read a few other books in this series (NY Blades). It's interesting because I don't even like hockey. I don't think I've read anything else by Martin but I'd like to. ( )

Just before this book I was wondering to myself what would make a book a 5 star for me and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Then I read this book. I'm not sure what it was about it that I loved so much. It could have been the families, so very much like my own, the food, the kind I grew up on and the atmosphere I grew up in, or it could just have been the humor and characters that I fell in love with. And although I am too much a fan of the genre to complain about the in-love-at-first-sight whole thing, the time that elapsed between book one of the series, in which Michael Dante truly fell for Theresa Falconetti, and this one, gave the relationship depth and substance that doesn't exist in a lot of romance books. (Not that I mind, as noted above, but it definitely helped propel this to a 5-star.) And I say all this with a secondary story that I can't usually bear in the books I read for escape.

I enjoyed the first in this series, but this one really stood out above all the rest. It's now on my wishlist-to-own list and I can't wait to read the next in the series. ( )

For anyone who is a fan of hockey - what a cute way to see it in action ( )

In a continuation of her novels about the New York Blades hockey team, Martin reintroduces us to Theresa Falconetti. Theresa is smart, good looking and successful. She never dates Italians or professional athletes, even though her PR firm represents a few of them.
Michael Dante, winger for the New York Blades is both. He is also mad about Theresa. He has tried everything to win her over, to no avail. So he hires her to publicize his family's resaurant. Between Theresa's disdain, his brother's rage and a brutal season, Michael is being driven nuts. He has to find a way to convince Theresa that he loves her and that he would never hurt her. ( )