The Not-So-Neutral Zone by Susan and Sarah May Warren

 

The Not So Neutral Zone by Susan and Sarah May Warren is the first in a new series called The Blue Ox Boys. While I am not a huge hockey fan, I am a fan of the Warrens and this contemporary romance set in Minnesota.

Chloe seems to be invisible to her family. She is often overlooked. Honestly, without going into my own family, I could relate to her in a lot of ways. Then she meets Brody "Candy" Cane in Barcelona. He saves her purse from a thief and they connect with a romantic evening. Until Brody vanishes and she doesn't hear from him for six months. Now, she is home and planning her sister's wedding. Her sister is marrying hockey player, Derek.

Brody has his own family problems. His mom died and his dad couldn't deal with it and became an addict. Brody is a hockey good boy. . .but he has to cover for his dad. Then an influencer seeks to ruin his reputation. 

Chloe and Brody reconnect at a Minnesota coffee shop--and make a deal to fake date to help each other out. Brody's reputation gets a boost. Chloe gets dates for her sister's wedding events. What can go wrong?

The Not So Neutral Zone was a mix of swoon and angst. I don't know much about hockey but I have visited Minnesota many times since I live in Iowa so it's always fun to read about places you are familiar with. Then, I enjoyed all the swoony parts with Chloe and Brody. I could also understand their family struggles and how those struggles played into their relationship as they got to know each other. Which is why there was some real angst. There is some faith elements in this story along with themes of forgiveness and redemption. There is one place in the book where I just felt the faith element was a bit unrealistic. Outside of that, I enjoyed this book a lot. The ending was great!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Love Overboard by Shannon Sue Dunlap

Image
Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour for Love Overboard by Shannon Sue Dunlap, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours ! My Review: Four older women retire and live year-round on a cruise ship. Together, they are called The Shippers, and they are the matchmakers on the ship. Lacey Anderson is the ship's hostess and Jonathan King is the Cruise director of the ship. Lacey and Jonathan knew each other from another ship. Sparks fly but there are some complications that seem to be difficult to overcome--but The Shippers are a determined group of ladies. At the same time, there is a mystery of who is smuggling cocaine on the cruise line. Are they on this ship? Love Overboard offers a mix of romance, humor, and mystery to the reader. I enjoy older people so I especially liked The Shippers in this book. I also was rooting for Lacey and Jonathan. I enjoyed getting to know the ship crew as well as the other characters. There was a couple of twists near the end of the book that I didn't ...
Read more

Book Review: The Story Keeper by Lisa Wingate

Image
I was thrilled to be part of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Books this year. . I am a members of Circle 17. . .a group of 5 sisters who committed to reading Lisa Wingate's book, The Story Keeper, and sharing our thoughts with one another. . .a traveling book group. I loved this idea and was truly tickled to get to read an advance copy and partake in all of the fun. I also received a pretty notebook from the sister before me to keep my stories in. First of all, I need to share that this year God has had a running theme in my life that "my story matters." It has shown up in my art journal class, in an on-line Bible study, I received a "Your Story Matters" necklace for Mother's Day from my hubby who is my greatest encourager and then I received my chance to read, The Story Keeper. I know it is no co-incidence. Jen Gibbs is an newly hired editor at Vida House publishing in New York. She has worked in the industry 10 years and Jen knows the ropes and has ...
Read more

Loyally Luke by Pepper Basham

Image
  Loyally, Luke by Pepper Basham is the third book in the epistolary series following Authentically, Izzy and Positively, Penelope.I have been anxiously awaiting this book and pretty much squealed when it came in the mail! Luke Edgewood is a guy who works in the construction industry and has remodeling skills. He wears flannel and he likes his dogs and he likes his sisters--but he isn't romantic like they are. Or so he says.In Loyally, Luke, Luke goes to Skymar to work a construction job on a orphanage that happens to be in a castle. He also has a run-in with a Princess as he comes in to the country with a migraine in desparate need of coffee--so yeah, that didn't go so well. Later, he finds out that the Grace Kelly look-alike coffee snob is also his co-worker on the orphanage project.Thus begins his own adventure in Skymar, following Izzy and Penelope.  I really enjoyed Loyally, Luke . I enjoyed this whole series. I do think the series is best enjoyed read in order to truly a...
Read more