Justin Stone is 24 years old and is part of the Stone family NHL legacy. All of his life he has been compared to his father Cooper and older brother Matthew plus all of his brother-in-laws as well. Now he has decided to start a summer camp for kids less fortunate to have the ability to play with "pros".
Caroline Woods is a single mom to Dylan and she works two jobs for him to be able to play hockey. She barely makes ends meet and lives paycheck to paycheck trying to do her best but is constantly brought down by her ex Andrew.
When Dylan ends up attending Justin's camp, Justin is immediately attracted to Caroline. Yet Caroline wants Justin as far away from her life as possible, knowing it won't end well. Can Justin convince Caroline to give him a chance or is her past too much of a mess for her to get involved with anyone?
OMG - I absolutely loved this book and didn't want to ever put it down!! As a single mom of two kids who play hockey this book was like a fairy tale and I only wish I could find someone like Justin in real life.
Right from the beginning I loved Justin and his ability to do good with the kids that really need it. Sports are so expensive (as I personally know) and so when someone offers something like that it makes such a difference to kids. I loved how much Justin was able to give the kids and the people he had working for him. Well, maybe there was one woman who I didn't like at all but I knew Justin would handle her.
Caroline was someone I could relate to on a lot of levels. Luckily my ex was not a druggie but at the same time he has not made my life easy and I can 100% relate to the financial struggles that she faced. She worked her butt off to provide for Dylan and really hated taking handouts but knew when it was absolutely necessary to do so. I hated everything that Andrew subjected to and how he really didn't care that his life put them in danger. I found Caroline strong yet she had that side of her that was so vulnerable because of Dylan and she put herself last always.
I loved how protective Justin was of Caroline instantly and although Caroline kept him at a distance he was gradually able to inject himself into her life when he saw how much she was struggling. He never treated her like a charity project but legitimately fell for her and wanted to help her out as much as he was able to. That made me happy and Justin did whatever he could do to help her without making it seem like it was a forced handout although Caroline really didn't want to accept any of it.
My heart went out to Caroline with everything she had to endure from Andrew. I was so upset for the danger he put her and Dylan in and for everything that he did in the book. There were times that I was absolutely shocked for what he did but the end wasn't a total shock as he really just didn't care.
I understood why Justin's parents were worried about their relationship as Caroline did have a lot of baggage and as a parent I could see why they thought things were moving so fast. Yet I knew Justin was in it for the right reasons but the stuff going on was pretty heavy with all of the discussions and how it almost divided his family.
When the incident in front of the church happened I really started freaking out as I knew something big was going to happen and boy was I right. I was not expecting what happened to happen and then everything that spiraled out of control after that. I was freaking out that Caroline was going to do something rash but I was glad she was stopped. I was so mad at Justin's team for not even knowing what was going on before making a statement.
Justin's decision at the end totally shocked me but I was so happy for what he did!! The end was so heartwarming and I really hope we get more as I am loving this series!!
5 Stars
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