Any Man of Mine
Hockey Series bk 3
Rachel Gibson
WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS . . .
DOESN’T ALWAYS STAY THERE.
Autumn Haven’s Las Vegas “to-do” list said to catch a show and play the slots—not wake up married to a sexy jerk like Sam Leclaire. The first moment she saw him eyeing her like a luscious piece of the dessert buffet, her usually responsible self told her run. And she did—right into the wildest fantasy weekend of her life. But Monday morning jolted her back to reality and before she could say “pass the coffee” Sam was gone.
Now a successful wedding planner, Autumn she hasn’t clapped eyes on the heart-breaking hockey superstar for over two years… until she organizes his teammate’s “Special Day,” where Sam makes a BIG play to pick up where he left off! But she has vowed any man of hers plays for keeps. Is Sam the man for her or does she banish him to the sin bin forever?.
As soon as I saw this book being offered up in Netgalley I immediately grabbed it, and then I ignored it. I then got a hard copy of the book and I continued to ignore. Why did I ignore it? I absolutely love this series, in fact it is my favorite of her series. While I love this series it isn’t one that I can dive right into. I have to be in the right mood or I can’t read her.
I finally put the book in my bag, knowing that I would eventually pick it up at a stop light. The other day I was sitting at a really long light and so I reached into my bag and out came the book. I couldn’t put it down. When I was finally able to read it again after getting home, I stayed up and finished the book. I loved the conflict between Sam and Autumn, it fit them both perfectly.
Sam is a hockey player and he loves his life exactly as it is. There is only one thing he loves as much as hockey if not more is his son. The one thing he hates is his sons’ mother. They have absolutely nothing to say to each other and in fact have not seen each other in years. That is until he sees her at his boss’s wedding and over hears her trying to find someone to watch their son. He volunteers. He loves spending time with him. When he returns him late Autumn has nothing nice to say to him and in fact calls into question how he is as a father. This leads to some serious reflection on his part and causes him to start to make changes. As he becomes a better dad to Connor he begins to look at Autumn differently and what he does sees changes everything.
Autumn absolutely despises Sam. He destroyed her once, and if it wasn’t for Connor she would have absolutely nothing to do with him, and would wish him dead. So when Sam starts to be better dad to Connor she wonders how long the novelty will last. His change in attitude leaves her confused and wary at the same time. All those feelings that he made her feel that week-end are coming back, at least the physical ones. While she might be willing to share his bed again, and be a little more willing to work with his schedule she will absolutely not let him back into her heart.
There is so much good stuff in this book that I have no clue where to start. The conflict between Sam and Autumn is very real and there is no hiding from it, on either one of their ends. Where Sam is willing to let the past go and try and build a future as a family, Autumn doesn’t do forgive and forget.
Throughout the book we watch as Sam goes from being a playboy, horn dog to wanting to put his family back together and all the steps in between. Autumn was much harder for me connect with. While I got her anger at Sam, and her wariness of his changes, her hot and cold attitude left me a little cold.
If there was one thing I didn’t like it was when they were remembering their week-end in Vegas. I have said this in the past I hate reading books that take place in Vegas unless the casino/hotels are fictional because nine out of ten times they get it wrong. In this book they meet in the nightclub Pure, this is one of the most expensive night clubs in Vegas. While a regular person can get in if they are dressed appropriately there is no way that they can afford the drinks. There were a couple of other things that really bugged me so yes whenever they were remembering back to Vegas I skipped those scenes as I didn’t want my annoyance with them to take away from story.
I have to say that there were a couple of scenes that I flat out loved, my favorite was the scene where they tell each other that they love each other. It was completely them. I also loved all the insulting names that Sam and Autumns’ brother had for each other.
This was another great addition to this series. If you haven’t ever read a Rachel Gibson book I highly suggest that you read this series.
Grade B+
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