Series: Dream Team, #3
Traits & Tropes: Alpha hero; dysfunctional family; heroine in danger
Publication Date: 05.25.21
Genre/Setting: Contemporary; Denver, Colorado
Heat Level: 4.5
Rating: 3.5/5
Narration Rating: 5/5
Hattie Yates has finally met an amazing guy, but after years of dealing with a rather abusive, overbearing father, she’s afraid to take a chance. She failed at becoming a ballerina and she can’t handle the dissolution of another dream but when she catches the attention of a stalker, she knows who she needs to help.
Axl Pantera knows Hattie is it for him but she refuses to acknowledge the clear connection between them. He’s determined to charm her into letting him in and when he learns she’s in danger, Axl will stop at nothing to prove himself to her and keep her safe.
I really enjoyed the fast pace of this story, but I did struggle at times with keeping all the characters straight, so I think this series is probably best read in order. Hattie was very frustrating in her standoffishness. I can understand some of it as a shy person myself, but she took a lot of her behavior to extremes that didn’t make much sense when compared with her profession. Regardless, she did grow on me eventually as she began to let people in, though I did want her to step up a bit more. I loved Axl’s strength as a hero combined with his sweetness and protectiveness, and I really enjoyed the development of his and Hattie’s communication skills as examined here. Axl may have been a little harsh with Hattie at times but I think she needed that to pull herself out of her shell. There was also plenty of steam, which I loved, and which fit the story well. The weak point here was the suspense aspect. The storyline is an overarching theme for the series and since I haven’t read the first two books, it felt especially vague and unresolved for me at the book’s rather abrupt end. I was listening to this on audio and was very surprised to hear that I’d already reached the epilogue. Also, I do read quite a lot of historical so maybe this is just me, but I read some contemporary too and I was just really thrown off by the weird ultra-modern language used here. Words like rad and pad, bennies for benefits, hood for neighborhood, and sitch for situation were just strange to me. I never hear people speak this way; maybe it’s a western dialect but it got a bit annoying to me. There was a lot going on here, but I liked the relationship building that went on between Axl and Hattie. This story didn’t wow me, but I did enjoy it enough that I’ll read this author again.
As far as the narration is concerned, new to me narrator Susannah Jones was an excellent match for this book. Her characterizations helped pull me into the story and had me passing large chunks of time listening without even realizing it. I think I would’ve enjoyed this story a lot less if I had just read it.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/2282214894
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4010823289
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