Must Love Hockey

By: Sarina Bowen

Narrated by: Stephen Dexter, Lena Lee

Q: What’s the opposite of a “meet cute?”

A: Meeting a handsome guy at the very moment you’re breaking out in hives all over your body.

The mysterious allergic reaction I have at the hockey game is terrifying. But it’s just a little less terrifying when a big, strong equipment manager for the Brooklyn Bruisers saves the day.

That’s how I meet James “Jimbo” Carozza. When I’m alone and frightened, he gets me the help I need and delivers me safely to the emergency room.

Too bad I don’t even get his number....

©2021 Sarina Bowen (P)2022 Tuxbury Publishing LLC

Short and sweet (but not completely sweet!)

I love that Sarina Bowen gave us the sweet story of the equipment manager of the Brooklyn Bruisers, the hockey team from her series. He’s not the typical hero - the star athlete, the team owner, etc. - but just an average Jim who happens to be gorgeous. Emily is also not a typical h, a student with a boyfriend who takes her for granted, and she meets Jimbo while having an unexpected allergic reaction. I would love to have seen more of their relationship going forward, but for a novella it was just right. Stephen Dexter and Lena Lee were fantastic and brought a really good Brooklyn accent. Great easy quick listen for a lazy afternoon.

Super Cute

Great little short novella in the Brooklyn Bruisers world. Seeing Jimbo get the girl and Emily stand up for herself vs “Mr wrong” and her mom… adorably perfect.

Loved this one! Great bonus!

I absolutely loved this story! I loved seeing Jimbo find his person and some of the antics that the team get up to have me laughing out loud. The pizza scene is one of my all-time favorites and I truly adored it! I loved these two characters and am hoping that we get to see more of them (even just little tidbits) in future books in the series!
The narrators did a great job with it!

Emily and James aka Jimbo

Great narration for this short story.

The Bruisers equipment manager - Jimbo, aka James - gets his own love story!

Emily loves hockey. She's been in a relationship with her boyfriend Charles since they were 14/15. She's now 21 and trying to finish her college education while he's recently started a job at Merrill Lynch. Part of their trouble is that he's not a big hockey fan. The other part is that Emily can't remember the last time she felt like a priority in his life.

Charles leaves Emily at the rink after a game because she's not feeling well. Strike 1 for Charles. Problem is, she's not just sick, she's having an anaphylactic reaction to something she ate. James steps in and saves the day. The problem for James is that he's smitten, but he won't pressure Emily into any hard decisions.

I guess I read this out of order because it was supposed to be before Shenanigans and Love Lessons but I didn't notice anything so apparently it can stand on its own. I've really enjoyed my journey to Brooklyn with Sarina's Bruisers. I hope you'll enjoy them too.

Sweet Scale: 4/5
Spicy Scale: 3/5

loved it

I really enjoyed reading this author.  I look forward to reading more books by this author in the near future.