Pipe Dreams

By: Sarina Bowen

Narrated by: Nicol Zanzarella, Rock Engle

Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's Summary

A goalie has to trust his instincts, even when taking a shot to the heart.

Mike Beacon is a champion at defending the net, but off the ice he's not so lucky. A widower and a single father, he's never forgotten Lauren Williams, the ex who gave him the best year of his life. When Lauren reappears in the Bruisers office during the playoffs, Beacon sees his chance to make things right.

Lauren hates that she's forced to travel with the team she used to work for and the man who broke her heart. There's still undeniable sexual tension running between her and Mike, but she won't go down that road again. She's focused on her plans for the future - she doesn't need a man to make her dreams of motherhood come true.

Lauren plays her best defensive game, but she's no match for the dark-eyed goalie. When the field of play moves to Florida, things heat up on the beach.

One of Mike's biggest fans - his teenage daughter - doesn't approve. But a true competitor knows not to waste the perfect shot at love.

©2017 Sarina Bowen (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Not romantic and sweet, but stalkers and creepy

So I read book one and two and they were really fun to listen to. Then came book three and I was expecting it to be just as much fun. I was wrong. I am clearly alone in my opinion, but I hated this book. I know, I know, its a romance book where the wronged woman is ultimately going to forgive and forget, but this time I just couldn’t take it. Mike was a jerk. He up and walked away with a crazy 2 minute phone call and left Lauren while they were in the midst of house hunting and they had been planning their lives together. To say she was completely blindsided is putting it mildly. She is doing the best she can to move forward. Now maybe because she was raised by an overbearing obnoxious emotionally abusive father and seemingly powerless pathetic mother she is prone to liking heinous selfish men, but Mike isn’t just that. He becomes fill on predator stalker guy to get her back. To just keep showing up and expecting her to forgive the way he treated her is scary. He is a narcissist. He doesn’t love her, it is all about him, his wants and needs. Lauren started out as a strong determined woman. By chapter 14, when Mike decided she was “his” (and ewwww) and she caved I was disgusted. I liked the first two books so kept thinking it would get better. he would get what was coming to him and Lauren would become the strong smart woman she wanted to be. None of that happened. I cannot believe that I am the only one who saw it this way, but Mike is not a good guy and Lauren deserves so much better. I listened via the escape package. Had I paid for it I I’d have asked for a refund. And my time back!! Skip this one.

Never wanted a second chance fail more.

I felt the way he left things the first time was unforgivable. She looks like a push over and desperate. On top of that, I just don’t think any woman would take home back so quickly. I love all the other books in this series. The whole time I read this book I was hoping foe his failure.

Really disliked the story but good narration!

I've read several of this author's stories and usually give her 5 stars! I thought I had found a writer to follow but I hate this story. I know the publication has mostly good reviews and while I respect other people's opinions it doesn't mean mine is not as legitimate. First of all, I was raised by parents who worked their problems out through thick and thin. There was no cheating. And it sounded like Mike and Lauren were emotionally cheating for a long time. Mike even admitted that was a possible reason why his wife cheated on him which led to his divorce. Personally, I dated a long time while living in several major cities around the country before I married. I never knowingly dated a man who was legally separated, much less married because from what I had seen it never ends well (except in romances, of course). If they were separated, I just told them to call me when they signed on the line if they were still interested and went "Next"! Besides, everyone has their baggage including me so marriage really comes down to hard work IMO (unless there is abuse involved). I say that as someone who has been married 30 years now. I have had several friends who dated married partners but as long as they didn't involve me, it wasn't my business and I never said a word in judgment. My problem with this story is Mike's dishonesty throughout the story. He didn't care enough about Lauren to share with her about his ex's health and his child's grief. He lied to her many times through omission. He ditched her in a way that showed how little he cared for her. Yes, I understand about his child's needs as I am a mother too but he and Lauren could have worked it out TOGETHER. He also gave no thought to the situation he left Lauren in. When he is apologizing in chapter 9 saying he would do ANYTHING for her I wanted to vomit. I think he had already shown that statement was a lie. So, he became irredeemable to me and I chose not to continue with the book.

In conclusion, another issue that bothered me was that the first time Lauren and Mike has sex, he uses no condom even though he had to get married right out of high school due to the same dumb mistake. I really enjoyed the "True North" series also written by this author but I don't know if I will be reading any more of this writer's books. So many good tales to read, so little time!

Great story and great narrotors

I have really enjoyed this whole series. The story is great very touching and the narrators are wonderful.

Good, but not Sarina's best

As a huge fan I was excited to read this installment in the Brooklyn Bruisers universe, but while entertaining, it fell short of my expectations for Sarina Bowen's work. The characters had almost no chemistry together. Mike was borderline unlikeable. Not a bad person per se, but just kind of pushy and blah. The major thing that kept me going was seeing the Rebecca/Nate romance play out in the background, from Lauren's perspective.

Love a good second chance romance!

This was a terrific second-chance romance! Lauren was such an enigma in the previous 2 books in the series that it was great to finally get in her head and to see things from her point of view. Actually, Mike was quite the mystery too. We never really got to know much about either one, but what a history we came to learn that the two shared.
I'm not sure I could have been as easily forgiving as Lauren was, when it came to the way things went down between them- it was very surprising. I honestly couldn't believe how Mike handled things, it kind of ticked me off if I'm being honest. I really feel like he could have handled things much better, but I guess at the time he was between a rock and a hard place and believed he was doing what was best. Although I was angry with him, I did feel for him, as he was in a tough position.
As the story progressed I did become deeply invested in their reunion. Lauren had been so hurt by Mike's actions and he was working so hard to make things up to her, he endeared himself to me. There's no doubt that they both still loved each other so much.
I loved how strong and independent Lauren was. I loved that she had plans for herself and wasn't going to let Mike's reappearance in her life derail them. And I liked that Mike was so suportive.
Pipe Dreams was a sweet, emotional read.


***Borrowed through the Romance Package

Score

I love this series. It’s fun it’s thoughtful it’s romantic and it shows big strapping men as sensitive caring individuals. Show strong women shows dynamics between children born from other marriages etc. I like it because it’s late and because it’s fun. This whole series has been really entertaining. The performance is also very good so overall I’d give it five stars

Fun.

Love this story and series. Excellent writing, characters and narration. Sarina Bowen is one of my new insta-buys. She’s so entertaining.

This is not a love story, it is about manipulation

I did not like Mike from the beginning. There is just something about a man who instead of tells the truth, tries to sweep everything under the rug. His initial reasoning for leaving Lauren was kind of noble but the way that he just allowed everyone to treat her was horrid. He claims that he did not know what was being said about Lauren however when his teammates talked shit about her he did not try and defend her. There is no way that he did not know what the wives and girlfriends and the media was saying about Lauren. There's no way in hell he's that clueless.

I enjoyed Lauren. She is a strong independent woman who instead of pining for a man takes control your life and does what she wants to do. She wasn't waiting at home for Mike to come and rescue her and save her life she ended up working hard to get where she got in life. It seems like every man in Lauren's life aside from Nate was just pure trash. Her dad is horrid, Mike is horrid, she just seems to lure them like a moth to a flame.

I don't know what is happening with the series. This series is a hit-or-miss for me. Sarina Bowen's writing and storytelling is better than this. The only book that I have truly enjoyed in this series so far is Hard Hitter. I love the relationship between Patrick and Ariana. There was no drama between the two as there was for Mike and Lauren. Mike knew that he messed up however instead of trying to resolve the issue he just seems to want to do a quick fix.

He is completely out of touch and it is just sad and depressing. Not only is he out of touch with Lauren but he's also out of touch with his daughter Elsa. Don't know how this man is surviving when he just seems to be oblivious to everyone around him.

The narration was good I have no complaints pertaining to that and I'm excited for the next book in the series, Brooklynaire. It is about Nate and Rebecca and I am stupid pump for it!

Great Series!

I love this series. Sarina Bowen is able to weave these stories so awesomely. They're completely engaging and so good!