⭐⭐⭐⭐
With a little bit of free time to read to finish out the Hockey Champions Readathon, I created a spinner wheel of Hockey Romances by authors I wanted to try. I decided to pick up My Hallowe'en Heartbreak first. This is the second book of Melanie Ting's Holiday Hattrick series. I picked this one without spinning since I need a book to fill the Halloween prompt for the Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo. I applied this to the Hockey Champions prompt Devon Toews (underrated author) as well as the orange on the cover prompt for the 2nd board of Summer of Swoon.
Sophia is having a bad day. She gets pulled off a major case at work, is forced to go to a schmoozey Halloween party by her boyfriend Elliot and then finds him in a bathroom having relations with another woman. She leaves and it starts raining, making her look like a drowned Pikachu. She calls for a ride and her driver ends up being her lifelong crush and childhood next door neighbor Henry. His indie rock band is taking a hiatus since their small record label is struggling and Henry has lost his muse for song writing. As Sophia and Henry rekindle their friendship, they come to rely on each other more than expected and find themselves feeling "at home" around each other. As they slowly push past being more than friends, Henry receives a chance of a lifetime to write music for a popular singer, who's also his ex-girlfriend.
First off, this may seem like it's Halloween themed by the title and series, but there's really not much Halloween vibes here except for the very beginning. I was expecting this to be more centered around the holiday, but I also didn't read the blurb going in. I also added this series because I saw there was beer league hockey in it. While there was a touch of it in this one, I think the other books in the series have more (especially with a former AHL player being the hero in book three). Otherwise I really enjoyed my time reading this. I thought it was a nice change of pace (even though it's another second chance romance, just a different kind). It was pretty slow burn, so just be aware of that going in.
I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more hockey, but that's on me and my assumptions. The bulk of this is really Henry struggling to refind his muse and connecting with Sophia. I loved the way they just were naturally drawn to each other and with their long-standing relationship really able to open up like couldn't with other people. I thought they were just so sweet together. Now this isn't quite a full 5-stars for a couple reasons. There is some ex drama, but I liked that it wasn't Sophia that went off the hook. She does at first, but then reminds herself she wants to be a judge and to wait until she can talk with Henry. What I didn't like is how she reacted when they did talk. It just felt a little overboard. I also wanted things to move a little bit quicker. I can understand a slow burn, but I felt their relationship was a little too stagnant and could've still been developing. Honestly though, if those types of things don't bother you, you'll probably really enjoy this!
I'm excited to finally get a chance to try Melanie Ting and I can't wait to read more from her backlist. I always love finding a new author, and if you're specifically looking for a POC author, she is another great option; Melanie is Japanese-Canadian. Hopefully her other hockey named books and series have more of the hockey the names promise!
Have you read My Hallowe'en Heartbreak?
Bookishly Yours,
Stasi🍎
STATISTICS: My Hallowe'en Heartbreak, Melanie Ting, 4-stars, 1 day, eBook, 324 pages, published in 2020, indie published
No comments:
Post a Comment