Book Review: The Vancouver Storm Series by Stephanie Archer

I love a series of interconnected standalones about hockey players falling in love, so I had to give this series by Stephanie Archer a shot. I am super thankful for my local library for carrying the series. The following reviews do have spoilers. 

This is an ongoing series, and I will say that the authors writing has improved with each one which is always nice to be able to see when you start with an author's debut novel. I like the dynamics between the different players and how they support each other. I like the coach A LOT and I heard that he will be getting a book, so I am super excited for that. My biggest dislike is that each of the girls are involved with the team in some way - Pippa is hired as a personal assistant through the team, Hazel is part of the team's physical therapy team and Darcy gets hired to assist the team with stats. I feel like Stephanie Archer doesn't know how to get the characters to be close to each other if they aren't working for the team. 

    I have read a decent amount of hockey romance at this point and I have to say that this one is fairly average. Pippa becomes his personal assistant while she's trying to get back on her feet after being dumped by the musician boyfriend that she's been traveling with since high school, this requires her to live with him. He's an asshole at first. She slowly works past his defenses and learns about his mother's struggles with mental health. As they spend more time together and start supporting each other, they fall in love. 

    She's able to help him balance everything from his career to helping his mom. He is able to help her regain her confidence after everything that went down with her ex. The spicy scenes in this book were good, the tension was *chefs kiss* and Jamie deserves some credit because the man LOVED getting Pippa off. 

    This is one of three Fake Dating trope novels that I have read recently, and it was my favorite of the three. Fake Dating in general is kind of a silly trope because most of the time it's not even necessary but Hazel needing a way to push away her POS ex and Rory instantly having her back was amazing. The man prints out and frames a picture of her to set out in his room when he has to room with her ex during a road trip, it was hilarious.

    The two of them had serious chemistry. I loved how he wanted to spoil her and how she eventually came around to letting him. I liked how they both realized that things weren't actually fake. I loved how she has a rule about only sleeping with someone once and he refuses to go all the way with her because he doesn't want her to be done with him. I liked how he supported her when it came to her dreams of setting up an inclusive yoga studio. Overall, this romance novel had me grinning and kicking my feet in the air.

    When this series caught my eye, this was the one that I was looking forward to the most which is why I am very sad to say that this was my least favorite of the three. It's got the makings of a great hockey romance. Hayden has been pining after Darcy for years; he is even a "player" because he's never wanted to date someone that isn't her. She's coming out of a long-term relationship with his best friend who asked her out years prior before he got the chance. She wants to have fun after years of quieting herself for her ex and she asks him for help. It all sounds so good but I just spent the whole book wanting to shake them both. She wasn't admitting her feelings for him because she thought there was no way he was interested in her, and he wasn't admitting his feelings for her because she kept saying that she didn't want another relationship like her last one and she just wanted to have fun. He does eventually reach his breaking point and he admits that he wants her and has always wanted her. I mentioned it above but I didn't like that she started working for the team. I wish she had her own thing, but it was nice that she had a job that she liked more than her old job.