Caged {a review}

 

If you read my April Anticipated Reads post, then you know I was a bit worried about whether or not I would enjoy Caged by Elise Faber. I was basing that on the fact that Charging, book 10, and I didn't exactly mesh well. Charging just didn't give me the same Gold Hockey feelings that I had come to expect.  So even though the first nine were so good, I was worried because of that one book. Silly I know.

I shouldn't have worried though. Nope. Not at all. You see I FREAKING LOVED Caged. Loved it. I want more of it. I want more of Dani and Ethan.

Gold Hockey is known for their workplace romances, and Caged (Dani/Ethan) just made my heart happy. From the very beginning, Caged felt like coming home to my people. Dani is the video coach for the team. She is responsible for getting the video edited/isolated so the players and coaches can go over everything. Dani is also very tech friendly, and is often looked to for assistance from other members of the organization.  So when Ethan approaches her, Dani automatically assumes he needs some IT help. Nope. Not the case. This professional hockey player is trying to ask her on a date. It's not going well either. Nevermind the fact that Dani has had a crush on Ethan for the past couple of years. There's no way he really wants to go out with her. Plus he'll just leave. Or so she tells herself. Eventually a date happens though, and Ethan is determined to take it slowly.

There is a scene where Dani and Ethan are talking about books, and it just fed right into my bookworm heart. Both of them had visited the local library, and Dani had quite the stack of books.  Days later, Ethan asks Dani to tell him what her favorite book was.  

“Will you tell me about your favorite?” “Favorite book? Or favorite from that stack?” “What? Do I look stupid? Favorite from the stack,” he teased. “It’s impossible for a true bookworm to choose her favorite.”

Oh my book loving heart.

Moving on from all of that...

Here's the thing, both Dani and Ethan have some issues that they need to work through. Both of them often feel less than, and that isn't helping in their relationship. Dani's "issues" stem from a prior relationship and a loss. Ethan's are coming from a conversation he over heard many years ago.

This conversation between the two of them was so good:

"You think I’m not attracted to you. To you,” she repeated. “To you!” Yup, less joyful and more irritating. “Yes, sweetheart,” he muttered. “I think I made myself clear, don’t you?” “No.” She tossed up her hands, strode to her car again. “Nothing about this makes sense.” Her words came in a flurry. “You at the library. You asking me out. You thinking that you’re not the absolute most gorgeous man in all the universe, so freaking beautiful and sexy that I’ve f*cking fantasized about you for years. I mean, your tattoos, your butt, your abs—” She clamped a hand over her mouth."

I legit laughed when Dani realized that she said all that out loud.

The scene where Dani had a panic attack, I didn't quite understand where that came from. I feel like I must have glossed over the reasoning for why she took that declaration the way she did. I'm assuming it had to do with her past, but again, I must have missed that. The things that happened after that panic attack frustrated me to no end, and I wanted to knock some sense into Ethan. UGH.

When the story concluded, I was all swoony. These two are just spectacular. I love that these two both have people in their lives that are willing to help them out, and be a sounding board. When Ethan went to his teammates for their help, I ahhh'd. Plus when Fanny talked to Ethan about Dani, I was loving it. Caged gave me everything that I love in a romance. There was the build up, there was the steam, there was the conflict, and then the resolution. I loved it all.

Also, that second epilogue? Um, say what? I am so ready for Crashed to read Fanny and Brandon's story. (and you better believe I have that book preordered! I know what's going on my July anticipated reads list.)

If you are a hockey romance fan, and you haven't read Elise Faber's Gold series, then please go do so. I think you might fall for the characters like I did. 

Thank you for taking time to read my thoughts,

Please scroll a bit further to read the teaser for Caged. I've also included links to add the book to your Goodreads, as well as purchase on Amazon.

Shy.
God, she was so painfully, awkwardly shy.

Blurting out the wrong thing at the wrong time? Check.

Puking in front of the class when she’d needed to give a speech? Double check.

Critically, embarrassingly unable to summon any semblance of a rational thought when in the presence of an attractive man? Triple check.

And she was surrounded by gorgeous, sexy men on a daily basis.

As video coach for the San Francisco Gold hockey franchise, Dani spent her days wrapped in a technological bubble. She studied tape, prepared clips for the players, and generally avoided other people.

Until Ethan.

She’d thought he was going to ask her to fix his computer.

Instead, he’d asked her out.

On a date. A date! That didn’t compute. It couldn’t be right. No one asked her out—

Ethan had.

And suddenly, Dani thought it might be possible to leave her shy, awkward days behind her. 

Add to Goodreads: Caged

Purchase on Amazon: Caged