Samantha Lind has released a brand new book called Rookie Move! Rookie Move is the 9th book in her Indianapolis Eagles hockey series. You already know I love a good hockey romance, so this book drew me in!
In this book we are following the relationship between Dylan and Hailey. These two are high school sweethearts, and both know that one day they will marry. They are completely on the same page. The only issue is that he's in Indiana, and she is in California.
If you are not familiar with the premise of Rookie Move, here is the teaser blurb for it.
Dylan
My future was all mapped out.
Graduate high school.
Get drafted.
Make a professional hockey team's roster.
Marry my high school sweetheart.
I had it all within my grasp;
Everything was falling into place.
Except for the distance,
And our conflicting schedules.
Hailey
My future was all mapped out.
Graduate high school.
Graduate Med-School.
Land my dream residency.
Marry my high school sweetheart.
My dream took me to the opposite coast, but my heart just wasn't in it anymore.
Could I find a new path to my goal and still find happiness?
Was thinking we could make this work another rookie move?
Time for my thoughts.
(I will do my best to be spoiler free.)
Rookie Move was a sweet story, and I really liked how it flowed. I felt like I knew the characters, and could imagine the heartache that they were both dealing with due to the distance. Other than their relationship, what also grabbed my attention was the way Dylan was accepted into the Indianapolis Eagles team with little to no issue. From what I could "see" his teammates had no issue with this rookie, and a recently retired player took Dylan under his wing. I thought that was awesome. I love seeing teammates who are more like family than coworkers. The fact that Hailey was also immediately accepted by the WAGs was equally impressive. She didn't have to struggle through making these connections, and building the friendship, it just happened. I mean, yes, she put her foot in her mouth once or twice, but those moments were quickly over looked.
Honestly, for me, it felt like something was missing in the story.
I have read NUMEROUS hockey romance series, and and they all seem to follow the same path. We witness the relationship build, we see how the characters connect and fall in love, we meet their friends/family, there are minor issues that get worked through, and then there is the big conflict that happens, and we find ourselves wondering how they will fix this. It is at this point in the book where I am screaming (internally) at the characters, and wondering how they could screw this up! Once that is remedied, we get the reunion, and see them on their way to their HEA.
For me, Rookie Move was missing that. Yes, Dylan and Hailey are living thousands of miles apart. Yes they are both extremely busy with their work (him hockey, her school). But that's minor. Where is this moment that drives them apart, and we witness them coming back together? I needed that, and it wasn't there.
I liked that they were high school sweethearts, I really did. However Dylan and Hailey were almost too perfect.
Now don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the story. I really did. I just wish it had everything I wanted.
At the end of the day, as I reflect on the book, I decided to give it a 3/5.
For those who have read the entire Indianapolis Eagles series, are all the books this way? I fully admit that I jumped into book 9 without having read any of the other books, so I'm not certain. I'm debating with myself about if I should go back and read the other 8 books. Part of me wants to.
Thank you for reading my review. If you've read Rookie Move, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Happy Reading,
Congratulations Samantha Lind on your new release. Thank you to Wildfire Marketing and Samantha Lind for the advanced reader copy of Rookie Move. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review. As you can see, mine was more middle of the road.
