CROSS-CHECKED: FIRST READ REVIEW

CROSS-CHECKED by JULIA CONNORS

Hockey romance? Badass bitch? Boss x employee?? SHE IS THE BOSS??? Hell, yes, count me in.

I have read Julia Connors only a grand total of four times, including Cross-Checked, (The Trade-Up is an official installment, bite me) and she is already in my top 3 hockey romance authors. She has strong heroines, very down bad men who do not get threatened by their woman's success, lots of baby times, and lots of gal times. Oh, and lots of spice!

Especially in this book. There was honestly so much sex it can qualify for erotica. (Not that I am complaining!) But seriously, I waited a whole year for this book and it fucking delivered.

I called AJ and McCabe back in the first third of first book and I was so glad to watch them come to life (or pages).

One thing I did not expect was the age gap. Very minor spoiler alert here, but AJ is seven years older. And it was so hot. Here she is, the first ever female GM in the NHL, respected by literally every single person in her organisation, equal parts sweet and kind and bitchy and bossy. There was not a single thing I did not love about this woman and I can only hope to be half a woman she is. As a woman, there's just something too fulfilling to watch, or read, a woman be who she wants to be and can be and get what she deserves.

Do not even get me started about Ronan. Single girl dad? Sign me up before I can say 'Daddy'. Because I will. And I did. Many, many times. In my eyes, there was absolutely nothing wrong that Ronan ever did or could do. My only regret is that they did not get to fuck in that office that first time. Now that would have been hot and made things awkward. But still, I loved where the story went and how these two are just perfect for each other and especially sweet darling baby Abby. Oh, my baby Abby. I swear I died when she kissed Ronan on the mouth randomly while playing and when she took her first steps and when she played with her rubber spoon like the perfect baby that she is while Daddy treated AJ's wounds. And every time she said 'Da'. Just died.

I now have a mild case of baby fever, which is not good because I am still and undergrad, and single, and a virgin. But oh well, baby fever is almost like periods now. Comes every month for a week or so.

And I lied. The real regret I had was that AJ did not get to kick the boys' asses out in the rink. I would have paid to read that. I believe deep in my heart that she can totally do it. But there's always next time.

Two things I will say about this book that are not about AJ and Ronan before I end my fanfest:

NICHOLAS AND NICOLE AND ADORABLE I NEED MORE.

And, LUKE 'LOVER BOY' HARTMANN YOU BROKE MY HEART. After all the dialogues (4, I think, which in hindsight are not that much), I was shipping Luke and Sloane so hard that his engagement with his bestie caused me physical ache in my chest. It has been four days already and I still feel just as pained. The weird thing here is that I have hardly even been this sad about the real life shit that happens to me every now and then but then again, these characters might fictional but my feelings were real.

So, I'm gonna go and nurse my broken heart back in time to read Luke and Evie's story and then wait as long as it takes for Sloane's story (and Morgan's, my baby deserves an arranged marriage at this point). I am sure author is going to make me love Luke and Evie either way.

xoxo

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