Bombshells: A sports romance in the Brooklyn Hockey series

Bombshells by Sarina Bowen is the story of Anton Bayer, defenseman for the Brooklyn Bruisers and Sylvie Hansen, goalie for the brand new women's team, Brooklyn Bombshells. Anton, who was nicknamed "Baby Bayer," after joining the same team as his cousin, Eric, has been around for a couple of books. But this is Sylvie's first appearance in the series! When they first meet, there's a mutual spark, but Sylvie's history with one of Anton's teammates makes things more complicated. And after a really rough past year, Anton decides he can't afford any distractions this season. So they end up being friends and workout partners. Slowly things start to change until one day the chemistry between them explodes. But they decide to keep things quiet because of the aforementioned teammate. It's been a while since I've read one of Sarina Bowen's books, but it was just as wonderful as always! It kept me hooked from start to finish. From the minute Anton and Sylvie met, their connection was undeniable, but I really liked the way their friendship was explored before they got involved. This was a really sweet friends to lovers romance, with a bit of a slow burn! The idea of the women's team had been thrown around for a couple of books now and it was really cool to see it actually happen. There were moments where I felt like the writing was a little stilted and the book was definitely emotionally lighter than Bowen's other books, but still enjoyable! It was also pretty great to revisit some of the other character's, especially Scarlet and Bridger who we haven't seen in a long time. I'm excited to read the next book in the series. (I really hope it's Charli and Drake!) While this book is part of a series, it can definitely be read as a standalone. I'd recommend it if you're looking for a sports romance, a friends to lovers book, or just a really fun romance with some charming characters! 💜

So much about this book was fun. There was also a lot about it that had a message about the way things are, the way things should be, and the things we need to do to get there, but not in a preachy way that makes you feel like you are reading a thesis rather than a novel, a tough balance, that this achieves. Sophie and Anton start with a shared love of hockey, and this gives them a foundation for more of a relationship to develop, even though he had literally just decided to stay away from all vices (women included) after narrowly escaping being released from the team due to past bad behavior. I loved the way this book blended the realities of being a woman in a largely male world with the fact that not every moment of every day needs to be focused on that, if that makes sense...that it's possible to be upset about how you are treated, but still love the game and fall in love with a male hockey player. As I have come to expect with this series, and with this author, this title was a lot of fun and I enjoyed and recommend it. If you haven't read the other books in the series, you can definitely still enjoy this one...although, you really should go read those other titles too, you'll be glad you did.

Baby Bayer is adorable and I want one for myself. But I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that I can't really recall Anton from the previous books! Don't let him hear that though, I wouldn't want him getting a complex or anything. Not only were Anton and Sylvie really cute together, their chemistry was hot. But I appreciated how concerned Anton was with stepping on Bryce's toes, and that he was willing to move himself into the friend zone because he didn't want to get in the middle of whatever Bryce and Sylvie had going on. I liked how, once Sylvie set her mind to things, she just went for it with Anton. After some slight hesitation on his part, and reflecting on what he wanted from his season, Anton was fully on board. I was initially worried there might be a bit of a love triangle feel to the story, considering Sylvie's history with Bryce, but that was never the case. Bombshells was another entertaining read from Sarina Bowen. I love the addition of the women's hockey team and how the seasons are going to run parallel. I'm excited to read stories for the other Bombshell players, and to see the interactions between both teams.