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The instant Piper Allen sees Erik Titov, she wants him-wants his rock-hard body, sure, but the strength and mystery that lie behind that superstar hockey jock demeanor, too. So when he sidles up to her at a bar and slinks his arm around her waist, she's lost. What follows is the wildest night of her life . . . followed by inevitable heartbreak the next morning. And then, a few weeks later, a very big surprise: two blue lines on a pregnancy test. Only a check to the head could make Erik fall for a nice girl like Piper. But since their crazy-sexy night together, he's been trying to forget about her by falling into bed with every woman in Nashville, and it's not working. So when Piper shows up at his house with a baby-bomb to drop, it doesn't take much for Erik to suggest the nuclear option: marriage. While it's supposed to be all for show, the second they say 'I do,' the ice between them starts to melt into sizzling steam. Contains mature themes.… (more)
User reviews
Erik Titov is the lead scorer, both in and out of bed, for the Nashville Assassins. Having a troubled childhood, he refuses to let anyone close to him. The team’s management is frowning upon his playboy action and the negative publicity it is bringing to the team. Put on probation he is forced to settle down. If that isn’t bad enough he is confronted by the one woman who has haunted his dreams for the past six months since he had been with her, and she’s pregnant.
Erik and Piper might be opposites, but they are perfect for each other. The characters are so well developed that it makes the story that much more intense and compelling. The more you discover about them the more you want them to find happiness. Your heart will ache for what they endure.
Toni Aleo wrote another amazing novel in the Assassins series. Once again, it is Ms. Aleo’s fault that I lost sleep because I couldn’t put her book down. Alright I admit it was sleep well lost, and I would do it again – most likely in June 2014 when book 5, Break Away comes out, I can’t wait!
ARC provided publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I wasn’t sure how Aleo was going to redeem Erik because he’s a jerk of the first order and I admit to wanting to strangle him. Let me give Aleo a high-five for redeeming him when I didn’t think it was possible.
Character development is a little weak and I think it’s because we’ve known that Piper has a crush on Erik. It’s been said more than once in the previous novels and so I think it takes out a bit of the magic in meeting characters. Despite that, I loved Piper! She’s the free spirited Allen daughter and jumps from job to job. No one in her family takes her seriously and I don’t fault her for keeping things to herself especially keeping quiet about her pregnancy. I really liked that she wasn’t going to be dependent on a man to help raise her child and isn’t afraid to let Erik know how she feels. I mentioned wanting to strangle Erik and even though I wanted to, once you know his personal history, it is easy to be sympathetic towards him. Although at times you want to shake some sense into him. Erik was interesting because he’s had a difficult childhood that makes him not want to fall in love. I most enjoyed getting to know Erik and what makes him the person he is. We have a few secondary characters that make an appearance and they are past characters. I most particularly enjoyed getting to know Phillip a little more (he’s Erik’s best friend and teammate).
Narrative is third person and typical of Aleo’s writing. It’s been such a treat seeing her writing improve. My only real compliant is how Aleo handles Erik’s contract renewal. By the time Erik meets with Elli (readers familiar with the series know Elli is now co-owner of the team and married to the team’s captain) she knows about the pregnancy. I’m not going to go into details about it because I don’t want to give spoilers, but if Erik suspects it is because of Piper, no doubt you will too. It’s never resolved in terms of Erik’s suspicions and one has to assume that Elli would be professional and wouldn’t let personal politics factor into her decision.
What I really enjoyed about BLUE LINES is the relationship between Piper and Erik and how it develops. Plus I like how family is important to Erik and adored how he’s willing to sacrifice his own personal insecurities to make Piper’s relationship with her family a little smoother. In many ways, BLUE LINES is a marriage of convenience story and I do enjoy those because I love seeing the characters surprise at falling in love.
If you like your bad boys bad to the bone, you’ll love Toni Aleo’s BLUE LINES. Now I’m anxiously anticipating Phillip’s story.
I liked the storyline. I like the characters. at first I did not like Erik but the more I learned about him the more I liked him. I also liked seeing the characters from other novels in the Assassins series back to see what they have been doing. The pace of the story moved right along.
The
The plotline we do see is a one night stand that leads to unplanned pregnancy. Erik never plans on having a father and all of a sudden he finds out that in three months he will be one. He also gets in trouble with the Assassins team because of all his catting around. So he talks Piper into a temporary marriage to save his job and family. Piper is also his sister-in-law.
Piper is a talented artist. She changes careers often. She has loved Erik for a long time. She believes in him even when he doesn't. She hides her pregnancy from everyone for a long time. Erik never answered her phone calls.
Erik is a good hockey player but he cats around a lot especially after sleeping with Piper the one time. In fact he is on a lot of magazines with different women and all over the place. 5 different ladies say he is their baby's father.
The Assassins are a professional hockey team. They are close together with each other. The owner Elli is also one of Piper's good friends. Elli's husband Shea is team captain. Erik's brother is on the team too. Piper's best friend is marrying a Assassin too.
I skipped over the love scenes but it is hard to skip over all the swearing.
I am undecided on wanting to read the next book. I really like the series except for a few parts.
I was given this ebook to read and in exchange promised to give honest review by NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Loveswept
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.
I laugh, I cried and I wanted more. Not a masterpiece but still it was something that keeps you glued to the story and makes you fall in love with them, all of
Can't wait for the next one :)
Even though I only rated this book three stars, I actually really did enjoy the storyline. I would have given it four stars but I felt the wording in the book was lacking. Maybe it was because of books I read previous and how connected I felt to the characters. My
Piper has been in love with Erik for a very long time, hoping that he will notice her, but Erik is stuck in his man-whoring ways, fighting his demons that stop him from believing in love. Well, one day Erik notices Piper, and after an explosive night spent together, Piper is even more smitten, more in love with Erik and daring to hope that he is finally returning her feelings. Unfortunately, Erik gives Piper the brush off, breaking Pipers heart, and crushes her heart when she sees the two blue lines on her pregnancy test and realises that Erik will probably reject her and the baby.
This book really tugged at my heartstrings. Piper just made me want to reach in and comfort her, but then at the same time, high five her for being so strong. She held her own with Erik, putting up with his tomfoolery and cocky, jackass ways. She was sassy and full of spunk, giving it back to Erik when he overstepped his mark. One of my favourite scenes was when she picked up his hockey stick and showed him just how serious she was.
Now Erik was a jerk. I really didn't like him for a long while, and at times, really didn't want them to be together because I couldn't see Piper go through any more heartache. I wanted to reach in and wring his neck for some of his antics and attitudes. But then we start to hear more of his story and how he has had to fight his own traumatic past. When we realise how it has affected his thinking, we find there are just so many layers to this man, so much emotion that he has been hiding, so many feelings that he has had trouble expressing and dealing with. By the end of the book, I had totally turned my feelings 180 degrees and it has to be a well written book to do that, when the character evoked such strong feelings against him at the start.
While some may say Piper gave in at a point in the book, I feel she followed her heart, never letting herself become a doormat, always standing up for herself, never giving up on bringing the real Erik to the surface, taking a chance and believing in love. She had the patience of a saint at times but also set her boundaries and protected herself against more hurt when she had to. She saw what was underneath his skin, saw the real man he was and she was determined to give it every opportunity for that man to come out and shine.
Overall, this book is written from both points of view and I loved it. The only reason it is not 5 stars is that I thought that some of the internal dialogue was repetitive, particularly Erik's. I just didn't think the same feelings and attitudes needed to be repeated so much in such great detail. You don't have to be a hockey fan to 'get' this book. It's a heart-wrenching, romantic tale of two people learning what real love is all about, warts and all. It's about intimacy, sharing your innermost secrets, putting your trust in someone else who holds your emotions and your heart in their hands. It's about letting go of insecurities and letting love in, letting someone special into your heart.
I'm off now to devour the rest of the series.
copy kindly provided by the publisher and Netgalley