Elli Fisher has never thought she was good enough, let it be her job, her weight, her love life, nothing. That is until she meets Shea Adler. After doing a promotional shoot for the NHL team, the Assassins, she meets the hunky hockey player who shoots a puck, shattering her world.
Shea Adler was tired of the life he was living outside of the rink. The girls, the money blowing, the drinking, everything had to stop and it all did when he met Eleanor Fisher. He had never met anyone like her. She was feisty, witty, shy, and simply gorgeous. When he laid eyes on her, it was as if he was taking the hardest hit of his life into the boards, and he had to have her. Elli is a little skeptical of Shea, but he knows that they were meant to be together, and he needed her in his life.
Can Elli throw her insecurities out the window and love Shea with everything inside of her, or will she let a past relationship, and her family ruin any chance of her being happy.

In a captivating novel of second chances and healing hearts, the newest member of the Nashville Assassins pulls a power play to make things right with the one that got away.

Fallon Parker’s dream has always been to turn her family’s wine company into a runaway success and eventually start a cellar of her own. Since graduating from college, she has worked relentlessly to make that dream a reality, especially after taking a chance on love—and losing. By the time Fallon becomes an official sponsor of the Nashville Assassins, she feels like all her hard work is finally paying off. And then the man who broke her heart skates back into her life.

On the ice, Lucas Brooks is the NHL’s leading scorer—at least when he’s not in the box. Off the ice, he’s a mess, with all his anger and misery bottled up inside. He threw away the most important person in his life and has regretted it ever since. But when Lucas returns to Nashville in a trade, he’s determined to convince Fallon that he’s a changed man. The attraction is still there. The tension is electrifying. But the odds are stacked against them—especially after Lucas finds out that Fallon has been keeping a devastating secret.

Definition of an Empty Net: When a team pulls the goalie for an extra attacker, desperately seeking a goal.

Audrey Parker was in a horrible place.
She hated her job, her sister was getting married and moving out, but worst of all, she was in love with a total jerk. No matter what she did, every guy she met hurt her. All she wanted was her happily ever after. Her Prince Charming. Her Lucas Brooks! She didn’t know how to change her life but she knew she needed too.
Feeling like she was about to hit rock bottom, Audrey wakes up next to Tate Odder.

Tate Odder had lost everything.
After being brought up from the Assassins’ farm team, the Florida Rays to the Nashville Assassins, Tate hopes he’ll forget everything he has lost. He doesn’t. Each day gets harder to live in a place he doesn’t know. Even being the first rookie goalie to shut out an opposing team three times during the Lord Stanley Cup Finals, he still felt empty. With the loss of his parents and sister still heavy on his heart, Tate isn’t sure how to live like everything is okay.

But when he wakes up beside Audrey Parker, things start to change. She turns his life upside down with her kooky sense of humor and her bright clothing. She is intelligent and beautiful, and for once, he doesn’t feel empty.
Will Audrey be the person to fill the holes in Tate’s heart, making him whole again?
Or will another player ruin everything, leaving him feeling forever like an empty net?

Series: Assassins #1-3
Release Date: April 23, 2013
Publisher: Loveswept
Source: Publisher Provided
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Reviewer’s Thoughts

I am nothing if not a huge hockey fan and it is obvious from the first page that Ms. Aleo is as well. She goes into great detail on the ins and outs of the game and even the team itself. That being said, is it any wonder that her heroes are big, strong, hot men? What did come as a surprise was the softer side of each of the hockey players she shows us. My only wish was that the women these wonderful men lose their hearts to be as strong as they are. Sadly I was disappointed. Instead it feels as if Ms. Aleo put her all into describing the different aspects of the game, the inner dynamics of the team, and of course the near perfect players, that the women in their lives were a mere afterthought.

Taking Shots

Ellie and Shea could have been the perfect couple. There was chemistry from the moment they laid eyes on each other in that first scene. He wasn’t just the hotshot captain of the Assassins; he was a myopic guy bumbling through the first meeting with a woman he found attractive. And Ellie was a less than what society would see as a “perfect 10”, shy and overwhelmed by all the male attention. Then it goes downhill. After a while Ellie’s continued blindness that Shea is attracted to her, exactly as she is starts getting annoying. There is no rhyme or reason for her hiding her true background from Shea when he has been nothing but an open book to her. And don’t even get me started on the cheating nonsense. Her actions played out more like high school drama than those of a grown adult. In the end though, they got their happily ever after, due in no small part to Shea’s continued insistence. Shea’s character stayed true from beginning to end. Ellie started out strong yet slowly degraded to the point where even I was hoping her best friend would smack some sense in to her.

Trying to Score

Fallon and Lucas’ story was yet again another telling of a strong male lead and a female that needs a serious rewrite. Fallon’s character rubbed me the wrong way from the very beginning. I have ever in my years met anyone who cannot have a simple conversation without yelling and screeching. I didn’t just want someone in her life to smack her, I personally wanted to climb into the book and cause her bodily harm. Her character was my least favorite and if I could have skipped this book altogether, I probably would have. Alas, it’s not in my nature to skip books in a series. I always feel as if I may miss some integral part of the overall story if I do. As much as I loved Lucas’ story of redemption and overcoming adversity, I disliked Fallon’s character.

Empty Net

I will have to admit that this one has all the makings for being my favorite book in the series thus far.

Hot hockey player – check

Likeable heroine – check

Believable conflict to overcome – check

Hot scenes – double check

True to life, Audrey was in an abusive relationship and she keeps thinking he will change… her love will change him, completely disregarding the hot hockey player next door waiting in the wings. For obvious reasons he becomes hard to ignore (no pun intended), and a beautifully erotic, sweet romance comes to life. Our heroine in this case is not annoying so much as weak-willed when it comes to constantly falling for the abusive ex’s lines and ending up back in bed with him. However, due to its true to life situation I can overlook that minor flaw. Tate and Audrey were for all intents and purposes perfect and I wish all the other stories took note from this one and followed suit.