Breakaway by Deirdre Martin
Breakaway
by Deirdre Martin
I don't read many romances. When I do, they're usually hockey-related. In fact, the quote on the front cover from The Best Reviews sums it up nicely for me "Deirdre Martin is the reason I read romance novels."
This one, however, was slightly disappointing. Rory is the first Irish player in the NHL, having spent the season playing for the New York Blades. He returns to his hometown in Ireland where the woman who was once his fiancée, Erin, still lives. Erin hates him for breaking up with her. Erin's family hates him for breaking up with her. Erin's family hates him for breaking up with her. Actually, pretty much the whole town hates him for breaking up with her. So why is he there in the off-season? Obviously, to win her back!
Ugh. I know the love-hate dynamic is a staple in romance novels, that there would be no point to a book if they continued to hate each other or immediately fell in love. But it's exhausting sometimes to sit through the gradual change from enemies to lovers during the course of a romance. And without a significant amount of hockey in this one, it really didn't hold my interest the way previous Deirdre Martin books have for me. I knew what was going to happen by the end from the first chapter, and there wasn't enough to really make me fall in love with this. In fact, I spent most of the book rooting for Erin and hoping she could continue to hold her own and keep telling Rory off. I almost wanted her to end up alone or with her friend, Jake, though I knew it wasn't going to happen.
That being said, I did like the book. I even liked Rory, with his obsession with the town's local author (apparently everyone on the Blades loves reading his books in the locker room? LMAO) and his single-minded drive to make amends for being an idiot and thinking he was a bigtime hockey player who had to cut ties with the people from his home town. After winning back his best mate (who he earlier intensely battles in a game of darts to take Erin to the fair) he goes after Erin... the right way. He pressures her just enough... he helps her... he doesn't force himself on her... and he cares about her and her friends. He spends his summer at his gran's and helps coach the local soccer (football) team (Erin's best friend's son is on the team).
There are some interesting subplots, with Sandra (Erin's best friend) dealing with her abusive, drunk husband and Erin not wanting to spend her life working at her family's B&B. And, of course, there are potential love triangles that pop up here and there. I really enjoyed these subplots more than the main, predictable storyline. Deirdre Martin is fantastic at creating realistic, likable characters, and that's what really kept me reading. My favorite parts were definitely the ones were all the characters are involved in helping San out and when one of Rory's teammates visits for a few weeks and there's a little more hockey goodness to be had (it doesn't hurt that the next book in this series is about him; I've already got that out of the library heehee).
In all, this is possibly my least favorite of all Deirdre Martin's romances. However, it's still LEAGUES ahead of almost any other romance I've ever read (including other hockey romances I've read). Even though it was predictable and didn't have enough hockey for me, I still adored the characters and wanted to be with them as they made it through to their happy ending. Also, the few kissing and sex scenes were surprisingly hot; that didn't hurt either ;-)