"Fair Play" by Deirdre Martin
Title: Fair Play
Author: Deirdre Martin
Final Thought: Loved It!
Hockey player Michael Dante has been in love with publicist Theresa Falconetti since the moment he met her. Theresa on the other hand could care less. Forget the fact that he's a hometown sports hero, handsome, and a nice guy to boot. He happens to be all three things she absolutely avoids in a man: he's a jock, he's Italian, and he comes from the same Brooklyn neighborhood she grew up in. All equal one big turn-off as far as she's concerned. When Michael hires her to help publicize his family's restaurant Theresa is forced to see Michael for what he really is. Perfect for her. But after cruelly rejecting him for years, is she too late?
I liked this book even more than Body Check. I've been reading a lot of cheesy romances lately (as if you couldn't tell) and I gotta say, as far as romance novel heroes are concerned... Michael is right up there as one of my favorites. He's a sweetheart but a flawed sweetheart. He had a great balance of sensitive, passionate, and macho man. You really feel for him and get his frustration when the pigheaded Theresa repeatedly breaks his heart.