Rookie Move

Bowen's (Steadfast) launch novel for the contemporary romantic Brooklyn Bruisers hockey series hits with little force while skating to an abrupt, lackluster finale. Georgia's a young interim PR director for the Brooklyn Bruisers NHL team. She's dismayed when her father is named as the team's new coach, and crushed when she finds out that her first love has just been traded to the team, six years after she broke his heart. Leo's been biding his time since college, dutifully playing with a minor-league hockey team. Then the call comes bringing him up to the big game. Unfortunately, Georgia's father hates him for unknown reasons, and Leo now has to work with the woman he never forgot. The typical plot devices are employed to bring the two heroes together, including the interfering best friend and the manufactured player-trade threat. Georgia's past as a sexual assault survivor is trotted out in what feels like a heavy-handed and contrived statement, yet later in the book it's handled with surprising finesse. This romance lacks the chemistry necessary to make it memorable. (Sept.)