Hawke (Cold Fury Hockey, #5) by Sawyer Bennett

The Carolina Cold Fury hockey team proves that love is a power play. As Sawyer Bennett’s New York Times bestselling series continues, the league’s most notorious party animal gets blindsided by the one that got away.

Off the ice, elite defenseman Hawke Therrien enjoys his fair share of booze and good times. And why shouldn’t he? He’s worked his way up from the minor leagues and made himself a star. The only thing Hawke misses from that life is the pierced, tattooed free spirit who broke his heart without so much as an explanation. She’s almost unrecognizable when she walks back into his life seven years later—except for the look in her eyes that feels like a punch to the gut.

Vale Campbell isn’t the same girl she was at twenty. As crazy as she was about Hawke, her reckless behavior and out-of-control drinking were starting to scare her. She had to clean up her act, and that would never happen with Hawke around. Cutting him loose was the hardest thing Vale ever had to do—until now. Because she’s still crazy about Hawke. And if he could ever learn to forgive her, they just might have a future together.

Hawke started out pretty intriguing. 

I'll admit that the beginning broke my heart a bit and I wanted to know what happened! Poor Hawke got dumped and I wanted to know why!

I love a good second-chance romance!

Let me first say that I found this story to be easy going and sexy, with overall great sweetness.

Hawke is the quintessential hockey hottie, but with a extraordinary heart.

Hawke's interaction with Vale's dad showed what a truly genuine person he is and I enjoyed that.

What fell flat for me was just the overall tone.  

Although those moments were there, it was a bit ho-hum for me. 

Easy going read, but missing that punch I need.

I found flaws in the big "break-up/make-up", what exactly happened and the actions that came from it.

Conflicts were quickly looked over and forgiven. 

You could say the characters did the mature thing and brushed it off, moved forward.. but that's just not very realistic. I wanted more. I was let down in that aspect.

Overall, it was a quick and light read with bouts of sexy and sweet.