Heat it Up

I really enjoyed this book. I loved how the author gave us a tour of Finland and a peek into Finland’s culture. If you like your hero sexy, nerdy and broken, then this may be the story for you. Not only had Kyle lost his first and only love, his wife, in a horrible accident by a drunk driver, but the accident took away his NHL career because of his injuries. He has wallowed in self-pity and self-destructive behavior, as many people do in the time of extreme loss. He felt getting away for the summer, teaching hockey would help him move on. He didn’t plan on meeting a sweet and beautiful woman and certainly didn’t plan on romance. He wanted to curb the drinking and the excessive sex that he was used to back home. However, his roommate and fellow NHL teammate, who is from Finland, got him a job at a hockey camp with his uncle. This teammate is a big time party boy and womanizer, so probably not the best person to be with. Sophia is a sweet and sometimes a little naïve. She came to Finland to get away from her past (cheating ex-boyfriend and his subsequent death) and to spend time with her grandma, who is Finnish and doesn’t speak English. Sophia doesn’t know many Finnish words so their interaction is funny. Unfortunately, grandma is a meddler, wanting Sophia to find love like she had for many years. So she fixed her up with her friends’ grandson, Joni. Sophia wasn’t interested in a relationship and tried to get out of his pushy tries to get her to go out. Sophia is working as a custodian at the sports center where Kyle is coaching and while she is cleaning the sauna, Kyle and his buddy enter the sauna naked as the day they were born. Sophia panics and almost hoses down Kyle, but found a way to escape with her pride intact. Kyle and Sophia’s chance meeting turned into interest for both of them. Sophia recruited Kyle to pretend he was her boyfriend to get out of going out with Joni. He reluctantly went along and when they kissed it was scorching. Needless to say they went along as boyfriend and girlfriend and eventually consummated the relationship. Joni kept coming though, and he was devious and underhanded in dealing with his feelings for Sophia. There are some twists and turns that happen that affect them all and I grew frustrated with Joni. I wanted to hit him over the head with my IPad a few times. This is a well written story, but at times it dragged and could have been a little shorter. If you like a story love story with two broken people that want a new start and find love in a foreign country, then this is the book for you. I look forward to the next book in this series!