Moonlighter by Sarina Bowen Pages: 370
Series: The Company #1
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Setting: Honolulu, HI and NYC, NY
Source: ARC
Also in this series: Loverboy
Also by this author: Us, Bittersweet, Rookie Move, Hard Hitter, Pipe Dreams, Brooklynaire, Speakeasy, Fireworks, Overnight Sensation, Superfan, Man Cuffed, Heartland, Sure Shot, Lies and Lullabies, Loverboy, Roommate, Bombshells, Boyfriend , The Best Men, Shenanigans , Love Lessons , A Little Too Late, The New Guy , Good as Gold, I'm Your Guy, The Five Year Lie, Golden Touch, The Last Guy on Earth
Goodreads
Five nights. Two adversaries. Only one bed in their hotel room.
I’m at the height of my athletic career. Yet my arrogant brother is always trying to recruit me into the family business: a global security company so secretive that I don’t even know its name.
Pass, thanks. I don’t need a summer job.
But the jerk ambushes me with a damsel in distress. That damsel is Alex, the competitive, sassy girl I knew when we were kids. Now she’s a drop-dead gorgeous woman in deep trouble.
So guess who’s on a flight to Hawaii?
It’s going to be a long week in paradise. My job is keeping Alex safe, while her job is torturing me with her tiny bikinis. Or maybe we’re torturing each other. It’s all snark and flirting until the threat against Alex gets serious. And this jock must become her major league protector.
Moonlighter is book one in a delightful new series by one of my favorite authors, Sarina Bowen!! This is a spinoff of sorts from the Brooklyn Bruisers (my favorite). Eric Bayer is an aging hockey player who is the black sheep of his uber successful family. He gets suckered into helping his brother with “The Company”. All he has to do is a be a fake boyfriend to an old family friend…that always ends well!
Max’s (Eric’s brother) company is super secret and part of what they do is provide security. Max is providing security for Alex, and he needs Eric’s help. See, turns out Alex has an idiot of an ex who can’t take no for an answer. Oh, and she is pregnant with his baby. Eric doesn’t want to help, but Max sort of forces his hand. He gets a free trip to Hawaii out of it! Of course Eric and Alex hit it off.
Eric is genuinely funny throughout the story. He has lots of quippy lines and his banter with Alex is great. She has a deadpan type of humor. She’s also a brilliant, fierce girl boss CEO! I love that a pro hockey player is the least successful person in this book. I also loved how Eric loves Alex. Their story is full of the unexpected but Eric just seems to roll with it, no matter what and then one day he realizes he loves her. I also liked that Eric’s hockey career was coming to an end and he had to face that. In most sports books, the heroes are top notch and if they get injured, they bounce back triumphantly. Eric is dealing with the decision no pro athlete wants to make and he struggles.
Moonlighter gives you a touch of danger as well which I always appreciate. Alex and Eric build a relationship over months and their chemistry is great. You really believe in their feelings for one another. I was completely engrossed in Moonlighter and I can’t wait to see where Bowen takes “The Company” next!
- POV: dual 1st
- Tears: no
- Trope: fake relationship
- Triggers: View Spoiler »
- Series/Standalone: stand alone
- Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
- HEA: View Spoiler »
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A Lie for a Lie by Helena Hunting, Faker by Sarah Smith, Call Her Mine by Melissa Foster …then you will probably like Moonlighter!
Moonlighter
Great review, Samantha! I can’t wait to pick this one up. Sarina is one of my top favorites and she never disappoints. Your mood/aesthetic board is awesome!
Excellent review! I like this author and this book sounds great.
Anne – Books of My Heart
Did I see the words fake boyfriend? Suddenly I’m a whole heap more interested in reading. I mean, it’s Sarina Bowen, I was always going to read but now I really want to. It does sound like a fun book and it’s cool to see a different side to athletes in this book. We don’t see enough of the end of a pro athletes career and the tough decision they have to make to stop or risk doing more harm than good.
Just added Moonlighter to my TBR pile, it sounds so good! Great review, Sam. 🙂
Yay!!! Its so great!
I will keep reading everything this woman writes, and I am glad we are staying in this world too, because I am fond of it. Love the premise and I cannot wait to read this for myself.