Virgin Territory: A Hellions Hockey Romance

Lia Riley

Mar 2018 · A Hellions Hockey Romance Book 3 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this ebook

Don't miss the third and final book in Lia Riley's sexy and addictive Hellions Angels series—the perfect grumpy/sunshine beach read!

Practice makes perfect...

Patrick “Patch” Donnelly has what it takes to be the best goalie in the NHL... if only he could learn to control his temper. When Coach orders him to get his head in the game with private yoga classes, Patch isn’t having it. There’s no way this tough Boston guy would be caught dead downward dog-ing his way to inner peace. But if he refuses, he risks his starting position and the dream he sacrificed everything for, including joining the priesthood.

Yoga instructor Margot Kowalski is over men. After yet another toxic relationship, she’s eager to forget love and focus on growing her business. Doing the Hellions head coach a favor by helping out a troubled player can't hurt, and it might give her career a high-profile boost. But free-spirited Margot is soon charming the pants off Patch. Literally. Her sassy combination of sweet and sexy proves irresistible to the goalie. Before Patch can give into temptation though, he’ll have to confess his biggest secret:

He’s a virgin.

But Patch is hiding more than sexual inexperience, and his dark past soon threatens to destroy his shot at true love.

Ratings and reviews

I adore Lia Riley’s books: humor, heart, heat and plenty of time to escape into the story hide the often deeper struggles of her characters. We’re onto the third book in this series, and this is Margot’s story; good friend of Breezy and Neve and a wholesale change from the two sisters. Margot is a yoga instructor, and hoping to open her own studio plus more; she just needs to get started with concrete moves. When Margot and Neve cook up an idea that involves Margot working with the team’s goalie: a man known for his hair-trigger temper, teaching him to learn to focus on the ice, and stay out of trouble off. However, there are issues here: particularly Margot’s rather free-wheeling attitude toward sex and her tendency to ‘go for it’ with those she’s attracted to: usually resulting in disaster. Patch (Patrick) is a Boston boy, star goalie and keeper of a huge vault of secrets, and one close friend who knows only a part of the story, Sully, Father Sullivan, another Boston-boy and hockey player, roommate in college and now a rather unorthodox priest, determined to help his friend. But Patch’s questions about yoga, and his skepticism about the ability to gain anything from the time is strong: and then he meets Margot. Instantly he’s attracted, but the disquiet he feels around women because of his own mother’s horrible history, leave him unsettled. But, he wants, no needs, to play hockey so he’s giving Margot’s advice a try. And, when it works, REALLY works for him and allows him to remove the rage just below the surface, he’s hooked. There was so much to work through in this one: Patrick’s shame and rigid reactions to his childhood traumas, Margot’s now stalking ex and his attempts to bully her, a scurrilous lawsuit against Patrick’s assault on an ambulance-chasing lawyer and his refusal to tell the whole story which may exonerate his culpability, and the growing attraction and closeness of Patrick and Margot. Full of heart and hope for more: Patrick is such a good man: protective, honest, wanting to be and do better and utterly devoted to the game, his willingness to try new things, even when they are wholly out of his comfort zone when prodded on by Margot show a great desire to trust and want to feel more “normal” even when he will say those moments only happened on Sundays when he was a child. I actually couldn’t put this book down – fortunately the story was fast-paced and moved seamlessly from one moment to the next, keeping me intrigued, interested and engaged. This series never fails to disappoint, with heart, humor and plenty of friendship to share: allowing moments to check in with the couples after their stories have moved from the spotlight. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via Edelweiss for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

I enjoyed this quirky, light romance. The premise is a switcheroo on a popular romance trope and I was eager to see how the author handled it. I actually laughed out loud at some portions. A fast-moving story, there is a lot of action, humor, sass, maturing & love gathered up in a few pages. I definitely recommend this title for a relaxing evening read. I voluntarily read & reviewed an ARC of this book, which I received via Edelweiss.

Enjoyed this story , will now read the two before it in this series. Never read this author before but enjoyed this book enough to want to read more.

About the author

Lia Riley is a contemporary romance author. She loves wandering redwood forests, beach fog, procrastinating, and a perfect pour over coffee. She is 25% sarcastic, 54% optimistic, and 122% bad at math (good thing she writes happy endings for a living). She and her family live mostly in Northern California. You can also find her co-hosting the weekly Afternoona Delight Podcast, exploring the wonderful (and trope-filled) world of Korean Dramas through a writer’s lens.