The Trailblazer: A Second Chance Hockey Romance

Gina Azzi

Nov 2021 · Boston Hawks Hockey Book 7 · Three Cities Publishing LLC

About this eBook

I always knew I’d marry my first everything, Declan Yaeger, the Southern boy with Irish roots. That was before he became my first heartbreak, a NHL superstar with a playboy reputation I no longer recognize. 

The summer he left our small, Tennessee town, to pursue his hockey dream is the summer my life changed. That was seven years ago, before he became a defenseman for the Boston Hawks. Before I became a hardened, desperate woman, trying to survive.

To protect my grandfather's legacy, I agree to marry my oldest childhood friend, Henry. But when I enter the Church on my wedding day, the grey eyes piercing mine aren’t my fiancé’s.

They’re Declan’s, the last person I expect to show up with an offer of his own. One I can’t refuse even though my heart should know better than to accept.

Will my marriage to Declan heal the broken between us? Or are we destined to repeat the mistakes of our past?

Ratings and reviews

4.5 Stars This was such a good second chance romance. There is so much emotion and feels in this one. Vivi and Declan are going to steal your heart. I was rooting for them right from the beginning to rediscover the magic when they were younger. You can tell right off the bat those two still have buried feelings for one another. Fate has given them a second chance forcing their hands. The epilogue was so beautiful and exactly what these two characters deserve. I highly recommend taking this journey with Vivi and Declan. It's going to make your romantic heart happy sigh.

Vivi learns after the death of her grandfather that he had added a wedding stipulation to his will and if she doesn’t marry by her next birthday, she will lose control of her beloved foundation. She has worked hard leading the Harrison Foundation and if her cousin becomes an equal partner the foundation will suffer. With no prospects of husbands in her life, she asks her best friend Henry to marry her. As the time of the wedding is approaching, she lets Henry off the hook just in time for Declan to arrive on the scene. Declan and Vivi had known each other since childhood and were high school sweethearts. But everything changed when he left to pursue his hockey career and never came back to town. When Declan’s father tells him Vivi is marrying Henry, Declan leaves his first game on the team to make it there before the wedding. Discovering why Vivi needs to get married, he offers to marry her. He has a lot of questions about the past and hopes by marrying her they can have a second chance. The Trailblazer is the seventh book in the Boston Hawks Hockey series. While I have read a few of the books, I had no trouble reading any of them as a standalone. The book was well written, had low angst, and was entertaining. I loved seeing characters from previous books and the rest of the team. The teammates and their wives have a strong connection and are amazingly supportive of each other. Vivi and Declan had issues that kept them apart and they were all due to a lack of communication. Once they started communicating with each other their relationship grows. Their connection was strong, and I was so happy they got a second chance together. This was a great book and it led to the next one. I look forward to reading it next. I received an ARC and am voluntarily leaving a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book is quite heartwrenching fake marriage second chance and sports romance. But It would be better if the author writes a prologue about their first loves and what happened so I don't feel like I have missed out because I feel like the beginning of the story seems to happen out of nowhere but it's getting better when I keep reading and the best after Vivi's secret is unrevealed. And when I don't feel like I read in the clouds anymore, I can focus on the story. Their second chance is a slow burn one and Declan is so sweet and patient with Vivi when she tries to trust him again. But aside from that, there have nothing intriguing until the history seems to about to repeat itself. This part is a little bit dramatic but Declan's reaction warms my heart. I even sniff for what they have been through and decide to give the book 4 stars.