Delayed Penalty (Pilots Hockey, #1)

by Sophia Henry

Shannon McManus (Narrator)

• ISBN10: 1494569841
• ISBN13: 9781494569846
• Publish Date: 27 November 2015
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 13 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Tantor Media, Inc
• Edition: Unabridged edition
• Format: Audiobook (MP3)
• Duration: 7 hours and 29 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[Lynn]

I chose Delayed Penalty because I don't read many New Adult or sports orientated books and wanted to broaden my reading horizon. This hockey based début novel by Sophia Henry is definitely a worthy introduction.

Auden Berezin's life has been turned on its head after she looses her scholarship, so she needs cash fast! Her grandfather often asks her to help with Russian translations only this time, she is allowed to work with a client in person, a hockey player. He might be good looking, but he's also an ass.

Russian Aleksandr Varenkov is playing in minor league hockey with aspirations of making it to NHL. He requests a translator as he doesn't like speaking to the press even though he can speak English. He gives off an arrogant vibe, but there is far more to him than a cocky player.

Auden and Aleksandr appeared far wiser than their young years, which was surprising until details from their past begin to unfurl. I liked Auden's pragmatic outlook with regards to her relationship with Aleksandr although in reality she was too dismissive and underestimated the depth of his feelings for her. Aleksandr was way more mature for his age maybe due to the tragedy in his life or his cultural background?

Overall an enjoyable, quick read with likeable and developed characters. I would have preferred the plot to have focussed more on the hockey and the Pilots, with greater attention to the protagonists relationship. The plot was too busy and the sub-plots going off at tangents meant their wasn't enough focus in the right places.

3 Stars

***arc generously received from publisher Loveswept via NetGalley***

[Cocktails and Books]

This review was originally posted on Cocktails and Books

If you like Toni Aleo’s Assassin series or Sawyer Bennet’s Off series, then you will enjoy Delayed Penalty too. Ms. Henry has her own unique voice and writing style, so her debut work won’t be confused for anyone else’s, but she definitely fits in with the hot hockey players!

The focus of Delayed Penalty is Auden, a college junior, and Aleksandr, a minor league hockey player from Russia. Even though Aleksandr is a main character in the book, we see the story from Auden’s point of view and this is really her story.

Both characters are right around 20 when they meet, so this falls firmly into the young adult category, but there are times when both Auden and Aleksandr, especially Aleksandr, come across as older. I don’t know if it relates to some of the struggles that they have both lived through, but there are times when their behaviors don’t always fit their ages.

One of the things I enjoyed about this book is that Auden is unique from a lot of female main characters. She’s athletic, but not a stand out. She’s smart, she gives back to the community, and she easily stands toe to toe with a difficult man. She’s also beautiful and doesn’t have a clue. The way she and Aleksandr meet is also fun; she is hired to be his translator while she is home for the Christmas break.

The romance part of the relationship between these two is sweet and has the expected ups and downs. Aleksandr is a truly good guy and even when he’s being a jerk, you root for him to figure it out.

Overall, this is a great debut work and I look forward to seeing what is in store in future installments of the series.


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[thebookdisciple]

Wow-this wasn't what I expected at all (in a great way!). First, Auden is an amazing character. She is smart and driven and is so aware of her shortcomings and issues. And Alex is just the most amazing sports start book boyfriend. I am really over the man whore athlete trope in books and I was slightly afraid that this book would follow that path. I was thrilled to find out that Alex was not only NOT a manwhore but he was open and loving and not an alpha asshole! I am so excited to have a sports related book that isn't about sleeping with anything that moves and being a douche. The more I think about it, the more I am glad books like this get written! We need more stories like this-with good people who have issues and talk about them instead of jumping in to bed! Thank goodness for Sophia Henry! I can't wait to read more from her!
My full review will be posted on my blog closer to the release date! http://www.thebookdisciple.com