Falling For The Backup (Assassins, #3.5)

by Toni Aleo

[Cocktails and Books]

The third time is the charm in Toni Aleo’s Falling for the Backup. Jordan Ryan, the backup goalie for the Nashville Assassins, is trying to figure out his new place on the team and in the hockey world following a knee injury. His focus is on his career despite the chemistry that explodes upon meeting Aynslee Shaw on a plane ride back from Buffalo. Aynslee, completely enamored with Jordan, doesn’t understand why the hottie does not seem to want anything more to do with her. Jordan is able to hold out the first meeting, but how long will he last after running into her over and over again?

Falling for the Backup is a novella that continues Toni Aleo’s Assassins series. You can read this without having read the rest of the series, because she does a good job of writing it as a stand-alone novella. Jordan overall struck me as a gentleman who took a hard hit, both emotionally and physically, who feels as though he should not subject Aynslee to all the baggage and career uncertainty that he is going through. Aynslee is a strong willed female that tries to support Ryan emotionally while watching him navigate his new normal, but will she be included when it is all said and done. Toni Aleo’s insightful characters, with their emotional twists and turns, will give readers a ride as fast paced as the hockey games Jordan plays.

Reviewed by Lucy for Cocktails and Books