Reviews
really not much to say other than the fact that this was a surprisingly well written, rational, yet still entertaining hockey ish romance book. probably the first friends to lovers that I’ve actually really liked and finished in a day. kudos to that.
This review was originally posted on Addicted To Romance Brooklynaire is the fourth and the most recent installment in the Brooklyn Bruisers series by Sarina Bowen. I swear that you just can never go wrong with picking up a book by Sarina Bowen. Her books are so sexy and endearing and relatable. I feel like each of her books could REALLY happen in real life, her flawed characters are so perfectly written. Now this book is slightly different from the previous books BUT its the most anticipated book of the WHOLE series!! I want to mention first that this is Nate and Rebecca's book. The events that occur in Brooklynaire are events that slowly build in some of the other books in the series so if you have read books 1-3 then you will recognize many things that happen in this book, but we get more focus on the pair here that we get teasers of in the previous books. I do want to point out that I recommend reading this series in order. I normally don't say that especially with books that could be read as stand alone, but I feel like I got more out of Brooklynaire because I did read these books in order. You get glimpses of Nate and Becca in the previous books and the chemistry between them and this is where we see them finally come together and it was DIVINE!!! Brooklynaire begins in the present day where Rebecca is the office manager for the Brooklyn Bruisers team and she loves her job and has been working for Nate (the new owner of the team for seven years) and they have a close friendship although we get the feel from the first chapter that there is more underneath the surface between them than just mere friendship. But then Rebecca gets a head injury and for weeks she is out of a job and Nate is taking care of her when Becca allows it. Flashbacks occur where the reader sees when Nate and Becca first starting working with Nate and his buddies before they were making the big bucks and the friendship and how Becca was as much a part of their success as the big brain of Nate. But with Nate and Becca being together more, there is more than meets the eye in their relationship. But Becca works for Nate and that puts a wrinkle on their relationship and could prevent them from finding a way to be together unless they find their own way through uncertain waters. Nate is about ten times more magnetic than an ordinary guy. You’d think after seven years I’d be used to him. But nope. I simply adored everything about Brooklynaire, to be honest. I have been looking forward to reading Brooklynaire ALL week, to be honest. And yes I listened to this whole series in one week. So I was super excited for Nate's book. Now he is a character I have loved seeing throughout this series. Now, don't get me wrong, I have a love for the billionaire-millionaire heroes and I am so not ashamed of it. But there is something more unique about Nate because he is such a NERD and a sexy one at that. We see how much he loves people around him and will fight for them. He is close to his family, and loves working with technology and his computer programs and is quite goofy at times. My only complaint about his character is that in previous books he didn't seem goofy....he was more socially awkward. But we really don't see that much in this one and I would have liked to see that more, to be honest. However, his character was so blended so well in this story. My life is constant noise... When you kiss me, everything goes quiet. That's the only time I can forget everyone else. Another aspect of the story I found different was the POV and the narration. Now we get 1st POV from both Nate and Rebecca and then we have another POV that I want to say is 2nd--maybe? I haven't read a POV like the third aspect before in a romance and it was really interesting. It was more from the viewpoint of the other programmers that have been friends with Nate for YEARS and how Rebecca becomes a part of the team before the world even knew they existed. So I am guessing this is why the narrators were different from the previous books and even though I enjoyed them I do think the narrators from books 1-3 are my preference for these books. But these three narrators did a superb job anyway so I was really impressed with how they handled the unique qualities of this book which is written a bit differently than the others I have tried out from Sarina Bowen. Now onto our heroine, Rebecca who was such a lovely character. I admit I have been wanting her book ever since reading book one. She is loved by everyone and that speaks for her type of character. She is energetic and sweet and fun to be around. She opens her arms to everyone and loves them unconditionally even if they are a pain to be loved. When her father died she gave up a college degree to help support the family and this is where she got her job as the office manager for Nate. She works for him when it was a handful of programmers with a few computers and a ping pong table before they became big and well known and infamous and before Nate became one of the most renowned billionaires, back when he was just a computer nerd. We see how well she understands people and she can be a bit crafty in her matchmaking skills as we have seen in previous books. She is very gracious though, she allows her sister and her live-in boyfriend to move in with her in her private space and doesn't complain even if she wants to. But she can be so stubborn at times so she does have some flaws. Everything worthwhile is complicated. We see the friendship that builds between Nate and Rebecca and that underlying sexual tension. Nate has wanted Becca for YEARS but has never acted on his feelings until one fateful night when they end up in bed together and find out that there is much more to their relationship than just friendship. But Becca is not up to having a relationship with Nate and at first you think its just the conflict of Nate being the boss and Becca his employee but as the story develops we see its much more than that for Becca and she has to overcome certain fears and self-worth that she finds lacking in comparison with Nate. But a good friend helps her see things more clearly and that the love that Nate and Becca have for each other is attainable and that they both deserve a chance to be together no matter what others may think or say. Overall I found Brooklynaire to be a stunning, heart felt romance that brings together a "tug at the heartstrings" friends to lovers tale that is bound to exhilarate the reader in every way....a MUST READ FOR 2018!! [foogallery id="60644"]
I voluntarily received an advance review copy of this book and chose to review it. 4.5 stars. I loved this book! I loved the humour, the steam, the hockey! Nate was hot, and sweet, and the nerdiness was fantastic. Rebecca was sassy, and funny, and just enough. Bingley was a great addition too! The cover is exactly spot on as well, so hot, so nerdy! I thought this might descend into too much humour, but it was just enough. A great read!
** spoiler alert ** “Brooklynaire” Sarina Bowen Main Characters: Nate, Jessica Tropes: Hockey Romance, Celebrity, Paparazzi, Helping the Hurt main character, friends to lovers, 7 year friendship Switches perspectives between Nate and Jessica
Find this review and more at kimberlyfaye reads. I'm truly embarrassed by how long it took me to write my review for Brooklynaire. I binge-read the book pretty much the minute it landed on my iPad and I loved every little bit about it. I've been waiting on Nate and Becca's story basically forever now and it was totally worth the wait. I have no real excuse for why it has taken so long to post my full thoughts. I'm a bad blogger. Nate and Becca were EVERYTHING. I've been itching to get their story since seeing just how much chemistry they had and suspecting there was more lurking under the surface. I was disappointed when the third book, Pipe Dreams, was released and it wasn't Nate and Becca's story, but then I fell head over heels for Mike and Lauren and that didn't matter so much anymore. And none of it matters now because I finally got Nate and Becca's story and it was everything I needed it to be. I love a good friends to lovers story and, once mixed with a little office romance, it becomes even better. When it's between two characters I was already half in love with before even reading the first page, it's a guaranteed win. It was always obvious to me that Nate and Becca were perfectly matched. I just needed both of them to get out of their heads long enough to realize it. They were each other's ride or die, basically, and I loved the connection between them. They were both perfectly nerdy at times, with all their palindromes. (LOVED.) I'm not going to get down into the nitty gritty of the story in Brooklynaire. I'm just going to say I loved it. All of it. Watching Nate and Becca take their chemistry and attraction to the next level hit all my feels and delivered a good dose of steam at the same time. I suspect fans of the Brooklyn Bruisers series will love this one as much as I did. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed this isn't the end of the Bruisers, because I love these characters so much, but if it is I can be happy, too. (And I can also reread forever. Which I totally plan to do.) I received a complimentary copy of this book for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. FAVORITE QUOTES "You just broke the seal! We spent seven years not doing that! And now I know what it's like." Apparently alternate universes are real. And there's an alternate universe where you can slide your thumb over your boss's cockhead and listen to him mutter a string of curses. I'm visiting it right now. "There is nobody more than you. Nobody funnier. Nobody with a better attitude. Nobody more loyal. That's for damn sure." "Becca, it took me seven years to figure out how much I need you. I'm never letting anyone get in the way of that."
OMGGGGGG. Nate and Becca are my new favorite couple of the series (just like I knew they would be)!! I have ALL the heart eyes for Nate AHHHH!!! Review to come! Thanks to the author for generously providing me an ARC to review.
