Sarina Bowen's Pipe Dreams is amazing! Her Brooklyn Bruiser's series keeps getting better and better! I can hardly wait for the next one!!!

Pipe Dreams
by Sarina Bowen
Genre: Romance Contemporary, Sports Romance 
Sensuality: Hot
4 Stars 

Readers may be surprised to see Bowen granting another couple a second chance at romance in the third installment in her popular Brooklyn Bruisers series.  Emotionally heartfelt and punctuated with an appealing mixture of humor and sorrow, this couple’s journey is littered with love, guilt, regret, and anger as they strive to rebuild their friendship.  Alternating between the past and the present, Bowen tells a story of family, loyalty, and obligation to show the complexity of this couple’s issues. Using her signature humor, spicy dialogue, and sizzling chemistry, Bowen writes a satisfactory happily ever after though the hero’s manipulative attitude left me feeling uneasy at times about his role in this affair. 

Summary: MIke Beacon, goalie for the Brooklyn Bruisers, married young and worked hard to build a promising career while raising a family. When he and his wife separate, he runs to the one person who understands him best; Lauren Williams. He and Lauren slip from friends to lovers easily but when tragedy strikes, Mike disappears with little explanation. Heartbroken, Lauren accepts a job offer in New York and never looks back. When the PA for the Bruisers’ owner is injured, Lauren is forced to come back to Chicago and take over. Mike is thrilled and plans on using this chance to fix the mistakes he made in the past and reclaim his future with Lauren. Only, Lauren has her own future mapped out and he’s not in it. But one thing a goalie learns while guarding the net...nothing is impossible.(BERKLEY, MAY, 336pp., $7.99)

Reviewed By:Tori Benson
Publisher: Berkley
Published: May 2017

A Second Chance romance that will leave you SWOONING with excitement!!

Lauren in the first two books we see her from time to time and always came across as this moody snob who is very bitter.  I was always curious as to her story and Pipe Dreams finally lets us in to this woman who seemed to have an issue with dealing with the Hockey side of Nate's empire. That issue is goalie Mike Beacon who broke her heart. 

I loved every bit of this book, from finding out how Lauren's heart was broken to seeing if it could be mended.  Lauren I think is now my favorite female from this series. Strong, independent and is determined to stick to her plan. My heart literally sank when we find out just how her heart was broken. 

Mike Beacon has also had his share of heartache making sacrifices for his daughter. While I definitely took issue with some of the decisions he made I still understood his reasoning. 

My heart ached for both Mike and Lauren knowing that they lost so many years together. I could understand Lauren's hesitation throughout and loved that Mike would not give up in his pursuit to get her back. They share some sweet sweet moments and the chemistry between the two is undeniable. There is also some Angst and Mike's daughter  who doesn't approve of Lauren which makes for a little bit of drama as well as some tender moments along the way. 

I also loved that we get to see the rest of the dynamic cast from this series that had me giggling a bit. I'm hoping from what I read that there will be more books coming particularly with Nate and Becca. 

Sarina Bowen definitely brings another great book in an already great series. Full of hot chemistry, sweet romance, with a bit of comedy and angst.

This book was SO GOOD! So angsty, so heartbreaking, so loving, so hot! I couldn't put it down, and I will count the days until the next book in this series comes out.

Mike sometimes read into things the wrong way, “… but then I realized that can’t be it,” he mused, admiring the tiny bubbles rising up the sides of his glass. “The Lauren I know isn’t a bitter person. She wouldn’t torture me, even if I deserved it. So I decided I was right the first time— the dress was a summons. An olive branch. I accept, baby. Have some champagne and sit with me.” He patted the bed beside him. Her bed. In her private suite. How did he even get in here?" It's a good think Mike has Lauren in some situations, because when it comes to his daughter and lady time of the month, he doesn't handle it well, "his expression went from angry to shocked to completely uncomfortable in about two seconds. “Oh,” he said slowly. “Uh, okay. And …” He scratched his chin. “Is that, uh, working out all right?” I really loved this book.

Mike Beacon is a champion at defending the net, but off the ice, he’s not so lucky. A widower and a single father, he’s never forgotten Lauren Williams, the ex who gave him the best year of his life. When Lauren reappears in the Bruisers office during the playoffs, Beacon sees his chance to make things right.

Lauren hates that she’s forced to travel with the team she used to work for and the man who broke her heart. There’s still undeniable sexual tension running between her and Mike, but she won’t go down that road again. She’s focused on her plans for the future—she doesn’t need a man to make her dreams of motherhood come true.

Lauren plays her best defensive game, but she’s no match for the dark-eyed goalie. When the field of play moves to Florida, things heat up on the beach.

One of Mike’s biggest fans doesn’t approve—his teenage daughter. But a true competitor knows not to waste the perfect shot at love.

Lauren Williams works for a multi-million dollar technology company and loves it.  Her boss also owns the Brooklyn Bruisers, an NHL hockey team.  Lauren grew up with hockey and used to love it.  She loved it up until the Bruiser that she was planning on marrying suddenly up and left her for his ex-wife with very little explanation.  Lauren’s not willing to put herself out there again when Mike Beacon, the man who broke her heart, starts to show signs that he’s interested in her once again.  She’s moving ahead with her life and her plans for single motherhood and Mike has no place in her plans. Unfortunately for Lauren’s plans, Mike is determined to get back the woman he never stopped loving no matter what he has to do.

I have to tell you that when I read about why Lauren and Mike broke up in the first place I didn’t want to have Lauren and Mike get back together.  Seriously, I was that mad at him for being an insensitive ass.  True, his motivations were honorable but the way he handled it was horrible and I wasn’t sure I could forgive him. 

By the middle of the book I still wasn’t sure how he was going to win Lauren back but by that point I was on his side.  He was a good guy who had made a gigantic mistake.  I couldn’t condone how he handled things with his ex-wife, and of course there were plenty of ways he could have helped his ex and stayed with Lauren (but then we wouldn’t have a book, would we?) but that’s not what happened.  Now that time has passed since his ex-wife died he knew that he couldn’t live any longer without Lauren by his side but he not only had Lauren to contend with but also his extremely sassy 13-year-old daughter, Elsa. 

Elsa was a piece of work and I truly wanted to climb into the book and give her a good talking to but I could understand why her emotions were all over the place. Her mother had died, her dad is gone a lot because of his hockey schedule, she had to move away from her friends and now he’s gonna date a woman that everyone tells her stole her father away from her mother?  Yeah, I’d be an emotional wreck too.  Despite her sassiness, however, I liked the kid.  She had her moments of goodness and I thought she was a good addition to the story.

The romance in this book was extremely emotional but oh, so good.  Lauren and Mike were so good together but it was definitely hard for me to see how they’d work things out and let the hurt of the past go.  I was happy that they were able to move on and that Lauren was able to trust Mike again.  The story was fabulous and of course I loved the hockey talk as well.  😊

Rating: 4 out of 5

This will post as a guest review on Book Binge.
http://bookbinge.com/

Full review to be published online in early May.

I have a soft spot for second chance-at-love stories, and I've really enjoyed Sarina Bowen's hockey series so far. I had some issues with PIPE DREAMS, however, and was hugely disappointed. It started with the flashbacks, which are not my favorite way to tell a backstory. Then there was Mike's child, who was nothing more than a prop to the plotline just so that he could have a dead wife and a child to raise alone. The 'manny' Hans was a more fleshed out character than she was; I can't even think of her name. The social commentary was awkward, and laid on with a heavy hand. The worst thing by far, however, was the WTF artificial insemination subplot.

Mike had dumped Lauren abruptly two years before, with no explanation. Lauren thinks she will never have a another relationship, so she has decided to be artificially inseminated. At 31 years old!! Mike finds out about her plan, and convinces her that he should be the father. Lauren thinks she will have her baby with no strings to Mike; even though he is already trying to get back into her life. The whole thing was ludicrous, and brought down my respect for Lauren and the storyline. Absolutely ridiculous subplot.

Despite the fact that I found this one tossed together and lacking in several areas; I'm enjoying the "Brooklyn Bruisers"series. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series; hopefully it will be a more streamlined and professional effort.

Sarina Bowen is one of those authors who writes books I cannot put down once I start reading them.  Pipe Dreams was no exception to this rule.  Even though I know nothing about hockey I find myself fascinated by the story because it is so well written.  The whole Brooklyn Bruisers series is a must read.

I am reviewing this book based on an ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion.

<strong>A goalie has to trust his instincts, even when taking a shot to the heart…</strong>

Mike Beacon is a champion at defending the net, but off the ice, he’s not so lucky. A widower and a single father, he’s never forgotten Lauren Williams, the ex who gave him the best year of his life. When Lauren reappears in the Bruisers office during the playoffs, Beacon sees his chance to make things right.

Lauren hates that she’s forced to travel with the team she used to work for and the man who broke her heart. There’s still undeniable sexual tension running between her and Mike, but she won’t go down that road again. She’s focused on her plans for the future—she doesn’t need a man to make her dreams of motherhood come true.

Lauren plays her best defensive game, but she’s no match for the dark-eyed goalie. When the field of play moves to Florida, things heat up on the beach.

One of Mike’s biggest fans doesn’t approve—his teenage daughter. But a true competitor knows not to waste the perfect shot at love.

Lauren for her part has stayed away from hockey and made a new world in her job for Nate in the tech part of his company. About to graduate, she has made some pretty deep life decisions and they don't include a man by her side. Guarding her heart and hating the man she still really loves is all she has to do for a few weeks, but he gets under her skin.

The story felt completely off from beginning to end. I didn't like the "affair" between the two. I didn't like how Mike just made the decisions and acted on them, never really considering what he did to Lauren. I hated how Mike could just worm his way back into Lauren's life. Was he a total bad guy? No. What he did was honorable, but it was all the way he did it that left me feeling cold.

To top it off, I never really bonded with Lauren. I just didn't like her. She came off as a snob and too good for the other ladies of the story until she wanted friends. I applaud her decision for moving on with her life, I just didn't like how it all played out.

So with great regret, I have to say I didn't like this story. I wanted to very badly, but it just didn't do anything for me. In general I really love the series. Hockey isn't my sport of choice, but it's a game I can respect. There are sports sections to the story where they are on the ice, but most of the terminology is Greek to me. The sheet time is also off the hook sexy, it's just the romance that left me feeling as cold as a hockey rink.

I have a confession, I've never seen an entire game of hockey. I've probably caught a few highlights here or there, but being from a warm weather state it simply isn't on my radar. What is on my radar is Sarina Bowen's Brooklyn Bruisers series. I mean really, hot men in peak physical condition who also fall madly in love with one woman? I'm there for it. 

Pipe Dreams was a great addition to the series telling the story of ice queen Lauren and Bruiser's goalie Mike Beacon. These two have some history that they have to work through but they also have major chemistry. 

I can't wait for the next in the series!

Link will be added when review posts closer to release date. 

Just when I thought I couldn’t love Sarina Bowen any more, she throws another second chance romance into her release schedule. And this time it’s a super sexy goalie and the woman who practically runs the Brooklyn Bruisers who get their second chance at love. Happy Sigh.

If you didn’t read the teaser for Pipe Dreams at the end of Hard Hitter, or even if you haven’t yet picked up this series (shame on you), then just trust me, it led to me practically salivating for this book to hit my Kindle. SO MUCH ANGST. Omg. I expected a whole heck of a lot of emotional, make me angry, make me teary-eyed goodness and I was not wrong. Almost from the moment I opened Pipe Dreams my chest felt tight and I wanted to alternately kick Mike Beacon in the nuts and give Lauren a big ole hug while murmuring that some guys are clueless.

So, some background… Mick Beacon is the goalie for the Brooklyn Bruisers and Lauren Williams has worked for the organization since her father was the Team Manager. Once upon a time, after Mike walked in on his wife right in the middle of getting it on with another man, he and Lauren finally let their attraction for each other blossom into an intense, sexy, meaningful relationship. Then suddenly Mike disappears from Lauren’s life and goes back to his wife. And for two years Lauren has hated, yet missed him. Missed their life together, mourned their love, but resolutely put the Brooklyn Bruisers and Mike Beacon behind her. It wasn’t hard to do once Nate, the new owner of the team, decides to use her in his Manhattan office while Becca works in Brooklyn. But when Becca gets hurt Nate makes the decision to move Lauren back to Brooklyn temporarily, which means that she and the man who abandoned her are about to be around each other a lot more than Lauren is okay with.

Damn it, my heart. Lauren’s pain and Mike’s cluelessness just about broke it a thousand times AND THAT WAS ONLY THE FIRST HALF. By the way, This couple’s story is told in both past and present scenes until about 20% in, then it becomes all present day Mike and Lauren. I make it sound like Mike is a total douche, but he really isn’t. He’s a guy stuck in a shitty situation with zero communication skills who thinks he can handle everything on his own. Lauren is the person who still loves him and still has no idea why he left her seemingly out of the blue. After the beginning, and figuring out the whys and hows of Mike disappearing on Lauren I really needed him to own up to his mistakes and apologize. He does, but jeez he moved fast after that. He kind of zeroes in on Lauren, decides they need to pick up where they left off two years before and jumps in with both feet. It felt… kind of fast to me. I don’t know. In my head I was like … whoa there fella, slow it down.

I’ve always said one of the reasons I love this author so much is that her writing, her characters, their backstories and love lives, and problems and well, everything, just feels so true to life. Mike and Lauren are a perfect example of that. Relationships are messy. Sometimes the right thing to do in any situation isn’t obvious. Sometimes what you want to do and what you should do are two very different things. Sometimes you fuck up and hurt people, and sometimes you get the chance to make it right and live out your life exactly how you wanted to. Once you get into this story you’ll understand why Mike did what he did. I kind of thought he and Lauren moved a little too fast after they got back together, but other than that I loved their love story.

My only question now is, will Nate and Becca ever get their own book? Is that coming any time soon? Because I will beg if I have to. Pleasepleaseplease say this is happening.

I would say that this is yet another amazing read from Sarina Bowen, but by now that’s just a given. Anything with this author’s name on it is guaranteed to satisfy 100%. Final Grade- B+

Favorite Quote:
“You own me,” he said. “I never wanted to let you go.”
“It’s not easy for me to believe in you,” she said quietly.”
He looked up at her. “I know. But I’m going to change that

Ugh, loved this so much! I am such a sucker for second chance romances and this one was executed perfectly! I absolutely loved the backstory of Lauren and Beacon and how they were both stuck. Beacon sacrificed everything for his family, even his own heart, and the repercussions were astounding. Everyone will love this addition to the series!

Loving this series. These two pretty much broke my heart, and put it back together again (while they were finding their way, too). Such a good story!

I was really looking forward to this one, and overall, I really enjoyed it. This series has had a lot of emotional depth, and this latest addition was no different. There was a nice amount of tension, but not too much angst, and while there was child drama, it wasn't over the top. I do wish there had been more exploration of the time before Lauren and Mike got together initially, but overall, I loved it!