Another good one from Kate Meader! Vadim was a Russian alpha, but he was almost too alpha, and that throws a wrench into Isobel's future. They had some great chemistry and the past relationship was interesting. I'm definitely looking forward to what is to come in this series.

Four and a half stars!

OH, Kate Meader this book has catapulted you into the echelons of my favourite authors. Imagine, if you will one of Elle Kennedy or Sarina Bowen's hockey stories, add in one of [author:Shelly Laurenston|65137]'s grumpy Russian skaters - got the picture? That is this book for me. Absolutely cracktastic.

The series follows the three Chase sisters, each from different mothers, who inherit the Chicago Rebels Hockey team from their egotistical father. This book centres on Isobel, the second daughter. Isobel had been silver medal winning Olympic hockey player until she took a skate to the head in the 37th minute of the first game of the new National Women’s Hockey League and nearly died. Having spent her whole life to that point living and breathing hockey she was devastated but she is trying to make a name for herself as a hockey coach, although even when you part-own a hockey team that isn't always as easy as it sounds.

When she was 18 years old Isobel trained with a young Russian hockey played Vadim Petrov, he was her first but the night was ruined when her father caught them in bed and had him deported back to Russia. There was also a leetle problem, she didn't (ahem) feel the earth move that night. Now years later Vadim is a player for the Rebels, he has a knee injury and his nickname is 'The Czar of Pleasure'. Of course Isobel gets assigned as his personal coach to get him back to fitness!

When one of his teammates overhears Isobel telling one of her sisters about Vadim's less than stellar performance all those years ago he takes great delight in passing on the food news to Vadim. Now Vadim is determined to make up for his lack of prowess.

I had wanted to read this book ever since I read the teaser at the end of the last book. Can I just step aside and say, "well done, Kate Meader", sometimes when people tease the next book they give away all the dirt, sometimes they repeat everything in the next book, but Kate Meader showed us something that we didn't see in this book - but it was described/ referred to at various points so the reader of this book didn't miss out. I like the way she did that.

Some people might not like Vadim's heavily accented Russian, some might think it's stereotyping. I just thought it was hysterical. I loved the way he called his sister's dog "little-dog-with-big-shits", I loved his interactions with Isobel and I just thought he was amazing. Maybe my new book boyfriend.

I see I've somehow missed out on the prequel novella so I'm off to track that down ...

<i>Hockey is warfare with water breaks.</i>

What's that you say? Another hockey read, another contemporary sports romance, three back to back? Haven't you had enough, Hollis? Hockey season might be here again but there's no such thing as too much ice time. The fact that you might not see any more in my feed for a while, however, is completely unrelated and nothing to do with me needing a break.

"<i>And you are, who, exactly? The daughter of a hockey great who was not so great when it came to running a team. The woman who can no longer play yet thinks she can offer 'tips' to me. To me! You may have pedigree, Isobel, but there is nothing I can learn from you.</i>"

Picking up more of less where we left off in book one of the <i>Chicago Rebels</i> series -- a book I only just recently discovered, so colour me surprised when this one popped up for request -- we are thrown right back into the messy mix of the Chase half-siblings trying to hold together a team that hasn't seen greatness in fifteen years. With the added drama of being female owned and having the first openly gay General Manager, life sure ain't dull for this group. After a veteran player infamously known as a jinx, yet who still manages to be a rocksteady centerman, was acquired to hold the team steady and guide them towards being something more than second-worst in the league, management takes another gamble by adding Russian left-winger Vadim Petrov to the mix. With a massive ego, amongst other things, Vadim is a superstar player who is recovering from an injury and a bad year. And he just so happens to have a rather memorable bit of history with Isobel, middle sibling and current consultant-coach for the Rebels.

<i>Why did the lumberjack hotties always go for twigs instead of branches? Did it make them feel more virile to screw a pocket-sized Barbie?</i>

Isobel comes with her own baggage in the form of injuries. Once the apple of her asshole-father's eye, she not only holds a silver medal from her win at Sochi but she also made it onto the national team.. except she never saw her first game to its conclusion. A brutal injury carted her off the ice after only thirty-seven minutes of play time and ended her career. Almost ended her life. Unable to return professionally to the sport she loved once she'd recovered, her career took her in a different direction : coaching. But before she can be given the green-light to make it onto the Rebel's coaching staff, despite being part owner, she has to prove she can give the team the results they desperately need. And her first test is to get Vadim back into shape and get the team to the playoffs. Or else.

"<i>Vadim? I'd suggest you quit with the trail of women looking to sit on your.. knee. We don't want to weaken it or any other parts of your anatomy. Keep that up and you won't even have a shot at <b>Dancing with the Stars</b></i>."

I loved the history between these characters, the teen-aged infatuation that threw them together until they got caught and were separated for the benefit of a career -- and, surprisingly, it wasn't Vadim's. Add in the little juicy fact that their one time between the sheets was a complete dud for Isobel which Vad finds out all these years later.. well. It made for a delicious, angsty, sorta hate-y, chemical situation, made more complicated by the politics (once again) of an owner -- and coach -- fraternizing with a player.

<i>He would test her. Make her angry and emotional. Make her cry. Because angry, emotional criers were not the stuff of coaches. If she was serious about a career in the NHL, she would hear worse. She would get him game fit. He would get her battle ready.</i>

Where SO OVER YOU kind of fell apart for me, or at least failed to measure up, was some of the inconsistencies in his behaviour towards her that I couldn't always write off as just more of the Russian in him. Sometimes he was rude or inconsiderate, especially regarding the drama of his mother, and it frustrated me that he could be judgmental of her but no one else could. Like, I get that alpha behaviour, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. Also, I hated the tactics Vadim used to back Isobel into a corner. In the specific, spoilery, instance I'm referring to, he did something for her own good, for her protection, but it left a sour taste in my mouth. And yet at the same time I could appreciate his oblivious stubbornness over it, too. His conviction he was right. But then he'd bust out a Russian-ism or flub something in English, mess up a metaphor (on purpose, sometimes!) and it would be all, d'aww, shucks. Hilarious. But still. Dick move.

"<i>You think this is what that kiss was about? My need to prove something?</i>"
"<b>Of course it was. That's all any man's kiss is about.</b>"

Likewise, however, Isobel and I went through some ups and downs, too. I understand that all these women have a lot of baggage to work through as a result of their father, plus their own circumstances or struggles, and in this case Isobel was desperate to hold on to some part of her dream of playing once more in the sport she loved. The part that connected her to her late father, even if she couldn't respect or like the man. She had to come full circle; to recognize she was being as stubborn with her health as her own players often could be, and how her main job as a coach was to prevent them pushing on and risking themselves. A job she wasn't applying to herself. As a reader you love to see that acknowledgement, that growth, but it can also be frustrating as hell when you have to wait for them to wake up.

<i>A moment of silence was offered for the female tragedy that was Dante Moretti's homosexuality.</i>

I think, overall, some of the mess of their relationship just didn't do it for me. I liked the idea of these two, their history, but found myself distracted by wanting more out of the yet-to-be-couples waiting in the wings. We have two more guaranteed books yet to come and I'm chomping at the bit for them both. I don't know which couple I'm more excited about, to be honest.

<i>Stevie Nicks's "Gold Dust Woman" increased in volume as Isobel approached the cottage on the Chase Manor estate where Violet had lain her fedora for the last seven months. Vi's love of the Fleetwood Mac front woman was a tad obsessive.</i>

So, yeah, Vi and I are going to get along <b>great</b>. #stevienicksforpresident

But what I missed from this book that I loved from book one was some of the more outrageous elle-oh-elle humour. Don't get me wrong, Meader is funny as hell and this book still shows off that wit. I have a lot of highlights I'm obviously not going to be able to fit in this review. But I think this was just a bit heavier than maybe I was in the mood for. The author knows her hockey, too, and as a fan I can absolutely appreciate that. But also not as present in this installment was some of the brilliant awkward sisterly bonding I loved so much. I get that the stage has been set already and we already know the dynamics but part of this appeal of this series, what makes it different, <b>is</b> that dynamic. And I wanted more girl time and maybe less Russian-doling-out-orgasms time. Y'know?

<i>God save us from alpha dickheads who could make women "forget" they were lesbians.</i>

SO OVER YOU is still a fun, funny, sexy, read. And I would definitely encourage readers to get this series on their radar if they love this kind of contemporary romance. IRRESISTIBLE YOU might have been the stronger of the two books so far but I'm definitely on the hook for more.

3.5 "breaking up with the guy you're banging before you make the play-offs should probably not go in the coach's manual" stars

I loved Vadim the man amused me, “I am Russian. We do not eff around when it comes to revenge fantasies.” The man has no shame, he holds nothing back, “to apologize. With my ***k.” Isobel is not shy in stating her demands, “tonight you can have me anytime you want me, Vadim. Please don’t jerk yourself off unless you invite me to watch.” An animalistic groan tore from his throat..." Vadim is well aware of his weaknesses, “if you wish me to discuss my many, many problems, it is better we do it after ***,” he said gravely. “When I am at my most vulnerable.” Vadim is often surprised by his woman, “you were skating for over an hour with no panties?” I adored this book, Vadim was so broody and I loved it.