Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Carolina Cold Fury star Garrett Samuelson never wants to miss out on a single minute of fun. Whether he’s playing hockey, hanging out with friends, or walking the red carpet with a new date on his arm, he lives every day to the fullest. When he meets Olivia Case, he sees someone who’s exactly his type—confident, sexy, smart . . . his next fling. But the more he pursues her, the more Garrett shares a side of himself that other women don’t normally get to see.

Olivia has been keeping a secret. While Garrett lives for the next thrill, Olivia’s not sure she’ll live to see the next day. She’s undergoing treatment for some serious medical issues, and she doesn’t have time for a relationship with no guarantees—especially one with a hot-as-sin womanizer who won’t take no for an answer. But as she gets to know the real Garrett, Olivia can’t help falling for him . . . hard. To reveal the truth would mean risking everything—but you can’t score without taking the tough shots.

Garrett is a very hot read, but there is a lot more going on than Garrett and Olivia. Between the hockey-games, the romance and Olivia’s secret, it was quite a ride!

My Garrett review:

In Alex (Cold Fury Hockey #1) Garrett was known as Alex’ best friend, the guy who was always flirting, changing girls every time he went out, and never becoming serious with anybody. When he first met Olivia, however, he was completely mesmerized by her, and even more so because she bluntly turned him down, after laughing at his dirty jokes. When Sutton told him to stay away from his cousin because she had enough stuff going on in her life, he only became more interested in her.

Olivia was wondering if she shouldn’t have taken Garrett up on his offer, though, especially once she arrived at work the next day and told her best friend and boss about him. Stevie said he’d never turn Garrett down, ever, and that Olivia should definitely start living a little. Knowing she had just been diagnosed with cancer spurred Stevie on rather than calming him, and when Garrett showed up in their flower shop, Olivia relented and said yes to a date. A date with a sexy hockey-player seemed like the perfect thing to get her thought off of the cancer, and on to more fun things.

After just one date, though, Garrett knows he wants to see Olivia again, she’s so different from the girls he usually go out with. First of all, she’s not obsessed with hockey, or how much he makes, or trying to get him to get serious. It’s as if because he can sense her reluctance he needs more. And so he does get more – and he’s so upset when he finds out about her cancer because he would have been there for her even more.

He turns out being a really considerate and lovely guy, and I loved reading about this other side of Garrett. Olivia never tried to tame him or make him change, but once he truly fell for her, no other woman made him interested in the least. There was still quite a lot of hardship in this story, though, especially because Olivia thought it might be better if she broke things off with him after a few months, so that he would suffer less later on if she died.

Written in dual point of view from both Garret’s and Olivia’s perspectives, and in first person present tense, the story moves forward at a nice pace, showing the love, devotion, doubt and fright they are both feeling at times. When they are together in the bedroom, the sheets are on fire, and I had a hard time putting the book down even for a few minutes to feed the kids, or help them with homework!

Some of my favourite Garrett quotes:

“But,” Stevie adds on with seriousness. “I do believe a sweaty, naked night with Garrett Samuelson is the perfect place to start.” Maybe he’s right. Maybe I need to break out of my comfort zone and really start living my life as if every day is my last. Because frankly… that could be a true statement.

She’s thrown down a bit of a challenge for me, and while an easy conquest is fun for the most part, it can get boring. I don’t mind having to work toward my goals, and getting Olivia Case into my bed has become one of my main priorities at this point.

Yes, that is a major, major event because Mr. One-Night Stand is going in for the request for a second date. And I’m nervous as shit, because I don’t know if what I’ve shown her tonight would warrant her wanting to see me again.