Review: Boarded by Love by Toni Aleo

Title: Boarded by Love
By: Toni Aleo
My Copy: Amazon.com
BookWhisperer's Rating: 

Jude Sinclair here, hockey player for the Bellevue Bullies and lover of all ladies. Hockey’s in my blood, and not to sound full of myself, but I’m good at it…really good. The draft is within my reach—it’s mine to take—but that’s not the only reason people know my name. They know me because of my way with women. They know the score, and I aim to please. I just tend to stay away from repeat performances. In other words, I don’t do relationships beyond my family and friends. I’m happy with life. However, I should warn you that my story and how I see it playing out is about to change due to a certain redhead on campus.

She’s beautiful. Stunning. Breathtaking.

She’s my game changer.

He’s trouble from the moment I see him. I don’t know what I’m thinking, but from the moment I meet his gaze, I’m his. It’s a scary feeling.

I’ve never trusted anyone outside my aunt and uncle—and even that took months. I didn’t have it easy growing up. My mom was usually strung out, and she didn’t give me a second thought. Drugs and the men who paid her were more important to her. It was horrible, but I’m stronger today. Because of my past, security is what I need most. Money assures me that I can take care of myself today, tomorrow, and next month. I don’t want to ever be hungry or go without again, so I work hard for every penny.

Oh, by the way, I’m Claire Anderson. I’m a hard-studying sophomore at the University of Bellevue, dancer for the school dance team, and a burlesque dancer at a club, but that’s my secret.

You may think you know how our story ends, but you have no clue. It’s not easy falling in love… or living happily ever after. At first it may seem so, but when is anything worth having ever won without a fight?

Especially when you’re boarded by love.

Toni Aleo’s Assassins series is one of my favorite hockey series.  All characters I love and adore; well, all that I have read.  This new series is just right along those lines but deals with a younger set of characters.  Even a character that we have been introduced to in the latest Assassin book, Claire, Phillip’s niece. 

Claire is a great character to get to know and watch how she grows in this book.  Plus, it was also to see the Assassins characters make some minor appearances as well; especially, Phillip and Reese.  But back to Claire—she now is at a university studying business, working at Reese’s dancing studio, and has a sassy side job that she has been keeping a secret from her uncle and a new man that enters her life.

Enter Jude, a hockey player and a player all around.  The moment that he sees Claire, he knows that she is game changer and can think of nothing else besides her.  A relationship is formed and starts to become serious but there are a few things that end up throwing a wrench into it.

First, both Jude and Claire were fantastic and a fantastic couple.  They brought out the best in each other and took their relationship series, even though neither had ever been in a serious relationship before.  And, their fast and intense love for each other was believable.  Sometimes, authors can’t pull that off but Aleo did.

Secondly, there were some awesome moments throughout the whole book that showed the Assassin family and a wedding—if that doesn’t make you happy then I don’t know what will.

I will say that this book seemed long in some parts.  Maybe it was my anxiousness that had me worrying about what will happen when Jude and Phillip find out that kept me on the edge and wanting to get to that part so I could see how it would play out but I don’t know.  All I know was that it was a long read for me.

I am interested to know whom the next series is going to be about;  Jude’s brothers or some of the minor hockey players that where introduced.