Parental Guidance by Avery Flynn Series: Ice Knights #1
Published by Entangled: Amara on 2019-06-17
Length: 282 pages
Reviewing Kindle from Amazon
Rating:
Reading Challenges: COYER All Year 2020, COYER Quarantine Edition
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All I want is to play hockey on the Ice Knights, instead, I’m in a viral video for all the wrong reasons and my mom—yes, my mom—has taken over my dating apps. Then, when I think it can’t get any worse, the fates deliver Zara Ambrose, a five-feet-nothing redhead with more freckles than inches and who’d rather be anywhere other than on a date with me.
Now a bet with her friends and my PR nightmare have us both stuck in this go-on-five-dates-with-the-same-person hell situation. But if we band together, we can get the whole thing over with and go on with our lives. It’s perfect! No feelings. No future. No fuc— *ahem* fun. No naked fun.
What could go wrong? Nothing—as long as I remember the rules. Don’t notice the way she looks in a dress. Don’t react when she does that little shivery sigh thing whenever we touch. Don’t think about the fact that she’s never had a toe-curling orgasm that wasn’t self-delivered and just how badly I want to change that.
Five dates—that’s it—and then we go our separate ways. At least, that was the plan....
What a fun read! I’m a sucker for romcoms and all things sports so when Parental Guidance by Avery Flynn was chosen as our April #COYER Book Club read I knew I had to read it. This is the first book in her series Ice Knights which is a spinoff of two series Harbor City and The Hartigans. I have not read those, but plan to now that I’ve read this one. Parental Guidance is an unconventional romance featuring two opposites that have more in common than they realize.
The book opens with Caleb Stuckey, a defenseman for Harbor City’s Ice Knights, and he’s been called to the coach’s office, somewhere you don’t want to be. An unfortunate incident with some rookie players caught on camera has caused a PR nightmare for the team, and the coach places the responsibility squarely on Caleb’s shoulders. To fix it, the coach, their PR rep, and Caleb’s mom have come up with a solution. Caleb is going to join Bramble, a new dating app that gives the parents control, and do PR videos with the date his mom chooses after each of their first five dates.
Poor Caleb! I adore him. He is genuinely an all-around good guy. He worked hard for the position he has on the team, and this has thrown him. He isn’t a relationship kind of guy. The last thing Caleb wants going into preseason is dating a woman he didn’t choose. However he’ll do what is necessary for his fellow teammates. Caleb wants to fit in after enduring years of teasing while in school. He has dyslexia, which made him a target when he was young. This anxiety still follows him as an adult which made me want to reach through the pages and hug him.
Zara Ambrose is a miniatures artisan and conned into joining Bramble by her best friend and dad. She’s a workaholic who doesn’t trust easily. She has no time for men or dating, especially when growing up she couldn’t rely on her own father. With her own issues to work out and a big auction to work on, Zara has zero time for a real relationship. At first, I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t like Zara. She comes across harsh at first, but I quickly fell in love with her snark.
Zara and Caleb strike a deal during their first date and set up boundaries for their Bramble dating. Caleb needs her to help the public forget the viral video, and Zara needs her cobwebs cleared if you catch my meaning 😉 Rules are meant to be broken, and I love reading their interactions. The chemistry between the characters bounces from steamy to sweet and back again. I really rooted for them right from the start. Flynn’s writing style drew me into the story, and I really enjoyed the dual POV.
Overall, I really enjoyed Parental Guidance. The unique circumstances the characters find themselves in and how they resolve it left me smiling. This was my first Avery Flynn book, and it won’t be my last. I highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys a little comedy with their romance.
About Avery Flynn
Avery Flynn is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling romance author. She has three slightly-wild children, loves a hockey-addicted husband and is desperately hoping someone invents the coffee IV drip.
She was a reader before she was a writer and hopes to always be both. She loves to write about smartass alpha heroes who are as good with a quip as they are with their *ahem* other God-given talents. Her heroines are feisty, fierce and fantastic. Brainy and brave, these ladies know how to stand on their own two feet and knock the bad guys off theirs.
glad it was a good one. enjoyed your review
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Thanks! It was a fun read. ☺️
This really was such a fun read! I really had a great time reading it for book club too! I haven’t had a chance to go back to the beginning of the story but I’ll be making room for that soon!
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