Icing On The Date - Book Review

By Jennie Marts

Synopsis

Struggling caterer, Gabby Davis, has enough on her plate trying to start her new business and take care of her deadbeat brother. The last thing she needs is to get involved with Owen Bannister, the brawling NHL player who is known for his cavalier playboy ways. Even if having him in her kitchen does turn up the heat.

Owen Bannister has a reputation for being a hot-head that no one woman can pin down. When the press captures him laughing and frosting the cupcakes of a local baker, team management sees a chance to clean up his tarnished image. But he soon finds that love is the ultimate game changer, and he’s about to get checked.

Having Gabby around is great for publicity and great for her business, but what happens when she becomes more than just a game?

Mixing cupcakes and hockey might just be a recipe for love in this fun romantic comedy/sports romance that mixes a cute caterer with a bad-boy hockey player.

Review

How did you meet your boyfriend? At work? In a bar? Through a mutual friend? Or did you meet him on the floor of the ladies bathroom while he was drunk and you were covered in chocolate icing? And so begins the story of Gabby and Owen.

I liked Gabby. She’s smart, loyal and a hard worker. Her dream is to run the best cupcake shop in Denver and she’s doing everything she can to make her dream come true. She loves her brother and is very protective of him, even if I think she does too much for him⎯that boy needs to learn to stand on his own two feet. Owen is a great guy with a poor reputation, and despite hating said reputation, he certainly played it up. At least until Gabby entered his life. He knew from the start she was a nice person and he hated the team’s idea of using her to improve his image. And even though he did go along with it, his actions towards her were genuine and sweet.

ICING ON THE DATE was a light and fun read, but there were a couple of small things that bothered me. Firstly⎯as a hockey fan⎯I thought the trade of Owen’s brother, Bane, was unrealistic. He got in a fight during a game and was traded? At the time, Owen had a bad reputation both on and off the ice, so if anyone was going to be traded, it would have been him. The other thing was Gabby’s “Inner Vixen” and how many times she made an appearance. ICING ON THE DATE is told in dual POVs and is book 1 in the Bannister Brothers series. I’m looking forward to reading Bane’s story in WORTH THE SHOT.