If you’re a fan of boss-employee and/or friends-to-lovers stories, I think you’ll really love Brooklynaire. Each of those chapters felt like gifts and made me wish every friends-to-lovers story I read in the future will give me glimpses into the foundations of the friendship as well as the romance. Bowen spends some time in flashbacks, helping us understand the phases of Nate and Becca’s relationship and how they came to be such good friends. I adored this book – clearly – and I got everything I wanted out of this story. One event leads to another and they realize that their unrequited love is not really so unrequited after all. Not only is that so hard for Becca – who wants to be present for her team and her boys – it’s hard on Nate to be away from her. Of course, while all of this is happening, the Bruisers are in the playoffs.

So sleeping in Nate’s guest room and being pampered by his chef is not the worst idea. Becca normally lives with her sister, the sister’s boyfriend, and their baby and it’s a little… crowded and certainly not ideal for healing from a concussion. He wants her watched over by his version of Tony Stark’s Jarvis, as well as his cook. The catalyst for this story is that Becca sustains a head injury and ends up having to take time off of work and Nate immediately oversteps boss boundaries and moves her into his apartment so that she can be taken care of.

Not that either one of them has ever admitted it. That quickly broke up, and he and Rebecca been dating emotionally ever since. Approximately because when they first met, Nate was engaged. Rebecca Rowley has been his right hand woman since he was working out of a one-room loft using on cardboard boxes as furniture, and they have been in love with each other for approximately the same length of time. Nate Kattenberger is the genius tech wizard who owns the Brooklyn Bruisers hockey team. “I HAVE NATE AND BECCA’S BOOK” and she came immediately back with a gif of Kermit flailing with joy. Knowing he would not understand, I texted my best friend who is also a devotee of this series. *cue gleeful giggles* When this thing hit my ereader I gasped with delight so loudly that my husband thought something was wrong. However, the central relationship has been building throughout the previous books and I know my love for it was richer because I’ve been waiting for this one.

Bowen’s Brooklyn Bruisers series about this ragtag hockey team from Brooklyn. There’s nothing in this book that you won’t understand if you’ve not read any of Ms. The blurb for Brooklynaire says ‘standalone’, and it is – technically.

Sarina bowen brooklynaire