Book tour: Reality Blurred - Aven Ellis (Rinkside in the Rockies #2)

February 21, 2018

Book tour: Reality Blurred - Aven Ellis (Rinkside in the Rockies #2)

Rinkside in the Rockies #2, can be read as a standalone

236 pages

He lied to her. Fed her the same lines as he did all the other girls. Instead of proposing, he dumped her on national TV. Would a romance with a hockey superstar prove just as disastrous—or could it be the greatest love story of her life?

Cast as America’s reality show sweetheart after being jilted on a dating show, Skye Reeve is ready to stop being a brokenhearted woman by proving she’s more than what the camera portrayed her to be. She’s landed her dream job as a TV lifestyle reporter and promises to work hard to be a success.

Skye also vows never to be swept up in a fairy tale romance ever again, as she obviously has no clue what real love is.

Being in the same city as Denver Mountain Lions hockey star Maxime Laurent, however, might make this last goal impossible.

Dealing with ghosts from his own past, the Belgian hockey star is known for keeping his life off the ice private. He’s not sure if outgoing Skye could be a match for him, but he can’t deny his attraction to her.

When the two embark on a romance, will they be able to move forward from the past to let love into their hearts? With no reality blurred, will Skye find real-life love to be what she had been looking for all along?

My opinion.

OK., let's start this off with a confession. I love a good romance - that's not news, I know - and as my guilty pleasure... I watch The Bachelor/The Bachelorette. Yep, it's true.

Anyway, here comes Aven Ellis with her latest deliciously feel good romance and who else but a reality dating show survivor stars as main character?! Now Aven's insightful writing finally gives you a plausible idea of what actually happens "after the final rose". Skye's life is turned completely upside down because of the show and it's aftermath. It has left some scars, and even some open wounds, but she's ready for a new start.

And in walks Maxime. OK so I may be a biased, but a BELGIAN hockey player? Me likes! ;-) In all seriousness though, Maxime is yet another perfect book boyfriend in Aven Ellis' hockey world. He is insightful, caring, funny,... I know, I'm smitten. Oh, and have I mentioned there're cats in this book too?! Talking about a perfect match...

Apart from all the swooning that was happening while reading, there was a point where I was really annoyed with both of them... mostly Skye. I just wanted to shake her! Her doubts and hesitations, although completely valid, were almost exhausting. Over-analyzing and being careful and sensible is all good in real life, but losing yourself in the romance and just jumping in, blind... isn't that kinda what a romance novel is for? I know, I know, one of the best things about Aven's characters is how "real" they are, but still. More swooning, less worrying!

I loved how hockey played a more prominent role in this book than in some of the previous hockey romances. Even though I'm not a big sports fan and I know next to nothing about hockey - apart from what Aven Ellis' novels have thought me - I love the scenes where practice schedules, tactics or games are featured. There's definitely room for even more hockey-related scenes in these novels. Same goes for Skye's career, actually!

As always, I fell in love with the characters from the start and I loved going through the ups and downs with them and seeing how they dealt with everything thrown at them. Reality Blurred is a wonderful romance novel, with characters that are easy to love and hard to forget.