IN THE PENALTY BOX by Lynn Rush and Kelly Anne Blount

Synopsis
The Cutting Edge meets Friday Night Lights in a sizzling new hockey romance from bestselling authors Kelly Anne Blount and Lynn Rush.

Willow
Figure skating was supposed to be my whole world. But one unlucky injury and now I’m down…but I’m definitely not out. I just need to rehab—a boatload of rehab—and who’d have thought I could do it on the boys’ hockey team?

Of course, the infuriatingly hot captain of the team seems to think I’m nothing but sequins and twirls. What’s a girl to do but put him in his place? Game on.

Brodie
Hockey is my whole world. I’ve worked my tail off getting my team in a position to win the championships—hopefully in front of major college scouts, too—so what’s a guy to do when a figure skater ends up as our new goalie?

Of course, the distractingly sexy skater thinks I’m nothing but a testosterone-laced competitive streak. And surely she’s only biding her time to heal, then she’s gone. Game over.

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My Review
A sweet romance with enough heat to melt any freshly Zambonied ice rink. Lynn Rush and Kelly Anne Blount have written a swoony teen romance with stellar lead characters, a fun supporting cast, and more skating than the Winter Olympics. Willow Covington, a figure skater with her eye on the Olympics, is injured and loses not only her spot on the team, but the host family where she’s lived for years, returning to the small northern town where she grew up. But the Woodhaven she left didn’t have one Brodie “The Wind” Windom. He’s not only easy on the eyes, he’s a monster on the ice. As Willow rehabs in Woodhaven, she’s increasingly frustrated by her lack of progress landing her jumps. When she watches the boys’ hockey team practice, an errant puck flies through the air, nearly hitting her and her friend, Jessa, until she reaches out and grabs the spinning death disk in midair. This gets her a tryout with the team since their goalie is rehabbing himself. Willow isn’t sure if playing hockey will help or hinder her return to figure skating, but spending time with Brodie every day is enough for her to give it a try. Playing hockey turns out to be more than she imagined, and when the figure skating teams come calling, she’ll need to make a choice between the only dream she’s ever had — to skate in the Olympics — and the only boy she’s ever loved.

Plot
With two authors, there’s a lot of plotting going on. The primary plot is the relationship between Willow and Brodie. But both Willow and Brodie have their own growth arcs and lots of subplotting. From Willow’s efforts to regain a spot on a top figure skating team to Brodie’s family matters and his future as a hockey player, there’s a lot happening that should keep these two apart. Not the least of which is the no fraternization between teammates rule. All of this adds delicious conflict and angst.

Characters
Brodie and Willow are both really well developed, but Willow stole my heart. She’s strong, independent, and knows how to hold her own on a boys’ hockey team. Brodie is totally worthy of her amazingness, though. What makes Willow one of the best female characters I’ve read in a long time is the fact that she never once questions why Brodie would be interested in her. She still has some solid insecurities as you’d expect a teen character to have, but it wasn’t ever about whether she was dateable. I found that to be exceedingly refreshing.

What I Loved About IN THE PENALTY BOX
1. Ice Sports. Whether you love figure skating, hockey, or both, there’s a lot for everyone to enjoy.

2. Willow. She refuses to take any grief from the boys, or the catty girls on the figure skating team. She gives back twice as much as she takes.

3. Brodie. He has a lot of baggage, but he still manages to be this amazing guy who looks after his kid brother, his father, the team, and Willow.

4. Making Your Own Choices. I love that Willow didn’t let anyone influence her. She did what she needed to do for herself.

5. Reality. I love that the authord didn’t wrap everything up with a nice, tidy bow. Life is messy and even though this is a solid HFN ending, not everything was all neat and clean at the end, making it so much more relatable.

Bottom Line
A flirty, sweet figure skater vs. hockey player romance with an adorable twist.

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Author Kelly Anne Blount

About Kelly Anne Blount
USA Today bestselling author and Wattpad Star Kelly Anne Blount has more than seventy-three-thousand followers on social media. Her Wattpad stories have been read more than twenty-million times. She’s contributed to Tap, Wattpad’s new app for chat-style stories, where her work has been “tapped” more than fifty-million times. She is a writer and reviewer for SpoilerTV, which has allowed her to develop an incredible network of film and TV stars.

Two of her Wattpad works, including Captured (seventeen-million reads), have been optioned for film by Komixx Entertainment, and she is regularly invited to present seminars about social media at author events.

Where to Find Kelly Anne Blount
Goodreads | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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Author Lynn Rush

About Lynn Rush
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, Lynn Rush, is a full-time writer, wife, and trail runner living in the Sonoran Desert, despite her fear of rattle snakes. Known as #TheRunningWriter, Lynn can’t resist posting epic sunrise pictures while running in the desert with her trail sisters, even if she has to occasionally hop a scorpion.

When she’s not running or writing, she’s watching movies that fuel her everlasting love of superheroes, vampires, and all things Supernatural. The books she reads usually carry the same theme, but this former college athlete loves reading sweet sports romances as well.

She’s madly in love with her Ironman husband of 20+ years who is the inspiration for what true love is.

Where to Find Lynn Rush
Goodreads | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

2 Comments

Leilany on May 23, 2022 at 6:54 pm

What is the main conflict in this book?
- thhernandez on June 29, 2022 at 1:56 pm
  
  It’s primarily a teen romance, so the main conflict is romantic in nature between the two leads.