Lucas (Cold Fury Hockey: Book 8) by Sawyer Bennett

Title: Lucas

Author: Sawyer Bennett

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, Loveswept

Date of publication: September 19th, 2017

Genre: Romance, Sports

Number of pages: 244

POV: Alternating 1st person

Series: Cold Fury Hockey

Alex – Book 1

Garrett – Book 2

Zack – Book 3

Ryker – Book 4

Hawke – Book 5

Max – Book 6

Roman – Book 7

Lucas – Book 8

Van – Book 9 (expected publication date: November 28th, 2017)

Reed – Book 10 (expected publication date: February 6th, 2018)

Marek – Book 11 (expected publication date: May 22nd, 2018)

Where you can find Lucas: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

The Carolina Cold Fury hockey team is stacked with hotshots. But when a new player joins their ranks, he learns that even superstars can’t go it alone when it comes to love.

Lucas Fournier is only serious about one thing: hockey. The league’s fun-loving charmer, Luc is always up for a good prank or a great lay, and he has no intention of settling down. But being traded to the Carolina Cold Fury—and to play alongside his big brother, Max—is no joke. With another title in sight, the last thing Luc wants is to let his new teammates down. To succeed, Luc will need to keep his head in the game and the most . . . er, demanding member of his anatomy in check. But when temptation hits, Luc hits back harder.

Museum curator Stephanie Frazier has always put business before pleasure, which just about explains her nonexistent sex life. But when Stephanie meets Luc at a champagne-fueled gala, she finds herself flirting like crazy—and going home with the uninhibited athlete. For one night, she learns what passion is all about. She just never counted on the little surprise Luc leaves behind. And that’s when things really start to get . . . interesting.

Sawyer Bennett’s New York Times bestselling Carolina Cold Fury series can be read together or separately.

Trigger Warning: None

My review:

Lucas is the 8th book in the Cold Fury Hockey series by Sawyer Bennett. This is a book that you can read at the pool or at the beach. I liked it because the plotline was very simple to follow. Also, the characters were pretty easy to like or dislike. While it is a hockey book, there isn’t a lot of hockey in it, if that makes sense. Hockey is mentioned but the main focus of the book was Lucas and Stephanie’s relationship. I liked that and actually needed a book like this. I have read books with some pretty heavy subjects lately so Lucas was a good change of pace for me.

The plotline of Lucas is pretty straightforward like I said above. Even if I didn’t read the blurb, I would have called what happened from the minute the condom broke. What happened afterward was what made the book enjoyable in my eyes. I liked that Stephanie didn’t act like a money-grubbing baby mama. She didn’t want money from him, she wanted him to know about his child. It is so against what people are like today that it was refreshing to read. The other plotlines that were in the book, Simone and the non-profit idea, only added to the story.

The romance between Lucas and Stephanie did take some time to kindle. For a long while, actually almost the whole book, it was sex, sex, and more sex. But, I could see the romance starting. I knew before Lucas and Stephanie did that they loved each other.

I liked Lucas. He did come across as a manwhore when first introduced in the book. He lived for hookups and meaningless sex. So when he met Stephanie at a gala at her museum, he figured it would be a one night stand. Then the condom broke. When I read that they broke the condom from having rough sex, I could not stop laughing. I was like “Dayum, where can I find someone like him“. I liked him, even more, when he stepped up. He could have done what is becoming a norm in today’s society. Not supporting Stephanie and denying that the baby was his. Instead, he chose to stick by her, with the stipulation that they get a DNA test ASAP. He wasn’t perfect by any chance. He also dealt with her immense damage done to her by her parents with grace. Well, until he reached his breaking point and I didn’t blame him there. There is only so much that a man can take.

Stephanie had my sympathy for most of the book. She was an unwanted child of two very wealthy business people. Her parents, while providing for her, had nothing to do with her. As a result of that childhood, Stephanie did not know how to act in any type of relationship. So when she found out that she was pregnant, she was elated and terrified. She was terrified that she would do to her child what her parents did to her. When Lucas wanted to be exclusive with her, she did not know how to act when in one. I felt awful when she would throw her walls up every time Lucas tried to get close to her. She couldn’t help it. But, I also didn’t blame Lucas when he finally left.

The sex in this book was very explicit and very hot. Lucas definitely knew how to take care of Stephanie. Stephanie was a very confident woman in bed which I like also. With that combination, I could see the steam rising off the pages during every sex scene. And there were a lot. Lucas couldn’t keep his hands off of her.

I did wonder where the plotline with the nonprofit was going. It was mentioned a few times, with everything set to go, when it seemed like the storyline was dropped. I hope that it is picked back up in Van and that we get to see where it goes from there. I was interested in that plotline.

The end of Lucas made me laugh and cry at the same time. What I did like, a lot, was the sneak peek into Van. And oh boy, does Van make me want to read it!!

4 stars

My Summary of Lucas:

Lucas is a steamy romance. It does take a while to take off in the romance department and is very heavy on the sex scenes. The plotline is very easy to follow and I loved the main characters. This is a book that I would bring to the beach, the pool or read in the tub.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Sex and language

I would like to thank Sawyer Bennett, Random House Publishing Group, Loveswept and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Lucas.

All opinions stated in this review of Lucas are mine and I was not compensated for this review

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**