"Delay of Game" by Catherine Gayle

With her father’s health in question, Sara Thomas is focused on reducing his anxiety. That’s no small feat considering his high-stress job, not to mention her own distractions. Everyone knows Sara’s single; no one knows she’s pregnant. There’s never a good time to unexpectedly get knocked up, but now is definitely not it. Regardless, she doesn’t want anyone to know—especially not her father—until she has a game plan in place. But when Jonny, one of her father’s players, seeks vigilante justice on the ice, everything gets tossed out the window.

Cam Johnson’s role as a fourth-line winger with the NHL’s Portland Storm entails more than scoring goals. He has to ensure other teams don’t take liberties with the Storm’s star players. The way Cam sees it, that’s the most important aspect of his job. His teammates call him Jonny; opposing fans call him a goon; the media calls him an enforcer. The title’s unimportant. Cam will always fight for his team—even if he has to break the rules. He’s used to taking penalties, but he never meant for anyone else to suffer from his choices.

When Cam’s actions cause Sara’s worst fears to be realized, he blames himself. He’s screwed everything up; now he has to set things right. Mutual attraction leads to lust, and suddenly Cam is taking penalties at every turn…at least where Sara is concerned. He’s got to think on his feet or he’ll end up with a Delay of Game.

My review:

I can't say enough about Catherine Gayle's "Delay of Game" book, part of the Seattle Storm series. We met Jonny (Cam) in a couple of previous books. His gentleness and sensitivity with Dana in Breakaway gave us a hint of how he would be in his own relationships. You wouldn't think someone known as "The Enforcer" on his hockey team would really be a sensitive man, but he is! After throwing punches on the ice, his personal interactions are nothing but caring. He refuses to argue and fight because that's the environment he grew up in with his parents. I loved how he was always able to diffuse Sara's arguments because he didn't give them wind. If she said one thing, he supported her because he felt it was more important to have harmony in the relationship than force someone into something they don't want to do! But, he didn't let that stop him from fighting for what was important to him - Sara! Sara measures every relationship based on her mother - who left her father (and her) for another man in the hockey world. Sara decided that this meant everyone would leave her - so she stopped them from leaving her by leaving them first. But not Cam! He wouldn't leave her no matter what she tried to do to push him away. She tried to start arguments but he just diffused them. He saw through her pushes as just her pain speaking and pushed back to get what he wanted - her! I did feel that she was holding on to her pain from childhood a bit too hard and her father should have realized sooner what she was doing and addressed it with her instead of enabling her, which her father did. I continued to love Jamie in this book. He always seems to know exactly what to do and have the quiet self-confidence to make it happen. I love how he has managed to be important in every book even as the characters have shifted - he's almost like the series mascot but I can't wait for his complete story. There is no way its not going to be awesome! Amazon: Amazon Listing Goodreads: Goodreads Listing