Rory Brady was Ballycraig's golden boy, the local lad who moved to America and became a professional hockey player. But he broke his promise to Erin O'Brien-and never went back for her. Now Erin has moved on, and Rory must race the clock to prove to her that the man she fell in love with is still there. But can happy-go-lucky Erin risk it all and give another chance to the man who broke her heart?

Review

Breakaway is a romance about second chances. Erin and Rory were once the “it” couple and had their future all planned. Then everything fell apart and Rory broke Erin’s heart. She has moved on and has found her own path in life. Now Rory is back and Erin’s world is once again turned upside down by the sexy Irish hockey star.

This story worked for me on some levels and didn’t on others.

The things that worked:

I loved Erin. She has been hurt and she let it get her down for a while, but now she is back and better than ever. She is moving forward no matter what anyone says. I love how she doesn’t cave to Rory like everyone expects her to. She makes him work to get back into her good graces.

I loved the community that surrounds Erin. The people in her town are there for her 100%. They don’t want her to be hurt by Rory again and aren’t going to give him a chance.

I loved Erin’s best friend, Sandra. She knows what Erin needs and wants almost more than Erin does. She makes sure that Rory gets the opportunity to be around Erin and work toward patching things up with her.

The writing is fantastic. Deidre Martin is one of my top ten contemporary writers and I love the way she tells a story.

What didn’t work for me:

The story seemed to go on and on. After the HEA is achieved there are several “misunderstandings” that felt as if they were just for the sake of prolonging the book and adding words. I would have liked the story more if it had ended without the silliness.

I also didn’t like Rory much. He dumps Erin because of his ego. He doesn’t need his hometown girlfriend now that he is a big shot hockey player in New York. I didn’t feel that he had really changed enough to realistically be back in Erin’s life. He still thinks he’s God’s gift when he comes back to Ireland. I didn’t see any growth in the character.

As an addition to the NY Blades series I found this book lacking. There wasn’t the interaction with the hockey team until the end of the story and it just felt as if the vibe from the first books in the series wasn’t there.

Reviewed by Carrie