[ARC Review] Breaking Away by Sookh Kaur
My dad, the coach, spent months training our guys to take down Dmitri Lokhov.
He’s the hottest, fastest, and grumpiest defenseman on the rink. No one’s seen him smile, let alone mutter more than a few broody words.
But when Dmitri loses his calm, knocking out our best player who happens to be my fiancé, everyone is shocked.
With a little liquid courage, I break into Dmitri’s cushy five-star hotel suite. After all, we knew each other as teenagers, so I need to give Mr. Grumpy Superstar a piece of my mind.
What I’m not supposed to learn is why he lost his cool in the first place. It was over a nasty comment about me. Made by my fiancé.
I break the wedding off, but the best way to get revenge?
Fake date his rival.
✨ MY THOUGHTS: Breaking Away might just be my favorite romance from Sookh Kaur yet. I loved the dynamic between Dmitri and Kavi, and I really enjoyed watching them both work through their situations with each other's help.
Dmitri was such a lovable grump; with plenty of personal baggage keeping him from ever branching out, his character arc was so satisfying to watch as he eventually began opening up, first to Kavi and then the rest of his team. Both Kavi and Dmitri had some awesome character growth throughout the story, and I really enjoyed seeing them grow both personally and professionally. Kavi had to overcome so much gaslighting, both from her (former) fiancé and her own parents, and it was heartbreaking at times. Breaking away from the cage that everyone had put her in was the most satisfying part of Kavi's character development.
Watching both Dmitri and Kavi break free of the boxes they had mentally put themselves in because of the way people treated them was probably the most exciting part of this romance for me. Both main characters did make things quite spicy when they finally got together, but their chemistry was written so well and really turned up the heat. This did seem like Kaur's steamiest romance to date, and Kavi and Dmitri were hot enough to melt the ice.
Breaking Away was a steamy rivals-to-lovers romance that was only made better by the emotional journeys that Kaur crafted for both characters outside of the bedroom. From their personal dilemmas, to all the hockey action on the ice and in the locker room, to the romance itself, Breaking Away was a well-written story perfect for any hockey romance fans.
[A huge thank you to Sookh Kaur for providing a review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.]
--------------------
Release date: 10/20/24
Format: eARC
eARC provided via: the author
.png)