Sweet Sweet Grumpy Sunshine
Power Play
DC Stars
Romance
October 24, 2024
Kingle, Paperback
508
Piper Mitchell needs one thing to go her way. Divorced, feeling stuck in her professional life and terrified of reentering the world of dating, she’s decided she’s going to work on something she can control: learning how to be good in the bedroom. Enter Liam Sullivan. The star NHL goalie might not be a people person, but he's the perfect teacher. He knows what he's doing behind closed doors, and with a little convincing, he agrees to be Piper's guide. Things between them are casual and easy. Something they can both benefit from. And when a road trip to Vegas has Piper and Liam waking up from a night they can’t remember with matching wedding rings, they decide to figure out how much more fun they can have as husband and wife. It’s just for the hockey season. It doesn’t mean anything. But as the clock ticks down on their fake-marriage-with-benefits, can Piper and Liam make it work in the real world? Or will their relationship be a power play straight to disaster?
I’m writing this deep in a reading slump, and Chelsea Curto’s DC Stars series is currently saving me from it. Curto knows what she’s doing when it comes to spoon-feeding me comfort food in the form of tropes. Power Play is the second novel in the series, but they all can stand alone and realistically be read in any order. I’m going with the traditional order, and there’s nothing I eat up more than seeing the couples from previous books on the periphery of the new story.
Power Play is the story of Liam, the DC Stars curmudgeonly goalie, and Piper, a rinkside reporter who’s ready for a new start. Liam doesn’t think he has space in his life for anything but hockey. Piper is ready to make the most out of life, but the weight of her past drags at her. She’s not sure what makes her ask Liam to teach her, but neither of them thought their arrangement would result in a drunken Vegas wedding.
This novel bundles a healthy dose of humor, spice, and lots of big feelings. I particularly love the value the author puts on the intercharacter relationships outside of the main romance. Both the FMC and MMC are given the opportunity to have fleshed out friendships, goals, and pains of their own. Curto effectively lets the story hold all of that together in addition to all the mushy goodness we’re expecting.
Curto builds out a wide network of characters that fall into all your favorite romance archetypes, effectively hyping you up for the other installments in the series. This series is familiar in the way your favorite tropes are, but still manages to be filled with the most lovable versions of traditional archetypes. I’m in a season where there’s a hundred different things on my plate. I think that the phrase chicken soup for the soul is trademarked, so I’ll say Chelsea Curto writes mashed potatoes for my particular soul. It’s a balm when you need a laugh, a story of open-hearted friendship, or a filthy idea of two. If you like a bingeable series, classic tropes, or hockey romance, then Chelsea Curto’s DC Stars series is one to check out!
Gabi grew up moving around the world with her family, making books in English a bit of a luxury that had to be rationed. Nowadays she lives in East London, where books can be read as voraciously as she likes. Fantasy books will forever be her first love, and she’s always looking for the next series to consume both of her brain cells. Her days generally consist of working as a software developer, squeezing in a chapter at her desk, and pining after the Picadilly Waterstones.
