Geri’s Review: All You Need by Lorelei James

ALL YOU NEED
Series:  Need You #3
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Lorelei James
Release Date: April 4th 2017

A hockey romance burns up the ice in the third sexy Need You novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the Mastered Series and the Blacktop Cowboys® Series.

PR agent Annika Lund can spin any disaster into a win. But revamping the reputation of a notorious Swedish hockey player will take every trick in her arsenal, especially when his agent insists that convincing everyone he’s no longer a playboy is top priority. And that it requires a sham relationship—with Annika playing the part of loving girlfriend.

On fire in the rink and in the bedroom, Axl Hammerquist couldn’t care less about being anyone’s golden boy. So when his agent forces him to play nice with a new publicist, he takes satisfaction in being as much of a pain as possible.

But the more time he spends getting to know Annika, the more Axl starts to think that being Mr. Nice Guy might be worth it if it gets him the girl…

AMAZON | iBOOKS

I have a confession to make. When I started this book, I was sure I wasn’t going to like it.

One, the heroine, I felt, has no personality whatsoever. She’s too perfect for my taste. She has no flaws. She’s basically a walking, talking cliche: tall, gorgeous, rich, blonde heiress who has everything. I have nothing against blonde heiresses for heroines but Annika Lund just left me cold.

Two, the book started off slow. Not only that it reads like any other sports romances out there. It’s not bad but the story didn’t stood out either.

Three, the hero was just okay. Again, he’s your typical NA-ish hockey romance hero. I didn’t find anything exciting about him even though I liked him better than the heroine.

Then 53% happened, and the story, the character just took off for me. The jokes that felt off at the beginning started to hit me and I found myself genuinely laughing at the banter between Annika and Axl.

“I’m happy I’m not Santa—the poor guy only comes once a year. And he limits himself to just good girls.”

Also, there’s this chemistry thing. It finally worked. I started rooting for these two characters to figure their shit out and have their HEA.

And oh, did I mention that the secondary characters, specifically Annika’s mom, Selka, was hilariously entertaining and entertaining? No? Well, they are. Selka especially. And the whole Lund clan had their own brand of crazy that I found entertaining. Same goes for Axl’s teammates and neighbors.

Then there’s that “big gesture” scene near the end that had me swooning. I admit, it might have been a bit cheesy but IT WORKED!! Big time. It just did.

So yeah. I ended up really enjoying this book. I’m glad I stuck with it otherwise I would have missed this gem:

“What’s a douchecanoe?”
“Worse than an asshat, but not as bad as a twatwaffle.”

READ THE SERIES IN ORDER

WHAT YOU NEED | JUST WHAT I NEEDED | ALL YOU NEED