[Review] IF YOU WANT ME (Toronto Terror, #2) by Helena Hunting

Cover Designer: Hang Le
Artwork by Rosie's Fables

Book Source: Received an egalley in exchange for an honest review.
Release Date: July 11, 2024

DESCRIPTION

A standalone age-gap, dad's best friend's hockey romance.

There’s no one more off limits than my best friend’s daughter.

Peggy Aurora Hammerstein. The Toronto Terror’s unofficial team princess. I would never do anything to mess with our team dynamics this late into the hockey season, but seeing her work in the front office changed something for me.

I see her as she is now: a powerful woman with ambition for miles.
When I hold her against me, she fits perfectly.

Her little flirts and taunts push my buttons, if she doesn’t stop–my control just might break.
But I can never cross that line. I can never know what it could be to call her mine.

I’ve never wanted anyone more than Aurora and no one can ever know.

*This is Hollis Hendrix's standalone novel. If you want to meet Hollis before you read this book, check out If You Hate Me, Rix and Tristan's story.

Grab your copy today!

Amazon Universal → https://geni.us/IfYouWantMe
Audio → https://geni.us/IfYouWantMeAudio
Paperback → https://geni.us/IfYouWantMePB

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REVIEW

Helena's new Toronto Terror series has been off to a quick and intense start! In the first book, IF YOU HATE ME, we had an enemies-to-lovers romance that was also brother's best friend, and now in the second book, IF YOU WANT ME, we have an age gap and father's best friend. 

So far, my favourite part of the series continues to be the friend group and team dynamics, and I'm also loving the mentions and cameos from Helena's other popular series. It's so fun to see how all of her books connect and I'm loving that we'll definitely get to see lots of the past couples in future books, too.I'm already super excited for the next book in the series, IF YOU NEED ME, since it's going to be Hemi and Dallas's story...and I'm ALWAYS a fan of enemies-to-lovers.

Now onto, IF YOU WANT ME, Peggy/Aurora/Hammer (I'm going to stick with Hammer just for consistency :P) and Hollis definitely had some serious chemistry. The start of their story gave me some serious flashbacks to PUCKED and the banter was classic Helena Hunting. I was constantly laughing, and I loved seeing Hammer and Hollis's friendship in the beginning of the book...their antics when Hollis's cats, Postie and Malone, were involved were so adorable! I have to admit that I enjoyed the first half of the story more than the second part. Because the first book in the series dealt with a hidden relationship, I was a bit letdown by the fact that the second book did, too, and I wished it hadn't stretched on so long. Seeing Hammer and Hollis start to fall for each other was lovely though...I'm hoping we'll get to see Hammer's dad, Roman, find love sometime in this series though because that man has a lot of love to give and definitely needs someone to share his heart with.

 
Overall, IF YOU WANT ME was an absolute wild ride. If you're a fan of age gaps, forbidden romance, and angst then you will love Hammer and Hollis's story! It definitely feels like Helena Hunting has plans for a lot of the characters in the Toronto Terror series, so I'm excited to see how all of the stories unfold and who gets paired up!

Star Rating:★★★

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About Helena Hunting

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Helena Hunting lives outside of Toronto with her amazing family and her adorable, emotional cat, who thinks the best place to sleep is her keyboard. Helena writes everything from emotional contemporary romance to romantic comedies that will have you laughing until you cry.

Connect with Helena:
Website | Amazon | BookBub | Facebook
Instagram | TikTok | Goodreads
Facebook Fan group

Never miss an update!
Subscribe to Helena's Mailing List

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 What do you think?

Does IF YOU WANT ME sound like something you'd like to read?

[Release Day, Excerpt, + Review] IF YOU HATE ME (Toronto Terror, #1) by Helena Hunting

Cover Designer: Hang Le
Artwork by Rosie's Fables

Book Source: Received an egalley in exchange for an honest review
and also pre-ordered a Kindle version.
Release Date: March 7, 2024

DESCRIPTION

A brand new standalone hate-to-love, brother's best friend hockey romance.

My new roommates are two pro hockey players.
First, my manwhore older brother, and second, his seriously hot best friend (who I seriously hate).
This was a last resort.
No one should be sleeping on a futon that smells like Cheetos and ball sweat.
But here I am, trying to get my life together.

Tristan Stiles is the bane of my existence.
He never wears a shirt.
We can’t seem to stop fighting.
He’s an arrogant playboy with a filthy reputation.
Sure, I had a crush on him when I was fourteen, but that was a long time ago.
I know better than to trust him.

I just need to survive long enough to find a new job and get a new place.
And not accidentally let Tristan rail me into next week.

Grab your copy today, exclusively from Amazon!

Amazon Universal → https://geni.us/IfYouHateMeZon
Paperback Universal → https://geni.us/IfYouHateMePB
Audio Universal → https://amzn.to/49rB7F1

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REVIEW

Wowzers! I couldn’t put IF YOU HATE ME down! I’m always up for a new book for Helena Hunting, so I jumped at the chance to read and review this one nice and early and I’m so glad that I did! I read it both as an egalley and listened to bits of the advanced listener’s copy and both the ebook and audiobook were absolutely fabulous…the readers are amazing and Helena’s words were as captivating as always!

IF YOU HATE ME was hilarious, heartwarming and jammed full of sizzling spice! Rix and Tristan were such wonderful characters and I had so much fun seeing them go from hate to something much, much deeper…and their chemistry was off the charts! I loved their solo journeys, and also how they complemented each other. I loved seeing Rix become more confident in herself, uncover her passions, and find a sense of belonging...and Tristan. Oh boy! I was right there with Rix when Tristan was on her last nerve, but he won me over hard! It was a delight to see him grow, and I love, love, loooooved seeing him learn to realize his own worth. Gotta love self-aware main characters who know they have to work on themselves! ;)

 

There truly was so much heart in this story...and it definitely didn't cool the heat down at all. In fact, I'd say this is one of Helena's spiciest books yet and if you haven't perfected your spicy reader poker face...you might want to watch if you decide to read this one in public...especially if the audio is your format of choice! It's a scorcher and you will likely find yourself blushing. ;)

 

Now onto the rest of the fabulous cast of characters! One of my favourite parts of starting new series from Helena is meeting her delightful cast of characters...and she's once again created the most excellent group of side characters who I desperately want to read about. I loved Rix's growing group of friends, and loooooved all of the Toronto Terror players! If you look around online, you might just spot some hints on what's in store next for this series (*hint hint* look for IF YOU WANT ME)...and I am seriously so excited for what's next! I'm also just so excited for all of the potential in this series, and can't wait until more and more people have read IF YOU HATE ME so we can all discuss who we want to read about next! ;)

Overall, I absolutely loved IF YOU HATE ME! Enemies-to-lovers is one of my favourite tropes and I'm always a fan of brother's best friend...so this was right up my alley! I also adored seeing a sports romance set in Toronto from one of my favourite Canadian authors! It was so fun to see certain Canadianisms...and even hear some of them in the audio version, too. I highly recommend IF YOU HATE ME to anyone who loves spicy rom-coms that are high on the spice scale and pack some delightful heat, especially if you also love hockey romances! This is one that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon and I already can't wait to reread it! ;)

Star Rating:★★★★★

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About Helena Hunting

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Helena Hunting lives outside of Toronto with her amazing family and her adorable, emotional cat, who thinks the best place to sleep is her keyboard. Helena writes everything from emotional contemporary romance to romantic comedies that will have you laughing until you cry.

Connect with Helena:
Website | Amazon | BookBub | Facebook
Instagram | TikTok | Goodreads
Facebook Fan group

Never miss an update!
Subscribe to Helena's Mailing List

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 What do you think?

Does IF YOU HATE ME sound like something you'd like to read?
And are you excited for the start of Helena's new series?