Hawke by Sawyer Bennett Review
4.5 Smooches
Synopsis
The Carolina Cold Fury hockey team proves that love is a power play. As Sawyer Bennett’s New York Times bestselling series continues, the league’s most notorious party animal gets blindsided by the one that got away.
Off the ice, elite defenseman Hawke Therrien enjoys his fair share of booze and good times. And why shouldn’t he? He’s worked his way up from the minor leagues and made himself a star. The only thing Hawke misses from that life is the pierced, tattooed free spirit who broke his heart without so much as an explanation. She’s almost unrecognizable when she walks back into his life seven years later—except for the look in her eyes that feels like a punch to the gut.
Vale Campbell isn’t the same girl she was at twenty. As crazy as she was about Hawke, her reckless behavior and out-of-control drinking were starting to scare her. She had to clean up her act, and that would never happen with Hawke around. Cutting him loose was the hardest thing Vale ever had to do—until now. Because she’s still crazy about Hawke. And if he could ever learn to forgive her, they just might have a future together.
Review
‘It was a realization, maybe a recognition , of something that Hawke does to me that I believe no other man will ever do. I can’t name it. I can’t place it other than it resides deep within me.’
I have been reading and reviewing this series since the very beginning and some I have loved more than others but all have been good. I was slightly hesitant when going into Hawke because some early reviews were stating that while they liked it, they didn’t love it. You would think by now I would realize that each reader gets something different out of each book because while many loved Ryker and fell for his story Hawke is where it is at for me. This story might just be my absolute favorite in the series.
‘Vale may have changed into someone virtually unrecognizable to my old self, but this mouth . . . these lips . . . her taste. It’s all 100 percent the same, and a jolt of lust seizes me hard.’
Hawke and Vale’s story is one that spans many years and comes with a good does of heartache. I think that is why I loved it so much! The angst and hurt that grew from when they were teenagers deeply in love to adults thrown together working for the same organization. Vale killed hopes dreams of living a good life with the girl he loved when she dumped him right before he left to go play hockey. Years have past and both have made great aspirations in their careers and even moved on in their love lives but no one has ever made either feel like they did when they were teenagers in love. But now that they see each other daily they can’t keep trying to deny the hurt and the love that has been simmering since they parted. Secrets are revealed and the two try to become friends again but can they ever really just be friends?
‘For a blessed moment, I don’t question all the hurt between us. I simply hold her.’
The tension between these two really helped build the story and up the drama and I LOVED IT! While still being true to Sawyer’s sexy and fun style Hawke delivered a good does of heart and made me fall in love with these two characters. They were young, reckless and flawed and while the timing wasn’t right and events occurred that drove them away it was clear from the beginning that they belonged together and something about that kind of strong epic love just completely draws me in.
‘I kiss her to shut her up. I kiss her to keep her preoccupied. I kiss her because I’m dying to kiss her again, and it just seemed the right thing to do at the time.’
Hawke can be read as a continuation of the series or as a standalone and I for one highly recommend reading it whether you want to read all the Cold Fury Men or if you just want a good second chance love story. Don’t miss this one!
~miranda
