THIS POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!!
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Hello sassy people!
So today I’m gonna talk about one of my favorite books, by my current favorite author, Helena Hunting!
Name: A Lie for A Lie
Author: Helena Hunting
Series: All In #1
Blurb: Sometimes I need an escape from the demands, the puck bunnies, and the notoriety that come with being an NHL team captain. I just want to be a normal guy for a few weeks. So when I leave Chicago for some peace and quiet, the last thing I expect is for a gorgeous woman to literally fall into my lap on a flight to Alaska. Even better, she has absolutely no idea who I am.
Lainey is the perfect escape from my life. My plan for seclusion becomes a monthlong sex fest punctuated with domestic bliss. But it ends just as abruptly as it began. When I’m called away on a family emergency, I realize too late that I have no way to contact Lainey.
A year later, a chance encounter throws Lainey and me together again. But I still have a lie hanging over my head, and Lainey’s keeping secrets of her own. With more than lust at stake, the truth may be our game changer.
This was my first sports romance ever, and I fell in love with it (don’t make me explain why cause I don’t understand either), and it was also my first book from Helena Hunting, for who now I am in love and reading everything she ever wrote. This book introduced me to this amazing family that Helena created in the Pucked Series and it continues in the All In Series.
Now, you don’t need to read the other series to understand this book, but it makes it a better experience (I read A lie for a lie first, then the entire Pucked Series, and then I had to come back and read A Lie for a lie again).
So where do I begin? This book was really sweet and it has a defined plotline, which I appreciate.
So the book begins whit their reencounter, we have the point of view of Rook, while he goes to the birthday party of one of his teammate’s kid. There he sees Lainey again, or how they refer to her up until this moment: Alaska girl.
After that, we are thrown into the past, and find out how they met. Lainey fell into his lap on the airplane and we get the line:
They are both headed to Alaska, Kodiac Island to be specific and we watch them get to know each other, get closer and they end up staying in the same cabin for the entire time.
But a sudden emergency makes Rook go away, without leaving any form of contact.
A year later he is still hung up on Alaska girl. So when he meets her at the birthday party in the aquarium, he thinks fate gave him a gift. But there is just one tiny detail. He lied to her, about his name when she didn’t recognize him on the plane, he said his name was RJ.
Also, at a later point, instead of saying he was an NHL player, he told her he worked at an alpaca farm (that belonged to his parents). So their moment of reunion becomes a sad moment for Lainey when she realizes he lied to her about things that were so important.
She goes away, but he keeps coming back to the aquarium, pursuing her.
Now, here comes a big SPOILER:
I was really proud of myself for this part here:
Right at the begging of the book, Rook says:
The minute I read I said, he is gonna be a daddy soon, cause this comment is not here for no reason, and this proves how Helena Hunting is a good writer. For me a sign of a good writer is that they never leave a piece of information loose, everything in their books is intentional, every i has a dot, and t is crossed.
So as I predicted:
Lainey is also keeping a secret, she had a baby, after he went away from Alaska, she realized she was pregnant, but she had no way to contact him, and her search for an RJ on an alpaca farm wasn’t really successful.
Now she has a baby boy and she is not sure she wants Rook in their lives since she clearly doesn’t trust him much anymore.
But since he is the father and has the right to know, she tells him and he starts in the journey to prove himself reliable and trustworthy, and to win back his place in her and the baby’s life.
From now on its just cuteness and love.
Now, I absolutely love all the characters in this book, they have development and history, there is always a very clear explanation for their behavior, so you always understand them and the reason for their choices (good or bad). Lainey has a history of trauma and that makes her more sensitive, while Rook has a history of being harassed by fans (especially female fans) for being a hockey player, which explains his reluctance to reveal his true identity.
This book doesn’t bring a lot of hockey commentary, especially if compared to the other books in this series or the previous series, but that was not a problem for me (especially since I’ve never watched a game of hockey), so it didn’t make much of a difference in my opinion.
One other aspect from this book (that I always analyze) is if the male character is sexist or not, if he can admit his mistakes and realize when he is being too alpha male, and I am happy to say that Rook passed the test, he is an example of a good male character, despite a bit overprotective, and I love that Lainey has her moments of strong women, moments where she has the hole of dominant in their relationship, and I absolutely love and appreciate that.
Last but not least, I love the parent moments from this book, love the moments where Rook has to deal with Kodiac (yes, she named their baby as the name of the island they met) by himself and that is just so cute!
Now for the score:
General grade: 5/5 (well-written history, developed characters, consistent plotline)
Feminist grade: 5/5 (non-sexist characters, well-balanced relationship, strong female lead)
Final grade: 10/10
Well, that is all for today, I hope you like this post, hope you enjoy this book if you decide to read it. Feel free to leave your opinion about it in the comments and I will see you next time!
Bye sassy people!
- I know that some comments I make about decent guys on my posts are the bare minimum a guy should do, so no, they don’t deserve to be treated like gods for doing the minimum, but at the same time, I’ve read a lot of sexist books and I appreciate authors who make characters that can serve as role models and examples of how a decent guy acts and what a loving and respectful relationship looks like. I believe we should always encourage these authors and bring attention to the ones that still write sexist characters and stories.
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Meet Me
Brazilian architecture student and book lover
One of my goals in analysing my readings was to talk about important topics, like feminist and consent, because literature, art and culture influence us, and I believe we should always encorage authors who talk about this topics.
Come check out my Goodreads Reading Challenge!
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2020
I read 148 books in 2020, come see them!
