The Trouble with #9: a spicy sports romance

The Trouble with #9 by Piper Rayne is the second book in the Hockey Hotties series. Trouble with a capital T describes Maksim Petrov. As the Florida Fury’s enforcer, it is his job. He protects and watches out for his teammates, one and off the ice. As his time in the penalty box increases, the team owner isn’t happy and orders Maksim to therapy. To make matters worse, the team therapist is the woman he kissed on New Year’s Eve and talking about his feelings isn’t the thing he wants to do with her. Paisley Pearce is just trying to get through the mandated three sessions with Maksim; however, he is making it difficult and she is losing the battle against her own attraction. As their professional relationship ends, they pursue a more personal one. As their relationship heats up, Maksim’s family makes a request that forces him to make a choice: follow his heart or follow his family’s request. 

The Trouble with #9 picks up right where My Lucky #13 ended. Filled with flirty moments, spicy love scenes and even deep emotional moments, The Trouble with #9 is a fast paced romance with great characters. Maksim feels he needs his pain and anger to play his role as enforcer on the ice. Paisley has her own hurts and wounds as she believes she isn’t good enough for Maksim. When they get together, they find more than just a way to release the sexual tension, but a deeper emotional connection. Even though I am not a hockey fan, I enjoyed the shop talk and the interaction between the players. Overall, I loved this book. I read late into the night as I could not put it down and I look forward to reading the rest of the series. I also enjoyed the hint into the next book of the series. If you enjoy sports romances, I highly recommend The Trouble with #9. 

The Trouble with #9 is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: a look inside a therapy session and the emotional issues we all face

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb is the story of a therapist, her therapist and the answers we all look for in our lives are revealed. Ms. Gottlieb, a psychotherapist and national advice columnist, takes the readers into therapy sessions as she helps her patients find the reasons why when she realizes she needs those answers herself. After a devastating break-up, Gottlieb finds herself in the office of Wendell, a quirky but well-seasoned therapist, dressed in a cardigan and khakis; he seems to be the stereotypical therapist; she soon learns that he is anything but typical. Gottlieb opens the therapy doors and invites the readers into her world as a clinician and a patient, examining the truths and lies we tell ourselves and others as we walk the tightrope called Life. Battling questions of love and desire, meaning and mortality, guilt and redemption, terror and courage and finally finding hope and change. What lessons can we learn from Ms. Gottlieb’s patients and her own experience in therapy? 

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone was highly recommended to me as a witty and honest look into the human experience. As Ms. Gottlieb presents her journey with patients and the road that leads her into therapy herself; it was easy to see people we have encountered in ourselves as well as our own questions and struggles. I enjoyed Ms. Gottlieb’s candor and openness when discussing the mental health of her patients and herself. There is a stigma around our emotional struggles. She makes the observation that we can easily talk about physical health, our sex lives (“or the lack thereof”), but we actively and purposefully avoid talking about mental health. Throughout each patient’s story, we learn the universality of what it means to be human as well as the power to transform our lives lies within each of us. I recommend Maybe You Should Talk to Someone. 

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is available in hardcover, paperback, eBook and audiobook

 

 

 

Ten Women: stories of life and finding common bonds

Ten Women by Marcela Serrano is the stories of nine women and their psychiatrist. They come from very different backgrounds, very different lifestyles in Chile. Ranging from a teenager who is confronting her sexual identity to an old woman confronting the loneliness of old age and despite the differences in ages and their backgrounds, these women representing the variety of the cultural and social groups in Chile. On the surface, it would seem they would have nothing in common. However, a common thread brings them together: their psychiatrist. As each woman shares their stories, they discover they may have more in common then they originally thought. Through these new commonalities, they form bonds and friendships in which transforms their lives in ways they never imagined.

Ten Woman would be read as a collection of short stories; unfortunately for me, the connection between the women seemed to be lost. While many of their stories had commonalties, it got to the point that it was repetitious I enjoyed each woman’s story on its own, but the cohesiveness is murkier. I would still recommend it as Ten Woman brings stories of a part of the world many of us never think about and possibly think we would not have anything in common. However, each of these stories could be find here in the United States or anywhere in the world. If you choose to read Ten Women, I recommend reading it as a collection of short stories rather than a cohesive plot.

 

Ten Woman is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook