A Secret for a Secret by Helena Hunting

Romantic comedy 
Publication date: 05/12/2020
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No

Another winner from Helena Hunting. That doesn't come as a surprise to anyone, right? 

I've enjoyed the other books in this series, A Lie for a Lie and A Favor for a Favor--the later being my favorite. (I mean, what can I say? He's a grumpy guy who falls for a sunshine-y girl. It's my catnip, OK? I'm not sorry.) But while Ryan Kingston might not be my own personal catnip like Bishop was, there was A LOT to love about him.  

Plot overview
All-around great guy and pro hockey player Ryan Kingston gets some troubling family news and gets drunk--something he's never really done before. At the bar, he meets Queenie. Sparks--and clothes--fly. Later, Ryan finds out that Queenie is his boss's daughter and strictly off limits. 

Trope bingo
This is an opposites attract, nice-guy-falls-for-kinda-bad-girl, sports romance. The hero is a giant, ooey-gooey cinnamon roll.  

Queenie is a pretty great heroine. She's a little lost about what she wants to do with her life, and she's had some rotten luck in the romance department, but she's smart and strong and generally pretty confident. But in my opinion, she's not the star of this story--Ryan is. 

Ryan is a bit of a fluffy unicorn in Romancelandia. He's a sports hot-shot, but he's not a manwhore. He's an actual boyscout who drinks milk with every meal. He never treats Queenie--or anyone else, for that matter--with anything but the utmost respect. He doesn't cuss or get jealous or fly off the handle at anyone. He's a grown-up. There's not really an alpha or possessive bone in his body. But that doesn't mean he's weak, either. Just because he's not a toss-a-girl-over-his-shoulder caveman doesn't mean he's not strong and sexy. He's both. But I'm willing to admit that Ryan won't be every romance reader's cuppa.  If you're looking for a bad boy alphahole, Ryan will not be to your liking. Personally, I prefer nice guy heroes to alphaholes, but hey, to each her own. I don't judge. (Well, not MUCH anyway.)

This book also has all the trademarks I've come to expect from a Helena Hunting sports rom com: 
1. Exceptional witty banter
2. Super hot sex scenes that sometimes include snort-laughs (there's an allergy sex scene in this one that one is HILARIOUS...trust me...I know it sounds weird, but it works)
3. Just enough sports to let me know she knows what she's talking about, but not so much that I--a person who doesn't give a crap about sports--get bogged down or bored while reading

So, long story short, if you haven't been keeping up with this series, I highly recommend you get right on that. It's worth it. You'll thank me later. 

Reading order: