4 STARS ✮ KATE MEADER ✮ SO OVER YOU

SO OVER YOU

Chicago Rebels #2

Kate Meader

✮ ✮ ✮ 4 STARS ✮ ✮ ✮

Three estranged sisters struggle to sustain their late father’s failing hockey franchise in Kate Meader’s sizzling Chicago Rebels series. In this second entry, middle sister Isobel is at a crossroads in her personal and professional lives. But both are about to get a significant boost with the addition of a domineering Russian powerhouse to the Rebels....

Isobel Chase knows hockey. She played NCAA, won Olympic silver, and made it thirty-seven minutes into the new National Women’s Hockey League before an injury sidelined her dreams. Those who can’t, coach, and a position as a skating consultant to her late father’s hockey franchise, the Chicago Rebels, seems like a perfect fit. Until she’s assigned her first job: the man who skated into her heart as a teen and relieved her of her pesky virginity. These days, left-winger Vadim Petrov is known as the Czar of Pleasure, a magnet for puck bunnies and the tabloids alike. But back then... let’s just say his inability to sink the puck left Isobel frustratingly scoreless.

Vadim has a first name that means “ruler,” and it doesn’t stop at his birth certificate. He dominates on the ice, the practice rink, and in the backseat of a limo. But a knee injury has produced a bad year, and bad years in the NHL don’t go unrewarded. His penance? To be traded to a troubled team where his personal coach is Isobel Chase, the woman who drove him wild years ago when they were hormonal teens. But apparently the feeling was not entirely mutual.

That Vadim might have failed to give Isobel the pleasure that was her right is intolerable, and he plans to make it up to her—one bone-melting orgasm at a time. After all, no player can perfect his game without a helluva lot of practice...

After a minor book hangover from another hockey story I was looking forward to reading "So Over You." I knew Kate Meader would deliver and boy, did she.

In a world dominated by alpha males like ice hockey it's hard for a woman to be heard. When you make your three daughters co-owners of the team with the least prospects of winning a game and least of all making the play-offs AND making this a condition of the inheritance you deserve a special place in hell. Make those three sisters estranged and you have a recipe for disaster. Right? Wrong.

Ice Hockey is in Isobel's blood. It's the one thing that she always wanted to do and the career-ending injury she had still hurts on a soul-deep level. Then there is the issue of having to prove her position as a coach on the team and having to deal with the man who popped her cherry when she was a teenager and forgot to rock her world.

“The Russian was a . . . cock-a-doodle-dud?” “Right. Bad in bed. Terrible, actually.”

Isobel loves hockey so much, having her dream ripped away from her leaves her a bit like a fish out of water. The next best thing is coaching but it's always been hockey for her. While I loved Isobel's drive, her ambition, I was on the fence about her true feelings and wondering if Vadim really meant more to her than hockey or if he really was only the next best thing, too. However, she did convince me in the end. But: Isobel comes with a load of daddy issues. Her womanizing father did a number on her but her issues were quickly forgotten in the end, so that was an inconsistency that I couldn't look past.

Vadim, the big, grumpy Russian, was simply adorable and personally my highlight. He is this seemingly entitled, arrogant man so when he learns that he left young Isobel wanting all those years ago he is indignant...and then a little insecure. He is melodramatic, often unintentionally funny, and high-handed and has a serious alpha-vibe about him. All this together though is a weirdly endearing package. His speech without contractions becomes more pronounced the more time you spend with him.

The sisters relationship is so obviously improving and I was happy to see that the youngest of them didn't let Isobel get away with her issues. All the sisters interactions show me that there is real bonding happening.

Harper’s head was cocked as she blatantly ogled their GM. Stop it, Isobel frowned. You stop it, Harper frowned right back. That made them both giggle, which drew Dante’s querying look.

Of course Kate lets us spend time with Remy (yay!), Cade (who I'm tickled silly about), Dante (OMG!) and Bren (Scottish brooding deliciousness!). I love their dynamics. I adored Vadim's relationship with his sister.

A moment of silence was offered for the female tragedy that was Dante Moretti's homosexuality.

Kate Meader's writing is like water. It flows effortlessly, pleasantly and is full with her own personal wit and humor. She really has that down pat. I have come to appreciate her books so much. So Over You was a wonderful addition to this series and I'm really sad that there are only two more installments. Even with the minor issues I was supremely entertained. I can't wait to get Dante and Cade, and Violet and Bren in my hands!