Release Blitz and Reviews: STONE: Sawyer Bennett
Stone
Sawyer Bennett
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Release Date March 1, 2022
Minor league player Stone Dumelin lost his younger brother when the Titans’ team plane went down. He never expected the phone call that followed.
After a shoulder injury put my NHL career on ice, I resigned myself to the fact I’d never see my way out of the minor league again. As my career faded, my estranged brother’s star shot into orbit as the first line left winger for the Pittsburgh Titans. But when the team’s plane crashed returning home one night, his light was snuffed out, and I was given the opportunity of a lifetime.
Now I’m in Pittsburgh, playing for the Titans, and face-to-face with my dead brother’s ghost at every turn. His locker, his legacy, his persistent and annoyingly gorgeous attorney who won’t stop contacting me about his estate, even though I’ve demanded she leave me alone.
Harlow Alston would be extremely appealing if she wasn’t so aggravating. Only…that’s a complete lie. She pushes all the right buttons for me, and as much as I want her to quit pestering me about Brooks’s estate, I find myself intrigued by the fiery redhead who can’t take no for an answer. And the more I learn about Harlow, the more I find she might be the key to understanding who Brooks really was, and who I want to be.
I’ve got a second shot at a career I thought I’d lost and the opportunity to build something real with Harlow, but can I find strength to move forward or will my past dictate my future?
Stone Dumelin's hockey career has had ups and downs. And now he has a chance to be back in the NHL on the Pittsburgh Titans. But it comes with the knowledge that most of the team including his brother passed away in a plane crash. He’s already had some issues with being compared to his brother and family estrangement, and this new situation makes him feel almost like an imposter or fill-in.
Harlow Austin is a hardworking lawyer who bucks her family's corporate law practice in order to help others and practice the kind of law she is passionate about. She is now the trustee for Stone's brother because she was friends with him. Harlow is tenacious and determined that Stone is going to hear her out about his brother's last wishes and estate.
But Stone is annoyed, angry, resentful, and a bit lost. But Harlow begins to provide a window into his brother and realizes in order to reconcile with who his brother was and deal with his own feelings about their estrangement that Harlow may be the key to helping him. And he’s also realizing just why his brother might have been friends with Harlow in the first place. She is accepting, supportive, sassy, and smart. And she does not give in easily. But Stone has a lot going on. He has been conditioned to question everyone's motivations and not trust easily, and sometimes his reactions and coping mechanisms are not the best.
I got really involved in their story and did not want to put it down. I felt terrible for Stone and all of the what if‘s that plagued him regarding chances lost with his late brother. He has so much to deal with regarding his loss and grief but also rebuilding a career with a brand new team who is also struggling. I loved seeing the layers peel back both on Stone and with what was going on with his brother before he passed away.
This is an emotional, heartfelt, slow burn, enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, late-brother's-best-friend romance that is also about loss, healing, self-worth, and the rebuilding of not only a hockey career but also an entire team. And it’s not an easy journey for Stone. It’s actually not easy for most of the new Titans. I look forward to seeing more of their individual stories and how they deal with loss and the pressures of becoming a new team. I am especially looking forward to Coen's story because his struggles were obvious in this one. And I really loved Gage's attitude and dedication as well.
Stone Dumelin has been playing hockey in the minors after an injury ended his professional career. He doesn’t mind, as long as he can continue to play the game, but the change in status happened at the same time his brother was called up to the majors, leaving Stone feeling disavowed by his family. After most of the Pittsburgh Titans hockey team is killed in a plane crash, including Stone’s younger brother, Stone is called up to fill a spot on the rebuilt team.
Harlow Austin, a lawyer who does a lot of work with low income clients, was friend’s with Stone’s brother and is now the trustee of the estate, charged with making sure the provisions of his will are followed.
These two have a few charged meetings early on. Stone is grieving the loss of his brother, feeling the loss and the estrangement that kept them from speaking much in the last few years of his brother’s life strongly, which makes him more surly than usual. Harlow is also struggling with the loss, but wants to honor her friend and keep his memory alive.
It didn’t take long for me to get caught up in these two, and the depth of emotion these two have to work through had me feeling all the feels. There is a lot going on with all of these new teammates, and I look forward to seeing what is going on inside their heads as this series continues.
Pittsburgh Titans
Gage
Coen
Drake
spin-off of the Arizona Vengeance series
Gage
spin-off of the Arizona Vengeance series
New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author Sawyer Bennett uses real life experience to create relatable stories that appeal to a wide array of readers. From contemporary romance, fantasy romance, and both women’s and general fiction, Sawyer writes something for just about everyone.
A former trial lawyer from North Carolina, when she is not bringing fiction to life, Sawyer is a chauffeur, stylist, chef, maid, and personal assistant to her very adorable daughter, as well as full-time servant to her wonderfully naughty dogs.
If you’d like to receive a notification when Sawyer releases a new book, sign up for her newsletter (sawyerbennett.com/signup).
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