BOOKWORM REVIEW: The Trouble with #9 by Piper Rayne

February 20, 2022

BOOKWORM REVIEW: The Trouble with #9 by Piper Rayne

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
STEAM: 🔥🔥🔥

Piper Rayne is two for two with the Hockey Hotties series.

This time, we get Maksim and Paisley's story. Paisley is a therapist for the Florida Fury. It is not the easiest job trying to get a bunch of athletes to open up about their mental health, but she is trying. That is until bad boy Maksim is being required to have sessions with her -- an order coming straight from the Fury's owner.

Maks isn't really interested in sitting down to talk feelings. He doesn't get why his need to protect his teammates is grounds for therapy. Sure, he bangs up his opponents and gets into fights regularly, but isn't that what hockey is all about? He shows up to therapy not because he is ready to open up, but because he cannot get his New Year's Eve kiss with Paisley out of his mind. Paisley, on the other hand, wants to keep him at bay because she is trying so hard to put her attraction aside and be professional. Who will emerge as a victor as Maksim tries to convince Paisley that a relationship with him isn't so bad? Is there even a loser in that situation?

What I love about this series is how captivated I get in going through the journey with these two. Piper Rayne does a really good job in getting you invested in flawed but relatable characters, and Maksim and Paisley are no different. There is more to the two of them than meets the eye, and uncovering that was an enjoyable ride.

Maksim is a human Mentos. He tries to be tough on the outside but is really soft on the inside. He has carried a burden that shaped him into the overprotective, aggressive player that he is, and how this comes to light and comes to a head with Paisley nearly broke my heart. Paisley also has her own demons to conquer, and I love that they were able to see those demons and find the strength to address them because of each other.

I cannot get enough of this series, and I am definitely looking forward to Ford's story in the next book.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Trouble.

One word that comes to mind when someone talks about me. I like to think of it as protection, watching out for the ones I love. But now I’m spending more time in the penalty box than on the ice and the team owner isn’t happy.

Finding myself across the room from the hot therapist I kissed on New Year’s Eve only makes me push my problems down further. I want couch time with her but not the kind she’s used to.

I decide to lie to her just to finish off my therapy so I can do what I really want—date her—even if she says she doesn’t date hockey players. Just when my therapy sessions are up and I’ve made some headway with Paisley, it’s my parents who throw another wrench in my plans.

If I abide by my parent’s wishes to marry the one they’ve chosen, I’ll lose Paisley forever. But if I go against my parents, I’m failing my deceased best friend all over again.

Get Your Copy → https://amzn.to/3s19v69

Add to Goodreads → https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55455026-the-trouble-with-9