This was such a cute and easy read. I loved how the points of view alternated between the two main character. It was such an enjoyable book, I loved it.

Breakaway (Corrigan Falls Raiders #4)
Cate Cameron
Book Review: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Another fabulous book by Cate Cameron. I'm loving this series. It's original and fun.

Dawn is trying to escape Hockey. She lives in a town which sleeps, breathes, and suffocates you with Hockey. After breaking up with her hockey loving ex-boyfriend, Dawn wants to try, and avoid the sport. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done.

Logan is new in town. He is also trying to escape his life. After an injury, he has had to find a new way to live. His dad has helped by enrolling him to help out at a sports camp. Just like Dawn, he is trying to avoid all things related to Hockey. She is a breath of fresh air, and Logan cannot get enough of her. Logan may be avoiding Hockey and teaching golf, but that doesn't mean it won't catch up with him. Golf is where his summer romance is, and she helps him forget his troubles. Will Dawn be understanding or will she run when she finds out who he really is?

I loved this book just like the others I have read in the series. I've added Centre Ice to my read list, as I know it will be good, and I haven't read it yet. These books briefly feature the characters from the other books, however, they do not need to be read in order. They are all standalone stories.

Dawn is fun and loveable. She wants to stand on her own two feet, she is ambitious and wants to be independent. This is basically my favourite kind of female lead in books.

Logan is sweet, fun, and the perfect summer boyfriend. Hopefully, he can be so much more.

5 stars out of 5.

I received an ARC in exchange for a fair review.

ebook £3.69
Expected publication: August 14th, 2017 by Entangled: Crush

I love this young adult novel and felt that it was well written. A great love story

Rating: 3.5 Stars

This book was a fun and sweet read, and an interesting look at what it's like to be the hockey girlfriend.

Dawn was a little angsty as she was facing so many life changes and feeling a little "undefined". Until a few months ago, she had be a hockey girlfriend, but she left that life behind as she felt she was disappearing into that role. Logan was in Corrigan Falls trying to forget hockey after a severe injury cut her career short. With both Dawn and Logan wanting to avoid hockey, it seemed like a match made in heaven.

Things I liked:
Logan was fabulous. I found him charming and loved his relationship with his parents. Once he started being honest, he couldn't stop, and I always appreciate that. He was all in from the start, and put it all out there for Dawn. It was agonizing for me when she was resisting him. He was also struggling with his identity. He had been playing hockey since he was three years old, and now, at 18 he was sort of at a loss. He didn't expect to have to face life after hockey so soon. He sort of broke my heart a little for him.

Like I said, Dawn was angsty, and I sort of understood a little of it, but when we finally found out what she had been struggling with, I had a lot of empathy for her.

I loved
Mrs. McMann! She was so fun and feisty. I didn't quite understand her purpose, but later, she shares her own love story with Dawn, and it become abundantly clear why she was incorporated in the story, and I thought it was a brilliant choice.

I thought the end was sort of fun. It was great bringing all the character in the series back in that venue. This sort of this is what I love about companion novels. That peek at past couples and feeling like I am catching up with old friends.

Overall: A sweet and fun story about breaking away from your past and looking toward your future.

**I would like to thank the publisher for the advanced copy of this book.

Normally I love all the YA novels about ice hockey or figure skating but I must admit that 'Breakaway' left me highly unimpressed. Swooning moments? No, not really. Gripping plot? Nope. I mean, most of the story was really predictable, no climaxes, no big surprises. I really feel a bit down about it.

Please note: I received BREAKAWAY from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the publisher and the author.

BREAKAWAY deserves Five Stars! Here’s why:

BREAKAWAY (love the title, by the way – so apropos) has all the hallmarks of a fabulous YA novel: well-developed primary and secondary characters, realistic situations, passion for life and the world, plus just enough teenage angst to keep it real without bogging down the plot with a lot of narrative. Cate Cameron did a fantastic job with developing each one of her characters. Even though this is not the first book in the series, BREAKAWAY can be read as a standalone story and I will definitely be purchasing more of her books to learn about the supporting characters from this one.

BREAKAWAY affected me in ways I didn’t fully expect. At first, I thought Dawn was a little rough around the edges with her steadfast refusal to have anything to do with hockey. I expected her stance on hockey to annoy me, but what I soon realized was that no matter how much time has progressed as far as women’s liberation, we still have to fight for our own identity, even battling loved ones for the right to explore our own dreams; even when we have no clue what that vision might be just yet. I work with teens and the struggle is real. Parents just want their children to have a better life than they did, and sometimes, it’s hard to look at the forest through the trees. Children, on the other hand, have to learn how to cut those apron strings binding them to the love and security of their parents and eventually find their own way in the world.

Logan has a similar struggle, but for different reasons. What happens when you have a goal your whole life, plus the unconditional support and love of your parents, but then that dream disintegrates right before your eyes? Suddenly, your identity is no longer wrapped up in that goal and your dreams are ripped out from underneath you. Logan no longer has the passion for hockey to fuel his day. He has nothing to look forward to until a chance encounter with Dawn sets his tilted world back on its axis.

I’m not a big fan of insta-love, but the whip-smart dialogue and the way Dawn and Logan come together works extremely well. Sometimes, you come across a person you’ve just met, and without a shred of doubt, you just know that he or she will play a significant role in your life. The world just divides into before and after meeting this person. And, that’s how I became enthralled with BREAKAWAY and gave it five stars. Highly recommend.

I got this as an ARC from NetGalley. I liked this book because it had all the elements that I like in a YA novel. First person, alternating chapters between the main characters et al. I liked Logan and I loved Dawn but I guess I just didn't feel it between the two of them. I haven read the first 3 books in the series which maybe would have helped...it was a cute story and they were a nice couple but guess the chemistry just wasn't there between Logan and Dawn...not terrible but not the best story either...

This is one of the books that I'd rather not write a review about. While the writing was good, there was still something about it that I didn't like as much as the other novel I've read written by the author ("Playing Defense"). Probably the annoying female main character. Her description didn't fit her I-wanna-control-everything state that magically appeared right around the middle of the book. I was so confused, because I thought Dawn was this confident girl that knew her place and then she wasn't that girl anymore, wanting to be in control all the time, coming up with annoying questions and excuses to be a coward. Not my thing at all.

And Logan was too much of a softie to quit charming her. Of course, he's another one of these swoon-worthy book boyfriends, yet I wish he wasn't, because he was way too good for Dawn. He was so good for her and she just wouldn't see it, living in a bubble of negativity while excusing that with wanting to be free. Excuse me, young lady, you're working your ass off to go to college, so you're so lucky to have a cute boyfriend like Logan who'd do anything for you. To me, it seemed like she wanted to keep her options open. Not mainly the boyfriend part, but everything else. Like, a hippie soul without being a hippie. I didn't understand her motives in the least. She didn't want to be a hockery player's girlfriend. Well, I think she was basically the only one that would have thought of herself that way.

I'm not exactly a fan of ice hockey since it's not a popular sport in my country, so I was glad to find the author keeping it as simple with the professional sports language as possible. Still, I liked seeing glimpses of Logan's carreer that made the reader dive into the ice hockey world without experiencing it first hand.

To be honest, I think Dawn and Logan kicked off a bit too soon. I can see why they did, the story was build on their chemistry and all that, but still... It was like so many things suddenly happened at once and there wasn't enough time to include it, so it had to happen at the exact same time, having the reader confused at times. Or maybe it was just Logan's life that was a bit too much to handle. Broken knee, new job, new girlfriend and then the news he never expected. Meanwhile, there isn't much action for Dawn except the three jobs she's struggling with. I kind of missed a story for her, but then again her problems of wanting to be herself without depending on anyone was her own story.

So, the story had potential, definitely, yes. And I liked the writing as well. It was the speed, Dawn and perhaps a few too many details that have my opinion being not the best. If you've already started reading this ice hockey series by several authors (Surprisingly, I like how not only author is included in this series), you should read this one as well. If you're a fan of sports novels, you shouldn't miss this one either.

Logan Balanchuk was a first round NHL draft for Montreal until he was badly injured in his first game and told he would never play again. Now after months of physiotherapy and counselling and surgeries he has come to Corrigan Falls to work as a camp aide, but strictly no hockey of any kind. He knows its not a real job, he's only employed as a favour to his famous NHL father but baby steps right?

Dawn broke up with her hockey playing high school boyfriend six months before he got selected for the draft. She doesn't regret her decision for a minute, she felt she was losing her identity as anyone other than Toby Cooper's girlfriend, cheerleader and groupie. Although disliking hockey in a town as obsessed as Corrigan Falls makes Dawn a bit of a pariah.

When Dawn and Logan first meet it seems like a match made in heaven, a girl who doesn't like hockey and a boy who doesn't want to talk about hockey. But the past has a funny way of creeping up on you.

Loved it. Loved Dawn, loved Logan, loved Dawn's friends, loved the mature way in which both Dawn and Logan reacted when things didn't go their way. Loved that there was no animosity between Dawn and Toby. Maybe it was all a little too perfect but after the week I've had all I wanted was to sink into a gentle NA romantic novella with people that make me feel better about humanity.

Although this is the fourth book in the series I have not read any of the others and this can definitely be read as a stand-alone.