Classic Lorelei James. Former world class women's hockey player Gabi meets Nolan, the brother of the owner of the rink where she coaches.

Nolan is tired of being the playboy brother and Gabi is tired of working 3 jobs to make ends meet. They trade favors and guess what happens.

I enjoy hockey stories and was happy that this one was a flirty sexy fun read. More!

Want You to Want Me is the second book in the Want You series by Lorelei James. Hockey player Gabi Welk has spent most of her life pursuing titles and trophies, but she doesn't have much to show for it. These days she's working odd jobs and struggling to make ends meet instead of living for the win. When the opportunity of a lifetime comes up, she swallows her pride and asks her nemesis, Nolan Lund to help her get the coaching job at his brother's rink. Nolan never expected to start catching feelings for Gabi, but suddenly his nemesis is looking a whole lot like something more.

I really enjoyed this story especially the push and pull between Gabi and Nolan. They struggled a bit trying to figure out why they were catching feelings for someone so different from themselves, and James did an excellent job of writing the tension for these two. It was very believable the feelings of self doubt they both had, and I could really relate to Nolan feeling like an outsider in his family. I connected with him more so than Gabi, but I still think she was a strong character. James really gives some good growth to the reformed player so that he was a believable romantic lead. This is a great hate to love/opposites attract story because both characters had to come so far to resolve their own preconceived ideas about the other.

I will warn that it was a bit hard keeping up with some of the characters since I hadn't read the previous book, but it wasn't a deal breaker. The last half of the book also did some work setting up other couples in the series and it's a bit of a pet peeve with me when these set ups become a little too obvious in the current book. I'd prefer that more of the work was centered around the current couple. I'd give this a 3.5 for those concerns but rounding up for Goodreads reviews.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Can and ex female hockey player and a billionaire make it work? Can they find love amidst their problem filed lives? Fancy Pants loves to dress to the nines in the best of the best, She is unconcerned with what she wears until they have a confrontation. She over hears hims saying she is not his type. Boy does that come back to haunt him. This is a super good book. Great details and plot.

I loved being back in this world. There were so many old faces that we saw pop up and I loved every minute of it. I loved how Gabi was the hockey player and it twisted the scene for us.
Gabi was tough on the outside but on the inside, she just wanted to someone to see her for her. When Nolan first meets her, he gets the wrong impression and they become enemies. I love a good enemies to lovers romance so this was right up my alley.
Nolan was a player in the past, but it's clear that is never what he really wanted. Really getting to know Gabi was something that he needed to get him over keeping everyone at arms length. He never let anyone else in, he went from one extreme to another trying to be what people wanted him to be.
What I loved about this was that both of these people had such distorted opinions on who the other was, but watching them grow together and learn how to be with another person in a functional relationship made me fall in love with them even more.
We all know I hate players, but Lorelei does it in such a way that it doesn't bother me, and that is what sets her apart in my eyes. I can always trust her and I love that about her books.
Thank you to Berkeley, NetGalley and Lorelei for allowing me to read this early.

Want You to Want Me by Lorelei JamesI would sort of classify this as a slow burn. There is a LOT of relationship building before the sexy times which means that the characters have a lot of time to get to know each other. Which is good since the book opens with Gabriella Welk being dumped by her boyfriend for her younger sister. And she, gasp!, doesn't hate her younger sister for it. But Nolan Lund does overhear the exchange. He's not particularly comfortable being there but he does offer to take the hockey star/coach out for drinks. While at the dive bar, Gabi overhears him say something rather uncomplimentary. But then... he owns his mistake! No excuses, just is sorry and then builds his way back in to her good graces.
The bummer of this story is the awkwardness of how the rest of the books in this series are set up. For the first 3/4 (maybe a little less), we have a smooth-flowing story. Then there's a whole other story that's shoehorned in that might have made more sense if there were hints in the first book but I honestly don't remember there being any. It also might have made more sense if there was a build up to the next book but instead there's a story line just plopped like a rather large unwieldy stone.

Four stars
Follows I Want You Back
This book comes out August 4th
ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

This is Nolan Lund's book and it was absolutely wonderful. It stars Gabi Welk and its very much a slow burn, friends to lovers, opposites attracting romance in the world of hockey and Lund Enterprises.

It is part of a series and I suggest you read the whole series as there are lots of side characters and their spouses and you might be lost when the story talks about them or in scenes they are prominent in. That said we don't know a whole lot about Nolan or Gabi until this book, so it can also easily stand alone.

Gabi works with Nolan's brother Jax as a coach for some of his hockey teams at his ice skating arena. She is strong, yough woman with a heart of gold but dresses for comfort rather than fashion.

Nolan works at his families company as a CEO to be and he feels extraneous. He is also very much into fashion and looking good. He runs into Gabi one night at his brothers rink and they form a truce and friendship of sorts until he hurts her feelings.

After he apologises they end up wanting to let the other one in and an attraction forms. But can Nolan be into a tomboy who has no fashion sense and can Gabi be into a guy who always dresses for success?

This was an awesome story and I absolutely adored Nolan and Gabi together. They are a fun and exciting couple and I was never bored with them. In fact the only thing I hated was that this book ended.

I love this series and the author but had a hard time connecting with Nolan and Gabi.
The pair didn't start on the best of terms but they worked together to form a friendship. I understood their hesitancy at first, as they were burned in the past by previous relationships as well as business but they seemed to stay in the friend zone too long.
I was also disappointed with the way their family and business associates treated them. I was waiting for each of them to tell their respected family members and business colleagues to bugger off.

3.5 stars

I think the premise and the romance are good, but unfortunately I didn't love the writing style. It's me, not the book. But it's definitely worth a read if you love hockey romance.

Good book! I enjoyed reading this one! It had intrigue and some heartbreak and heartache all in all it was a decent read! I've read both books in this series and they're both good books I definitely recommend reading them! Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for sharing this book with me!