Five out of Five Stars
One sentence summary: Eric Bayer, hockey player by day and bulky, surly, sweet, security guard by off season.
First thought: Sarina Bowen is a world building genius. I think a lot of people save this idea for fantasy writers, but honestly I imagine Sarina must have a full wall of the Brooklyn Bruiser timeline. An aside: Sarina, can I get my own? It'd look great in my book room!
I loved seeing old friends from previous books while getting to know great characters.
Why I read it: Okay, Sarina Bowen is an auto-read author for me. But, a few months ago I was just asking my reader group for some good bodyguard recommendations. Then, BAM, Sarina announced Moonlighter and my anticipation countdown began.
POV: Alternating M|F, Present Tense
Setting: Brooklyn, NYC
Tropes: Bodyguard, Vacation, Friends to Lovers
Our Heroine: Alex. When I realized we were reading about Nate's old friend Alex, I was worried I wasn't going to love her. But Sarina is an incredible character writer and Alex is the badass girl boss that I need in my life right now.
Our Hero: Eric. Is there anything better than a hunky hockey player? Yes. One who moonlights as a security guard. I loved the banter Eric had with his family, the other guards from the company, and most of all with Alex. Our hero falls in love a bit slowly, but once he's there his resolve is permanent. And honestly, Sarina could have just written a book that chronicled Eric's work out and I'd be over here drooling.
Overall thoughts: I loved the overlap of two romance genres here. Sports and Suspense. I don't seek out suspense, so I rarely read it, but the overlap of the Brooklyn Bruisers and a bunch of hot hockey players was the perfect ease in for me. I'm just excited for Sarina's spin off series "The Company" to release another book as I am for the next BB installment and my trip back to the Shipley's farm.
Eric is the kind of man that shines in contemporary romance novels and Sarina Bowen is the queen of thoughtful, women's needs first, men. In her podcast, or an interview, she said that she enjoys writing really cerebral hockey players and I think that's what makes her one of my very favorite authors. These guys are seriously swoon worthy.
The sexy scenes: Eric and Alex's chemistry was amazing and Sarina did an awesome job incorporating a type of heroine that doesn't typically star in steamy romance novels.
The best part of the book: The characters. Moonlighter had a pretty big cast and I'm sitting over here excited for every single person to get their own book. Swoon.
Worst part of the book: Nothing! A truly five star read for me.
TLDR: Why are you still reading this review and not one clicking Moonlighter?
How I read it: I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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