**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**

I can’t tell you how ecstatic I was when I was approved for an ARC of this book. It’s no secret that I adore this series. I was so excited that I wouldn’t have to wait to read Marek after how much I enjoyed Reed. Alas, I was right when I published my review of Reed…my life got too busy and I still ended up waiting far too long to read this story. The good news is, I had it waiting for me when I was ready and I didn’t have to wait on a waiting list.

Of course, I was chomping at the bit to read Marek’s story after what happened to him in Reed’s story. Man, Marek ticked me off at the beginning. Where I can totally understand where he was coming from when it comes to Gracen, his daughter Lilly deserved so much more. Luckily, Marek has friends who aren’t afraid to call him on his bull so it wasn’t long before Marek stepped up to the plate.

As much as I wanted to dislike Gracen for what she did, for the most part I liked her. She is a good mom who made some very stupid and hurtful decisions. I don’t really understand why nobody brings up the fact that her parents didn’t push the issue a bit more, especially when it came to Marek’s parents. Of course, Gracen is an adult and was going to make her own choices, but it almost seemed like there was little to no input from her parents who should have been helping to guide her a bit more. Anyway, as I said, I mostly liked Gracen. There was a bit toward the end, a fight Gracen and Marek have, that made me dislike her the way I thought I would through the whole story. She said some terrible things. Sure, so did Marek…but his hurtful words were his defense mechanism kicking in after he felt attacked my her.

Speaking of that fight, I love the matter of fact way Marek’s dad put that into perspective. It’s great how Marek doesn’t want to believe what his dad has to say at first. It can’t be as simple as that, can it? But the man has been married a long time and gives good advise.

While I don’t see that there are any more Cold Fury books on tap at this time, it seems we’ll be getting plenty more hockey from Sawyer Bennet. In August the first Arizona Vengeance book is due out, looks like it will be an expansion team for the hockey gods Ms. Bennett writes about. I cannot wait!

Update after reading audiobook version 8/5/24:
While I would still rate this one as a 4-star read, I was more upset with Gracen this time through. And more upset with Marek. Gracen may be a great mom and have a certain maturity when it comes to parenthood, but she still acts out toward Marek in immature ways. Marek is still immature all around and has a lot of growing up to do, which he does during the course of this book. I'm not a huge fan of the secret baby trope, especially when the reasoning doesn't make sense to me. Not to mention the big secret trope, which is also in this one. Good thing I love this author and still liked this story.