*I received a free copy of Love in Moments from via . This has in no way influenced my voluntary review, which is honest and unbiased *
Love in Moments by Scarlett Cole Series: Love Distilled #2
on 9 February 2021
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Romance
Pages: 338
Format: eARC
Swedish hockey player, Anders “Iceberg” Berg, is counting the days until he’s an unrestricted free agent and can land the contract he’s worth. Yet, instead of recovering and resting at home so he can play to impress his dream organization, he’s in Denver for his brother’s wedding at a gin distillery, watching the pretty brunette who organized the whole thing.
Olivia Dyer can’t wait to put the year behind her. Her father died, and the event hall she ran at her family’s distillery was destroyed. The cost to the business and her mental health more than she could ever afford to repay. Rebuilding both takes all her effort leaving little time for anything else. Except for a single night of fun with the hot hockey player who’s been watching her every move.
When a kitchen catastrophe throws Anders and Liv together, it ends with an evening neither of them can forget. It was only meant to be one night. But when Anders is unexpectedly traded to see out the rest of his contract with the Denver Rush, and his plans to leave as quickly as possible are disrupted by the sultry brunette who defines courage, their only option is to give to the attraction they feel for one another.
Yet with Liv stuck in the past and Anders firmly focused on the future, can they put aside their differences and allow themselves to find love in the present?
Love in Moments really touched me! It is so well written, and the characters were so realistic.
Love in Moments is the second book in Cole’s Love Distilled series, and Scarlett Cole definitely still has it! It’s a realistic story, where the characters not only mention difficult subjects, they also work through them. There was no miraculous healing of either of them through their meeting and falling in love.The characters are fantastic and well fleshed out. The author’s hockey knowledge is definitely above average. And the hero and heroine dared to be vulnerable with each other in order to move forward and grab life and love with both hands.
I already knew Liv from Love in Numbers, even if she wasn’t the main character in that one. And the fact that Live had dealt with depression was not at all swiped under the rug in Love in Moments. Not only did Liv deal with it, she managed to help both the other characters and me understand what she had gone through. She also communicated how it made her feel when those around her tried to be supportive but really weren’t.
Love in Moments also includes hockey star Anders (and yeah, that was weird for me to read, as one of my sons’ name is Anders, and he plays hockey), who was only looking towards the future and where he wanted to be transferred to for the next few seasons. Of course, even the best laid plans do not always pan out as we want them to, and Anders definitely had to deal with that.
Love in Moments is also a very realistic romance. The doubts the characters feel are understandable. And there is truly great communication between them – which is so different from many novels I have read. Cole managed to make sure Anders and Liv communicated well, and she also made it so that Liv communicated with Em and Jake. Therefore, I felt like the characters were as real as you and I are, and that made me feel even deeper for them.
Love in Moments is my first favorite read of 2021, it went straight to that shelf on Goodreads as soon as I finished reading. The excellent writing, the heartfelt characters and all the feelings I had just made everything click into place for me. Also, the Swedish words and phrases Anders used were perfect!
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.
Great communications in romance novels don’t happen a lot so that’s definitely different and good!
Right? It’s definitely not what we usually see in a romance, and it worked so well 🙂
Twitter: Northwomn
Excellent review! I’ve loved this author in the past and obviously I am missing out on this series and need to get it.
Anne – Books of My Heart
You are going to love this, Anne! Scarlett Cole is such a good author, and this book is truly her best yet 🙂