ICEBREAKER – Deirdre Martin
New York Blades series, Book 10
Berkley Sensation
ISBN: 978-0-425-23979-7
February 2011
Contemporary Romance

New York City – Present Day

After a bitter divorce, attorney Sinead O'Brien isn't looking for any romantic entanglements. In fact, the only involvement she wants is in advancing her career. Hired to defend hockey player Adam Perry, the latest star of the New York Blades, Sinead is all business. Until she gets to know Adam. He may not be a man of many words, but the more she's around him, and the more they argue and banter, the greater the attraction builds between them. But he's her client, and there shouldn't be anything except a business relationship. Can she keep things from becoming more personal between them, despite the fact she wants to jump his bones?

Raised in Canada , hockey has been Adam's life. He plays hard and no one, not even the league commissioner or a battery charge, will stop him from playing the game he loves. Sinead is efficient and professional, yet she ignites a passion in him that the calm and collected Adam hasn't experienced before. They are seemingly total opposites. He loves hockey and the Three Stooges. She doesn't know hockey and would rather work than play. Inexplicably, they are drawn to each other. Their affair is fiery and passionate, but if their relationship became known, it could ruin Sinead's career and jeopardize the charges he's fighting. Will love or common sense win in the end?

In ICEBREAKER, Deirdre Martin once again blends her hockey stories with those of the O'Brien family who run a pub in New York City . Sinead is the hard driven lawyer of the clan who has given up relationships for her career. To not succeed in her job would be catastrophic for her. Adam's case would help propel her further at the law firm she works for. The tightlipped Adam isn't exactly forthcoming about his past, so she takes a trip to his hometown in Canada and begins to see him in a new light as she meets his family and friends. They clash over what she learns and how she wants to use this in the upcoming trial and it has them going toe to toe against each other. It is these confrontations that show their chemistry and passion. But once they end up between the sheets, the realization of how it could affect the case has them backing off.

Adam's love of hockey has only wavered a couple of times in his life. It is these experiences that drive him to succeed. As the team captain, he's going to bring the Stanley Cup to New York , playing his game and leading the team to victory, no matter the challenges they face. Sinead challenges him like no other woman has done before. Normally quiet and reserved, Adam can barely keep his hands off her. Both are headstrong and determined to win at what they want, no matter what. Will their passionate affair and the assault charges ruin not only his career, but his respectability in hockey?

Sinead and Adam are colorful characters who will pull you into their lives and have you rooting for them to work things out. They're passionate and scared at the same time. Both are driven to succeed, but Adam and Sinead have to deal with obstacles to reach their goals first. Will Adam and Sinead succeed in winning the case and him the Stanley Cup— and find love together?

ICEBREAKER is a fun tale of mismatched overachievers who'll have you chuckling and nail biting at the same time. A highly entertaining read, be sure to grab ICEBREAKER off the shelves and get settled for a night of unstoppable reading.

Patti Fischer