New York Times bestselling author Lorelei James kicks-off her Want You Series with a Lund family cousin hot enough to melt the ice and mend a broken heart.
Former NHL star Jaxson Lund has returned to the Twin Cities, but he's at loose ends, unsure if he belongs at Lund Industries, or where he stands with Lucy, his ex-girlfriend and mother of his daughter, Mimi. Despite the signs she'd like to leave him in the penalty box, the attraction burning between them reinforces his determination to prove that he deserves a second chance...
Lucy Quade is in a good place with a steady job, a nice apartment, and a well-adjusted daughter, which is why she's hesitant when Jax insists on co-parenting. It's not that Lucy doesn't trust Jax...she's just unconvinced he can handle multiple responsibilities when he's been singularly focused on playing hockey. But when issues arise with Mimi, Lucy's shocked at how levelheaded and paternal he acts, giving her a glimpse of the Jax she used to know, the sexy, sweet man she fell for years ago.
Once Lucy lets her guard down, Jax goes all in to show her how good they are together, but will their past remain too large an obstacle to ever overcome?
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Elizabeth's Review
3.5 stars - Worth a Reader's Time
Review Copy Provided by Publisher via Net Galley
I Want You Back is an interesting take on a second chance romance.
Jax is a retired pro hockey player who had a period where he defined behaving badly in multiple faucets of his life. Lucy is his ex-girlfriend/mother of his child and the prime target of his bad behavior. We meet Jax and Lucy when their daughter is 8 and he is working to reshape his post hockey life.
Told in a mix of real time and flashbacks, Jax and Lucy's story is both heartwarming and a little heartbreaking. The heartwarming comes from watching Jax put so much of his efforts into being a good dad and showing the changes he's made, not just talking about them. Lucy's changing attitudes and the strides they made together add to the authentic feel of the second chance story. The heartbreaking piece comes from seeing the graphic discussion of how Jax and Lucy's first shot at love fell apart and the impact that continues to have on their daughter.
I felt like Ms James put a lot of effort into creating a realistic scenario for the unification of a family that had never really been together and the repairing of a lost romantic relationship. I struggled a little bit though. There were two key items for me: 1) The shear size of the secondary cast, mainly made up of Jax's extended family. This book indicates it is the beginning of a series/set, but from the repeated couple references it seems that the Lund family has been featured extensively in previous books. Managing such a large cast and the complicated relationships is a bit distracting. It also appears that a least a portion of Jax's backstory has been built in prior books and it left me with a feeling of being a bit lost sometimes. 2) Jax's final little bombshell of what led him to make his life changing decision. While it was trans formative for him, it felt a little over the top in terms of the already complicated relationship between Jax and Lucy.
I enjoyed I Want You Back and am curious about Ms James back list to learn more about the Lund family, but I would offer caution to someone in my shoes who has not read her work extensively before jumping into this one.
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