The Penalty Box

What is it about a Deirdre Martin book that I get giddy excited just reading the first sentence of the book? The character of Katie and Paul are classic Deirdre Martin, real- with all their flaws and insecurities.
I was a little astonished at how soon Katie gets over her embarrassment and nervousness around Paul; they end up sleeping together on their second date, the first date she ended up throwing up.
Have I mentioned I love the humor Deirdre Martin writes in her books, because I do, I really do. I laughed myself silly when Katie and Paul are busted having an afternoon sleepover by Katie's mom, really great comedic scenes. The situations she puts her characters into could be taken right out of everyday life and the way they react is so show more normal and real. Well real if every lady had an ex-NHLer drooling after them as is the case in this book.
Oh God, a big thank-you to the character "Snake" for giving one of the best lines I have read in 2009: "Sports ain’t macho unless something dies.” Anyway I like how Martin always pairs hilarious situations with a side storyline which involves a deep emotional real-life problem. In this case Katie's sister is a recovering druggie who is in rehab while her son is staying with their mom and Katie is helping to take care of him. Emotional stuff which somewhat steals the spotlight from the romance storyline of the book, but done so well I didn't really mind.
This book is all about if you can go home again, family dynamics, coming to terms with your past and future, and what you really want out of life. Sometimes the romance aspect of the story takes a backseat, but I didn't mind, well ok I started to mind when the last 30 pages or so had basically no interaction between Katie and Paul. The ending was a bit abrupt and a tad unsatisfactory, give me a little more here Martin! However, I love books which make you feel, think, and question what is important in your own life; this book certainly does all that. The first 90% of the book was really great and even though the last 10% of the book started to drag with its lack of romance, I am still going to make this book a personal keeper. (My love for the NHL absolutely didn't influence this decision at all, really....ok maybe a little)

A- show less

I really wanted to like this fluffy romance book. The set-up is great: a formerly-fat nerdy girl returns to her hometown as a svelte college professor, and she hooks up with the town's former NHL great. I mean, geez. I could relate to the main character, Katie, and her high school experience all too well. I won't go into detail about the plot. It's a romance. Silly things ensue to keep the couple apart. Katie was the aggravating part of the story, though. This romance took the unusual turn of having the guy being the one to first say, "I love you," and want a committed relationship - and Katie wanted to run the other way. And I wanted to slap her upside the head for it.

I think I would have like Katie as a heroine more if more of the show more conflict had been external rather than internal. Instead, she came across as rather silly and dense with her protestations of "We're just friends!"

See, this is why I don't read romances often. I analyze too much, and I get disgusted with stupid characters. Sigh. show less

This book wasn't bad. It was cute at parts and flowed right along. I have on major complaint. The end seemed rather abrupt. It seems as if our characters had various things to overcome, and *poof* the book ended. I felt like I had bother to read this book and was somewhat disappointed.

Enjoyed it! While fairly predictable, the book was fun to read & I always like a happy ending!