Review: Pucked Up by Helena Hunting (Pucked #2)
I don't want to be doomed to a life of bunnies and no substance. They're not what I want. I want someone consistent. But caring that much about someone gives them a lot of power, and that makes me nervous. Power hurts people Then I admit the thing that's been gnawing at me ever since I went to visit Sunny in Guelph and we finally sealed the deal: "I think I might have fallen in love with her."
Puck a Buck! (Okay, if you didn't get that, it was a play on the whole "fuck a duck" thing. Just go with it because it sounded cute to me.) How could I resist a love story that had a well-known purveyor of all things puck bunny that's trying to reform his manwhore ways for the girl that's stolen his heart? He was Buck in Pucked but after finishing Pucked Up, I can only think of him as Miller, and Miller Butterson has a whole lot more going for him than what he keeps tucked in his protective cup (which, he points out, needs airing out on a daily basis...the stuff in his cup, not just his cup). Helena Hunting brings a bit more angst and drama in what seems like the very pucked up love story of Miller and Sunshine "Sunny" Waters, younger sister of Alex Waters, Miller's teammate and his stepsister's fiancé. However, the humor is still as present as ever, and while the laugh out loud moments were not as plentiful as those in the first book in the Pucked series, this still had me giggling and laughing enough times to make this sequel a gem of a read.
Miller and Sunny meet in book one, and their story picks up about three months after that initial meeting. Sunny isn't like any of the other women Miller has slept with, and the stuff he does and doesn't do with her prove to be rather surprising, but then they all highlight how he sees her differently. Wanting to be with Sunny inspires Miller to make certain changes in his life, all good changes, of course, but their relationship is made difficult by the fact that she lives in Canada because she's still finishing her studies while Miller is based in Chicago because he plays for the Blackhawks. Add to that Miller's reputation and his past encounters with women and how the public seems to misconstrue every move he makes when there's a woman around. Her brother and best friend don't think he's worthy of her, and she's got an ex-boyfriend who wants her to be his again, leaving Sunny feeling torn and confused as to what to do with her relationship with Miller. Will she stand by his side or will she give up when life starts to get all pucked up?
Unlike the book that came before it (and the one that follows it), Pucked Up is only told from the perspective of one main character, but I won't complain that it was Miller's. Was he a manwhore in book one? Yes, he was, and he never denies that he was one, but, like I said, there's more to him than meets the eye. There's something he initiates and runs with here that had me going "Aww!" because it was swoon-worthy in a totally non-romantic way. Sunny's hesitance and floundering when faced with the challenges of being with someone like Miller was understandable, both because of her age (she's only twenty) and because it's not as if Miller's reputation wasn't based on fact. I liked how Miller and Sunny's relationship matured and evolved, but I also liked seeing how Miller and Violet were when they weren't all snarky and in-your-face with the insults. Those two are very protective of one another, but call one another on their BS and general puckery. That's two for two so far in the Pucked series, and Pucked Up gets five-plus stars. ♥
Date Read: 07 February 2016
Learn more about Helena Hunting.
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