Review: So Over You by Kate Meader (Chicago Rebels #2)


Note: This ARC was provided by Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest review.

Skating with her turned him on. Isobel had always excited him, but watching her talent as she danced rings around him, the balletic ice moves of a master—this made him feel alive. And with that life, that zest spiking his blood, he knew he was back to where he had started. 
In love with Isobel Chase. 
Had he ever not been in love with her? He could barely remember a time he did not want her. Did not need her. Did not adore her with every part of his body and soul.

I am so into Kate Meader's second full-length novel, and the third overall release, in her hockey romance series, Chicago Rebels, which is about a fictional professional hockey team that's in the midst of transition after the death of the previous owner and his bequeathing the NHL team to his three daughters, each of whom has a different mother. Continuing ownership of the Rebels comes with certain stipulations, two of the most important being that the previously estranged sisters live and work together and that the team make it to the playoffs. Both are easier said than done, but it makes for some pretty riveting and romantic reading, especially if you're a fan of sports romances in particular or simply romance in general. I've read a couple of Meader's other series before, but I dare say that this one is my favorite (so far). I have a thing for hockey romances, which is ironic considering I've never seen a hockey match in its entirety and most of my knowledge of the sport is courtesy of The Mighty Ducks movie series and books under the genre. I digress, so back to my review!

So Over You is about middle sister Isobel Chase and pro hockey player Vadim Petrov. She was eighteen and he a year older when they first met. She had a crush on him, his feelings went a bit deeper. When her father found them together, he takes matters into his own hands and changes the direction of Vadim's promising career in the National Hockey League (NHL) in order to protect his daughter's blossoming own future as a hockey player. Back to Russia and the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) Vadim went and on to training and later the National Women's Hockey League for the girl who became his Bella. It was an injury that ended Isobel's playing career, and it's an injury that has her beginning her coaching and consulting sting with her family's team, bringing her back into the life of the team's newly traded left winger, Vadim. Soon, they're crossing the line between professional and personal. Hockey has always come first for her, but can she make room for Vadim—for them? And when an opportunity to make an old dream come true, what will it mean for her, Vadim, and her sisters?

Vadim Petrov is the czar of hockey romances. The guy was just...gah! There was so much more to him than his moniker of "czar of pleasure". He was a loving brother to the sister whose existence he didn't know about until after his father's passing. He was a talented hockey player who put the team ahead of himself and his principles before his playing time. And when it came to his Bella? Goodness but the man knew what—who—he wanted and he was like a guy with a chance at a breakaway. However, loving someone like Isobel Chase meant obstacles. From having been raised to always put hockey ahead of anything and anyone else to her belief that hockey players were an unfaithful bunch of men, there was nothing easy about becoming involved with Isobel, but Vad was more than up to the challenge, and challenge him she did. These two pushed each other, and mostly, it was in order for them to move beyond their own hang-ups and set limitations. She did that for him with his knee injury and his estranged mother, and he did that for her with her dream of winning Olympic gold.

My heart broke for Vad when it was clear that he had always been willing to put her first in his life while she had her preset dreams, all of which involved hockey. The fact that her father still had such a hold on her even though he was already gone irked me, but I totally got it. We are who we are because of those whose influences are greatest on us, and that's what Clifford Chase was to his "winningest" daughter. Now, did I approve of everything that Vad did in this book? Nope. He may have have crossed the line one time and one time only—well, at least as far as I saw it—but it was a doozy, what with me being an advocate of letting people make their own decisions. I got why he did it though, and it was a romantic gesture, in all its alpha maleness. Isobel had to recognize and realize exactly how much this man loved her and was willing to do for her. Thank goodness she got a little help from her sisters because the girl certainly could be rather bullheaded. But I loved these two and how they got their respective and cumulative acts together made for a fab romance.

Now, as far as the series arc regarding what happens to the team and the sisters' ownership of it, well, let's just say things are about to get even more interesting on that front. Things appear to be moving in the right direction, but nothing comes easily for the Chicago Rebels. One revelation in particular had me all excited, and if you know me and the books that I love to read most, you'll know why I'm super excited about the next one to come in the series. The next two couples are pretty clear-cut if you pick up on who's into who here in the third book. One of my most favorite things about this series is how it doesn't skimp on the hockey aspect and that it's as much about family as it is about the romance the sisters and players find. As always, Kate Meader proves that she knows a thing or two (times ten) when it comes to writing a love story that it's every bit as swoony as it promises to be. I look forward to every release that this series has had so far, and after reading the blurbs for the two to come, I'm even more excited. So Over You is so totally worth five-plus stars. ♥


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Read my reviews for the Chicago Rebels series:


In Skates Trouble (prequel novella) - five stars - My Review

Irresistible You (book one) - five stars - My Review

So Over You (book two) - five-plus stars - My Review (posted above)

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Date Read: 04 December 2017

Learn more about Kate Meader.

Purchase So Over You on Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo.

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