Review of Kate Meader’s GOOD GUY.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from the author but all opinions provided are my own.
 
I love it when the male lead is secretly devoted to the female from the beginning of the story—it makes a nice counterpart to all of the female-driven unrequited love stories (including my own awkwardly-sweet & fiercely-held crushes over the years). And while Levi Hunt of Kate Meader’s Good Guy would never admit to having had feelings for his best friend’s widow since the moment he first saw her, it’s the truth.
 
It’s also what makes his feelings for her now so complicated.
 
Good Guy feels like a return to the Kate Meader that I know and adore. Less angsty than her two most recent releases but still plenty of substance. Levi and Jordan Cooke, the heroine, face hard-hitting dilemmas but the book is tempered by fantastic humor, banter, and chemistry.
 
Also hockey drama and the return of Meader’s sensational characters from previous Chicago series. *Hey, Luke and Remy! Hey!*
 
Levi’s the newest-oldest-rookie on the Chicago Rebels hockey team. Sports media outlets want to know all about the former Green Beret, & Levi doesn’t want to spill the deets. But he finds it hard to resist Jordan, who’s trying to make her journalistic mark in the Chicago hockey market. Her (temporary) boss has made her a proposition: use her connection to Levi to get the scoop on him & get ahead in her career.
 
It’s not as callous as it might sound. Levi doesn’t exactly wear his emotions on his sleeve so Jordan has no idea about his feelings for her, and don’t we all use our connections to network for jobs/social lives/etc? But still that conflict between caring about Levi—even when it’s reluctantly—and doing her job saturates Good Guy and makes for some intriguingly uncomfortable questions/moments. (There was at least one moment where Jordan’s reporter instincts had me feeling like maybe she wasn’t being the most sensitive, but I kind of like that, now).
 
Also raising the stakes? The fact that Jordan is a woman and in a profession where women are regularly discriminated against and judged in ways that men are not. I loved seeing Meader tackle this topic and show how even the most well-meaning of men can get it twisted sometimes.
 
Good Guy has a lot to offer its readers, but maybe the best thing about the book is Levi himself. He’s known for keeping his emotions contained & that makes it all the sweeter when we get to read what he’s thinking & see how he softens toward Jordan, the irrepressible redhead he’s crushed on for years. He’s lovely and deserves all of the HEAs.

Q: I've never been to a hockey game and I've been to an ice skating rink maybe 5-6 times?, but I like a good hockey romance novel. Are there are any sports you love to read about?