Play to Win

Play to Win is the first book to a new hockey series by Kelly Jamieson. The Wynn family is pretty large and almost all of them are involved with the hockey world in some way. The family dynamic is pretty rocky with the Grandfather owning one hockey team and the father of our hero owning another. Family members are suing each other, step parents are accused of gold digging, petty jealousy driving others. The Wynn family will definitely keep things interesting in this series.

This first book focuses on Theo Wynn. He had a very short career as a hockey player until an injury crushed those dreams. His intellect that he was bullied for as a kid will be the key to keep him in the hockey world. Making a risky move, he accepts his grandfather's job proposal to manage his hockey team at the risk of his father's anger. This will be the key to him showing his family what he can really do with that intellect mind of his.

The night before Theo leaves Las Vegas, he rescues the waitress at the club. Lacey is being harassed by some thugs after her for her brothers gambling debt. There is just something about Lacey that has him doing things he never would, like marrying her and taking her with him to California to prove to his family that he doesn't care that his brother stole his girlfriend.

What starts out as a fake marriage soon turns into more but Theo and Lacey are both pretty jaded about life. They struggle with trying to fight their attraction and keeping things platonic. They both are starting new lives and think they can only depend on themselves. This book is seeing that struggle and how they overcome all the past hurt and take the risks to their heart to find happiness in each other.

You meet so many of the Wynn family and I"m already invested in seeing them set aside the anger and hurt. Lacey was one step in that direction. She brought a couple of these family members closer together. I look forward to more of their story in the upcoming series.

Theo Wynn’s family is well known in the NHL hockey world. When a blow to the face damages his eyesight, he’s forced to retire from a game that means everything to him. Luckily, he’s extremely intelligent and good with numbers. When his grandfather offers him the job as GM for the Los Angeles Condors, he jumps at the chance to prove himself. His family dynamics are interesting, to say the least. Theo’s not sure if the job offer is a testament to his abilities or his grandfather’s way to get back at his father. Nevertheless, he accepts. Only, he doesn’t want to return home without a “girlfriend”.

Lacey is doing her best at just getting by. Although Lacey has a twin brother, she often finds herself alone. Struggling. Losing her mom to cancer has only made life lonelier. While serving drinks one evening, she is “hit on” by some loan sharks. Her brother thought she’d gladly pay off his debts! Instead, Theo comes to the rescue. After a wild night of drinking and touring Vegas, they decide to a quickie marriage of convenience. But soon, convenience becomes so much more...

This novel is that and so much more! Theo’s family is so dysfunctional it’s hilarious! Theo is OCD, while Lacey is carefree and loving life. I saw sooo much of myself in Theo while wishing I could be a little more like Lacey! Her ability to see through and into Theo’s heart was stunning. She’s had such a hard life that the hopes of something more was too hard for her to grasp, so she runs. And I loved the penguin x2! Symbolism at its best! Loved it and I can’t wait to read more of this series. I read a gifted copy and all opinions stated are my own.

When I first read about the new 'Wynn' series I was kind of bummed because I loved the idea behind the 'Ace Hockey' Series and getting to know most of the team through each book. However, I was absolutely selling this short. This hockey dynasty family is everything I've been looking for in a book! I cant wait to see how many of them will get a book/how their story will turn out. (Just reading the summaries that are released I can already say I am beyond impatient for July 23rd or October 1st to come!). This book makes me so excited to read about all this families crazy.. OK! So lets get to Play to Win!

I absolutely love Théo's character and his background in the book. The fact that he is immediately mistaken for a super hot accountant makes me so happy. The hunky hockey nerd that likes to run through all the pros and cons decides to be a tad bit wild for the night and ends up doing things he would never in a million years do because of a beautiful waitress he decides to rescue. Lacey is an amazing personality that balances him out and makes him want to let go and have fun. Throughout the book you can see she cares for him and tries to help him.

The scene at the end of Chapter 21 was absolutely surprising. Followed up with Theo's point of view. I have to applaud you Kelly on that one! This is something that many people might shy away from or be uncomfortable with but I loved it! Also love the segue into the second book In It To Win It in the epilogue. JP seems like a lost child and I know I'm going to love him (not as much as Théo, but I will try).

This is definitely an insta(ish)-love story, as they fall for each other in about two months. But it really works for me. Which never happens. The amount of detail and the chemistry that is written between Lacey and Théo is there from the very beginning not just the attraction they feel towards each other.