Baden by Sawyer Bennett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
After suffering a horrific injury that threatens to end his career, Baden Oulett is about to learn that sometimes a fresh start is just what the doctor ordered.
Baden
I worked my whole life to achieve one goal—play professional hockey. As part of the defending Cup champion Arizona Vengeance, I was living my dream until one split second decision destroyed it all. Instead of lacing up my skates and hitting the ice, I’ve spent my days in rehab and physical therapy just so I could walk again. When a coaching opportunity with the Pittsburgh Titans is presented to me, I find myself with a career I had never considered but which allows me to continue being part of the sport that I love.
While my injuries are physical, the same can’t be said for the woman I rescued. Suffering from wounds that can’t be seen, Sophie Winters has withdrawn from the world in fear and guilt. I didn’t know Sophie before that fateful night and have only met her once since, but I refuse to let her face her demons alone. Determined to be a friend, I support Sophie in the only way I know how… by simply being there.
Through our shared trauma, Sophie and I begin to find peace within one another. As we grow closer, what started as friendship becomes more intimate until our broken pieces become one. But can a love born of anguish endure, or will the pain of our past prove too much to overcome?
Hockey romance with a serious side!
The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💚🖤❤️💜🩵
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏
Character development: 😭☺️😊🙃
Narrator(s): 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration type: Dual Narration
The Hero: Baden Oulett – he is from Canada, a professional hockey player, for the Arizona Vengeance, where his team is the defending Stanley cup champions. Seven months ago, he saved a woman that was being attacked in a parking lot. The men who were attacking her, instead turned on him and he ended up being paralyzed from the waist down. He spent the last seven months recovering and working hard to walk again. He is still not back to where he was but is now able to walk and live a normal life.
The heroine: Sophie Winters – she is the woman Baden saved in that Phoenix parking lot. She lives in Pennsylvania and suffers from anxiety and PTSD. Sophie was recently fired from her job for not being able to return to her previous duties which included constant travel. She rarely leaves her house except to visit her sister or parents, in nearby suburbs of Pittsburgh.
The story: When nearly the entire team of the Pittsburgh Titans gets killed in a tragic plane crash, the owner has to rebuild the team from the ground up. Most of the players were brought up from the minors, with a few retired players returning. Baden is hired as the new goalie coach for the Titans. His best friend had been one of the players that died in the crash. Not long after arriving in Pittsburgh, Baden goes to visit Sophie, and he is determined to help her get out in the world more than she has in the past months.
When Baden and Sophie meet for lunch, he asks her to help him find a new place to live since he hates living out of hotels. He tells her he does that enough during the season when they go to away games. She readily agrees, but also offers him her spare bedroom while he searches for a place. She says it is just sitting empty and that she is a great cook as well. Baden takes her up on her offer and moves in with her soon after.
There were some great storylines in this book, from Sophie’s PTSD to Baden’s new job as a goalie coach, trying to talk a player into coming on board with the Titans, who was kicked out of the league after his ex-wife turned to the press with a bunch of baseless allegations against him. The player now has full custody of his kids, and his ex is a drug user whose allegations have been proven untrue.
“An evil, violent act introduced us.
Fate brought us back together again.
Healing wounds bonded us.
And sex sealed it all.
She’s simply mine. And I am hers.”
This audiobook was narrated in dual points of view via dual narration. It was narrated by Aiden Snow and Lessa Lamb. These are two terrific narrators. Aiden Snow has a deep but soft voice that I just love and he always does a fantastic job. Lessa Lamb also has a great voice and is terrific at sounding anxious which was perfect for Sophia. I really liked the narration on this one!
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