Book Review: Cross-Checked by Julia Connors

Official synopsis: Some people might call it a grudge, but in reality, hating Alessandra Jones is more like an obsession.

AJ is the league’s first female general manager, and my boss. As the team captain, I have to play nice with her—in public, at least.

But in private, the gloves come off. And then one time, our clothes do too.

We vow it won’t happen again.

Not only can we not stand each other, but we’re in tense negotiations over my contract right now, and AJ is up for the league’s GM of the Year award. Getting involved wouldn’t just be a PR nightmare—it would be unethical.

It doesn’t help that we have a history, or that she and my daughter adore each other. When AJ is injured protecting my baby, there’s no choice but to move her into my place.

Taking care of someone I hate shouldn’t feel so right. Getting to know her better shouldn’t break down my defenses. She’s hurt me once before, and I’d be a fool to trust her again.

But the more time we spend together, the more I realize that maybe I’m not obsessed with hating her . . . maybe I’m just obsessed with her.

Any follower of this blog knows I'm a sucker for a hockey romance or sports romance and this one was no exception. I really enjoyed how the characters changed throughout the story and their relationship came together as they started to be honest with each other. Now, this one does have an age gap (the FMC is older than the MMC) and she is the general manager of the team, while he is a player, which are two 'tropes' I'm not always the biggest fan of but did find them pretty well done with within this book. The age gap didn't feel that big, and honestly I probably couldn't tell you what their ages were. I'm assuming she was in her 30s and he was late 20s, but I'm not confident.

Ronan McCabe is also a single dad, having had someone just drop the baby off at his doorstep and leaving. I did enjoy that the former GF/hookup did not become a problem within the story, as both Ronan and AJ had enough going on to begin with. Abby is a cute part of the story and I feel like we got to watch the baby grow up. This book definitely also has some shitty family dynamics, with both of their parents kind of being horrible, and AJ having gone through a pretty bad divorce. That being said, I would check the triggers on this one, nothing is too awful, but just make sure its safe for you.

The writing of the story was fine, not horrible while also not being the most moving, and it is the third in an interconnected series and the only book of the series I've read. I enjoyed the hockey, the dynamic between the characters and how the people around them supported them through their journey. The spicy scenes are definitely spicy, so definitely an adult book. None of the scenes are anything too crazy, at least to me, but do make sure you know that once they go for it, they really do go for it haha.

For a hockey romance, I did find the story itself a little unique, as both characters had something to lose within the team as a whole. Plus I do love that AJ was a general manager, which hasn't happened before. I do wish we got more scenes with AJ and Ronan skating, there was only one, and it is brought up a few times how much AJ loves to skate. The tropes definitely troped, having some enemies to lovers (rivals?) to second chance, forced proximity, age gap and single dad.

I rated this book 3/3.5 out of 5.

Cross-Checked comes out January 31, 2025!

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