Body Check

"Body Check" by Deirdre Martin is the first book which chronicles the adventures of Janna MacNeil and her best friend, Theresa Falconetti, as they meet the men in their lives who play hockey for the New York Blades. The books are both very light and romantic, but quite well-written. When I stayed up reading this book, I thought it was a fluke - but I found that I couldn't put "Fair Play" down either! I thought that the characters were well-defined and quite realistic. There is a lot of anomosity between Ty Gallagher, captain of the Blades, and Janna throughout much of the book and it would have been utterly unrealistic for it to be anything else. Ty is a sports legend, who is handsome and charismatic. Beautiful women throw themselves at him at every opportunity. He doesn't want his life complicated by any serious involvement and that singleness of purpose has made him the great athlete he is. Likewise, Janna has just landed the PR dream job of the century where she is making more money than she ever thought possible. She has a job to do and that is to get the players involved in community events that bring good publicity to the team while effectively handling "damage control" for their frequent lapses in judgment while off the rink. Ty does not like to play the "PR Game" so there IS a lot of conflict initially. The language by today's standards was not inappropriate at all. In fact, if anything it was really toned down as, let's face it, hockey players are well-known for their "colorful" language! "Total Rush" is to be Deirdre Martin's next book and I will definitely be reading it!

Deidre Martin's first novel is a gem. As a sports fan, it was fun to have the interweaving of the world of hockey in a romantic comedy. Here's the breakdown:PR miracle worker, Janna MacNeil, faces her biggest challenge. Clean up the image of the Stanley Cup winning New York Blades to the satisfaction of their new (family oriented) owner. (Think Disney owning the Ducks here). To accomplish this feat, she needs to get them seen doing charity work and staying out of trouble. In order to accomplish this, she needs the backing of the Blade's captain, Ty Gallagher. Ty is a man on a mission...to win another Stanley Cup. He thinks that the owners only deserve his time on the ice. He is the leader and it is his task to make sure the player's heads are all focused on the same prize. When Janna approaches Ty, he flat-out refuses. In his mind, PR is a distraction and not something he wants to be told what to do. If he feels like helping, he'll do it on his own without media around. Needless to say, sparks fly between Ty and Janna as they try to work together for the common good of the team.The story makes you feel like you are part of the team for the entire season. You meet the different players, the team's staff and the families. The main subplot involves Janna's roommate, Theresa and is the topic for Ms. Martin's second book. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait to see if the next one holds up to the same standard.

I originally bought "Body Check" by Deirdre Martin to take to the beach with me and read, however, I don't leave for another week, and already, I've read it twice.This book is AWESOME. I am a huge hockey fan (Go Pittsburgh Penguins!), and having met some hockey players before, I can honestly say that Ms. Martin really portrayed the hockey players well. I love the character of Janna...a strong and independent woman, just as I see myself as. This book was relatively short, and very much worth the time it took to read it. I am left hungering for the sequel, "Fair Play"...it is unbelieveable that this is Ms. Martin's first book. I will be anxiously awaiting future novels from her!

Body Check is wonderful. The fact that it is the first book by Deirdre Martin means that this woman is someone to watch. I can't wait for the follow-up Fair Play. This book should be deconstructed by every wannabe writer as a lesson in how to do everything right the first time out. Ms. Martin's writing is everything good chocolate should be: rich, smooth, satisfying, and full of nuance. Her characters are everything a human should strive to be: multi-layered, believable, and flawed. Her story line is everything a romance should be: predictable enough to keep the reader happy, dynamic and clever enough to keep the reader guessing, and hot, hot, hot. Her love scenes had me twitching with keystroke envy. This book actually nudged me - an avowed sports-phobe - to watch ten minutes of a hockey game last night. THAT'S an effect. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Buy it. Read it. Keep it. Read it again.

I couldn't put this book down. Deirdre Martin is one of the funniest, freshest voices to hit romance in a long time. Janna and Ty's relationship develops in a totally believable manner. But what I really liked was that the characters humanity was in the story from the very beginning, making them both likable--and making me care about the growth of their relationship. I can't wait for Martin's next book!