Taking Charge
Mandy Baggot

Is going back Robyn’s only way forward?

American-born Robyn Matthers is going home. With her dad in hospital, his roadhouse in ruins and the ice hockey team slipping down the league, she needs to take charge. But does she have the strength to do it?

Cole Ryan is a hockey player on a personal mission. He’s tall, dark, hot and Robyn’s noticed! But can she trust her feelings – or his? And what will Cole do when he finds out the truth about her?

With an ill father, a trailer trash step-mom and ex-boyfriend Brad desperate for another chance, does Robyn have time to contemplate a relationship? Can she start again? Does she really want to? And can two people really fall in love in three days?

Shy retiring heroines waiting around for the guy to call? Definitely not in this book.

Robyn Matthers might be the most courageous and confident romantic heroine I have ever come across. From her introduction to our hero Cole Ryan at an airport – when she saunters up to him, kissing him firmly on the lips – she is hardly the quiet type. But then again, this novel is entitled Taking Charge.

And taking charge she does. From trying to nurse her ill father back to health, to seeking out the flailing roadhouse and trying to get business booming again, to taking the reigns of an ice-hockey team to try to lead them to victory, this heroine doesn’t do things by halves.

Indeed, within hours she has managed to link up with airport hero Cole and has moved into his gorgeous mansion before we can say ‘shower scene’.  And then there might even be a proposal of sorts before we can say ‘chapter five’.  The lead-up in this novel seems not to be about the romance between Cole and Robyn – instead the story revolves around the success of the ice hockey team and a certain ex-boyfriend of Robyn’s named Brad, who turns out to be more jealous and annoying than she bargained for.

Added to that is a big dark secret lurking over her that Cole manages to take in his stride.  The book is packed with Robyn’s busy and eventful trip, and life unfolds in a totally unexpected way for her.  Yet again, Baggot pulls an interesting twist out of the bag – a characteristic of her novels.

For women who prefer their female heroines with a bit of get up and go, this is the book for you!

Rating: ★★★★★