Review: Stay by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy

Stay by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

Series: WAGs #2

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Sports Romance

Release Date: June 20, 2017

Format: Kindle

Source: Purchased

Find it here: GoodReads | Amazon

Hailey Taylor Emery has a hunch that her favorite client at Fetch--an anonymous virtual assistant service--is actually hockey star Matt Eriksson.

Although it's against the rules for her to check his file, she's 95% sure she spends at least part of each day texting with her lifelong crush and catering to his every need. Still nursing a wounded heart thanks to her recent breakup, Hailey is perfectly content with some harmless online flirting...until she has to meet her client. Face to face. Cue: utter panic.

Matt Eriksson is no stranger to heartbreak. He's still not over the destruction of his marriage, and it sucks to be the only guy on the team who knows the truth--that hockey and long-term relationships are a toxic mix. He barely sees his kids, and dealing with his ex makes him feel insane. The only person in his life who seems to understand is someone who won't show her pretty face.

But it's nothing that a pair of fourth row hockey seats can't fix. Hailey can't resist the offer. Matt can't resist Hailey. Good thing he doesn't have to. Fire up the kiss cam!

The more I read from writing duo Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy the more I am convinced that some kind of magic happens when these two women come together. Super sexy hockey players + the women (or men) who love them + laugh out loud humor + smokin’ hot sexytimes + low drama = a winning combination that keeps me coming back for more.

Hailey’s confidence took a real nosedive post-divorce and she’s a basket of nerves when she realizes one of her top clients is actually hockey star Matt Ericksson. Meeting her crush face to face is exciting but also intimidating for the rabid hockey fan. Matt is still smarting from his divorce and his ex’s claims that his lifestyle made him a failure as a husband. The only bright spot for the single dad are his four year old twin daughters. But there’s a new bright spot in his life – the gorgeous, but skittish, owner of Fetch, the virtual assistant app he uses. He knows he can’t commit to another relationship, his career torpedoed his marriage after all, but the more he spends time with Hailey the more tempted he is.  

“The best things in life are the ones you don’t expect.”

Matt was completely endearing. His obvious love for his daughters made my heart melt and the venom that his ex-wife spewed at him made my heart hurt for him. She was relentless and he was left guilt-ridden over his supposed failure to make his marriage work. I loved watching him slowly bring Hailey into his life but even then he beat himself up over every missed dinner, every delayed flight, and I felt such empathy for him. Hailey was likable enough and her lack of confidence after her divorce was understandable, but her continued brain-addled reactions to Matt felt over the top and carried on too long. Yes, she’d had a crush on Matt and hadn’t dated since her divorce, but still… we’re talking about an almost 30 year old woman, not a star-struck teenage girl.

“She has no idea how much this means to me. 

I’ve spent the last year and change believing myself unfit 

to be anyone’s partner. And maybe it’s true. But by spending

 her day with me – and her night – Hailey lets me believe I’m

 not a lost cause, that my messy life is worth sharing at least

 when I can manage it.”

While Stay wasn’t my favorite among the previous related books (the Him/Us duology and Good Boy, the first WAGs book), that's only because the others are hard to beat. Stay is a solid story of a couple facing realistic challenges: navigating relationships post-divorce, dealing with exes, making time for a relationship despite demanding careers. I loved the inclusion of so many characters that I adore from the previous books (Wesmie! Blake!) and I’m already not-so-patiently waiting for the next book in the WAGs series.

4/5 STARS

Do you enjoy sports romances?