Diary of a bookworm

Carolina Reapers #1 – Axel & Langley

Content Notes:

Published/Pages: 2019/241

POV: Dual – Hero & Heroine

Trope: Fake Relationship, Forced Proximity, Workplace Romance, Friends to Lovers

HEA: Yes

Steam Level: Extra Steamy

Swearing: Adult

My Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Book Description: The NHL’s been at my door since I was 18. But I’d never leave the Swedish Hockey League— Not while raising my little brother. But now he’s grown and the Carolina Reapers show up with my greatest weakness: Langley Pierce, their new head of PR. I’ve never been able to say no to her. She’s fierce, independent, and the sexiest woman I’ve ever met. She also has a stubborn streak wider than my entire country. One comment from her smart mouth about never dating again, and I propose. No, really, I actually propose: A six-month marriage contract in exchange for signing with the Reapers. I want to date this woman so badly that I’m going to marry her first. I’ll use each day to show her how a queen should be treated. Our wedding day started a countdown I’m powerless to stop, And the faster the months fly, the harder I fall. She’s sworn she’ll never choose a man over her career, And I promised never to ask her to. Until I’m forced to. How can we move forward when we started this whole thing backwards? If I can’t convince her this marriage is anything but fake— The next document we sign will crush us both.

My Goodreads Review (No Spoilers)

My Review (w/spoilers):

“A Sottish man and two Swedes walk into a bar…”
This was the second book I read in this series. Ironically, I read the last book– Maxim, first. I’m a sucker for a sibling’s best friend trope. But it hooked me and made me start from the beginning with Axel.

This book is the first book in the Carolina Reapers series. It follows Mrs. Whiskey’s Seattle Sharks series. In the 8th book of the Sharks series – Wheeler, Axel and Langley are first introduced as friends. Langley had just broken up with her fiancé and gone to Sweden with Lukas and Faith and met Axel. He knows right from the beginning that she’s the love of his life. “min enda kärlek” *SWOON* I love that most of the time it’s the man that knows when they’ve found THE woman, long before the woman catches on. Haha

Langley is, to put it bluntly, a boss bitch who cries over hallmark movies. After her shitty relationship with her mom, who chose men over her, and her shitty fiancé who made her choose him or work, it’s no wonder she believes that “Lonely is better than heartbroken.” This mindset is exactly why Axel knew that he had to make the deal of marriage, so he could date her. Obviously not realistic, but still super cute.  

“That woman needed someone to put her first. to show her that it was possible to have a career she loved and a man she loved just as much.”-Axel

I LOVE Lukas’ and Axel’s relationship. They grew up with each other in Sweden and did everything together. I was smiling so much, reading their first interaction in Reaper Village – “We’ll dig a tunnel between the houses. With secret doors.” So cute!

I loved that Langley called Axel her Viking man. I’d like to think of him as a Viking teddy bear. When she comes home drunk and tries to get her husband to have sex with her after 7 weeks of nothing. But he stands strong, saying a bunch of romantic crap. He wants her to want him the same way he wants her before they have sex for the first time. I can appreciate and respect that.

There were a lot of reviews that mentioned Langley made shit choices and Axel deserved better. But from the beginning of the book, Langley herself explains that she’s a workaholic with control freak issues, can’t remember the last time she had fun, and has trust issues. I think with the help of Axel and her best friend Faith, she really starts to understand that she can have love and be in a healthy loving relationship.

Okay, when they first had sex and they broke the bed!! Dead. Haha Langley’s response was hilarious; “she cupped my face in her hands. “I’ve been giving a lot of thought to what you said about our bed being a little flimsy, and I think that if you really want to buy a new bed, I could support the decision.” She nodded.” So funny.

“My friend. then my husband. then my… everything.” -Langley

Reading about all the side characters and teammates made me so excited for the rest of the books. Watching the relationships develop between certain players, and the meeting of future couples was really cool. Mrs. Whiskey does a really good job at creating a small world within this hockey world. Axel’s relationship with his little brother was absolutely precious. I cried a bit when Axel went to see him in the hospital and his brother said;
“You’ve given up too much for me,” he muttered. I immediately stood to hover over home. “I exist because of you. I didn’t shrivel up and die with Mom and Dad because of you. I have a family alive because of you. Any perceived sacrifice is nothing compared to those four facts. So don’t ever say that bullshit again.” Yeah, that got me a little misty eyed. 

I loved that the two cats were named Hufflepuff and Slytherin. We knew the name before we saw the cat (Slytherin), which is black, and I kept thinking, please be a black cat! And it was. It’s the little things.. haha
Altogether, I really enjoyed this story and this world Mrs. Whiskey has created. The epilogue may not be what we all wanted, but I understand why Mrs. Whiskey wrote it the way she did. She was setting it up for the rest of the novels, and I can’t wait.

Other Character’s Mentioned:

Lukas Vesterguard & Faith Gentry – Wheeler (Seattle Sharks #8)
Lukas and Faith are best friends to Axel and Langley and neighbors. They are mentioned the most. Axel & Langley are also mentioned for the first time in Lukas’ story Wheeler.

Nathan Noble & Harper Thompson – Defender (Seattle Sharks #9)
Both are mentioned, but Harper more, as she is best friends with Langley.

Gage McPherson & Bailey – Grinder (Seattle Sharks #1)
Gage is the only one mentioned in this book because he is now the head coach to the Reapers. He use to play for the Sharks.

Sawyer McCoy & Echo – Sawyer (Carolina Reapers #2)
Sawyer is best friends with Faith, Harper and Langley and brought in as the emergency goalie. These two are not together, they meet each other for the first time here.

Connell MacDhuibh – Connell (Carolina Reapers #3) – The Jokester
Logan Ward – Logan (Carolina Reapers #4) – The Pretty Boy
Cannon Price – Cannon (Carolina Reapers #5) – The Bad Boy
Asher Silas – Asher (Billionaire’s Game Series) – The Owner

This is book 1 out of 10 in the Carolina Reapers Series. It is however, a standalone.