Breakaway (Corrigan Falls Raiders #4) - Cate Cameron

Title: Breakaway (Corrigan Falls Raiders #4)
Author: Cate Cameron
Rating: 2.5/5

Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC for letting me receive a digital copy of this book before its official release date.

Eighteen-year-old NHL player Logan Balanchuk came to Corrigan Falls to distract himself from his career-ending injury. He doesn’t want to even hear the word “hockey,” so when he meets Dawn, a beautiful, free-spirited girl who goes skinny-dipping instead of watching the draft, he’s intrigued. Neither of them is looking for anything serious, anyway.

Dawn is happy to be a distraction, happy to have an adventurous summer romance with the dashing guy from the big city. She’s busy working three jobs and counting the days until she can move away from her tiny, hockey-obsessed town. Plus, she’s already done her time as a hockey player’s girlfriend—now she wants to live her own life and have her own adventures. But as things heat up with Logan, she realizes they aren’t as no-strings-attached as she thought…

This is one of the books that I'd rather not write a review about. While the writing was good, there was still something about it that I didn't like as much as the other novel I've read written by the author ("Playing Defense"). Probably the annoying female main character. Her description didn't fit her I-wanna-control-everything state that magically appeared right around the middle of the book. I was so confused, because I thought Dawn was this confident girl that knew her place and then she wasn't that girl anymore, wanting to be in control all the time, coming up with annoying questions and excuses to be a coward. Not my thing at all.

And Logan was too much of a softie to quit charming her. Of course, he's another one of these swoon-worthy book boyfriends, yet I wish he wasn't, because he was way too good for Dawn. He was so good for her and she just wouldn't see it, living in a bubble of negativity while excusing that with wanting to be free. Excuse me, young lady, you're working your ass off to go to college, so you're so lucky to have a cute boyfriend like Logan who'd do anything for you. To me, it seemed like she wanted to keep her options open. Not mainly the boyfriend part, but everything else. Like, a hippie soul without being a hippie. I didn't understand her motives in the least. She didn't want to be a hockery player's girlfriend. Well, I think she was basically the only one that would have thought of herself that way.

I'm not exactly a fan of ice hockey since it's not a popular sport in my country, so I was glad to find the author keeping it as simple with the professional sports language as possible. Still, I liked seeing glimpses of Logan's carreer that made the reader dive into the ice hockey world without experiencing it first hand.

To be honest, I think Dawn and Logan kicked off a bit too soon. I can see why they did, the story was build on their chemistry and all that, but still... It was like so many things suddenly happened at once and there wasn't enough time to include it, so it had to happen at the exact same time, having the reader confused at times. Or maybe it was just Logan's life that was a bit too much to handle. Broken knee, new job, new girlfriend and then the news he never expected. Meanwhile, there isn't much action for Dawn except the three jobs she's struggling with. I kind of missed a story for her, but then again her problems of wanting to be herself without depending on anyone was her own story.

So, the story had potential, definitely, yes. And I liked the writing as well. It was the speed, Dawn and perhaps a few too many details that have my opinion being not the best. If you've already started reading this ice hockey series, you should read this one as well. If you're a fan of sports novels, you shouldn't miss this one either.