Anton by Brenda Rothert

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Title: Anton
Author: Brenda Rothert
Series: Chicago Blaze #1
Published by: Indie
Release Date: January 29th 2019
Format: eARC
Pages: 194
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Sports Romance
Potential Triggers: View Spoiler »mental, emotional, physical abuse « Hide Spoiler
Source: InkSlinger PR
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2019 Diversity Reading Challenge, Lenoreo's 2019 New Release Challenge, Lenoreo's COYER Winter 2018
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks
My rating:

Blurb:

He’s known as Father Anton to his teammates—the brooding, sexy captain of the NHL’s Chicago Blaze has a reputation for…not having a reputation. Just like his diet and sleep routines, celibacy is part of Anton Petrov’s on-ice mojo. Or so they say. Anton stays mum on the subject. If the world thinks he chooses to abstain from sex, so be it. Better that than the truth getting out: there is a woman he burns for, but he can never have her. She’s his teammate’s wife, after all. Mia Marceau is finally on her own. Now that she and her husband are living apart, she’s finding the peace she was desperate for. She spends her days in classes and late nights bartending, making her own way in the world at last. After what she’s been through, as long as her husband leaves her alone, she doesn’t plan to rock the boat. He still has the power to hurt those dearest to her, and she can’t demand a divorce with such a high cost. A chance encounter with Mia has Anton hoping for a shot he never thought he’d get. And while she’s drawn to the intense, serious hockey center, Mia’s leery about playing with fire. That’s all Anton has ever known for Mia, though—a living, burning desire that won’t be denied—no matter the cost.

My Review:

I received a free copy through InkSlinger PR in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

4 stars — I started this one late at night, and I had a HELL of a time putting it down, I was definitely compelled by the story and characters!  I feel like there were pieces of this story that shined brilliantly, but also some bits that felt somewhat disjointed near the end…  It was still good, I just lost the flow somewhat.

Anton was 99% of the time a sweetheart.  The 1% was honestly just the times where he didn’t understand Mia’s pushbacks/need for independence, but I do get that they had to grow with each other.  I kind of loved when he explained why he was attracted to her, that it was beyond physical attraction (even though they didn’t know each other that well), and I really loved that his fascination with her meant he wasn’t interested in other women.  Most of the time in unrequited love stories I find the one with the feelings tends to avoid commitment with others, but not sex.  Which, I’m sure it’s like that for many people (and there’s nothing wrong with that).  But as I can’t imagine sex with someone when you have feelings for someone else, it was nice to see it represented in book form for once.  The thing that made Anton such a great hero is that he really tried so hard to not push his agenda on Mia.  He didn’t want her to be a cheater either, and he respected that and tried to be a solid friend…which he was.  I kind of felt like we missed a bit in his background with his family back in Russia though…I kept expecting us to get something more there, and we didn’t.  Perhaps in Alexei’s book?

As for Mia, WOW.  I was not expecting her story.  She had so much going on, at times it felt like too much (mostly near the end).  That girl needed to catch a break.  But I suppose that’s what Anton’s love for her was…the universe saying “my bad, here you go, we even right?”  I found the abuse that she underwent from her husband to be disgusting, heart-wrenching, and eye-opening.  I especially loved that through Mia the author tried to showcase the shame that many domestic abuse victims feel, and how it’s hard to accept that they shouldn’t feel ashamed.  I really loved that she was this feisty, strong woman in so many situations, because it shows that it’s not “weak” women who find themselves in abusive relationships, it can be ANYONE.  It’s not black & white.  However, as someone who has not dealt with abuse personally, I can’t say how accurate/helpful this portrayal was…it felt respectful, but what do I know?

I really loved that we got to see Mia and Anton develop a friendship first.  And that while you could feel the undercurrents in their relationship, you could feel how much they cared for one another regardless of attraction.

There were a lot of great secondary characters in this story as well, and each of their relationships with Mia and/or Anton brought something else to the story.  From Anita & Dre, and the struggle of single mothers trying to move up from poverty; to Mia’s grandfather and the devastation that is alzheimer’s; to Uncle Dix, who struggled with strokes, age, and some PTSD probably.  I will admit it was almost too much for one story.  But at the same time I loved each part, and how our characters dealt with life’s blows.

So yeah.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself, but it definitely started stronger than it ended, for me at least.  Definitely looking forward to more though!