Good things come in extra-large, smoking hot birthday suits.

Bad boy Cohen James has screwed up yet again. Star forward of Minnesota’s pro hockey team, Cohen’s made a name for himself—and not in a good way. So, at the insistence of his agent, he’s stuck volunteering at the local YMCA teaching introductory adult swim lessons for ten weeks. Ten weeks of torture.

What he doesn’t expect is her.

Annie Plymouth, star pupil.

Her ruffled green bathing suit might be the most ridiculous thing he’s ever seen, but after a few heated breaststroke lessons and some intense mouth to mouth, Cohen’s ready to get her out of the water and into her birthday suit… except she has a different game plan.

Is the pair destined to sink… or can they swim?

I really enjoyed reading “Birthday Girl”, it was my “first time” with Lily Kate as author and I loved this story so lighthearted, funny and romantic. The plot is simple and the story between Cohen and Annie runs smoothly and fast, without unnecessary dramas, and it’s characterized by dialogues and situations very funny when they’re together. Cohen James is a professional hockey player, a real star, but he isn’t only famous for his talent on the ice, we could say he is also exuberant once he leaves the locker room and his behaviour doesn’t go unnoticed with media and doesn’t make him the trainer’s pupil or the most beloved guy within the team. In order to clean up his reputation, he agrees to volunteer as a swimming instructor for adults and children. There he meets Annie, future lawyer, signed by her mother at the swimming course. Annie is terrified by water, but having to attend as bridesmaid to her mother’s second wedding, on a boat, she is forced to face her fear. Knowing her reticence in the matter, she is almost get escorted by mother and granny to the pool to attend, and for protest she wears one of the most horrible swimsuit in the history of swimming. When she sees Cohen for the first time near the water, she almost(I say almost) forgets for two seconds all her fears. At the same time when Cohen sees her, unlike any other man breathing on the earth, he realizes Annie is special and he’d like to forget all his good intentions and take her away. Annie, however, isn’t really like his usual fans, who throw themselves at his feet. For years she suffered because of her father’s indifference, a man unable to make her feel loved and cherished, so she built a wall around her heart to protect herself. I liked a lot them together. Cohen must struggle to win Annie’s heart and I must say he was perfect with the task, knowing always the right thing to do, sometimes teasing her, sometimes leaving her room when she needed it. The chemistry between them is great and reading the story through both of their POV was even more engaging. Everything about Annie and Cohen is very, very romantic and sex scenes between them are hot, but without being vulgar or too explicit. Another strenght of this book is Annie’s family, her mother and above all her gran, who is really extravagant and fun. This is the third book in the Minnesota Ice series, but it can be read as standalone, although after reading the blurbs of the previous books and having loved so much the writing of this author, I must say, now I can’t wait to read also Minnesota Ice #1 and #2!!! Last thing: I really need to see Annie’s swimsuits, I want a Cohen for myself 🙂

USA TODAY bestselling author Lily Kate works a pretttttty boring day job and writes books filled with heat, heart, and humor by night. Her debut novel, Delivery Girl, landed instantly on the USA TODAY list, thanks to all of her fabulous readers! 🙂

When she’s not writing books, you may find her watching Christmas movies before Thanksgiving, eating whipped cream from the can, or hanging out with her family.

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Le cose belle arrivano grazie a un costume sexy extra-large Cose come Cohen James. Il bad boy Cohen James ha combinato ancora dei casini. Famoso attaccante della squadra professionista di hockey dei Minnesota, Cohen si è fatto un nome  – e non sempre per buoni motivi. Così, sotto le insistenze del suo agente, si è offerto come volontario al locale centro di servizi per la comunità per insegnare ad adulti principianti delle lezioni di nuoto per dieci settimane. Dieci settimane di tortura. Quello che non si aspetta è lei. Annie Plymouth, l’allieva della star. Il suo costume da bagno increspato verde potrà sembrare la cosa più ridicola che abbia mai visto, ma dopo alcune accese lezioni a rana e qualche intenso bocca a bocca, Cohen è pronto a tirarla fuori dall’acqua e a lasciarla nuda come mamma l’ha fatta… a eccezione del fatto che lei ha altri programmi. La coppia è destinata ad affondare… o riusciranno a nuotare?

Mi sono divertita moltissimo nel leggere “Birthday Girl”, è la mia “prima volta” con Lily Kate come autrice e ho adorato questa storia così leggera, divertente e romantica. La trama è semplice e la storia tra Cohen e Annie scorre via in modo molto fluido e veloce, senza inutili drammi, ed è caratterizzata da dialoghi e situazioni molto carine e divertenti quando i due si ritrovano a essere insieme. Cohen James è un giocatore professionista di hockey, una vera star, ma non è famoso solo per il suo talento sul ghiaccio… diciamo che è anche abbastanza “esuberante” una volta uscito dallo spogliatoio, e le sue follie non passano inosservate all’occhio dei media e soprattutto non lo rendono il pupillo dell’allenatore, o il più amato all’interno dello spogliatoio. Per ripulire un po’ la sua reputazione accetta di offrirsi come volontario per fare l’istruttore di nuoto nei corsi per adulti e bambini in un centro di servizi per la comunità. Qui incontra Annie, futuro avvocato, iscritta a forza dalla madre al corso di nuoto. Annie è terrorizzata dall’acqua, ma dovendo partecipare in veste di damigella d’onore alle seconde nozze della madre, su una nave, è costretta ad affrontare questa sua paura. Conoscendo la sua reticenza, viene quasi scortata dalla madre e dalla nonna in piscina, per frequentare il corso. Come forma di protesta, indossa uno dei costumi più orribili nella storia del nuoto. Quando vede Cohen per la prima volta a bordo vasca, quasi dimentica per due secondi (ho detto quasi) tutte le sue paure. Da parte sua, Cohen non appena la vede in quel costume, al contrario di ogni uomo che respiri sulla terra, capisce che Annie è speciale e avrebbe un gran desiderio di mandare all’aria tutti i suoi buoni propositi e rapirla seduta stante. Annie, però, non è proprio una delle sue classiche fan, che si buttano ai suoi piedi. Per anni ha sofferto a causa dell’indifferenza del padre, un uomo incapace di farla sentire amata, e ha costruito un muro intorno a se stessa per proteggersi. Mi sono piaciuti un sacco insieme. Cohen ha dovuto lottare per conquistare un posticino nel cuore di Annie e devo dire che è stato perfetto in questo: ha saputo sempre fare la cosa giusta, a volte stuzzicandola e insistendo, mentre altre volte le ha dato spazio, capendo quando Annie ne aveva il bisogno. La chimica presente tra di loro è favolosa e mi è piaciuto poter leggere il libro attraverso il punto di vista di entrambi, questa cosa ha reso il racconto ancora più coinvolgente. La storia tra Annie e Cohen è molto, molto romantica e le scese di sesso tra di loro, pur essendo sexy, sono scritte senza mai essere volgari o troppo esplicite. Un altro punto di forza di questo libro è la famiglia di Annie, sua madre, ma soprattutto la nonna, che è davvero stravagante e divertente. Questo è il terzo libro della serie Minnesota Ice, ma può essere letto come storia autoconclusiva, anche se devo dire che leggendo le trame dei due libri precedenti ed essendomi piaciuto così tanto il modo di scrivere di questa autrice, non vedo l’ora di poter leggere anche i Minnesota Ice #1 e #2. Un’ultima cosa: devo assolutamente vedere i costumi di Annie… e voglio un Cohen anche per me!!!

Recensione:

Editing:

Good things come in extra-large, smoking hot birthday suits.

Bad boy Cohen James has screwed up yet again. Star forward of Minnesota’s pro hockey team, Cohen’s made a name for himself—and not in a good way. So, at the insistence of his agent, he’s stuck volunteering at the local YMCA teaching introductory adult swim lessons for ten weeks. Ten weeks of torture.

What he doesn’t expect is her.

Annie Plymouth, star pupil.

Her ruffled green bathing suit might be the most ridiculous thing he’s ever seen, but after a few heated breaststroke lessons and some intense mouth to mouth, Cohen’s ready to get her out of the water and into her birthday suit… except she has a different game plan.

Is the pair destined to sink… or can they swim?

I hate water.

Now, this hate is not a casual dislike of lakes, or even a modest mistrust of the ocean. It’s not even a slight hesitation to go swimming without a life jacket. No, my fear is all consuming. I am utterly, undeniably terrified of large bodies of water.

I’ve managed to get by so far in life without learning the art of the front crawl—it’s always “that time of the month” during pool parties. My gym teacher probably thought I had a chronic case of the flu thanks to my spectacular acting performances to avoid swim class. At home, I generally avoid taking baths because I’m terrified of falling asleep and drowning in my own tub, but showers work just fine.

My mother once tried to enroll me in swim lessons through the local community center, but I cried so hard that my teacher begged my mother to reconsider. Now that I’m twenty-two, she thinks enough time has passed to try again.

I’m as equally unenthusiastic as I was the first time around. The only difference is that this time, I can’t sob my way out of it.

“Dear, you need to face your fears,” my mother says again as I drag my feet into the locker room, dreading whatever the next hour will bring. “It’s for your safety.”

“Yeah, right.”

“What do you mean by that?” she snaps. “It is! I don’t want you to fall overboard after you’ve had one too many margaritas and die, Annie. Not on my wedding cruise. You’re the maid of honor for crying out loud.”

“Right, and it’d be really inconvenient to plan a funeral from your honeymoon.”

“We love you,” she says. “Claude and I care for your safety.”

“Claude calls me Amanda. He doesn’t care about my survival.”

She huffs, but doesn’t reply. She’s run out of arguments, I guess, which is just fine with me since I don’t want to discuss this any longer. I’m angry enough standing here at eight a.m. on a Saturday morning, in the middle of a late February snowstorm, freezing my ass off in a lime-green bathing suit.

USA TODAY bestselling author Lily Kate works a pretttttty boring day job and writes books filled with heat, heart, and humor by night. Her debut novel, Delivery Girl, landed instantly on the USA TODAY list, thanks to all of her fabulous readers! 🙂

When she’s not writing books, you may find her watching Christmas movies before Thanksgiving, eating whipped cream from the can, or hanging out with her family.