Liz TomfordeRomance · Contemporary Romance
Mile High
Synopsis
Evan Zanders is the NHL's most notorious playboy, known for burning through one-night stands and clashing with authority. Stevie Shay takes a job as flight attendant for his team hoping for a fresh start, and instead finds herself sparring with Zanders on every flight. A team fraternization policy puts her job on the line if anything develops between them, but the friction between the two slowly gives way to something neither expected as the season wears on.
How it reads
Prose complexity 1/10
- Mile High by Liz Tomforde is the first book in her “Windy City” series. I chose this book as part of the series summer option of the Kindle challenge program. My decision was based on a recommendation from a trusted romance blogger. Now this book was pretty long, (16 hours of listening) which is rare for this genre, but it was totally worth the hours. Mile High is hands down one of the best sports romance I have had the privilege to read. Mile High introduces readers to Zanders and Stevie. Zanders is a professional hockey player. Hockey is his life, the one thing that keeps him sane in the journey of life. He shares his love of the game with his best friend and co-captain. Now, while is best friend is happily basking in the joys of family life, Zanders is contented with playing the role of the ultimate playboy. The thing is, though, most of the time this done as a ploy to feed the media frenzy and to placate his fans. The image he portrays to the public is a far cry from his true personality. Stevie is a flight attendant who so happens to work on the plane which the team uses to travel on to and from their games. Her feisty, bold and daring nature will win you over in no time. A fact which Zanders will learn throughout the course of the story. Their first encounter started out on a rocky path. However, after several encounters, the path became less rocky and soon feelings began to develop. However, insecurities on both their part coupled with past trauma and the no fraternization rule threaten to derail their happily ever journey. These two will need to face their demons and fight to preserve their relationship. The romance between Zanders and Stevie was beautiful and endearing. Their connection was evident from the start. I enjoyed seeing how they moved from antagonists to a couple deeply in love with each other. Their fun and fiery banter will have you falling in love with them in no time. The way they stood up for each other warmed my heart. I especially enjoyed seeing how they brought out the best in each other. They both deserved happiness, and one cannot help but root for them in their journey of love. The supporting cast added depth to the story. Zanders's relationship with his best friend and by extension his family, as well as Stevie's relationship with her twin brother, will warm your heart. Stevie's growth, which got a boost from Zanders, throughout the story was phenomenal. It made me happy to see her accepting herself and finally standing up to her mother for all the emotional abuse she put her through. Mile High delivered a feel good romance that romance readers will find satisfying. This was a worthwhile read and one which I encourage lovers of sports romance to add to their reading list. Winston James and Mari narrated. While this my second experience with the male narrator, the female was new to me. Both narrators did a good job in bringing the characters to life. However, on the production side of things, the quality needed work. The background noises which sounded like birds chirping coupled with the sound of the narrators taking a breath and swallowing was quite distracting. This placed a damper on the narration experience.This review was originally posted on Totally Addicted to Reading
- <div>I normally read one book every two or three days, but this one took me more than one week. I was dragging opening it again.<br><br>"Mile High" and I had a rough start, mostly because I disliked both main characters. Zanders swore he wasn’t his media persona, yet he couldn’t remember half the girls he slept with. He had to keep a list with highlights of his one-night stands, and the way he treated Stevie at first while she was working and they didn’t know each other was disgusting. As a curvy girl, I was very excited to read a book with a plus-size female main character, but I found Stevie kinda gross. Once I read she went out with her face stained with mustard, I couldn’t erase it from my brain. It’s cool if you don’t care about fashion or makeup (too much <em>“I’m not like other girls”</em> vibes, if you ask me), but girl, at least wash your face.<br><br>It did improve once they got closer, and their relationship began to develop. The romance was cute, there were nice moments, and all the side characters were very lovable, like The Maddisons, Ryan, Rosie, and Indie, but I lost interest after the 50% mark. It became repetitive, and there wasn’t a lot of hockey content or even relevant flight content. It was way too long, and I buried myself in video games because I hate DNF books.<br><br>The last 20% was very emotional, and at least it made me think I didn’t waste all that time. I will admit I cried during the conversation between Zander and his dad. I liked reading about Stevie’s insecurities which sometimes are my own, and her ups and downs were very relatable, but still, not the book for me.<br><br>I will read the next one because I’ve heard that’s better.</div>
- It’s been a long, long time since I cried this hard over a book. I’ve never related to two characters more than Stevie and Zanders. Their struggles and demons mirror my own and what I’ve experienced my whole life. It’s no wonder this is my favorite book of the year so far. Yes, it was long, but when you connect with characters the way I connected with these two, you don’t mind even if it were 1000 pages long.
- Absolutely amazing, best romance i’ve read so far, the plot, the emotional build up and the sobbing i did at the end make it all worth it, would def read again