Customer Reviews

Fair Play (New York Blades)

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Fair Play is the wonderful follow up to Deirdre Martin's first book, Body Check. This book also has a hockey theme, but it goes way beyond the normal athlete romance novel.

Heroine Theresa Falconetti doesn't date Italians or athletes. Michael Dante, the winger for the New York Blades, the fictional hockey team, knew from the moment of meeting Theresa that she was THE ONE. But she has some baggage that makes it hard for her to trust any man, let alone another hockey player.

Theresa was nearly raped by a hockey player from the Blades and she has retreated from being a fun loving, romantic and silly woman to a woman who is serious all the time. She is trying to get her PR firm off the ground and finally agrees to take a job promoting Michael's restaurant. Theresa quickly comes to discover that she can rely on Michael, and she also finds that is extremely attracted to him, false front teeth and all. Unfortunately, Michael has competition in businessman Reese Banister, a jerk of the worse kind.

Martin's follow up to Body Check is filled with Italian zest, fun family camaderie, and a great romance between Theresa and Michael who is a great hero, both tender, macho, and sexy. He wants Theresa and is willing to go to any lengths to get her, but when the going gets tough, it's Theresa who turns to Michael. Theresa has a lot to overcome to trust Michael, but right from the beginning her strong personality, individual style, and amazing strength come through. If this book is any indication, Deirdre Martin definitely has the talent to take her writing career to the top.

Fair Play and Body Check are full of life and romance

In Fair Play, Both Michael and Theresa are believable, real life characters whom you just cant get enough. It's a love story of today's women.

I loved having Ty and Janna still in parts of story, Please Bring all four back...

Fair Play is about life, I often felt like it was my friends and I talking about men and jobs..

I think everyone should read both of Deirdre Martin's books

I first read Body Check by Deirdre Martin and loved it! It is the first in this "series" so I recommend reading that book first. It introduces the reader to the characters in this book.

Teresa Falconetti is an Italian girl from Brooklyn that just wants to be a big city girl with a big city life. She wants to be "better" than her Brooklyn roots and fall in love with a cultured, sophisticated guy...even if the perfect Italian from the same neighborhood is what she should have. Teresa has to struggle with her feelings for the "wrong" guy and find Mr. Right by dating a stuck-up rich guy.

As you read the story you know she's making a mistake and you want to slap her into seeing what is right in front of her face. It's so frustrating, yet you know that with each turning page something good is going to happen. It's a really good story with a great ending. I recommend this book to anyone needing a good love story with some wit, humor, and a little bit of sports mixed in.

This story is the second in a series of three, first being 'Body check', and a third to come 'total rush'. I really enjoyed this story. It's characters were thought provoking and complex. Deirdre handled the issue of Theresa's rape sensitively and realistically. Although it may annoy some readers, I think that it is quite realistic that Theresa only makes the right decisions at the very end of the book. If you know a rape victim, then what Theresa does in this book will not surprise you at all. An interesting and sweet story. I particularly liked the character Micheal, and I think that he makes the story a very good book indeed.

I read Fair Play in two days and would give it 3 1/2 stars. Not because the writing was bad - but I just couldn't get passed not liking Theresa. Michael just seemed like such a great guy - I really wished he had met another woman and got Theresa out of his mind - she didn't deserve him - she deserved someone shallow like Reese. Half way through the book I lost respect for Michael too - He is a Hockey Player - and can have any woman - why waste his time chasing after an idiot like Theresa? She doesn't decide she wants Michael until after she realizes Reese is using her - poor Mike is second choice to her. I doubt a marriage in real life would last between the two of them. If Ms. Martin writes another book - I am sure I will read it but I hope the characters are more likeable. I loved Body Check - and I thought that the chemistry between Michael and Theresa would be great for a second book - I thought there would be humor etc. But I just felt like Theresa was a hearless self-centered loser. Her not wanting Michael because he was Italian and a hockey player just rang false. Maybe that kind of plot works on a a soap opera but it doesn't in a book. They don't end up together professing love until close to the last page of the book. It was irritating and I feel like I wasted 2 days of my life.

I'm a fairly critical reader - I don't like most "contemporary romances", I find that they are usually poorly written with uninteresting characters. I really prefer British "chick lit", chock full of odd characters who are often difficult to "like" but who are always very interesting. Maybe that's why Theresa doesn't bother me the way she seems to bother some of the other reviewers. Hey, she's had a terrible experience (thus the weirdness about hockey players) and like a lot of people (at least a lot of people in fiction!!) she is trying to run away from home (even though she's all grown up). Oh, I'm not a complete sour puss - I think Michael is perfect (yeah, maybe too good to be true but it's fiction!!) Weak spots - Reese (too one-dimensional, we could all smell a stinker except Theresa - good villains are always more complex) and I agree that a bit more humor between all of the characters could help. I'll definitely look for her first, Body Check, and be on the lookout for more from this author!

I bought this book because I am a hockey fan and there are next to no romance books that I know of with that sport featured in any role. It was very humorous which I also like in a romance. I will now read the first book by this author which is a prequel to Fair Play.

I sat down with this book in the morning and literally couldn't stop reading it. Theresa and Michael are rich, fully-developed characters. Reading was like a conversation with my best friends. While I knew all along that Reese Bannister was just using Theresa, I wondered how Theresa would figure it out. Michael Dante is a true hero--compassionate without losing his manliness. Theresa reminded me of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz--she needed to go through a lot of trauma before realizing "there's no place like home." Wonderful read.

I have read both Fair Play and Body Check.. Both books are the best. I could not put both books down..

Fair Play brings Theresa and Michael to life with powerful story lines for both of them and does a great job of keeping friends Ty and Janna invovled in to the plot from her first book Body Check.

I did laugh and cry and can't wait for the next book...

After reading Body Check, I couldn't wait for Fair Play. Loved the characters- Michael Dante, the jock with the very vulnerable side and patience of a saint, and Theresa Falconetti who learns to face her fears and quit punishing men (mostly Michael). I loved the insights into Italian family lifestyle. My only regret is that I read it so fast (couldn't put it down)- now
I have to wait again for the next book which I understand will feature Michael's outcast cousin Gemma. Keep 'em coming Deirdre!