Book: In The Penalty Box

Genre: YA Contemporary/Romance

Rating: 5/5 Stars

This book is at the top of my list with some of my all time favorite YA sports oriented books. In the past year I also read Moment of Truth by Kasie West as well as Throw Like A Girl by Sarah Henning and this ranks at the top with these two lovely books. I am always about a story where a girl takes on the challenge of being on a guy’s team. Not a challenge that she can’t handle, but a challenge dealing with ridiculous boys.

Before I get into the review more though, here is the Goodreads summary:

Willow
Figure skating was supposed to be my whole world. But one unlucky injury and now I’m down…but I’m definitely not out. I just need to rehab—a boatload of rehab—and who’d have thought I could do it on the boys’ hockey team?

Of course, the infuriatingly hot captain of the team seems to think I’m nothing but sequins and twirls. What’s a girl to do but put him in his place? Game on.

Brodie
Hockey is my whole world. I’ve worked my tail off getting my team in a position to win the championships—hopefully in front of major college scouts, too—so what’s a guy to do when a figure skater ends up as our new goalie?

Of course, the distractingly sexy skater thinks I’m nothing but a testosterone-laced competitive streak. And surely she’s only biding her time to heal, then she’s gone. Game over.

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This book had me hooked from the first page until the last. I read along while listening to the audiobook and I ADORED the voice actors for the audiobook. They fit the characters perfectly and made the listening experience fantastic.

The first thing that really hooked me with this book was how real it felt. The amazing authors did not shy away from real world problems/issues. I thought it was admirable of them to show the hardships of family as well as the triumphs of family. On top of it being admirable I thought that those hardships and triumphs were executed perfectly in the book!

Perhaps the best part of this book is quite possibly the romance though. Brodie and Willow feel like such a real couple and as I was listening to the audiobook I couldn’t help but feel like the events of the book were actually happening. By the end I felt like I knew Brodie and Willow (and the rest of the gang) and that their relationship was so real. It takes an amazing author to get the reader to feel like it’s all real and these two knocked it out of the park!

Finally, I am all for any book that has a sports backdrop like this, especially one where a girl tackles a boy’s team. I love a good, and strong, female empowerment book and this one ticks off each of those things! Willow is an incredible athlete, as is Brodie, but she shows such amazing determination when faced with the opposition of some of the guys and her grit is incredible.

If you are looking for a fun read, especially in the winter season with a winter sport, this is it! Check it out, give it a go and let me know what you think!

Happy Reading!!!