Review: The Swede by Maureen Smith

The Swede (Denver Rebels Book 2) by Maureen Smith
Series: Denver Rebels #2
Published by Wordsmith Enterprises on November 25, 2017
Genres: African American, Love & Romance, Multicultural & Interracial, Romance
Pages: 657
Format: eBook
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four-stars

Scarlett Warner has three passions: singing, drumming, and hockey. She’s already living her dream as frontwoman of an indie rock band. And then she meets NHL superstar Viggo Sandström, her favorite player and secret fantasy.

She wanted him from the very first moment she saw him. How could she not?

He’s six feet five inches of Scandinavian scrumptiousness, all rock-hard muscles and searing intensity. He’s a scoring machine on the ice, driven to win at all costs. Nicknamed “The Sandstorm,” he crashes his way into her heart, demolishing her defenses. Every look, every smile, every touch sets her heart pounding like a kick drum. He makes her body sing, and she can’t get enough.

He’s got a few demons to work through, but so does she. Does that make them the perfect match? Or will they end up derailing each other’s dreams?

All Scarlett knows is that she needs him like nothing she’s ever needed before. It should send her running in the other direction.

But there’s no running from The Swede….

***THE SWEDE is the second book in the Denver Rebels Series featuring four sexy-as-sin hockey players who lose their hearts on the road to winning the Stanley Cup. These are full-length interracial romance novels featuring BW/WM couples***

Denver Rebels
#1 - WICKED GAMES
#2 - THE SWEDE

At 657 pages, The Swede by Maureen Smith is a BEAST of a book. If I didn’t have to go to work last Tuesday, I would have finished the whole thing in one sitting. Alas, during lunch breaks, and time after work I got this bad boy finished in two days.

After a few false starts, the latest addition to the Denver Rebel series landed on my Kindle last month and it was worth the wait! Every time Maureen Smith releases a book, she reminds me why she’s one of my favorites.

Scarlett Warner is a literal rock star; the lead singer and drummer of Off The Grid, and not to mention a huge hockey fan. NHL superstar Viggo Sandström is an NHL superstar with the Denver Rebels. Scarlett has had a crush on Viggo since she first saw him six years ago at a hometown game, and Viggo has been intrigued by Scarlett since Nadia and Reid (from Wicked Games) told him about her and her band’s music.

Scarlet is a confident woman who’s passionate about her music. (Though she worked my damn nerve quite a few times.) Viggo is a beast on the hockey field; focused, unrelenting, and takes no prisoners. He’s pretty easy on the eyes too; women love him and sponsors throw money at him.. With Scarlett, she breaks down his defenses while he does the same to her. Love soon finds them; one that is so intense that it scares them both.

Whew! Maureen Smith put her foot in this book. We got the much-needed backstory of Viggo and Scarlett, peeked into their upbringing and their respective families. We were able to peel back the layers of these characters, particularly Viggo. He was more than meets the eye, he has more than a few demons he has to confront and demolish from his past in order to become the best version of himself on and off the ice. It was great to see the needed confrontations and bouts of acceptance that went on throughout this novel. While I did not mind the length, I do think a bit of the content could have been trimmed. There were a ton of sex scenes that honestly felt unnecessarily at times, I have to admit I skimmed quite a few of them. There were also some lingering questions readers may have had despite the left of the book? How did Viggo’s relationship with his grandfather progress? Did he tell his mother the truth?

Smith was not afraid to go there in this book as she touched on a variety of topics. I don’t want to spoil too much but fans of this series will remember Scarlett’s brother, Lennox, from the previous book. I will say that I loved that he was a vital part of The Swede and I loved the journey the family took with his storyline.

Viggo and Scarlett had immensely palpable chemistry, they both brought out the best in each other. The intensity literally leaped off of the pages, what’s a better union than sports and music? For Viggo and Scarlett, there was none!

The Swede was a nice long read that is perfect for the holidays. I’m pretty sure I’m going to read this again during my Christmas break.

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Natalya

Natalya is an Account Manager by day and an editor and author's assistant to passionate creatives by night. When she is not adding to her enormous book collection or stationery supply, she is catching up on her favorite television shows.

Natalya is the author of All The Things I Never Said, a soul-stirring collection of short stories, prose and love letters for the soulful wanderers, the brokenhearted and the hopeless romantics.

You can follow her rantings and occasional sparks of brilliance on Twitter @NatalyaMuncuff.