Author SPOTlight - "TONI ALEO"

I'm so glad you could join us today, Erik. I don't think I've ever been this nervous for an interview..... You are quite intimidating, even just on paper. So I hope you'll forgive me if I dive right in with the hard questions, since I know that many are wondering.....:

How is it, that a man who has so much going for him - career, looks, charisma, still carries around enough insecurity to have him avoid commitment to a point where he treats women as disposable items??? 

Wow. that was a bit harsh but true. I was fucked up, thats all I can say but thankfully Piper came into my life and changed that. I can promise you that I'll never treat her as a disposable item. 

What moved you to take the plunge that one night in the bar with Piper, where before you had never really approached her??? 

I couldn't handle it anymore. I had been around her for years and she is intoxicatingly beautiful. I craved her and as much as I wanted to control my need for her, I couldn't anymore. As much as I hate myself for hurting her over and over again, I am glad she stuck with me. 

What were your deepest fears, and your biggest hopes, when you discovered you would be a father???

That I'd fucked the kid up like my parents did me and my biggest hope was that I wouldn't fuck the kid up. 

What difference has Piper made in your life??? 

She's changed me. She has loved me in a way that no one else can. Her and Dimitri are my life now.

Can you give us some locker room gossip??? 

Haha. Well I can guarantee you that we all have the longest and most taken care of sticks in the NHL. Haha.....

Toni Aleo is the author of the Nasvhille Assassins series: Taking Shots, Trying to Score, Empty Net, Falling for the Backup, and Blue Lines.

When not rooting for her beloved Nashville Predators, she’s probably going to her husband’s and son’s hockey games and her daughter’s dance competitions, taking pictures, scrapbooking, or reading the latest romance novel.

She lives in the Nashville area with her husband, two children, and a bulldog. Read more about Toni here.

        

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Opposites do more than just attract in Tony Aleo’s latest Nashville Assassins novel about a very bad boy and the good girl he can’t resist.

The instant Piper Allen sees Erik Titov, she wants him—wants his rock-hard body, sure, but the strength and mystery that lie behind that superstar hockey jock demeanor, too. So when he sidles up to her at a bar and slinks his arm around her waist, she’s lost. What follows is the wildest night of her life . . followedby inevitable heartbreak the next morning. And then, a few weeks later, a very big surprise: two blue lines on a pregnancy test.

Only a check to the head could make Erik fall for a nice girl like Piper. But since their crazy-sexy night together, he’s been trying to forget about her alluring body by falling into bed with every woman in Nashville, and it’s not working. So when Piper shows up at his house with a baby-bomb to drop, it doesn’t take much for Erik to suggest the nuclear option: marriage. While it’s supposed to be all for show, the second they say “I do,” the ice between them starts to melt into sizzling steam.

Someone was shaking her.
Opening one eye, she peeked out of the covers to see Erik grinning at her. Making a disgruntled noise, Piper covered her face and muttered, “Go away.”
His chuckles filled the room as he wiggled his way under the blanket. His hands were warm against her exposed skin as he pulled her close to run his nose along hers. “Good morning.”
“I’m sleeping,” she muttered again as he kissed her nose.
“Well excuse me for being rude but I want to kiss the birthday girl.”
She opened one eye again, and set him with a look. “I have morning breath.”
“I don’t care, now kiss me,” he said against her lips. She didn’t even have time to smile or say no, he smothered her mouth with his own. She had to admit, it was a great way to be woken up. As he pulled back, Piper opened her eyes and smiled sweetly at him. His eyes were bright and his mouth was inches from hers as he looked deep into her eyes. “Happy birthday.”
She snuggled closer to him. “Thank you.”
“Do you want to get up or am I going to have to drag you out of this bed?”
“Why on earth would you do that?” she asked in mock horror.
He laughed. “Because Stanley and I made you breakfast and you have gifts.”
Piper thought for a moment before saying, “I do like food and presents.”
“I thought so. Why don’t you crawl out of bed, and come on,” he suggested as he kicked the blankets off them.
“Uggh,” she complained as she sat up, looking around the room. “I look a hot mess. I don’t want to do birthday stuff, Erik, I suck, I know.”
“I think you are beautiful, even when you are bitchy,” he said with a grin on his face, “Now come on.”

BLUE LINES 

(The Assassins Series)

by Toni Aleo

ARC Review

Published: December 9, 2013, Loveswept

My rating: 4.5 of 5 ⭐️

For a long time, Piper Allen has had a thing for her sister's brother-in-law, Eric Titov, but always from a safe distance. Not that he ever saw her as anything but part of the family anyway. He was too busy scoring, not just goals but puck bunnies too. Until one night in the bar he walks up to her, completely focused and wipes her off her feet and into bed, for a long and unforgettable night.

Unforgettable for Piper that is, because Eric lets her know in no uncertain terms that it was a one time deal, never to happen again. But what Eric doesn't know, as he tries hard to forget the memory of Piper's sweet body with a selection of Nashville's 'finest', is that two blue lines on a pregnancy test say that night will be equally as unforgettable for him.

Determined to live his life wild and free, and not ever get sucked into anything permanent, Eric finds himself fodder for the media more often than not. Something that does not go over well with the owners of the team. When he not only is put on probation, but also finds out he is going to be a daddy, it's like the floor has disappeared under his feet. Until he considers one may be a solution to the other.

When Eric proposes marriage right away,  Piper can't help but be hopeful. She knows it is a marriage of convenience for now, but underneath that cocky shell, she has seen a genuine side to Eric.   Despite everyone's misgivings, including his own, Eric is starting to show more and more of his heart.

*****

The good girl and the very, very bad boy produce an awful lot of heat!!!

The story is actually a very sweet one, aside from the fact that in true Toni Aleo fashion it is a panty-melter, it is also a bit of a character study. Now I know for a fact that there are many who will chew up and spit out Eric, for being an insensitive man-whore........but wait.......this is one of those situations where you can't jump the gun. You don't know enough about the guy to start judging him right off the bat. Not that that excuses any behaviour, but if you give him half a chance, and get to know him a little first, I bet it will go a long way to perhaps understanding a bit better. 

Don't forget, he IS a young buck, cocksure and adored and up until his marriage to Piper, unattached. But he is also a good son to his parents, a good teammate, a giving human being and has never gone out to harm anyone intentionally.

Piper, although considered 'a good girl', is also known as flighty and unreliable. Also not entirely fair. Just because she has chosen to explore a variety of directions in her studies and her jobs, doesn't mean she is not a reliable person, it simply means she has very diverse interests when it comes to what she will spend the rest of her life doing. None of that necessarily reflects on whether she can be a good mother, or whether she can stick with one man. Those are ridiculous and judgemental conclusions to make. And yet her family makes them. 

It takes both of them quite a bit of growing up and getting real to prove to themselves, each other and the people around them that this will work.

There is no high drama in this book, no high suspense or shocking revelations, but a steady, entertaining and progressive story of maturing and an ultimate coming to the senses. With personable characters, flawed and all, who become nicely fleshed out over the course of the book. I did miss a bit of hockey, though....😉

✨A tempting, steamy and touching story.✨

**ARC provided by NetGalley and Loveswept in return for an honest review.**

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TAKING SHOTS
(The Assassins #1)

No matter how hard she tries, Elleanor Fisher never thinks she's good enough, from her job to her weight to her love life. After enduring years of abuse at the hands of an ex-boyfriend, Elli has been drifting through life in a daze. Until, that is, she meets Shea Adler on a promotional shoot for the NHL's Nashville Assassins. Before Elli knows what's happening, the gorgeous Shea breaks the ice and shatters her world.

A brilliant athlete inside the rink, Shea Adler is tired of the life he's living outside of it: the women, the money, the drinking. But everything changes when he meets Elli. After laying eyes on this feisty, witty, beautiful woman, he feels like he's just taken the hardest hit of his life. No matter how skeptical she is, Shea knows they are meant to be together--if only he can convince Elli to put her insecurities aside before she misses out on a shot at love.

TRYING TO SCORE

(The Assassins #2)

Fallon Parker's dream has always been to turn her family's wine company into a runaway success and eventually start a cellar of her own. Since graduating from college, she has worked relentlessly to make that dream a reality, especially after taking a chance on love--and losing. By the time Fallon becomes an official sponsor of the Nashville Assassins, she feels like all her hard work is finally paying off. And then the man who broke her heart skates back into her life.
 
On the ice, Lucas Brooks is the NHL's leading scorer--at least when he's not in the box. Off the ice, he's a mess, with all his anger and misery bottled up inside. He threw away the most important person in his life and has regretted it ever since. But when Lucas returns to Nashville in a trade, he's determined to convince Fallon that he's a changed man. The attraction is still there. The tension is electrifying. But the odds are stacked against them--especially after Lucas finds out that Fallon has been keeping a devastating secret.

EMPTY NET
(The Assassins #3)

Audrey Parker is up against the boards. She's stuck in a job she hates and pining for a total jerk. Meanwhile, her sister Fallon is moving out and getting married to hockey star Lucas Brooks. Where is Audrey's Prince Charming? Nothing she does has ever seemed to be good enough for any of the men in her life. Audrey's about to hit rock bottom . . . until she wakes up next to Tate Odder.

The thrill of moving up from the minors to the Nashville Assassins was a welcome distraction. But not even becoming the first rookie goalie to tally three shutouts in the Stanley Cup finals alleviates the pain. With the loss of his parents and sister weighing as heavily on his soul as ever, Tate Odder can't keep pretending he's okay. That's when he meets smart, sexy Audrey. Her gentle warmth and quirky sense of humor make him feel whole for the first time in too long. But to stay that way forever, Tate must find a way to accept his past and learn to live for love.

FALLING FOR THE BACKUP

(The Assassins #3.5)

After serving as a dutiful bridesmaid in the wedding from hell, Aynslee Shaw just wants to slink home to Nashville and forget the whole trip. That is until the hottest guy she's ever seen is seated next to her on the flight and charms her with his easy laugh and killer smile. But just when she thinks things are getting good, he vanishes, leaving Aynslee wondering, was that guy the one? And did she just let him slip through her fingers?
 
Former superstar goalie Jordan Ryan is back on the ice--finally. After a crippling knee injury that had him wondering if he'd ever play pro hockey again, he's got his full attention on rebuilding his career. So a pretty--okay, beautiful--girl on a plane shouldn't be a distraction. But Jordan is very, very distracted. And when Aynslee crosses his path again, he's not sure any job in the world is worth missing his second chance with a woman like her.

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