Book Summary: 

After a childhood spent being dragged around the country by her hockey coach father, Hayden Houston intends to take some time to figure out her future. Whether that future will include her currently off-again boyfriend remains to be seen. What it certainly won’t include is the for-one-night-only guy she just met at a bar.   

It seems hockey star Brody Croft did not get the memo about being temporary. Big, bold and driven, he’s dedicated in everything he does. Up till now, that’s been his team—the one owned by Hayden’s dad. But his night with Hayden has sparked something he didn’t expect. The two of them are good together. Really good. There’s a connection he’s never experienced before, one he knows they’d be wrong to ignore. Even with a game-fixing scandal testing both their loyalties—to teammates, to friends…to family. 

Part of Hayden wants to turn tail and run. A complicated relationship with a bad boy hockey player is exactly what she never wanted. But when it comes to Brody, Hayden is realizing that people can be so much more than what they seem.

My Review:

As a huge fan of Elle Kennedy’s contemporary hockey romances, it was a delight to discover that “Body Check” was not just her first contemporary romance, but also her first hockey romance—where it all began. Although “Body Check” is currently a standalone, the material is ripe for additional books, even 15 years later! While I’m not certain how the original book fared, this extended version with added content and sporadic rewrites is definitely the Elle Kennedy we know and love!

Hayden was supposed to come to Chicago, support her father, and then return to her simple, easygoing life in California. Instead, she found herself at a bar with her best friend Darcy, looking to scratch an itch that her boyfriend of two months had no intention of addressing. Having asked Doug for a break, Darcy convinces Hayden to “get it out of her system” with a one-night stand, so she can focus on her father and be all the happier (and calmer). Not quite her style, Hayden decides to give in to temptation in the form of a gorgeous gentleman currently playing pool across the room.

Brody was done with casual hookups and one-night stands. As a left-winger for the Warriors, he had his share of puck bunnies and just wanted a woman who could see past the uniform. He had no interest in taking anyone home that night, not until the unexpected goddess approached him at the pool table. She didn’t seem to recognize him, which could easily be faked, but the fact that she swept the floor with him at the pool table was very real! Intrigued and aroused, Brody agrees to join Hayden for a “nightcap.” What he didn’t agree to, as Hayden quickly learns, is to never see her again the morning after. Not realizing the pure determination of a man who always gets what he wants, Hayden gives in to Brody’s relentless pursuit, setting ground rules for their fling that has a clear expiration date. Unfortunately, her heart didn’t get the same memo. As Hayden’s world starts to turn upside down, she has to decide if the life she wants, the future she needs, is more important than the opportunity standing in front of her.

One thing I have always loved about Kennedy’s writing is her ability to make you feel like you are on the ice in one of her hockey stories. This one was no exception. The Warriors were in the playoffs, and each time Brody hit the ice, you were right there! I also love her ability to create the perfect blend in her male protagonists. Brody is the ideal mix of arrogant, confident, romantic, and sweet. His continuous pursuit of Hayden for all the right reasons just makes you fall in love with him even more. When Kennedy dives into the insecurities of Brody and Hayden’s past, you find characters you can identify with on an emotional level —from Hayden’s shift in her relationship with her father as he became owner of the Warriors, to Brody’s rags-to-riches backstory.

Another thing I admire is Kennedy’s artistic way of approaching a spicy scene. She has never shied away from the spice in her books, but what I love most is how she can morph it from just plain raw, animalistic intensity to a sensual, intimate connection as the protagonists begin to fall for each other. You feel the shift and know the moment the heart becomes just as entangled as everything else.

While the budding romance between Hayden and Brody was the overall arc of the story, the subplot of the potential Warrior scandal had a life of its own. Kennedy beautifully articulated the complexity of greed, money, and power and how it can blind the smartest man and corrupt even the purest heart. As you read, you find yourself in Hayden and Brody’s shoes, believing the stories (later excuses) you are being told, wanting those you care for most to be in real life who you built them up as in your mind. Learning that your heroes are flawed and capable of the worst is devastating, and we saw this two-fold. The lies, the deception—a stark reminder of how easy it is to give in to the allure of “more”—more money, more recognition, more power, more fame, just more.

When everything went down, my heart nearly broke. Watching all the heroes come crashing down to earth, knowing they had been blatantly lied to, and the extent to which people were willing to go, no matter how it hurt others—you couldn’t help but feel for Hayden and Brody. Especially Hayden, as it was her dad. She knew the before and after of the man she once admired and could never figure out why she wasn’t enough. When he explains the reason for his wrongdoing, the void he was trying to fill after losing her mother, your heart just cracked open even wider. The same sympathy, however, was not given to Becker. His initial excuse for why he initiated everything just infuriates the reader when it turns out he is guilty! He had spent half of his life in the league, he was retiring—why on earth would he put himself in a situation to cheat! To sacrifice his team like that, to try to destroy Brody’s happiness, even life, to cover up his own mistakes. I don’t know if Kennedy did it on purpose, but you definitely saw the shift in scale of judgment when it came to their wrongdoings, feeling more sympathy for Presley and nothing but loathing for Becker.

Kennedy also takes a moment to project the perspectives of Brody and Hayden onto secondary characters, giving them just as important a role as the primary ones. Hayden was convinced she wanted a nice guy—predictable, dependable, and able to provide the stability she was never able to have as the daughter of a hockey coach and single father. When Kennedy used Sheila to show Hayden what nice, safe, reliable (and devoid of earth-shaking passion) could get her (Sheila’s speech mirroring Hayden’s thoughts), Hayden was able to get a glimpse into a future she was so willing to bet on, despite what her heart was telling her it really wanted. Same with Brody; he knew he had zero interest in being with someone who only saw his fame and fortune. He got a sneak peek into what that life would have been like when Becker confesses who his wife really is and what she is really like—always wanting more—more prestige, more money, more power. She married a Champion and wouldn’t settle for anything less. These crystal ball moments gave so much insight into the main characters’ beliefs, perspectives, and eventual motivation for their conclusions.

While Brody and Hayden were characters to admire, my favorite character was Darcy! She was the most unapologetic woman who lived her life by her rules. I would love to see how her story pans out, especially if someone like Jones gets transferred to the Vipers and Darcy moves to California. Kennedy set this up perfectly to be a series if she decided to revisit this universe.

Providing an array of emotions from beginning to end, “Body Check” is yet another triumph of Elle Kennedy’s talent. From moments that have you laughing despite yourself to tears you didn’t anticipate, Hayden and Brody’s story will capture you and leave you hoping against hope that this is only the beginning.