Deirdre Martin

Contemporary

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Sensuality:
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It's no secret that Rick Reilly is my hero.

But don't go getting the impression I know anything about sports just because I read religiously his weekly Sports Illustrated column, "The Life of Reilly."

What I really dig on is Reilly's no-nonsense writing style -- the conversational "voice" he uses to communicate to readers.

With no apologies to nobody, my boy Rick writes true about his idea of what constitutes the heart and soul of the athlete and sports in general.

To a layperson like me, he's a voice of reason, confirming that celebrity athletes shouldn't be rewarded for cruddy behavior. And that stellar individuals who play hard, well, and fair should be lauded -- held up as examples of competitors who've earned the right to be called "hero."

'Cause everybody loves a sports hero, and romance readers are no exception.

That's why it's so much fun to read about Deirdre Martin's pro-hockey heroes, especially the main squeeze in Martin's terrific new release, "The Penalty Box."

Paul van Dorn's pro-hockey career is over. But he thinks he's doing just fine running his Didsbury, Conn., hometown sports bar and basking in the obsequious glory heaped upon him, the local-boy-made-good.

Katie Fisher is the hometown-girl-made-fun-of who's returned to Didsbury to help her mom take care of her troubled nephew.

Katie's no longer the overweight, under-confident braniac she was in high school. And to prove it, the brilliant sociology prof shows up at her 10-year reunion looking svelte and sexy enough to catch the eye of a certain former pro-jock classmate who'd nicknamed her "Bubble Butt" as a teen.

But Katie's not sure dating Paul is such a prize and, to his dismay, wants to keep their ensuing best-friends-with-benefits gig under wraps.

Katie thinks Paul van Dorn is living in the past. Ironically, she can't jog away fast enough from her own, as well as the small town in which Paul seems content to while away his potential.

Martin writes some of the best sports-themed romance going, and pretty gosh-darned sexy romance at that.

Her heroes are guys with stratospheric egos brought down to earth by Martin's maneuvering them through experiences humbling to just about any man: career crisis, loss of direction, and heartache.

Yet Martin examines these issues with the kind of humor and adept writing that make her stories accessible and entertaining to a spectrum of romance readers.

It's wicked hard to resist using cheesy sports metaphors when describing Martin's work. But, howza 'bout this old hack: Get the puck out of here and --

Buy the book.

Visit www.DeirdreMartin.com for excerpts from "The Penalty Box" and the rest of her novels.

Next Week's Review and AuthorView: "North by Northanger: A Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mystery," by Carrie Bebris