A minor penalty that is not called until the offending team gains control of the puck. As long as the non-offending team maintains possession, the referee allows play to continue and signals a delayed penalty by raising his arm.

I’m Evan Mason, an NHL hockey player for the Chicago Blackhawks. I spend my nights roughing up two hundred pound defensemen and, at times, spend more time in the penalty box than I do on the ice.
That’s my job. 
One night changed everything I thought I once knew about my life on, and off, the ice.
A girl. 
A brutally beaten girl left to die in an alley.
I don’t know why or how but something made me stay that night after taking her to the hospital. I didn’t know her, nor did I have an obligation to stay but something inside of me rooted me there telling me I should stay. Saving a life is worth something. At least I thought so. And I wouldn’t have been me if I just simply left her there. 
Any man who put his heart and soul into a game of hockey couldn’t just walk away when someone needed them. She had no one else right now. The same guy who saw determination where there was desire, now saw hope where there was once despair.
I couldn’t leave. That wouldn’t be me. No, not a man that put all he had into something some called just a game. I couldn’t walk away from her holding onto life, weak and powerless to something she had no control over.
So I stayed. In a room full of family members praying for their loved ones to pull through, I prayed for a girl I didn’t know and had never met before, to have a beating heart. While others’ sorrows turned to grieving pain, I sat waiting on the words of the unknown.
No bond is stronger than the ones you’ll bleed for.

FIVE SUPER STARS!


I loved, LOVED this book! There is something about athletes in books that just make me swoon. Shey Stahl’s writing is amazing! I am not very familiar with hockey but I feel like I know so much about it after reading this book.

Evan Mason is an NHL Defenseman who was walking to his place one night after a hanging out with his hockey player friends. He felt something pull him towards an alley and there he finds a girl who was badly beaten and left almost to die. He brings her to the hospital and from there, he could not leave her. This story is full of heart, angst, and funny moments. I was laughing one minute, angry another minute, and crying at another second. I felt a wide array of emotions while reading this book because of how Ms. Stahl delivers the story in such a wonderful way.

The story is told on both POV and as a reader, I was able to get into the minds of the characters. Evan is a mature 21 y.o. and Ami is young at 18 but the tragic experiences that she has suffered has made her tough in life. The characters are relatable and the secondary characters have so much personalities that I am looking forward to the next books in the Crossing the Line Series.
The cover is very appropriate for the story. I believe that the guy in the cover is Evan Mason – he is young, hot, and blue-eyed. And in his eyes, you can see his determination and principles that he stood for all throughout the book. I really enjoyed this book and I cannot wait for more!

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