Tammy Lunsford - Escape to Books By Tammy's Reviews > The Love Penalty

This book is full of many lessons including faith lessons and life lessons. The story tugged on my heart and made me realize we all see things through a different life lens according to our circumstances, both past and present. Sylvie Mills has a past filled with neglect and heartache. She has never felt loved and cannot believe anyone would ever love her.

Ryan Guillemette is a professional hockey player who has been raised in a loving household with two loving parents. Ryan and Sylvie could not be more different if they tried. They are polar opposites in all ways, but they are drawn to one another. This is a messy romance made up of many bad situations and misunderstandings, but it is a sweet romance as well that will, at times, bring tears to your eyes.

I felt for Sylvie so many times in this story. She had emotional scars and had never had a family who loved her. She desperately wanted the kind of love of a family that she often scoffed at, but she put her dark shields up to protect herself from further hurt. She used sarcasm as a defense. Ryan was such a kind soul and a gentleman.

An inspirational message of forgiveness and redemption are rooted in this story. The lessons of careless judgment of others will break your heart, even as you realize you may be guilty of that same judgment. This one really hit home for me. I loved, loved, loved it. As an added plus for hockey fans, there is a lot of hockey action. The friendships also ran deep in this book, even those on opposing teams. This was more than a sports romance. It was so much more and will leave you feeling the need to self-reflect.

Thank you the author for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.