NEW RELEASE! Camden (Pittsburgh Titans, Book #8) Sawyer Bennett Release Date: August 1, 2023
Synopsis:
Camden Poe is the last of The Lucky Three, the surviving Pittsburgh Titans who weren’t on the team plane the night it went down. By all outward appearances, he’s adjusted to post-crash life well but inside he’s wrestling with the guilt of living.
The catastrophe that killed the Pittsburgh Titans changed my entire world. My teammates were more than my friends—they were my brothers. I mourned their loss with the rest of the nation but then I did as I’ve been taught… I moved on. I focused on returning to the ice with the newly rebuilt team and put the tragedy behind me. Considering the circumstances, I adjusted well. Or so I thought. Now I’m plagued by nightmares of the crash and my play has suffered as a result. Facing the possibility of losing my place on the team, I need to pull myself together and fast.
My buddy and linemate, Mitch Brandt died in the crash, leaving his wife Danica and son Travis behind to pick up the pieces of their shattered family. After reconnecting with Danica at a support group meeting, I find myself inexplicably drawn to helping her and her son move forward. What starts as two friends finding solace in one another following a tragedy becomes something more, leaving us both wondering if we deserve this chance.
I feel as if I’m walking a precarious line between a man falling for an incredible woman and a man moving in on his dead friend’s wife. But one thing is crystal clear—I’ve found a peace with Danica that I wasn’t sure I’d ever have again. Now I need to find the confidence within myself to push past the insecurities and make sure she knows how important she is to me because if I don’t, I’ll lose the one thing that makes me truly complete.
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About the Author:
New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author Sawyer Bennett uses real life experience to create relatable stories that appeal to a wide array of readers. From contemporary romance, fantasy romance, and both women’s and general fiction, Sawyer writes something for just about everyone.
A former trial lawyer from North Carolina, when she is not bringing fiction to life, Sawyer is a chauffeur, stylist, chef, maid, and personal assistant to her very adorable daughter, as well as full-time servant to her wonderfully naughty dogs.
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Trinette Dungee's 4 Star Review
Camden Poe, the last of the “lucky three”. There’s a level of stress that comes with being labeled one of the lucky three. All eyes are on Camden and his teammates, Coen and Hendrix, watching how they proceed with their lives, hockey, and their newly built team. Camden’s kept a pretty low profile and to the outside world he seems to be adjusting well to the new normal after the horrendous plane crash that took the lives of his entire team Titans hockey team. No one is privy to the nightmares that plaque him nightly. When an off night that causes him to miss a team practice, Camden’s called on his shit by non-other than coach Cannon and is ordered to attend a support group. It’s there he reconnects with Danica Brandt, his former teammate’s widow.
This series has had me on edge from the start, mainly because of how it started. Through eight books, I’ve been waiting for the massive meltdown that was surely to come with one of the three players. Initially I thought it would be Stone because he’d lost his brother in the crash, he was moving up and playing on the newly established team and they hadn’t had the best relationship. I figured there’d be a massive meltdown and “come to Jesus” moment; but that didn’t happen. Then I though “oh, it’s gonna be Coen”, that guy was in such a bad head space, and he seemed to be the trainwreck of the three. I wrong again. Okay, then we get Brienne’s story by way of Drake. This is gonna be it, the woman lost her brother, inherited a whole franchise that she has to put back together. This is definitely gonna to be it. The pressure of all of that and Drake being a pain in the ass, yeah, she’s going to buckle. Well, NADA. Then comes Hendrix. With his well-adjusted personality and I was at a total loss. Like when is she going to hit us with the with the ugly cry storyline. Here we are with Camden. This one was definitely going to be it because it’s two people dealing with the loss. Although one could say Stone and Harlow both dealt with the loss of Brooks, this one is different because aside from grieving the loss of a good friend, there’s also a mother and child grieving. So yeah, I prepared myself because I just knew this was it. I think I kind of got was I was looking for, but not they way I thought.
While all three players have some level of guilt about surviving, or not being on that fatal flight, I think Cam’s struggle is hardest. Not only is he having nightmares of a fiery crash (I think it’s the descriptions of his dreams that get me), but he’s falling for a good friend’s wife and his son.
When he’s is forced to attend a support group session, he sees Danica Brandt. Danica is the widow of player, Mitch Brandt, who happened to be a very good friend of Cam’s. Cam experiences a bit of guilt for not being there for Danica and her son Travis in Mitch’s absence because after all, he wasn’t just good friends with Mitch, he was friends with Danica. He begins to spend time with the two, helping Travis with Hockey, doing small odd and ends around the house for Danica. It’s not long before Cam takes a chance and asks Danica out and the two fall into a “semi relationship”. While Danica is onboard and ready to move full steam ahead, Cam is leery of the perception it will give. Is he breaking a “Bro-Code”? Will his team members look at him differently?
While it wasn’t a massive meltdown, Cam’s struggle was deep on a totally different level. How could he fall in love with his buddy’s wife? How could he step in and be there for Travis without stepping on Mitch’s toes? How could he compete with the memory of a man who was everything to two people he’d come to love? Luckily for him, Danica was a woman of her own mind.
I really liked Danica. She wasn’t the broken, grieving widow. At her own admission, she would always love Mitch and would probably always think about him, and it would probably make her sad sometimes, but her missing him couldn’t rule her life or Travis’. She was resilient. Having to deal with unexpected financial difficulties, (which again her admission, that she and Mitch hadn’t adequately planned), becoming a single working mom, she picked up the pieces and moved on. She was moving in a direction that would heal both her and Travis, and she was ready to move on in love too. I really loved these two has a couple.
So, I guess, in as much as she devastated us all by killing and ENTIRE hockey team, administrators, and flight crew in a fiery crash, I guess it’s only fair to not torture us with complete gut-wrenching storylines that make us feel like we need therapy.
This was a quick, fun read. Next to no angst, very straight forward story of two people falling in love. There’s just something about two people finding their way to each other and a HEA after a tragedy that gets you all in the feels.
Next up is Bain, I’m curious as to what the former Arizona Vengeance player has in store for us.
