Stay (WAGs #2) [Hailey & Matt] by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy

Sarina and Elle killed it again! I LOVED this story so much! Matt and Hailey were perfect for one another, perfect together and each on his/her own. I also liked Hailey's business - so clever! and getting more of the guys on the team (yeah, especially Blakey) was AWESOME.

We got glimpses of Matthew Eriksson in the previous installment but what we got didn't prepare me enough to fall in love with this sweet guy with this HUGE heart who fears he can never find a HEA, especially while being a professional Hockey player. His ex really did a number on him, blaming him on everything that went wrong in their marriage and now treating him like an invalid as a father to their twins girls. He loves his girls so he'll do right around anything (including change his recipe of waffles into a gluten free one - YUCK!) if that's what their mother wants. So while his teammates are (mostly) having fun he is reserved, returning home to his dog while the young ones are partying with anyone willing. Meeting Hailey was not something he expected but as kept texting with her he realized he really DOES want to meet her (even if he doesn't have anything real to offer her..)


Hailey is a proud business owner. She and her ex build a really cool company who caters to the rich and lazy mostly :) "Fetch" can get you anything you need, you just pay for their time and a commission and you can have any minor detail you need in your life fixed for you. If it's your house being furnished, your dog taken out or special kind of flowers delivered to your beloved. Fetch does it all for you, 24/7. Hailey and Jackson were best friends since they were 6 years old, but less than two year ago, after being married for a few years and building their business together Jackson asks for a divorce. While Hailey and Jackson's relationship was never the kind of simmering hot one, Hailey was devastated by it, it totally broke her confidence and now more than a year and a half later, she is still at odds with herself. She never even went on a first date with a guy. She and Jackson just "happened" through friendship and that was that. Also the guy she is sort of crushing over, is someone she isn't really sure who he is.. though her wild guess has to be the truth.. 

When Matt found himself looking for a house to live after being thrown out by his ex, he turns to Fetch. Being a High Profile customer his account stays anonymous and he is handled exclusively by Hailey as the boss. As he keeps needing Fetch's services he and Hailey start to feel more "comfortable" with one another though the chat on Fetch's app. There's interest from both side but they both unsure of how to deal with their strange feelings about someone they don't even know.. Yet when Hailey comes to take Matt's dog for a walk because the previous guy to do that misbehaved Matt is more than interested in the girl he can see through the camera he has installed in his house. 

Had great times reading Hailey's POV she is SO insecure around Matt, and I could totally get that, first because she isn't sure what to do with a guy really.. and she's almost 30 years old.. and second, she is a HUGE Hockey fan, and of Matt's team especially so meeting not to mention dating Matt is more than she can handle emotionally. Her conversations with her bestie Jenny were HILARIOUS. It was endearing to see how little by little she got less nervous and learnt to see Matt for who he really is. 

Matt is the sweetest guy ever really. Yeah it's difficult to have a relationship with someone who is away A LOT through the Hockey season, but that was a given since it's his JOB not just a hobby, and while it comes with the inconvenience of absence there are many benefits and I'm not just talking about the fabulous WAGs of THIS team. Matt's ex wasn't right for the job, I don't know what she saw in him in the first place, but he deserved MUCH more and he gets it now with Hailey who accepts him the way he is, she is his biggest fan but also his understanding partner. Hailey has a business to ran, she isn't waiting by the phone for Matt's attention. Took Matt long enough to realize that he couldn't find anyone as perfect for him as her and she is worth owning up to his insecurities. 

I really appreciated the fact that for both Hailey and Matt it's a second chance romance. They thought they had it in their first marriage and yet they didn't. For Matt it was much sadder and heart breaking the way his ex treated him, but with Hailey it was a bit different I enjoyed seeing how they worked out their differences in the end. 

A great read. Funny and endearing, heartbreaking but just a little bit and all in all a JOY to read. I would have read it in one gulp but life, as usual, got in the way.. I HIGHLY recommend you read this one. You don't need to read any of the previous ones though you SHOULD because they are as awesome as this one. 

I kindly received this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. 

This book is out today - 20 June 2017 - Grab it now through the links below.

Rating: ★★★★★

E-Book Edition

291 pages

Read on: 18-19 Jun-2017

ABOUT THIS SERIES

 

This series started as a one book collaboration between Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy. HIM was AWESOME so it's no wonder they decided to gift us reader with US, another installment starring Wes and Jamie. 4 Years later we got a little gift in a short novella which has the most appropriate name.

This New Adult / Contemporary MM Romance has evolved into something else now - WAGs (wives and girlfriends) keeping the same scenery of hockey and HOT hockey players with more MF stories. 

Books:
1. HIM [Ryan "Wes" Wesley & Jamie Canning] (Published 28 July 2015) ★★★★★ 
2. US [Ryan "Wes" Wesley & Jamie Canning] (Published 8 March 2016) ★★★½
2.5 EPIC [Ryan "Wes" Wesley & Jamie Canning] (Published 9 February 2020) ★★★★★   
    ☺   ☺   ☺
1. Good Boy [Jessica Canning & Blake Riley] (Published 31 January 2017) ★★★★★
2. Stay [Mattew "Matt" Eriksson & Hailey Taylor Emery] (Published 20 June 2017) ★★★★★