4.75⭐️/ 4-5🌶️

The final book in the, “Sinners on The Ice” series has come to an end. Over the course of the series, there has been a variety of tropes, stories, and unique characters that I have grown to adore and love. With this being the last book, it centered on Layla Benson and Clay Rodgers. Layla and Clay had a history together from when they dated a few years ago when they were in college, but also Clay was Layla’s brother, Drake’s teammate and friend. Despite a bad breakup, Clay and Layla still had feelings for each other, but through the years, the ups and downs of their past still remained in their memories. Now, with Clay having being traded to Drake’s NHL team, Layla was face to face with the man she loved even to this very day, except now her priorities were different since she was single mom raising her adorable, sweet daughter, Maya. Told through dual timelines, this hockey romance had angst, found family, “it’s always been her”, brother’s friend/ teammate, and a second chance romance.

Having to jump back into a series can sometimes be hard when trying to familiarize yourself again with the characters, but thankfully it quickly came back to me. Right away this story had found family, and seeing the characters from the previous books was fantastic, but also heartwarming because those couples are now in a great place. For Layla and Clay, being back around each other was a bit awkward and tense at first, but with the help of their friends, and them taking small steps to be friendly around each other, it worked out. I would definitely recommend this series as from the first book you meet the characters when their in college and then now to this book everyone is older and it’s nice seeing how far everyone has come since the beginning.

From the moment I saw this story was going to be a second chance romance with a single mom trope, I just KNEW Anastasija was going to have me falling in love with Clay and Layla’s story! Just as I had a good feeling with the beginning, I immediately loved Clay and Layla and how their story was so interesting and had a deep romance that definitely wasn’t over by any means, just ask Clay! At first, I wasn’t sure why Clay and Layla broke up, especially because it was mentioned that something prompted the breakup. The more I read the more I realized just how much certain things played a role in the unfortunate breakup. As you can imagine, there was a bit of angst that had me feeling sad over seeing Clay and Layla trying to work through their feelings and the subsequent pain of their past relationship. I could see that even with the years that passed between them, there was still love present in both Layla and Clay’s hearts for each other. 

Clay Rodgers was indeed a wonderful book boyfriend, and to see him back around Layla, I could see how determined he was to win back Layla! Before Layla (*think back to their college days) Clay was a man who was use to hook ups, flirting, and being casual. Clay wasn’t the type of guy to date nor did he date at all, but when he met Layla, he had a feeling about her that was entirely different to what he experienced in the past. To see Clay go from playboy to a committed boyfriend was sweet, but also illustrated the changes he went through at a younger age. In the present timeline, Clay’s feelings for Layla were still strong, and he was determined to get her back, and with Maya being in the picture she was included as well for Clay to win her over. I think what I loved about this second chance romance wasn’t just seeing Clay doing everything he could to be back with Layla, but seeing how genuinely happy and sweet he was with Maya, and wanting to get to know her. As a single mom, Layla’s life revolved around Maya so, if any man wanted to be with Layla, that included Maya as well which seeing how Clay and Maya became so close super quick, it was so endearing and lovely to see the two of them together. 

Clay and Layla’s story was full of ups and downs that spanned the course of a few years, but eventually they finally got their happy ending. There was plenty of angst and it really got me, which then had me feeling sad for the way things planned out in the past and present between Layla and Clay. I still very much enjoyed this story especially seeing the previous characters from the past books within the series, Clay being so wonderful with Maya, and the close bond formed between Clay and Maya was utterly adorable! Despite the ups and downs that Clay and Layla went through, I was happy once they managed to finally work things out, and just enjoy being together forever! The ending of the story had plenty of lighthearted, romantic moments, and even a precious moment shared between Maya and Clay that had me getting emotional! (Sigh) it was really heartwarming. If you love an angsty, second chance romance with found family, sports romance, an adorable sweet kiddo, and a love that never went away, then you’ll love Clay and Layla. Anastasija did a great job illustrating Clay and Layla’s story. I’m kind of sad the series is over, but I’m looking forward to reading more books by Anastasija as always!