Book Review | Darkroom – Kate Willoughby (Moo U Hockey Series, Book Eight)

Darkroom
By: Kate Willoughby

Series: Moo U Hockey
Book # in Series: 8 of 11
Genre: Sports Romance
Publication Date: April 26th, 2021
My Rating: ✮✮✮✮ 
My Reading Format: *Arc Received For an HONEST Review*

Synopsis:

As a top draft pick from a family of hockey royalty, I’m under so much pressure that I’m losing my edge on the ice. I need something to snap my brain out of this self-destructive stress-loop. That’s where Indi Briscoe from my photography class comes in. She’s flirtatious and funny one moment, sweetly shy the next.

But she’s cagey. She has secrets. Also? She’s a virgin. Did I mention the pressure thing? Maybe I’m crazy for starting something with her. But we can’t seem to help ourselves…

Warning: this standalone novel contains heat, heart, familial expectations, extreme milkshakes, and a hamster with deep thoughts.

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Dark room by Kate Willoughby is the seventh book in the Moo U series. Indi and Hudson’s swoony romance can be read as a standalone.

Hudson comes from a long line of hockey heroes, and in the back of his mind he’s always wondered if his family legacy is the only reason he was drafted in the first round. He knows he’s a good hockey player, but is he really good enough for the professional leagues… I loved the slight vulnerability that resides in Hudson’s mind. There is no doubt about it that this man brings the swoon when he walks into a room, but seeing a fragile side to him, especially before and after a game was icing on the cake.

And then we have Indi. Indi has lived her life hiding behind her defense mechanisms, and for good reason. She was born in China and was immediately abandoned to an orphanage due to the port wine birthmark on her face. She was adopted by an American family and all the bad was put behind her….. Until elementary started, and the bullying began. I learned something from Indi’s story… teenagers can be monsters. My heart broke for Indi and the challenges and insecurities she had to battle throughout this novel. She was challenged not only when it came down to her self esteem, and self confidence but also when it came down to her self identity. 

Having been abandoned to an orphanage as a baby, Indi found herself trying to avoid anything and everything that had to do with the country in which she was born. She not only saw it as her birth parents abandoning her, but also she saw it as the country abandoning her. And being Asian American, she dealt with her fair share of criticism over not wanting to have anything to do with her birth country. 

But as soon as Hudson stepped into her life everything started to change for the both of them. I loved seeing Indi slowly find her self worth and I loved how she started to let go of the past and move towards the future. Ah! This was the redemption story I have been waiting for! 

Darkroom gave me all the feels! I loved Hudson’s swoony, sweet, and sexy vibes just as much as I loved Indi’s girl next door and I’m going to save the world vibes. These two were perfect in their own ways and together. Their chemistry was OFF THE CHARTS!! At the end of the day though, I just needed a little bit more oomph towards the end to push this one up to a five star read.

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