The Deeper I Fall by Erika Kelly: Seraphina Crutchley has always lead a life of privilege in London so to find herself across the 
pond living and working on a farm is definitely not how she pictured getting her inheritance from her hockey pro biological father. As if being cut of by her parents for not agreeing to marry someone she clearly doesn’t love wasn’t bad enough, Phinny now finds herself having to go head to head with one of her bio-dads hockey boys to get her inheritance. But with nothing to lose and everything, well millions of dollars to gain you can bet that Phinny is going to give this her best shot, even if she has to deal with a grouchy hockey player that makes her feel things that she has never felt before.
“You’re in Calamity now. This area was built by outlaws. If you’re looking for polite behaviour, you’re in the wrong place.”
“Right. I forgot who I’m dealing with. Rugged cowboys and badass hockey players .”
The last thing Declan Cadell expected was to lose his mentor and friend Kurt Grevers, if this wasn’t a shock enough, Declan soon leans that Kurt has left him the huge cattle ranch, well there is one condition Declan has to win in from Kurt’s daughter in a trivia contest. Fully intending to bow out and let Seraphina take her rightful inheritance that is until Declan learns the posh little princess only wants to sell Kurt’s ancestral land, well now all bets are off. There is no way that Declan is going allow this to happen, which is how he finds himself sharing the sprawling ranch home with non other than Phinny, if only he could focus at the task at hand rather than on the pretty princess.
“Love is risky. Life is risky. It’s that way for all of us. But I’m worth the risk, Declan.”
There is absolutely nothing better than having a sassy rich girl and burly closed off hockey player collide in an oh so cute romcom and that is exactly what Erika Kelly delivers in The Deeper I Fall. This was the type of book you just can not put down without indulging in one more chapter, and boy did Phinny and Declan roll out all that slow burn goodness in this book.
“She’s sunshine. He didn’t know he’d been living in the shadows until she’d shined that bright smile on him. He didn’t know how quiet he’d become until he’d heard her full-belly laughter.”
Phinny has to be one of my new favourite female lead character, I absolutely loved this chick, not only did she prove all those lazy rich girl stereotypes wrong but she kicked butt while doing it. I have to say that my heart well and truly broke for her, not only did she feel that her dad didn’t want her but her mother did absolutely nothing to quile these fears. I loved getting to see her work hard at the ranch and in doing so getting to really know Kurt. As for her mother and Andrew, gosh these two just irritated me, like how can you be so cold and mean to your own daughter? Though I will say that they redeemed themselves right at the end.
“His dirty blond hair brushed the collar of his white dress shirt, and he’d rolled up the sleeves to his elbows, exposing the tattoos that covered his muscular arms. He looked mean. He looked hard. He looked… Delicious.”
Declan Cadell, man this guy I wanted to dislike him hard, after the way he treated Phinny at the beginning of the book but gosh damn it was impossible not to just love him the more we got to know him! My heart went right out to him, this was as big a loss for him as it was for Phinny and I just loved that connection and loyalty that he had to Kurt. Declan really is the protector in this story, putting everyones needs before his own, which made seeing him giving into his desire and attraction for Phinny all the more delightful. I absolutely loved getting to see these two bring down their walls and grow closer together exactly the way Kurt had intended. As far as chemistry goes these two were off the charts!
“I’m here for your messy emotions, I’m here for your smile…I’m just here, okay?”
I loved that Kelly has set the ground work for the follow up books in this series, because boy do we need to know if these hockey boys can rebuild their friendship! I absolutely can not wait to go back to Calamity for the next swoon worth romance! The Deeper I Fall is an absolute must read this book will draw you in from the very first chapter and how you hooked right up until the sweet epilogue.
Book Info:
Publication: Feb 18, 2022 | EK Publishing, LLC | Calamity Falls #9
He’s a rough and rugged hockey player. She’s a posh British princess. To win an enormous inheritance, they’re forced to live together.
This is not going to go well.
When his former hockey coach passes away, Declan Cadell is shocked to learn the man left him a cattle ranch. Well, not exactly. He’s got one little hurdle to jump first. He has to win a trivia contest against the man’s estranged daughter. Oh, and there’s a caveat: he’s only in the running if he lives and works with the spoiled princess who blew off one of the greatest men he’s ever known.
As if it wasn’t hurtful enough that Seraphina Crutchley’s biological father replaced her with a bunch of sweaty hockey boys, now he’s forcing her to vie for her inheritance with one of them. Worse, the guy clearly can’t stand her because if—no, when she wins the contest—she’ll sell the land and return home to London. Why on earth would she keep a cattle ranch in Wyoming?
But Seraphina comes to learn the contest is about so much more than a ranch. It’s about learning who her father was and why he stopped asking to see her. It’s about falling in love…and finding the courage to fight for it.
