The Penalty Box

Table of Contents

 

“
Total Rush
is just that—a total rush, an absolute delight. Deirdre Martin is the reason I read romance novels. This contemporary romance is so well-written, [it] has a hero to-die-for and a romance that turns you into a puddle. It fills your heart to overflowing with love, acceptance, and the beauty of uniqueness. I laughed, I cried, I celebrated. It's more than a read, it is a re-read. Brava, Ms. Martin, you're the greatest!”
—The Best Reviews

 

“The book is well-written and makes you want to keep turning the pages to see what happens next.”

 

“Martin's inventive take on opposites attracting is funny and poignant.”
—Booklist

 

“A heartwarming story of passion, acceptance, and most importantly, love, this book is definitely a
Total Rush
.”

 

“Fast-paced, sexy, fun yet tender, the pages of
Total Rush
practically turn themselves. This is Deirdre Martin's third novel and is as sensational as the first two. It's now Gemma Dante's turn to find love, and the attraction between her and Sean is dynamite.
Total Rush
is a definite winner.”
—Romance Junkies

 

“Martin depicts the worlds of both professional hockey and ethnic Brooklyn with deftness and smart detail. She has an unerring eye for humorous family dynamics [and] sweet buoyancy.”
—Publishers Weekly

 

“Fast-paced, wisecracking, and an enjoyable story . . . Makes you feel like you're flying.”
—Rendezvous

 

“A fun and witty story . . . The depth of characterizations and the unexpectedly moving passages make this an exceptional romance and a must-read for all fans of the genre.”

 

“A fine sports romance that will score big-time . . . Martin has provided a winner.”
—Midwest Book Review

 

“Sure to delight both fans of professional ice hockey and those who enjoy a good romance.”
—Affaire de Coeur

 

“Heartwarming.”
—Booklist

 

“Combines sports and romance in a way that reminded me of Susan Elizabeth Phillips's
It Had To Be You
, but Deirdre Martin has her own style and voice.
Body Check
is one of the best first novels I have read in a long time.”

—All About Romance
(Desert Island Keeper)

 

“Deirdre Martin aims for the net and scores with
Body Check
.”
—The Romance Reader
(Four Hearts)

 

“You don't have to be a hockey fan to cheer for
Body Check
. Deirdre Martin brings readers a story that scores.”

 

“Fun, fast-paced, and sexy,
Body Check
is a dazzling debut.”—Millie Criswell,
USA Today
bestselling author of
No Strings Attached

 

“Fun, delightful, emotional, and sexy,
Body Check
is an utterly enthralling, fast-paced novel. This is one author I eagerly look forward to reading more from.”

 

“An engaging romance that scores a hat trick [with] a fine supporting cast.”
—The Best Reviews

BODY CHECK
FAIR PLAY
TOTAL RUSH
THE PENALTY BOX
CHASING STANLEY
JUST A TASTE
POWER PLAY

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

 

THE PENALTY BOX

 

A Berkley Sensation Book / published by arrangement with the author

 

PRINTING HISTORY
Berkley Sensation mass-market edition / March 2006

Copyright © 2006 by Deirdre Martin.

 

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

For information address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
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375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

 

eISBN : 978-1-101-04351-6

 

BERKLEY SENSATION
^®
Berkley Sensation Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
BERKLEY SENSATION is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
The “B” design is a trademark belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to:

 

 

Jon and JoAnn Epps, Mike and Jacquie Powers, Nancy Herkness, and anyone else I might have missed who shared their youth hockey stories with me.

 

My husband, Mark, for his patience and good humor.

 

Elaine English and Allison McCabe.

 

Mom, Dad, Bill, Allison, Beth, Jane, Dave, Tom, and the “lads” for continually reminding me what's important.

According to Katie
Fisher, there were two types of people in the world: those who attended high school reunions, and those who did not. She herself definitely fell into the latter category, which is why she almost passed Diet Coke through her nose when her mother casually informed her she'd taken the liberty of RSVPing the invitation to Katie's tenth high school reunion, saying she would attend.

“You did WHAT?” Katie gasped, inhaling an ice cube.

“I thought it would be fun,” her mother replied gaily, transferring a chicken casserole from the oven to the counter. She glanced over her shoulder at Katie with concern. “Are you all right, dear?”

“Fine,” Katie rasped. “Nothing like a good choke to end the day with.”

“Oh, you.” Her mother, a small, cheerful, doughy woman, clucked her tongue. She'd never quite gotten Katie's sense of humor.

Having narrowly avoided death by ice cube, Katie filled with dread at the thought of revisiting Didsbury High's class of '96. She wasn't a curmudgeon, or antisocial, or uppity. Nor had she contracted an unsavory social disease the way Lulu Davenport had, farted in the middle of chemistry class like Magnus Pane, or ruined the school's annual production of “The Nutcracker Suite” by crashing into a cardboard Christmas tree onstage like Bridget Devlin. Katie's sin had been unpopularity. High school had been painful.

She'd grown up poor, the result of her father having died young, forcing her mother to support the family on a factory worker's wages. It shouldn't have made a difference—tiny Didsbury, Connecticut, prided itself on being a mixed community with rich and poor alike—but it did. In the status-driven world of high school, to be rich was to be “in,” to be poor “out.” Katie had been a girl in clean but unfashionable clothing who came from the wrong part of town. A girl who hadn't had a home PC or a cell phone, who'd used public transportation because her mother hadn't had a car she could toodle around in on the weekends. Not that she'd had anyone to toodle around with.

Katie had also been brainy. Super-scary-knows-the-answer-to-every-question-the-teacher-asks brainy. To be a teenage brainiac was completely uncool, especially for a girl. It scared people. Especially guys. Especially jocks.

Last but not least, Katie had also been fat, which in high school was the equivalent of being an untouchable. She was the girl whose pants size exceeded her age. Boys had walked behind her in the hall making oinking noises. Girls had slammed her into lockers or invited her to phantom social events.

Nerdy, poor, and dumpy. Three strikes and you're out. The story of Katie Fisher's adolescent life.

Just thinking about it got her annoyed at her mother all over again.

“I can't believe you did that to me.” She cringed as her mother deftly sprinkled Day-Glo orange Velveeta on top of the casserole and slid it back into the oven. “No
way
am I going.”

Her mother clucked her tongue again. “Did what to you? You'll have fun. You'll get to see all your old friends.”

“And who would that be? Ronald McDonald?”

“I don't know why you're so hard on yourself, Katie. You're a beautiful girl. You're a successful professor of sociology.”

“
Now
,” Katie corrected. “I wasn't
then
.”

“All the more reason to attend the reunion.”

So that was why her mother wanted her to go. She wanted her former loser of a daughter to go forth and gloat.

Maybe her mom was on to something here. Maybe it would be fun to walk into the reunion in her now svelte body and ramp up the va-va-voom, just to watch their jaws drop. Or to casually mention in conversation that she was now teaching at prestigious Fallowfield College in Vermont. Katie Fisher, the class of '96's biggest loser, back in town in a big way. Vengeance is mine, sayeth Katie. But that wasn't who she was. Nor was it why she was back in Didsbury.