This has been one of those books that I have been waiting the longest time to read, and once I got my hands on this book, I was so excited. Legitimately in my mind I was imagining the audio from “Lion King” going, “IT IS TIME!” Haha. With a playboy/bad boy hockey player and a feisty/lovable flight attendant, I was ready to dive into Zanders and Stevie’s story. If you’re a fan of hockey romances, you have to read this book! It’s filled with important topics like, mental health/ therapy, plus size representation, body insecurities. 

I love hockey romance books, and with, “Mile High”, I fell more in love with the story, and of course with Stevie and Zanders. Right away, the snarky banter between Stevie and Zanders was great, and I loved seeing how they both wouldn’t back down from one another. Initially, when Zanders first met Stevie, he assumed she would be just another fan who wanted his autograph and sleep with him, but Stevie set him straight and let him know right away she wasn’t interested *mic drop. Stevie was kind and sweet, but was also able to dish out comebacks to Zanders whenever he annoyed the heck out of her. For Zanders, he wanted to mess with Stevie and ensure that she would be so fed up with him that eventually she’d leave her job as their flight attendant. The thing was, Stevie showed Zanders she wasn’t going around, and as much as he pushed her buttons, she remained strong and sassy towards him. I also loved seeing the humor that was infused in the conversations between Stevie and Zanders such as, how they would poke fun at each other, but it wasn’t done in a malicious way, more like playing around. Zanders realized that the way he and Stevie spoke, if it were another person they could have easily gotten offended, but with Stevie she shared his similar sense of humor which added to their growing chemistry. 

This story covered a variety of topics from mental health, body insecurities, and more. For Stevie, she dealt with body insecurities since she was plus sized and had gone through occasionally feeling sensitive or uncomfortable about her body type especially from the things she would hear people say about her body like her ex boyfriend, her mom, or her horrible coworker (Tara). Stevie was a strong character, but throughout the story she had her inner struggles at not feeling quite comfortable in her own skin. With Zanders, he was very open and honest about his journey with therapy and how he had helped tremendously in his life. Zanders also dealt with his estranged mother who seemed like all she wanted from Zanders was money. In that aspect, Zanders was very deliberate in who he allowed in his life since he was wary of who to trust. Each Stevie and Zanders weren’t perfect at all, but I really liked seeing how they went about working on themselves for the betterment of their mental and emotional health. 

Zanders may have originally been ok with the “bad boy” persona, but in reality he was actually caring and kind, especially when it came to those he cared about. Zander’s loved and cherished his friendship with Eli Maddison, Logan (Eli’s wife), their two kids, and his older sister. Eventually, once Zanders met Stevie and couldn’t help himself wanting to be around her, he started to care for her as well. Stevie had her fair share of moments with self doubt and not feeling like she fit the typical look of beauty, but with Zanders he made sure she knew exactly just how beautiful and amazing she was. Not to mention, anyone who dared to treat Stevie wrongly was going to be messed up by Zanders. I loved seeing how protective Zanders got over Stevie especially when it came to her insecurities, Zanders was always quick to let Stevie know she was perfect just the way she was as well as demonstrating *wink, wink just how much he loved everything about her. 

I genuinely loved the connection that Stevie and Zanders had together. From their conversations on mental health, self doubts, insecurities, and fears, both Zanders and Stevie were so open and honest with each other that I found it refreshing to see in their story. I also loved how passionate Zanders was in his foundation that he formed with Maddison. Zanders broke down the stereotype of men not needing therapy, instead Zanders was self aware and brought awareness to therapy and the tremendous help it brought to his mind. I’ve met my fair share of men in real life who didn’t believe in therapy because, they had misconceptions about therapy, and all I’m going to say is that Zanders was showing every man up that it isn’t weak to seek help either it be for your mental or physical help. (Sigh) why can’t Zanders be a real man? *Smh, I want a self aware, strong, intelligent man like Zanders. Along the way, Stevie learned to stand up and speak for herself which I very much liked seeing. 

OMG WHY DIDN’T I READ THIS BOOK SOONER?! SO FREAKING FANTASTIC! Stevie and Zanders were phenomenal, and I also loved the other characters from Maddison, Logan, Ryan, and Indy. I love and I’m obsessed with hockey romance books, and this book is up there on my list of those beloved books I cherish. Stevie and Zander’s story was filled with heartfelt moments, as well as bringing attention to the topics of mental health, insecurities, self doubts, and learning to love yourself. The journey that Stevie and Zanders went through in this story was a lot, but through it all they came out stronger and were able to learn so much more about themselves as well as each other. I absolutely adored both Stevie and Zanders, they had pretty great banter, I absolutely loved reading the times when Zanders and Stevie would just go back and forth with each other with quick come backs with each other. The chemistry and romance between Stevie and Zanders was palpable and passionate! WOO! This book delivered on every front possible while also simultaneously making me want to hug and protect Stevie and Zanders. With each page, I was more and more enthralled by Stevie and Zanders story. I seriously can keep gushing over how much I love this book. The ending and epilogue were heartwarming and sweet, and omg Zanders and Stevie so darn precious! I cannot wait to see what will happen in the next book with Ryan and Indy! *excited squealing! READ THIS BOOK! YOU WON’T REGRET IT!