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kitstercronk's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Downsides: It's very long for what it is and could probably have been a third shorter. Sometimes we jump from smut scene to smut scene without it progressing any character or plot (which is not necessarily a bad thing but in a book this long might get tedious for some). I also had to ignore the ethics involved with our FMC being a doctor getting involved with patients because that irks me... but it does get resolved in a way that felt OK.
Upsides: Are those dealbreakers when the characters are so stinking cute and watching them work out their dynamic with found family vibes and personal revelations? NO.
Ultimately it was a great rainy day read and the ending had me on the verge of happy tears - I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.
Upsides: Are those dealbreakers when the characters are so stinking cute and watching them work out their dynamic with found family vibes and personal revelations? NO.
Ultimately it was a great rainy day read and the ending had me on the verge of happy tears - I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Bullying, Abandonment, Suicide attempt, and Panic attacks/disorders
allingoodtime's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
For most avid Romance readers, this would be considered a long book. I had initially thought I wouldn’t read this one even though it kept popping up from trusted sources. I finally gave in to give it a go. I’m glad I read this one, but there was bad along with the good.
The novella, That One Night, is a precursor to this story. In the version I read it was included and I think it’s needed to help you understand Rachel. Otherwise, I think she may take some getting to know before you can sympathize with her. With the connection Rachel and Jake have in the novella (basically a long prologue for this main book), I wasn’t sure if I’d like that this was a polyamory story. Once Caleb came into the picture I was fully on board with him being added to the dynamic. It took me longer to feel as though Mars was truly part of the polycule, yet I feel that has more to do with his personality and the difference in his relationship with Rachel. By the end, I think he may have been my favorite.
This story made me laugh quite a bit, and it often gave me that warm-fuzzy feeling I’m always chasing in my reading. It didn’t have a great flow, though. The beginning, after the prologue, was a bit slow. There was a lot to set up, which brings me back to the length of this story. I cannot think of what would be cut to change the length. The relationships Rachel builds with Jake, Caleb, and Mars are truly three separate relationships to start. Although Jake and Caleb are best friends, she has a growing friendship with them each individually before the three of them give in to their pull. Mars is a whole other thread and things need to be established for it all to work in the end. I consumed this book via audio and I honestly cannot say if I’d have had the tenacity to get through the beginning if I had been reading it another way. I’m glad I was able to stick with it as I really did enjoy the story.
One of the things I loved was the building relationship between Jake and Caleb. Jake seemed a bit more clownish overall than he did when he first met Rachel, but his struggle to realize what he was feeling and how that could play out with his career was interesting and touching. Caleb has been through some trauma and his surliness hid a heart of gold that Jake and Rachel could always see, even when he put his walls up. Rachel was an instigator to try to get them to have a real talk with each other, yet she never got too intrusive. She knew they had to come to their own conclusions and discover their love on their own.
Rachel is a hard character to explain. I never hated her, but sometimes I didn’t like her much. I also loved her sometimes. She could be annoying and she could be very perceptive. I guess that means she’s like a real person, but there were times I thought all three guys were way too good for her. To be fair, every single one of these characters had hang-ups that could be frustrating.
As I said, in the end, I enjoyed the journey this story took. The way the HEA happens wasn’t what I expected and I loved it. When all was said and done, I was thinking about this book (in a good way) long after it was over. I’ll be looking for more from this author for sure.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Bullying
meat_muffin's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I loved this book, I loved their dynamics - but the grammatical errors drove me NUTS! Took off a star because of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Cursing
Moderate: Bullying, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, and Infidelity
briochebun's review against another edition
DNF @ 62%
”It's as if his aura takes up so much space all on its own that he compensates by making the other pieces of himself smaller.”
ੈ✩‧₊˚
This novel combined two of my favorite things: hockey & why choose romance. Unfortunately — it still wasn’t able to live up to my expectations.
I admittedly wasn’t the biggest fan of the prequel to this novel — ”That One Night” — but I’ve heard <b>amazing</b> things about ”Pucking Around” so I still wanted to give the novel a go to satisfy all of my curiosities.
One of the main issues that I had while reading ”Pucking Around” was in regards to Rachel’s characterization (which was a bit confusing at times). It felt as though she was all over the place most of the time — there was no consistency to her character.
In the beginning of the novel Rachel stated that she cared about her position too much to risk anything with Jake + Caleb, but not long after that she ended up sleeping with them & forming a relationship with the pair. I understand that she had to cave at some point (it is a romance novel after all), but I did expect her to hold out for at least a little bit longer than she did…
Another issue that I had with this novel was that all of the relationships seemed to lack healthy communication (at least up until the 62% mark — which is where I stopped). I was more of a fan of Rachel + Ilmari & Jake + Caleb as separate couples rather than the MMFM that they were in the process of forming because there were moments where I couldn’t feel the chemistry between them / it didn’t feel like a true why choose MMFM romance to me.
ੈ✩‧₊˚
It’s possible that I’ll attempt to give this one another go in the future — but for now I will just say that I’m glad that others have read and enjoyed this novel & leave it at that. ♡
”It's as if his aura takes up so much space all on its own that he compensates by making the other pieces of himself smaller.”
ੈ✩‧₊˚
This novel combined two of my favorite things: hockey & why choose romance. Unfortunately — it still wasn’t able to live up to my expectations.
I admittedly wasn’t the biggest fan of the prequel to this novel — ”That One Night” — but I’ve heard <b>amazing</b> things about ”Pucking Around” so I still wanted to give the novel a go to satisfy all of my curiosities.
One of the main issues that I had while reading ”Pucking Around” was in regards to Rachel’s characterization (which was a bit confusing at times). It felt as though she was all over the place most of the time — there was no consistency to her character.
In the beginning of the novel Rachel stated that she cared about her position too much to risk anything with Jake + Caleb, but not long after that she ended up sleeping with them & forming a relationship with the pair. I understand that she had to cave at some point (it is a romance novel after all), but I did expect her to hold out for at least a little bit longer than she did…
Another issue that I had with this novel was that all of the relationships seemed to lack healthy communication (at least up until the 62% mark — which is where I stopped). I was more of a fan of Rachel + Ilmari & Jake + Caleb as separate couples rather than the MMFM that they were in the process of forming because there were moments where I couldn’t feel the chemistry between them / it didn’t feel like a true why choose MMFM romance to me.
ੈ✩‧₊˚
It’s possible that I’ll attempt to give this one another go in the future — but for now I will just say that I’m glad that others have read and enjoyed this novel & leave it at that. ♡
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Outing, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Abandonment, Medical content, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Biphobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Drug use, Addiction, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Bullying, Sexism, and Alcohol
inkdrinkers's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
"You deserve every good thing in life. Don't wait for it to come to you. Go out and get it."
Rachel Price has always kept her head down and her private life out of the eyes of the press. The daughter of a famous rockstar just wants to leave her party-girl image behind and move forward with the fellowship of a lifetime as the team doctor for the newest hockey team in the league, the Jacksonville Rays. But when Rachel realizes that one of the guys on the team was her mysteriously magical one-night-stand a few months ago, his best friend is the guy she can't stop herself from falling hard for, and there's a goalie who keeps worming his big Finnish way into her heart - she quickly realizes she's in over her head.
I LOVED THIS BOOK. I love Emily Rath. I loved the characters. I LOVED EVERY SECOND. I have so, so many good things to say about this book, but first and foremost - it was absolute why choose/RH/polyam perfection. There were so many wonderful conversations between Rachel and the guys in the pages, and then the guys with each other. Caleb, Jake, and Ilmari are now three men I might also be in love with? I'm definitely in love with Ilmari, we'll get to him first because I seem to always find myself falling for the absolute biggest, teddy bear of a man in RH books. Ilmari fits all my bills and then throws them in the shredder, he's incredible and I truly loved the emotional journey he went on in this book. Caleb had some incredible moments, he was such a rock for Rachel and I found myself wanting to just wrap him up in a big hug. And Jake, the ultimate golden retriever energy was everything I loved and more. The three of them were balanced to total perfection.
Rachel Price, oh my god, what a fantastic MC. At this point I'm expecting fireworks to start going off every time I open an Emily Rath. book, especially after reading the prequel and seeing Rachel and Jake in their one-night-stand glory. I loved her, I loved how she had her own background and insecurities to work through, and I loved how the guys both supported her and told her to get her shit together. What a way to throw me into hockey romances.
This also did a wonderful job with exploring and expressing some of the harsh realities of professional sportsmanship like outing, homophobia, injuries, and more. I really loved how the author didn't pull punches and made the characters have tough discussions and talk to each other. It was done in such a beautiful way and I'm just extremely glad I read this.
I'm sure people will balk at the page length of this. I did too, but I promise it's worth every single page. I never felt rushed with the relationships, I always felt like I was getting the scenes they needed for development and the moments that were extras, added in just to have. I really loved the shifting POVs and being able to peek into the heads of the guys when things started getting wild. It was just an overall incredible time. I highly recommend this to anyone! And the spice, oh my god the spice. Put me on the bench, I need a quarter to recover before getting back into the game.
Content warnings: sexual content (I mean, you name it they do it), cursing, outing (a major plot point), injury/medical content (Rachel is a doctor, she does doctor things), bullying/homophobia (some people are dicks, and they are put in their place)
Rachel Price has always kept her head down and her private life out of the eyes of the press. The daughter of a famous rockstar just wants to leave her party-girl image behind and move forward with the fellowship of a lifetime as the team doctor for the newest hockey team in the league, the Jacksonville Rays. But when Rachel realizes that one of the guys on the team was her mysteriously magical one-night-stand a few months ago, his best friend is the guy she can't stop herself from falling hard for, and there's a goalie who keeps worming his big Finnish way into her heart - she quickly realizes she's in over her head.
I LOVED THIS BOOK. I love Emily Rath. I loved the characters. I LOVED EVERY SECOND. I have so, so many good things to say about this book, but first and foremost - it was absolute why choose/RH/polyam perfection. There were so many wonderful conversations between Rachel and the guys in the pages, and then the guys with each other. Caleb, Jake, and Ilmari are now three men I might also be in love with? I'm definitely in love with Ilmari, we'll get to him first because I seem to always find myself falling for the absolute biggest, teddy bear of a man in RH books. Ilmari fits all my bills and then throws them in the shredder, he's incredible and I truly loved the emotional journey he went on in this book. Caleb had some incredible moments, he was such a rock for Rachel and I found myself wanting to just wrap him up in a big hug. And Jake, the ultimate golden retriever energy was everything I loved and more. The three of them were balanced to total perfection.
Rachel Price, oh my god, what a fantastic MC. At this point I'm expecting fireworks to start going off every time I open an Emily Rath. book, especially after reading the prequel and seeing Rachel and Jake in their one-night-stand glory. I loved her, I loved how she had her own background and insecurities to work through, and I loved how the guys both supported her and told her to get her shit together. What a way to throw me into hockey romances.
This also did a wonderful job with exploring and expressing some of the harsh realities of professional sportsmanship like outing, homophobia, injuries, and more. I really loved how the author didn't pull punches and made the characters have tough discussions and talk to each other. It was done in such a beautiful way and I'm just extremely glad I read this.
I'm sure people will balk at the page length of this. I did too, but I promise it's worth every single page. I never felt rushed with the relationships, I always felt like I was getting the scenes they needed for development and the moments that were extras, added in just to have. I really loved the shifting POVs and being able to peek into the heads of the guys when things started getting wild. It was just an overall incredible time. I highly recommend this to anyone! And the spice, oh my god the spice. Put me on the bench, I need a quarter to recover before getting back into the game.
Content warnings: sexual content (I mean, you name it they do it), cursing, outing (a major plot point), injury/medical content (Rachel is a doctor, she does doctor things), bullying/homophobia (some people are dicks, and they are put in their place)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Cursing
Moderate: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, and Medical content
Minor: Bullying
amy_sutt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Emily Rath has quickly earned her way onto my autobuy list. I loved her second sons duet. Seriously, what’s not intriguing about why choose in a regency setting? Then I picked up the novella for this series, because I love a hockey romance and I hadn’t read any of Ms. Ruth’s contemporary works and it was excellent. So my preorder got priority in this week’s reading and I am so glad about it. I loved this book so much! Jake and his golden retriever energy, Caleb and his cat manners so worthy of love and so afraid, and Mars…. So many feelings for so few words. I loved Rachel’s character and her backstory and relationships with her family (although I wish we’d seen more of those). I can’t wait for the next book coming this summer.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical content, Bullying, and Violence
Minor: Misogyny
there is a particularly misogynistic character on the team staff and he is part of the bullying. There is also paparazzi and press bullying. Rachel is a doctor so there is medical content but it's not graphic.tab_reads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I received an ARC and here's my honest review.
5⭐️ 4🌶️
MOOD: lighthearted, funny, emotional
TROPES: instalove, instalust, friends to lovers, lite dom/sub play
FAV QUOTE: I groan. Just slather me with butter and jam because I am so f*cking toast.
I really enjoyed Whiskey & Sin so I figured I'd probably like this MMFM/poly story.
THE GOOD: I could not put this down. I did not read the prequel novella That One Night and was fine navigating the story and characters. There is a lot of character depth and growth and the overall story is interesting. Also, lots of spice.
THE NEUTRAL: It's over 700 pages. Not my length of choice. On the plus side, the story moves along nicely and it doesn't feel that long.
THE MEH: I was sad when I finished cause there wasn't more.
CW: From the author: mentions of addiction, substance abuse, bullying/homophobia, harassment, suicide, and eating disorders. Detailed sex scenes with multiple people including elements of impact play, choking, voyeurism, bondage, double penetration, double vaginal penetration, toy use, degradation, spit play, and breeding kink
5⭐️ 4🌶️
MOOD: lighthearted, funny, emotional
TROPES: instalove, instalust, friends to lovers, lite dom/sub play
FAV QUOTE: I groan. Just slather me with butter and jam because I am so f*cking toast.
I really enjoyed Whiskey & Sin so I figured I'd probably like this MMFM/poly story.
THE GOOD: I could not put this down. I did not read the prequel novella That One Night and was fine navigating the story and characters. There is a lot of character depth and growth and the overall story is interesting. Also, lots of spice.
THE NEUTRAL: It's over 700 pages. Not my length of choice. On the plus side, the story moves along nicely and it doesn't feel that long.
THE MEH: I was sad when I finished cause there wasn't more.
CW: From the author: mentions of addiction, substance abuse, bullying/homophobia, harassment, suicide, and eating disorders. Detailed sex scenes with multiple people including elements of impact play, choking, voyeurism, bondage, double penetration, double vaginal penetration, toy use, degradation, spit play, and breeding kink
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Drug abuse, Homophobia, Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, and Bullying
ymalima's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
5⭐️ 4🌶️
First things first, read the prequel That One Night: Pucking Around! It’s a quick, but juicy novella that perfectly sets the stage for book one of the Jacksonville Rays series.
First things first, read the prequel That One Night: Pucking Around! It’s a quick, but juicy novella that perfectly sets the stage for book one of the Jacksonville Rays series.
Pucking Around is a why choose hockey romance which is reason enough to read it, but if you need more reasons…
✅Strong Tatted Doctor FMC
✅Golden Retriever MMC
✅Brooding Daddy MMC
✅Strong Silent, but Wise MMC
✅MMFM polyamorous relationship
✅Bisexuality and coming out
✅Found family
✅Multiple POVs
The characters are multidimensional each with their own journeys personally as well as within their relationships with each other. It highlights how different personalities can bring out different parts of your own and the benefits of having multiple partners bringing out different sides of you and nurturing your relationship in different ways. Lucky Rachel gets to have it all the ways.
It is such a 🌶️ book, but there is also soo much plot that it it never feels like too much. (I mean it’s a lot 🥵 but in the best way possible) There are fluffy, blushing, giddy scenes and swooney, sweaty scenes and uncertain, tense, and heartbreaking scenes - it truly has it all!
I love Rachel, Jake, Caleb, and Ilmari equally and you cannot make me choose a favorite because they are a team!
I loved this book so much I forced myself to take breaks in reading it so that it lasted longer - and it’s a 700 page book and I still wanted more! I’ve never envied an main character quite like I did Rachel and I am already counting down the days until book two is released!
Disclosure: I received a free Arc of this book with no obligation to post a review
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Addiction and Bullying
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