Reviews - Shutout | The StoryGraph

1.58k reviews for:

Shutout

Avery Keelan

3.92 AVERAGE

staceyallen's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

agrippinaes's review against another edition

4.0

I enjoyed this. The sexual tension, the chemistry between Seraphina and Tyler was great and as individual characters I liked them both. Tyler was very sweet and his grumpiness was countered perfectly by Seraphina’s bright personality. The plot is a bit heavy at times - definitely check the content notes, especially if you’re sensitive about topics relating to cancer - but I thought the book handled this sensitively.

Aside from this heaviness, the book was very gentle; there’s not a lot of conflict between Seraphina and Tyler, the conflict was mostly external, which I quite liked. The romance was very cute – they had a lovely, touching bond and the book is very hot and steamy as well. It was an easy read and I had fun with it.

Content Notes: Brother’s best friend / best friend’s sister, roommates, forced proximity, one night stand, hidden/mistaken identity, hockey, college, forbidden.

Warnings:

Spoiler

Death of a parent (in past), cancer (on-page, FMC’s mother), violence, drug use, sexual harassment, diagnosis of the breast cancer gene (BRCA), discussions of preventative surgery for someone with the BRCA gene, including prophylactic masectomies and prophylactic oophorectomies.

Other:

Spoiler

On-page sex, rough sex, spanking, mild OM drama

Spoiler

There’s an OM who the FMC once slept with who makes unwanted advances towards her. She gets more upset by these advances as the book progresses and he gets pushier.

angiecskyes's review against another edition

5.0

sera and tyler are literally perfect mygoodness

“question 1162”

gabsss_'s review against another edition

5.0

SO GOOD ate this up in 2 days. vibes and writing AMAZING

phinislibrary's review against another edition

2.0

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The beginning of the book was great and enjoyable but the ending really did not do it for me.

bookmusingsbyhannah's review against another edition

4.75

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

bribreez's review

4.0

emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

4⭐️/ 4🌶️

Surprise, surprise we’re back in the “Rules of the Game” series, and with familiar faces like, Chase and Bailey from the first book, there was more to enjoy, but this time with Chase’s sister, Sera and his best friend/ teammate, Tyler. You would think that Sera and Tyler had never met before, but in actuality they once shared a steamy hookup in a club bathroom and it was around Halloween. Now, with Sera moving into the house, Tyler was faced with the girl he had a one night stand with, but was able to put a name to the face that he still constantly thought about. This college hockey romance had even more romance, spice, found family, humor, and that emotional connection the characters felt for each other.

I’ve had this book on my TBR for a while, and I was saving it for a time when I would be ready to get back into this specific world. Reading the first book was so much fun, and I instantly fell in love with Sera’s brother, Chase and his now girlfriend, Bailey. Sera’s story with Tyler was one that I had been waiting to read especially with the tropes of, brother’s best friend/ teammate, roommates, forced proximity, and they had a steamy one night stand! There was a lot of hope I had going into this book that I was going to have fun and like Sera and Tyler.

Sera wasn’t necessarily a sunshine girlie, but she was outgoing, friendly, and kind. Seeing Sera in this book she often times tried to show others she wasn’t “too much” and tried to appear as calm when, sometimes even Sera couldn’t help feeling overwhelmed from an array of different things. The thing I forgot about Sera’s backstory was the fact that her mother was going through treatment for cancer. With Sera’s mom being ill and receiving treatment, Sera often times became worried and overthought everything. Needless to say, Sera had her own hurdles to overcome not just for what her mom was experiencing, but also Sera trying to figure out her future and the decisions she needed to make throughout the book. I thought Sera was kind, flirtatious, fun, and a great person to bring Tyler out of his funk.

Tyler lived, breathed, and practiced hockey since he was little, and with his aspirations of playing in the NHL, Tyler did everything and anything to achieve his dreams by working hard, and making sure no distractions were in his way…that is until a rose gold haired young lady became his roommate and happened to be the one he had a steamy one night stand with!! Tyler wasn’t much of a relationship type of guy, but with Sera he started to see things differently, and even imagine a future with her which was something he had never really done before. As much as Tyler was experienced with casual hookups, the chemistry and connection he had with Sera wasn’t casual at all. Tyler gave off protective and lowkey obsessed energy with the way he was with Sera which I really liked.

Overall, this was a good hockey romance. I would’ve liked to have seen the night that Sera and Tyler had originally met since it was referenced throughout the book, and I can only imagine it would have been a great scene if it was included. Sera and Tyler each had their own things they were facing, but with the things Sera was faced with, it added a bit more of an emotional toll on her story, and the possibility of her future. In a way, there was some emotional depth to the story concerning Sera dealing with her mother’s cancer treatment and others things in connection to it. Tyler was a driven, hard working player on and off the ice, but at some point he came to realize that he needed to have a proper balance between hockey and his personal life otherwise, it would’ve just been ended with him burning out or something else. This book had plenty of spicy scenes so if you love a sports romance with spice then I’m sure you’ll enjoy this book. When I think about the book as a whole, I think it was a good book, but it didn’t land the mark as it did when I read Bailey and Chase’s story. Still enjoyed reading this book, and if anything, I enjoyed it even more towards the end with the epilogue and the addition bonus chapters that really sweetened the story, and showed even more wholesome and loving moments of Sera and Tyler’s future together. I’d still recommend this book if you love hockey romance with brother’s best friend/ teammate, forced proximity, and roommates.