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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
**4.5**
Loved the book. I couldn't put it down.
Loved the book. I couldn't put it down.
An absolutely wild meeting is what sold me on reading this book, but I am still very unsure about how I feel about it.
Context this book was written in 2017 or 2018. There are some moments that in a post roe world feel wildly pro life and made me super uncomfortable. I don't know if they would have felt as off putting if I read it when it came out.
I also had issues with how much the plot hinged on miscommunications between Rory and her dad. I think that her family secrets were so dragged out it was somewhat obnoxious. The inability to think through how her position as the GM's daughter wouldn't impact her ability to do the job and how co workers treated her was really short sighted.
I loved Rory and Max's relationship overall though. I loved how he helped her through the plane crash and the ways he cared for her. The stakes for his hockey career and her succeeding for the year of interning was great. I think the way their relationship developed was great, it just didn't cancel out the other issues I had enough.
CW: Sexual Assault (not to heroine), Violence, weird almost pro life moments
Context this book was written in 2017 or 2018. There are some moments that in a post roe world feel wildly pro life and made me super uncomfortable. I don't know if they would have felt as off putting if I read it when it came out.
I also had issues with how much the plot hinged on miscommunications between Rory and her dad. I think that her family secrets were so dragged out it was somewhat obnoxious. The inability to think through how her position as the GM's daughter wouldn't impact her ability to do the job and how co workers treated her was really short sighted.
I loved Rory and Max's relationship overall though. I loved how he helped her through the plane crash and the ways he cared for her. The stakes for his hockey career and her succeeding for the year of interning was great. I think the way their relationship developed was great, it just didn't cancel out the other issues I had enough.
CW: Sexual Assault (not to heroine), Violence, weird almost pro life moments
This starts out pretty good. Rory has just graduated college and is returning home to learn how to take over her dad's business, but she has no interest in it. In the airport bar, she sees hot guy who later turns out to be her row mate on the flight. There's a problem with the plane, and they end up crashing. Hot guy, Max, takes care of Rory, and they end up hooking up a bit at the hotel, but Max tells her they can't be more after that.
Then Rory shows up for work and you find out her father owns the Vancouver Wolves hockey team, so that's where she'll be working. And guess who just got traded to the Wolves? You guessed it, Max.
The initial part of their working together is a bit cliché, but worked with the story. Max was a manwhore before, but he wants to be serious now and not hook up with the heroine. But of course there's another hot girl working in the office who is always around Max, so Rory is jealous, but she keeps working at her job and helps Max out of some tight spots.
Up until this point, I was liking the story. There was some good chemistry between the MCs and seemed like it was moving along well. But then everything goes a bit batsh*t.
For the whole first part of the book, it was Rory pining for Max, and then everything just flips at Rory's parent's party. Suddenly, Max is perusing Rory and he kisses her that night and gets her to promise more if he reads Harry Potter (yeah, that was weird). Sure, Rory shows up to the party with a "date" and Max is jealous, but to go from totally ignoring their attraction to making out in the library and making plans to hook up later seemed abrupt. And from that moment on, Max was always chasing Rory, and she tried to avoid him so that she wouldn't ruin his career.
And then we get the all the crazy stuff with Katrina and Baxter, the weird Hockey Gurl Twitter account, Max's backstory with his mom and the waitress in Minnesota, the plot to frame Max, Baxter gaining control of the Wolves, and the SWAT team rescue....I mean, seriously, there is soooooo much thrown in here. And Max's unbelievable change from manwhore to totally devoted do-anything-for-love guy was just jarring. He felt like a different character by the end of the book.
And don't even get me started on how the whole plane crash thing is basically ignored for the rest of the book. How is that possible? Big time hockey star was in a plane crash, and no one even mentions it? Just bizarre. The two MCs surviving this crazy near death experience together could have been an interesting place to start a relationship from, but it's just forgotten about.
Besides the plot going wonky, the writing style is a bit awkward. Lots of overly formal word choices and dialogue without contractions. There's also not a lot of build-up between the MCs after the first 30% of the book. Everything just feels a bit pieced together without natural flow, likely because there's just so many different things going on.
I think if there just hadn't been so much stuffed in here it would have worked a bit better for me.
Then Rory shows up for work and you find out her father owns the Vancouver Wolves hockey team, so that's where she'll be working. And guess who just got traded to the Wolves? You guessed it, Max.
The initial part of their working together is a bit cliché, but worked with the story. Max was a manwhore before, but he wants to be serious now and not hook up with the heroine. But of course there's another hot girl working in the office who is always around Max, so Rory is jealous, but she keeps working at her job and helps Max out of some tight spots.
Up until this point, I was liking the story. There was some good chemistry between the MCs and seemed like it was moving along well. But then everything goes a bit batsh*t.
For the whole first part of the book, it was Rory pining for Max, and then everything just flips at Rory's parent's party. Suddenly, Max is perusing Rory and he kisses her that night and gets her to promise more if he reads Harry Potter (yeah, that was weird). Sure, Rory shows up to the party with a "date" and Max is jealous, but to go from totally ignoring their attraction to making out in the library and making plans to hook up later seemed abrupt. And from that moment on, Max was always chasing Rory, and she tried to avoid him so that she wouldn't ruin his career.
And then we get the all the crazy stuff with Katrina and Baxter, the weird Hockey Gurl Twitter account, Max's backstory with his mom and the waitress in Minnesota, the plot to frame Max, Baxter gaining control of the Wolves, and the SWAT team rescue....I mean, seriously, there is soooooo much thrown in here. And Max's unbelievable change from manwhore to totally devoted do-anything-for-love guy was just jarring. He felt like a different character by the end of the book.
And don't even get me started on how the whole plane crash thing is basically ignored for the rest of the book. How is that possible? Big time hockey star was in a plane crash, and no one even mentions it? Just bizarre. The two MCs surviving this crazy near death experience together could have been an interesting place to start a relationship from, but it's just forgotten about.
Besides the plot going wonky, the writing style is a bit awkward. Lots of overly formal word choices and dialogue without contractions. There's also not a lot of build-up between the MCs after the first 30% of the book. Everything just feels a bit pieced together without natural flow, likely because there's just so many different things going on.
I think if there just hadn't been so much stuffed in here it would have worked a bit better for me.
“Love isn’t something you plan for. It’s something that catches you off guard.”
Spice:
Spice:
emotional
lighthearted
fast-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:
No
I am not the biggest fan of sports romance. However, I have been reading more due to some 2025 reading challenges. Mix sports, drama, and romance together… and you make “Puck Me Secretly.” Don’t forget the spice scenes because geez… 🥵
Moved incredibly fast, I found the opening scene where the two characters met to be jarring and astronomically almost unbelievable, but I guess since this is fiction it's still possible. I found that it only served to bring the two people together but ultimately only served as a plot devise that only got brought up when it was needed. No emotional or physical ptsd for the main character. Otherwise still enjoyed the entire novel.
This book was bonkers as fuck. Like reading a soap opera in the most ridiculous, unintentionally funny way.
It kicked off with a plane crash, there was a sexual assault allegation (which I didn't love because it perpetuates stereotypes about women lying), multiple ACTUAL sexual assaults (past events, not on page) including two that lead to pregnancy, a kidnapping/attempted murder, and just a whole cast of wacky-ass characters.
Wish it had been dual POV, I liked Rory but missed out on getting in Max's head. The dirty talk was good though, until the very last scene. Seed/baby talk is only hot if it's monster fucking
It kicked off with a plane crash, there was a sexual assault allegation (which I didn't love because it perpetuates stereotypes about women lying), multiple ACTUAL sexual assaults (past events, not on page) including two that lead to pregnancy, a kidnapping/attempted murder, and just a whole cast of wacky-ass characters.
Wish it had been dual POV, I liked Rory but missed out on getting in Max's head. The dirty talk was good though, until the very last scene. Seed/baby talk is only hot if it's monster fucking
