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vellichor_reads's review against another edition
4.0
"I don't want what the world perceives as perfect. I want you, because you're perfect for me and because I'm too selfish to give you up"
Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Spice
Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Spice
75_sweetestbook's review against another edition
5.0
This is Lucia and Sawyer story of a marriage of convients. This is a dark mafia plot that has a twist. I devoled this book as it is a fast packed spicy read that has you on the edge with Sawyer and his MMC and dont touch vibe. Lucia has a past and has been trumaized and trys keeping from Sawyer. Sawyer belives in no lies and has ways of getting the truth out of Lucia and becomes her world.
readsonwheels's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
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
4.25
Playboy hockey player v mafia PR rep set to repair his image w a fake relationship? Yes, please!
4.25/5 stars rounded down
A new to me author (plus a rebranding apparently), this B takes us on an interesting deep dive on when mafia and the world of hockey collide.
It was interesting to read the behind the scenes of a hockey team’s PR team. I feel like so many of the FMC’s involvement with the team has been done and the PR team was a new angle. I enjoyed Lucia being trusted to revamp Sawyer’s image and then jumping in to be his fake significant other in order to save her own butt from her mafia obligations. I enjoyed the mafia angle too. The structure and “secretiveness” that this mafia society had was fun. It was its own version of a cult. I enjoyed how the author depicted the strings that could be pulled behind the scenes of a professional sports team and how you really don’t know what’s going on with upper management.
I liked the journey and character development that both Lucia and Sawyer went on to figure out their own traumatic pasts and to move past it so as to open themselves up to finding love. As with many romances I wanted to throttle the characters at times for their lack of communicating but of course that’s easy to say as a reader when you know if happens exactly like that in real life too.
I feel like this book takes many tropes I’ve enjoyed and put them together and it was fun, but something didn’t quite hit the mark of “I want to go back and reread this.” Will I be continuing the series should there be more books? Absolutely. I wanna see what happens with some side characters and I know shenanigans will be had.
Also, please check trigger warnings because some dark stuff does occur.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Sexual assault, Violence, and Sexual content
kaelizaco's review
dark
emotional
tense
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship
hawaiirican808's review
4.0
My first book by Bibi and I really liked it.
This was a delicious hockey romance filled with lots of SPICE, plot twists for a day and a very twisted storyline. I really loved the chemistry between Lucia and Sawyer, it made for some of the best steamy moments and Lucia took real good advantage of the situation she got herself into. (I DO NOT BLAME HER). It was really cool to see a hockey romance tie into a mafia romance too! I've never seen those two troupes combined and ATE IT UPPPPP. It was a very fast-paced read with a lot of action going on, to where I struggled finding a moment that wasn't just fast to put my Kindle down (adulting is hard when you just want to read your smut in peace). I can say confidently, that Bibi did a great job with this story and I can't wait to dive into more of her dark romances!
This was a delicious hockey romance filled with lots of SPICE, plot twists for a day and a very twisted storyline. I really loved the chemistry between Lucia and Sawyer, it made for some of the best steamy moments and Lucia took real good advantage of the situation she got herself into. (I DO NOT BLAME HER). It was really cool to see a hockey romance tie into a mafia romance too! I've never seen those two troupes combined and ATE IT UPPPPP. It was a very fast-paced read with a lot of action going on, to where I struggled finding a moment that wasn't just fast to put my Kindle down (adulting is hard when you just want to read your smut in peace). I can say confidently, that Bibi did a great job with this story and I can't wait to dive into more of her dark romances!
camillemay_17's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
mhtbooks's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
When I started The Worst Pucking Deal I thought I knew what I was getting in to. Fake dating love it, but no we have marriage of convenience. But not just that we have dark hockey and mafia in this book too. Now that is a recipe of my ideal book. We have Sawyer a playboy hockey player who’s gotten into too many compromising positions and the sponsors are sick of it. Sawyer needs to clean up his image immediately or his career is in jeopardy. Lucia is on the PR team for the Sabertooth hockey team, and she has the idea to get Sawyer into a fake relationship. But Lucia’s past comes knocking at her door in the form of her Cousin Remus the current Don. He wants her to come home because the deal she struck with his father the time is almost up. Lucia is doing to do everything in her power to avoid going home to Italy. Her only way out is to get Sawyer to wife her up, and Sawyer has no want to ever get married. The push and pull between the both of them and the way Sawyer and Lucia‘s relationship evolves was amazing. This book absolutely took me by surprise. I didn’t think I would love it as much as I did and I’ve gone ahead and recommended it to at least five other people just in the past two days because it was so good. I’ve most definitely found a new favorite author.
lady_h_reads's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Lucia Carter—one day to become Lucia Perry—is sinfully perfect, and now mine.
Who can say “no” to a blended hockey and mafia romance? Manipulations, secrets, and lies. A fake relationship turned marriage of convenience—an alphahole hockey player looking to improve his image and a mafia princess running from her past.
The Worst Pucking Deal is a much lighter offering from author B. Lybaek. I was expecting Sawyer to be more like the men from her The Cruz Kings MC series, but while he was possessive and a bit of an alphahole, he was loveable from the start with no need for a redemption arc.
Lucia is crafty. To save her hide, she manipulates Sawyer into a fake relationship and then a real marriage of convenience, but feelings interfere with the proposed end date, and what was once contrived becomes real.
I would have preferred a stronger relationship build-up. It felt rushed. Lucia and Sawyer quickly shifted from barely tolerating each other to love—at least their version of love. I did love the mutual feelings of “mine.”
This is a fast-burn and spicy MF romance.
The Worst Pucking Deal is a complete standalone with Lucia and Sawyer getting their HEA.
Genre: Hockey/Mafia Romance
Tropes/Features: Hate to love, forced fake dating, marriage of convenience, feisty FMC, alphahole MMC, he falls first, touch her and die, “mine”
POV: Dual 1st Person POV
Relationship Type: MF, fast burn, spicy
Book Type/Ending: Standalone with HEA
TW/CW: Available in book
colbygirl13reads's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
5.0
Hockey romance with a mafia element definitely makes it hot! Sawyer is the single hottie of hockey who lives his puck bunnies, until there is an issue. That’s when he is paired with Lucia in a relationship to change his public persona. He needs the sponsors to love him ands not feel like he’s trouble for the team.
The tension between Sawyer and Lucia was palpable, and definitely kept me intrigued. Lucia’s background is well portrayed and definitely a twisted element in the book. I loved that Sawyer ends up the protective doting husband through all the turmoil, while Lucia learns to trust.
If you love hockey romance, the mafia and a bit of dark romance this is definitely for you. Thank you Unalive Promotions and B Lybaek for the ARC.
The tension between Sawyer and Lucia was palpable, and definitely kept me intrigued. Lucia’s background is well portrayed and definitely a twisted element in the book. I loved that Sawyer ends up the protective doting husband through all the turmoil, while Lucia learns to trust.
If you love hockey romance, the mafia and a bit of dark romance this is definitely for you. Thank you Unalive Promotions and B Lybaek for the ARC.
katvou's review
3.5
⭐️⭐️⭐️,5 / 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Overall I liked the concept and idea of the book. The story was a nice mixture of mafia romance and hockey romance.
I liked the relationship between Sawyer and Lucia. They weren’t exactly enemies at the beginning, but they weren't friends either. I liked how their relationship developed and evolved throughout the book. I enjoyed the touch her and die vibes.
The plot was good for most of the book, but unfortunately fell apart towards the end. The big showdown between Remus and Fabian was disappointing, the ending felt rushed, and the mafia elements at the end felt really unrealistic. Also I’m not a fan of the miscommunication trope.
I received an ARC of this book and I am voluntarily leaving a review. Receiving ARC didn’t affect my opinion of the book.
Overall I liked the concept and idea of the book. The story was a nice mixture of mafia romance and hockey romance.
I liked the relationship between Sawyer and Lucia. They weren’t exactly enemies at the beginning, but they weren't friends either. I liked how their relationship developed and evolved throughout the book. I enjoyed the touch her and die vibes.
The plot was good for most of the book, but unfortunately fell apart towards the end. The big showdown between Remus and Fabian was disappointing, the ending felt rushed, and the mafia elements at the end felt really unrealistic. Also I’m not a fan of the miscommunication trope.
I received an ARC of this book and I am voluntarily leaving a review. Receiving ARC didn’t affect my opinion of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Blood
Minor: Pregnancy