Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Pucking Around

Surprisingly this book is actually really good. Kinda like if lily gold and hannah grace wrote a book together. Its basically mostly smut, but its a long book so it does have a decent plot to it. U gotta read the prequel first.

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annick's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

2.75

Too long. Too indulgent. The second half just didn’t click for me. The first third was the most appealing to me. Flirty. Some frisson.

The barrage of heart to heart conversations. - too much. It dilutes the impact. Ergh.

The practicalities for a doctor and players. Nope. Cliched and too easily fixed.

The name change was sweet

The pr campaign isn’t realistic but it gets away with it.

There is so so much sex. And most of it just isn’t gripping me as a reader.

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kaitlynnnng's review against another edition

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dark funny lighthearted 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? It's complicated

This entire review contains spoilers.

This book is downright filthy and disgusting…and I loved it. The spice was wonderful.

As a huge hockey fan, I LOVED that Emily Rath actually knew what she was talking about. It can be painful to read hockey books when things aren’t accurate.

Caleb was my least favorite of the partners. I appreciated the dominance he brought to the table, but I didn’t feel like he and Rachel were on nearly the same level as Ilmari and Rachel or Jake and Rachel. His moments with her never made me feel the same way the other guys’ moments with her did. By the end, my mind kind of changed the dynamic to be something along the lines of Caleb and Rachel sharing Jake, and Jake and Ilmari sharing Rachel, not all of them sharing Rachel. However, that doesn’t mean that I disliked him overall. I just thought of him more as Rachel’s bestie.

I do wish that Rachel married Jake instead of Ilmari, given their history and Jake’s need for reassurance, but I do get why it happened the way it did.

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shaykay's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-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

5.0

This book has been everywhere! I have become obsessed with Emily Rath's TikToks for this series. This book is a reverse harem meets hockey, and I could not read this book fast enough! It's a 700+ page book; I read it in about two days! I just could not put it down because it was so good! I loved Jake and Rachel in the previous novella. I was just so curious how they were going to reunite and how they were going to become a part of a harem because they seemed pretty obsessed with each other! So it was interesting to watch them reunite and then become a harem. I loved all of them, but even though I love Ilmari, I don't think he fits into this relationship.
First, Ilmari doesn't get involved until the book's last third. Until then, he's just one of the hockey players that Rachel is trying to help. The two are attracted to one another, and we get some banter between them pretty early on in the book; however, they only go past that once she starts trying to help him. Ilmari, Jake, and Caleb have a tense relationship. They never get along outside of being involved on the same hockey team. But he and Caleb have an understanding and are kind of friendly towards one another. Caleb is an equipment manager, and Ilmari doesn't really have any relationships and is really all on his own here.
Meanwhile, Jake and Caleb are besties. Those two are super close, and honestly, those two and Rachel are adorable together. Still, they will always have something between each other that doesn't include Rachel, so that is how Ilmari fits into this relationship. Even though I initially felt like he didn't fit into this relationship and that he was being forced into it, after reading the rest of the book, and especially the second novella, I think he is exactly where he's supposed to be, and I love this harem so much. They are all adorable and fun, and I can't get enough of this series. However, I'm curious where this series will go since the next book has no harem. Instead, it focuses on a different teammate.

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giannareadsromance's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

How am I supposed to go on after reading this? I’ve never fallen so in love with each individual character of a story the way I did with this one.

Rachel motherfucking Price is the definition of badass, and my favorite female main character of all time. The otherworldly connection and love she shares with Ilmari, Caleb, and Jake is everything. Her role in helping all of them not only find themselves, but stay true to themselves is one of the very best parts of the story all together.

And don’t get my started on the extra curriculars 🥵😅 A cocky defenseman, a brooding bear of a goalie, and their daddy-dom of an equipment manager…. what more can I say?

Also as a side note: I actually really enjoyed the look into the inner medical workings of a sports team, ngl lol.

Additionally, I’m definitely glad I read the prequel to this book (That One Night) before diving in as it really set up the story well, and showed just how deep and fated Rachel’s connection with Jake is moving into Pucking Around. Not to mention it peppers in some background on Caleb and a few other little things as well. (Hi Poseidon 🐾)

This woman can WRITE. From the plot with all the detail, to the toe-curling spice this ticks every single box for me. I can’t wait for the next book in the series (Pucking Wild) which centers around Rachel’s best friend Tess!

If you were debating, take my advice and read the damn book.

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aelin_morgenstern's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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briochebun's review against another edition

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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. ♡

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