Scan barcode
koistyfishy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
Based on looking at the rest of the reviews for this book, I might be in the minority of this, but I enjoyed this book. It made me giggle and smile! I also think I enjoyed it so much because there were a few similarities between my relationship with my husband and how Chase and Bailey act around each other.
This is a Dual POV following Bailey James and Chase Carter. On the night of her birthday dinner, Bailey's cheating boyfriend breaks up with her to focus on Hockey and not the distraction of a relationship. As a pick-me-up, Bailey's friends take her out to a new club where she gets roaringly drunk and hits it off with Chase Carter after a slew of terrible air traffic control innuendos. But she knows all about Chase Carter as he is a star hockey player on her school's rival team and so should be her enemy. She decides to leave with Carter, ends up puking on his shoes and all gentleman-y he takes her to his house... gives her a t-shirt and some place to sleep it off, and that's it! From then on the two form a friendship that blossoms into more.
So there are two things that my relationship shares with Carter and James. One - on one of the nights early in our relationship, I got pretty plastered and ended up showing up on his shoes. And two... never mind the fact that we have been married for almost eight years and I share his surname, he still calls me Ms Maiden Name as a nickname.
Bailey is very unsure of herself. She is timid and afraid to stand up for herself at the start. As a result, she tends to hide or run away from confrontation or any situation that could put her into something with conflict. But as she becomes closer to Chase and their friendship deepens, she starts to come out of her shell and pushes back for herself and stands up for what she believes. This is seriously needed because her initial "friends" and own brother treat her absolutely AWFULLY because of her friendship with Chase and completely isolate and alienate her - making it a very toxic environment to live in.
I love Chase. He is like an undercover cinnamon roll because he comes off as this cocky, arrogant man on the ice, but off the ice, he is a total and adorable sweetheart who is goofy, can make you laugh and is super protective. HJe is also extremely honourable and generous. He almost seems too perfect in everything that he does but my disillusioned mind didn't mind this too much as I was just enjoying the story and all the cute ways he was interacting with Bailey.
The one thing about this that kept the story from being perfect and it actually a detriment, is that it was too long. You could easily cut out 100 pages and it would still flow perfectly. At times was wondering when is this going to end? This was also split with a weird situation that sometimes it went into too much detail on some situations and not enough details on things I actually WANTED to see. (view spoiler)
However, I liked their dynamic and I like the way that their friendship developed, and I like that the two of them were able to grow together. I also really appreciated that she was able to find a "family" that valued her and appreciated her in Chase's circle. While there is a third-act breakup, it's not as a result of them being stupid. So I didn't hate it too much because I understood the reasoning behind it.
Tropes in this include:
▶
▶ Hockey Romance
▶ Ex's Rival
▶ Collage/University Romance
▶ He Falls First
▶ Cinnamon Roll
▶ Forbidden Romance
▶ Slow Burn
▶ Dual Pov
▶ Third Act Breakup
▶ Rich Boy Romance
Microtropes:
▶ "Mine"
▶ Forehead Kisses
▶ Nicknames
▶ Forearm's
▶ Takes care of her
Overall, if you want a sweet little sexy hockey romance, I would recommend picking this up because I really enjoyed Chase and Bailey's story.
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death of parent and Stalking
Minor: Car accident, Pregnancy, Violence, and Drug use
dreezy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Cursing, Medical content, Violence, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Bullying, and Sexism
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Classism, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Blood
Minor: Drug use, Infidelity, Car accident, and Death of parent
sarahsbooklife's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Sexual content and Alcohol
Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Stalking, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
underscoresyd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Death of parent
Minor: Pregnancy, Car accident, Drug use, Rape, and Abortion
wander_read_love's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Cursing, Death of parent, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Violence and Stalking
Minor: Drug use
brandee_cook's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Moderate: Sexual content and Stalking
wendybird13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Stalking and Injury/Injury detail
chloewilson_13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Stalking
Minor: Domestic abuse
beckyremillard's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, and Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent, Grief, Car accident, and Pregnancy
daniellesharp's review
4.0
3rd act break up
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, and Stalking
Minor: Sexual harassment, Car accident, Death of parent, and Pregnancy