A review by amystks
Perfect Deke by Ruth Stilling

5.0

Thank you to Ruth Stilling and Wordsmith Publicity for an Advanced Reader Copy of Perfect Deke which release March 6th 2024.

Ruth has done it again. Another hockey romance that you won’t be able to put down.

Perfect Deke is the first book in the Blade Kings series and follows the story of Jack Morgan, step son of Ruth’s first book MMC Jon Morgan, and Kendra Hart. 

Jack is a rookie forward for the New York Blades after finishing college and spending a year in the AHL affiliate team and is now settling into life in New York. Kendra is a football (yes, I’m British, it’s football) defender who is looking to go to the World Cup in the upcoming year. Oh, and her boyfriend is Jack’s teammate. 

Kendra ends up breaking up with Tyler but the day after, her apartment becomes a no go zone due to necessary construction and after spending some time at her friend’s place, she ends up staying with Jack who has a spare room. 

The Scorpions characters that we know and love appear in the book to varying degrees with Jon as Jack’s coach taking centre stage (but no wedding planning as of yet, iykyk). And there are more characters that I can’t wait for everyone else to meet and maybe read their books 👀. 

I also really appreciated the discussion about the disparity of pay between professional male and female athletes because this doesn’t seem to be present in some other books that I’ve read. 

As with Ruth’s other books, this book will pull at your heart strings, have you blushing  with what the characters say, and need you wanting more. 

I can’t wait for this book to be out in the world and for everyone else to elevate Jack Morgan to the top of their book boyfriend list.