Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by onefineelephant
Pucking Around by Emily Rath
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
6/10. This book was good but I found out that I think why choose or at least MMFM, mostly porn books are not for me - and that's okay! I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was MMF and had like 50% less sex scenes. Let me back up: the reason that I started reading this book (and the prequel novella) in the first place was because I saw the viral video on booktok where Emily Rath said that all of her characters were anti-Trump. I had had Pucking Around on my tbr for a while so after seeing that, I decided to try it out. I went into this book completely blind and knew it was about hockey, MMFM, and it was going to be sexy. Because I read this on my kindle, I didn't realize it was almost 600 pages until I was already over 100 pages into it. Spoilers ahead.
Positives:
I love the found family aspect, especially how they all support each other and joke around with each other. I love Caleb and Jake and Rachel dynamic, especially since both guys seemed insecure that she would like the other more but had to be convinced that she loves them too. I love the "all-in" mentality that they all had with one another. I enjoyed Mars' storyline where he was struggling with overcompensating with his injury and Rachel begs him that she will do whatever is needed for the best of his health and not just so he can keep playing right now. I also liked the storyline where Rachel took Mars to see Dr. Halla without knowing it was his bio dad then dealing with that aftermath. I love the higher stakes with Jake and Caleb being secretly in love with each other as best friends who were outwardly straight-presenting. Also, the high stakes that come with going public as being in a polyamorous relationship while being public figures also was kind of thrilling. This book was extremely funny which I was not expecting. The little quips or even just the writing made me laugh out loud multiple times. My favorite part was probably the ending when the guys came together to get Rachel her job back by getting testimonials from all the players and her past patients and then they all went public in a big way so that all of the fans were showing their support for all of them. I don't know about how I feel about the guys changing their names to Price for Rachel. It is a nice gesture, I guess, but I really like each of their last names, especially since that is how each of them are referred to for the most part in the books.
Negatives:
I thought Mars being a part of the relationship was unnecessary. I like Mars and I even liked Mars and Rachel's relationship but I wasn't buying that he was necessary in her life. The whole "they each complete me in different ways" just didn't make any sense when Mars and Caleb were so similar to each other. Also, there were a whole lot of times where the characters refused to be open or accepting of something or other (mostly opening up about their feelings or embracing whatever new thing is in front of them right away) and I just wanted to yell "Shut up!!" It was very frustrating that these characters were somewhat insecure to the point that they were constantly suppressing their true desires because of some stupid reason and then refusing to talk about it until it boiled over. I know that is a common thing in books but it is one of my pet peeves for sure. Another thing that got on my nerves was that Rachel was so adamant on keeping their relationships private because of the press or whatever but then they were constantly hooking up in public places and then afterwards would just be like "whoops, we shouldn't have done that, we could have been caught." That almost completely ruins the stakes of getting outed to the public when they multiple times have disregarded their own rule to not hook up in public. My biggest issue with this book (personally!!!!) is that the book was 80% porn. Don't get me wrong, there is quite a bit of romance and the characters are distinct and fleshed out but there is just so. much. sex. I like sex scenes in romance books but because this book was mostly sex and also didn't have very much down-time in between the next conflict or event, it was really hard to read this book casually like I prefer. I usually read books at night before bed usually 30-50 pages at a time but this book was so fast-paced and sex-forward that it was not relaxing whatsoever. Granted, the sex scenes are very well-written and most have genuine purpose within the story or furthering the relationships but I think I have figured out that this type of book is just not for me. I would have given it a 5/10 but I laughed a lot and even cried at the ending or last 75 pages or so. I am not sure if I would read any of the other books. I saw that there was a MMF book so maybe I'll read that one.
Positives:
I love the found family aspect, especially how they all support each other and joke around with each other. I love Caleb and Jake and Rachel dynamic, especially since both guys seemed insecure that she would like the other more but had to be convinced that she loves them too. I love the "all-in" mentality that they all had with one another. I enjoyed Mars' storyline where he was struggling with overcompensating with his injury and Rachel begs him that she will do whatever is needed for the best of his health and not just so he can keep playing right now. I also liked the storyline where Rachel took Mars to see Dr. Halla without knowing it was his bio dad then dealing with that aftermath. I love the higher stakes with Jake and Caleb being secretly in love with each other as best friends who were outwardly straight-presenting. Also, the high stakes that come with going public as being in a polyamorous relationship while being public figures also was kind of thrilling. This book was extremely funny which I was not expecting. The little quips or even just the writing made me laugh out loud multiple times. My favorite part was probably the ending when the guys came together to get Rachel her job back by getting testimonials from all the players and her past patients and then they all went public in a big way so that all of the fans were showing their support for all of them. I don't know about how I feel about the guys changing their names to Price for Rachel. It is a nice gesture, I guess, but I really like each of their last names, especially since that is how each of them are referred to for the most part in the books.
Negatives:
I thought Mars being a part of the relationship was unnecessary. I like Mars and I even liked Mars and Rachel's relationship but I wasn't buying that he was necessary in her life. The whole "they each complete me in different ways" just didn't make any sense when Mars and Caleb were so similar to each other. Also, there were a whole lot of times where the characters refused to be open or accepting of something or other (mostly opening up about their feelings or embracing whatever new thing is in front of them right away) and I just wanted to yell "Shut up!!" It was very frustrating that these characters were somewhat insecure to the point that they were constantly suppressing their true desires because of some stupid reason and then refusing to talk about it until it boiled over. I know that is a common thing in books but it is one of my pet peeves for sure. Another thing that got on my nerves was that Rachel was so adamant on keeping their relationships private because of the press or whatever but then they were constantly hooking up in public places and then afterwards would just be like "whoops, we shouldn't have done that, we could have been caught." That almost completely ruins the stakes of getting outed to the public when they multiple times have disregarded their own rule to not hook up in public. My biggest issue with this book (personally!!!!) is that the book was 80% porn. Don't get me wrong, there is quite a bit of romance and the characters are distinct and fleshed out but there is just so. much. sex. I like sex scenes in romance books but because this book was mostly sex and also didn't have very much down-time in between the next conflict or event, it was really hard to read this book casually like I prefer. I usually read books at night before bed usually 30-50 pages at a time but this book was so fast-paced and sex-forward that it was not relaxing whatsoever. Granted, the sex scenes are very well-written and most have genuine purpose within the story or furthering the relationships but I think I have figured out that this type of book is just not for me. I would have given it a 5/10 but I laughed a lot and even cried at the ending or last 75 pages or so. I am not sure if I would read any of the other books. I saw that there was a MMF book so maybe I'll read that one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Medical content
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Biphobia, Misogyny, Blood