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A review by onceandfuturebooknerd
Lucky Bounce by Cait Nary
3.5
3.5/5 stars
Lucky Bounce was a sweet love story between a kindergarten teacher named Zeke and his crush - a pro hockey player, Spencer, with a secret daughter who ends up in Zeke's care. The two went from tentative acquaintances to friends and lovers in time and it was really such a wholesome story! I love the migraine rep and all the discussions regarding inclusivity (or lack thereof) in hockey. Plus Spencer's dedication to his kid - I haven't read many single parent romances yet, but this one was a joy to read (for example Spencer showing up with nail polish on his cuticles cause he was being a good dad? I stan).
I have a couple of small complaints that I saw some other people mention as well - I really wish we got Spencer's PoV as well, since being stuck in Zeke's head meant we didn't really get to know Spencer in all his grumpy glory. I also wish we got more insight into other SCs beacuse there were some real gems there (shoutout to D'Amico, what a man). Plus, I know this is just one book and one story, but I couldn't get past the fact that Spencer was only 24!! And Zeke 25 or something like that. I know there is no age requirement for having kids, but I was excited to read about some older hockey players (ya know, 30ish) after seeing what the book is about. But that's just a me thing.
Other than that, I love how their relationship had some hurdles, but they communicated quite well after they got going and tried to resolve everything without too much drama (also no third act breakup! Which was great, but I could've maybe done with a bit more angst hehe).
The best part of this book? Spencer got his daughter a dog and her name was OREO! I have a dog named Oreo, all the stars for little fury monsters!
I would definitely recommend this one to all my fellow queer hockey romance lovers!
Tropes:
- Single dad
- Grumpy x sunshine
- hockey romance
Thank you to Carina Press and Harlequin - Romance for the eARC. All opinions are my own.
Lucky Bounce was a sweet love story between a kindergarten teacher named Zeke and his crush - a pro hockey player, Spencer, with a secret daughter who ends up in Zeke's care. The two went from tentative acquaintances to friends and lovers in time and it was really such a wholesome story! I love the migraine rep and all the discussions regarding inclusivity (or lack thereof) in hockey. Plus Spencer's dedication to his kid - I haven't read many single parent romances yet, but this one was a joy to read (for example Spencer showing up with nail polish on his cuticles cause he was being a good dad? I stan).
I have a couple of small complaints that I saw some other people mention as well - I really wish we got Spencer's PoV as well, since being stuck in Zeke's head meant we didn't really get to know Spencer in all his grumpy glory. I also wish we got more insight into other SCs beacuse there were some real gems there (shoutout to D'Amico, what a man). Plus, I know this is just one book and one story, but I couldn't get past the fact that Spencer was only 24!! And Zeke 25 or something like that. I know there is no age requirement for having kids, but I was excited to read about some older hockey players (ya know, 30ish) after seeing what the book is about. But that's just a me thing.
Other than that, I love how their relationship had some hurdles, but they communicated quite well after they got going and tried to resolve everything without too much drama (also no third act breakup! Which was great, but I could've maybe done with a bit more angst hehe).
The best part of this book? Spencer got his daughter a dog and her name was OREO! I have a dog named Oreo, all the stars for little fury monsters!
I would definitely recommend this one to all my fellow queer hockey romance lovers!
Tropes:
- Single dad
- Grumpy x sunshine
- hockey romance
Thank you to Carina Press and Harlequin - Romance for the eARC. All opinions are my own.