I was so excited for the new hockey romance from Quinn! And wow, once again I was so sucked into her world! So much that I was thinking how much fun it would be if the hockey guys from the Pucked series by Helena Hunting could play the hockey guys in this series in a game. I know, I’m weird. But what a book boyfriend match-up that would be!

Now, the author was such a tease on the beginning one-night stand that leads to the pregnancy this story is based around. She didn’t give us a lot of details on that night. And I have to tell you that I always love her steamy scenes, so that was disappointing. However, there was a reason for that, she built up the tension between the two by keeping that kind of out of sight for most of the story. Letting the characters remember bits and pieces throughout the story. Letting new things happen that made up for all the hotness we missed.

And since the characters start out in an extremely awkward stage once they realize they have this new permanent life-changing connection, the steamy times definitely needed to wait a bit. But oh my gosh, that awkwardness was so good. A little scary for me at times as I totally have found myself in very similar conversations when I’m with a guy that I either find attractive or might be interested in for any reason. And then I loved Penny’s babbling when she was nervous. Especially the baby names she came up with. Peggy Leggy being my favorite giggle-inspiring name.

So so many good funny bits and pieces to this story. But it was so much more. The relationship issues were emotional and perfect for not having drama just for drama’s sake. We got to go through all the different stages of pregnancy with Penny, and Eli was so good! He dealt with it all almost perfectly! A few times there were issues, because yeah, he’s a guy, and he had his own past to get over and move on from. And of course because part of the pregnancy hormones led to Penny being just irritated by everything, even him being the perfect baby daddy.

And then there was Penny’s brother, Pacey, who was the leading man in the first book in this series, Kiss and Don’t Tell, and we got a glimpse into his perfect but maybe not so perfect in a more realistic way at times relationship with Winnie. Winnie was one of Penny’s friends that helped her along the way. And Penny’s parents were so funny when they found out, or should I say how they found out about the pregnancy.

This was a long one though, but I will not say that it was too long. There was a lot to get through, and Quinn does all of this relationship in the exact way it needed to be so it didn’t seem like a rushed must fit into the perfect HEA formula. It was real and raw and just so so perfect. Loved it! Not sure whose story we will get next, but I’m ready for any of the boys!

Review first published on Lisa Loves Literature.