dermkat's Reviews (2.11k)

I listened to this at the start of the Pucking Around audiobook but wanted to log this separately since it's its own thing. This was a reread and I once again thought it was a good intro to the story, a spicy one night stand with two of the MCs to get us primed for the story to start. 

Frik I love this book! I did this reread partially as audiobook (how I started it and a chunk in the middle) and the rest as ebook since I cruise through that faster and can't always focus on audio. My brain fog memory issues had me forgetting a lot of details about this one even though it's been less than a year since I first read it. That made it even more enjoyable in the long run because I went into it knowing the main plot points and got to experience a lot of it like it was the first time, just with a hit of nostalgia as it came back to me. Rachel is a badass and I'm not surprised all three of these men fall for her. Ilmari is the gentle (until he's not) giant, Caleb is beautifully flawed, and Jake is the golden retriever. Jake and Caleb's best friends to lovers relationship and Jake's queer awakening are one of my favorite parts of the story. The spice is top notch in this one, there's plenty of humor, and some drama and angst as well. I know there's more to come for these people so I'm excited to reread the rest of the series!

This was just as lovely as I anticipated it being! I am loving the second chance romance genre as of late and this story, about Luca and Charlotte finding their ways back to one another after 17 years, and a great way to wrap up this baseball series. 

We met both characters in book one, Luca as best friend and teammate to Max, and Charlotte as best friend to Sutton and best friend of Max slash team hitting coach. At the end of that book the two players were traded to Detroit, where Luca and Charlotte came face to face again for the first time since he proposed and she said no right before he got drafted into the league. They've spent the last two seasons getting used to each other again and now take that even further, talking about what went wrong and committing to get to know each other again. And, of course, the love was never truly, totally gone so they fall back into it naturally. 

I appreciated the pace of this one, the way they built up to now, we saw flashbacks, and the amount of time we got with them trying again as a couple. There was also the added layer that Luca is coming off an injury and makes the decision to retire following this season, which gave insight into what players experience during that last year as far as farewells and other things I'd never considered as someone outside the sports world. Also, this is my favorite cover of the series (it's yellow, she's a redhead, they have a blanket and in the book she teaches him to crochet!).

As usual, Megan did a great job promoting this before it's released which always gets me more excited to read each new book from her. Another as usual, it's a great example of closed door romance done well, with plenty of swooning, humor, heart, and tension. Another as usual, this book fit into the wider MCU (Megan Cousins Universe... Has it been called this before?) so we got to see characters from the previous series and the hockey novellas series as well, which I always love, and that reassures me that we may see some of these folks again as the Detroit hockey series continues and in whatever comes next. Well done, Megan!

This is a short story set months after the end of the book, a few bonus for the author's newsletter subscribers. We check back in with the family and see how they've adjusted in time for Lexi to have their baby. It is a little spicy but mostly sweet. CW: childbirth on page (is very short, not very descriptive, and everyone is okay).

This short-story-length bonus epilogue was available to the author's newsletter subscribers for free and it's been a bit since I read their book but I really liked it, so I was happy to be back in their world a little for their wedding night. It's basically just slightly tipsy (funny and mutual) spice, as one would expect. 

This short novella was originally released in chunks via the author's newsletter and then was put out as an ebook. It's the prequel, the weekend that Lexi and Roman met and spent together three years before the start of their book, which was just realeased. You can read the book without reading this but having read it first gave me more context and insight during the occasional flashbacks or references in present day. This is primarily spice, as it's basically a 48+ hour stand, but there's also sweet and real connection, which is why you root for them immediately when their book starts. 

I've been excited for this one ever since it was set up at the end of the last one, and then the author did an amazing job promoting it in the weeks before its release by giving us a prequel story about how the MCs in this one met originally, three years ago. She released if bit by bit for newsletter subscribers and then finally as a whole at the end and I appreciated going into this book knowing their background (you'll be fine if you don't read it first, though). 
This was a really lovely story. It had a bit of a different vibe to some of the previous ones in the series because the characters are both further along in some areas of life. Lexi is the new assistant coach to the Toronto Terror, where Roman is in his final year as goalie before retirement. He's shocked when she comes on as a coach, since she's the one that got away after a weekend together in New York 3 years earlier, and now they can't be together because of anti-fraternization rules. They try their best to stay away but if course fail and keep ending up together secretly. But she's the first female coach in the league and they don't want to ruin her career, plus she's one year into being legal guardian for her two younger half sisters after their mother died. She's got a lot to handle, and she's great at doing it brilliantly, but there are just times where she wants and needs help and Roman is always there for her. 
I thought the forbidden workplace romance aspect was recently done. It's not always my favorite trope because power imbalances can be an issue, and it might be controversial to say, but it feels different when the woman is in the place of power and has all the other societal pressures as it is, plus she isn't his boss and (for the most part) he really cares about her future and success, so it didn't bug me. 
Lexi's relationship with her sisters was both wonderful and heartbreaking, but one of her sisters is a character that was briefly introduced in Chase Lovett Wants me, and I'm sure we'll see more of her in that series as it goes on and she attends university. Lexi herself is an excellent mix of "eff off, I've got this myself" and "but also can you hold me for a lil cuddle?" Roman's situation was flipped now as he's the one hiding things from his daughter and friends and dating a woman ten years younger than him, like they did to him in book 2. He's the same mix of grumpy, smooth, and thoughtful Team Dad that we got to know in previous books. I'm definitely looking forward to the two other books being released this year about people from this universe (one standalone and the next in this series) because they feature two couples I've been guessing would end up together for a bit now. Overall, this was another enjoyable installment in this series, with the sometimes off the wall humor I expect from this author, mixed with the great found family vibes. 

I don't know if it's the specific story elements or if it's a classic case of the author's writing and storytelling improving with every new book, but I loved this one too! All four so far have such different vibes but fit together within the Denver Bandits world. Dom has been wanting Indie since they met and hooked up during the first book, a face that wasn't confirmed until book 3. Now, she's quit her job without a plan and moved to Denver to be near her support system, which ends up being even more important once she eventually agrees to get the genetic testing to find out whether she has the genes that increase her chances of having cancer like her mom died from. Over and over, Dom steps up to be her friend and help her, all the while being honest that he has feelings for her and wants her. She just doesn't believe him at first because of her past hurt with a similar baseball guy, until she sees who he really is and lets herself fall. The health stuff was interesting in this one and I thought it felt well done (I don't have these specific experiences but from what I've heard and learned). The only thing that maybe I would have wanted different, and I understand why it wasn't the case, would be that she opened up to their friends sooner so the support system she moved there for could have been more present for her and just in the story in general. That said, it was great to see the group again, including my favorite Nana Janet who was in fine form as one of Dom's bingo buddies and continued companion of the girls at times. Also, Xavier's story was finally set up and I look forward to when it's released end of May. I also wonder if there will be another book since there is one more couple it feels like she's building towards, but maybe they'll have a side story in book five since she's always sort of been a tertiary character. 

I loved this one! I know we're only book three of five, and I really enjoyed the first two as well, but there was something about this one that just had everything I needed in a romance. Mia's a spicy romance author in a rut, missing the joy she used to get from her career and trying to go out of her comfort zone with spicier stuff but not really sure she can do it. She's Hendrix's sister so we met her in both books before, and I was excited once I realized that her love interest would be Dean, Mr. Tall Dark and Broody himself. There's just something about the quiet, serious guy who clearly has more going on under the surface, which he proved true when we learned about his family drama and secrets that have shaped who he is. They stay together at his cabin in Telluride for the winter, him during off season as he usually does, and her to have somewhere to write. Their chemistry as friends and eventually more is instant and they eventually agree to a sort of friends with benefits but more like short term relationship with an end date. But, of course, it becomes more. The spicy scenes were great, her steadfast belief in who he is and could be was beautiful, and he was so gone for her but in denial that their planned parting made me cry. This is definitely my fave but I'm excited to finally get to Dom and Indie's story, and it was great to finally have Xavier's story hinted at a few ways. 

This one was interesting because we saw Delilah and Cruz go from friends to more as side characters in book one, without a lot of detail, and now we get to see that entire time frame again but from their POV. We also get flashbacks to see how their friendship came to be and important moments where they were both secretly pining. The story also goes past where book one ended and that aspect of the story was intense at times because Cruz was dealing with the loss of his brother 3+ years ago and still working with a PI to find out what happened (and they do find out). We also see more of his concussion that happened in book one. They truly were best friends who transitioned to more pretty easily even with some fear about it changing things, etc. and it was kind of beautiful to see that play out. Book three was also set up well (since I know who it's about) and same with a few more hints towards book 4. Also, I really love these covers!