Plot: 4/5
Spice: 5/5 (Jesus)
Characters: 5/5

Overall reco: How in the fucking hell have I never read Sloane St James before? How did I not even know this name until This book started slamming all over my socials? I loved this book. The chemistry was lovely, the banter between them, even when fighting, was absolutely top notch. Cal is great and all but Scottie is my girl. I love her, I want to BE her and not just because she's got Cal hanging around. Girl is a BAMF.
The spice was very crisp, very spicy. VERY detailed. If you are not into pages of it then fair warning.. these two have stamina.
Beyond that I could really feel the characters in the story. The author did a great job of making events and moment very real. When Scottie was

in the tower and eventually in the dark I had no trouble believing how she was behaving because of the events earlier.

That whole event felt very natural and real and not like how I've seen it sometimes in other forms of media. It's cliche but thats not bad, you can do cliche well THAT is the trick.
Overall I'm going to immediately read the next in the series and then when I finish this I might just jump to her hockey series (THAT I ALSO HAD NO IDEA ABOUT?!) instead of my other plans. So. yeah! 

 Plot: 3/5
Spice: 3/5
Characters: 4/5

Overall reco: Realistically a 3.5 but I rounded up. Enjoyable. I was looking for a pretty cheesy cowboy romance and I got a pretty cheese cowboy romance. I was surprised by one of the twists and the ending of the book pulled this from a 3 to a 3.5. There is an additional epilogue that you can download and.. I hated that so I'm choosing to forget I read it. The characters were fun and felt dynamic enough to be interesting.
This book really hit the nail on the head for me in terms of a craving. I may eventually getting around to reading the rest, but I didn't have a driving need to know about all the other characters or get locked into this world. I read it in about a day, but by the end I was already thinking about my next book. 

 

Rating: 3.5 (Rounded down, because I'm petty)
Plot: 3/5
Spice: 3/5
Characters: 4/5

Overall reco: As of the reading of this book I have spent just shy of 2 weeks reading all the books in the interconnected series for this author (Offsides & SCU Hockey) that are out. I became more excited for each couple and enjoyed each of the books immensely. I don't normally power through a series like this, usually I'll read the first one or two and then jump to another series and come back at some point. This I raced through excitedly.
Remy and Grayson were the first that were not immediately in the Carolina's and if it was that authors intention to make use feel that disconnection that Gray felt about that. I felt it. My favorites were so close and so far. and it honestly felt like a horrible tease. The little snippets we got of the other characters that we had spent so much time with honestly distracted me from enjoying Remy and Gray. Maybe if we had been given better or more epilogue's for them in their books I wouldn't have felt so completely desperate for little bits of them that I wouldn't have felt so hollow about this book? I'm not sure.
Overall, this book felt a bit more hollow to me. I'm not sure if it was supposed to be that way. It felt like even with the happy ending it wasn't that happy. Sure, it felt realistic,

with 2 dudes on 2 different teams

  only getting to spend short amounts of time together. But when they were finally together it just felt like they weren't settled. Maybe it was because 

the book effectively ends with Remy getting cut from his team. As I was reaching that I was expecting him to immediately jump on a plane an go to Gray and use get a reunion. Even if it was a two night thing.. He doesn't need to be in Calgary a moment longer, and Z even mentions it to him. Maybe it does happen, but we don't get to see that and that felt really bad. Thank god for the epilogue, because if this book had ended like Corwin's and that phone call was the actual end of the book, I'd be so pissed. if you've read the book, JJ Mulder has a second epilogue out on their IG. Look it up. It covers some of the questions that are left hanging 

(Other Notes)
I want to like JJ Mulder. To be truthful, I do like their books and this world. I like that there is the pushback about queer men in sports because that is still and thing and sometimes I want my stories to have that realism. My issue with JJ Mulder is how they end the books. If this book hadn't had an epilogue I would have been devastated. I'm still pretty salty about how the other books have ended. Not with how the story wrapped up but with the abruptness of the endings. Does the story wrap up? Mostly. The larger plot device pushing the over all narrative gets resolved but then you get no breathing time with the characters after. No fall out for that resolution, as small as that resolution is sometimes, no breathing room with just the two characters coming to terms with it. Like.. 

What the fuck does Nigel do now? How about Nico and Anthony, especially now that he's retired but what about all that down time for shoulder issues or coming to terms with retirement? What happened to Remy after that phone call with Gray? Don't get me started on that Troy and Sam got engaged OFF FUCKING SCREEN and then had a wedding OFF FUCKING SCREEN. 

Sure the downloadable bonus chapter does cover the Remy question and a little bit of what's next for Tory/Sam and others, but.. Look we shared the lives of these characters for a bit and I'm not expecting everything. But holy shit, I feel like I'm being edged about characters, which only makes me want more about them. The previous characters DISTRACT me from the current story being told, and that is kind of bullshit.
Sorry for this little rant but fuck.. I feel like I've been cut off from family and now have to stalk social media to get any updates on them. 

 

Plot: 4/5
Spice: 3/5
Characters: 5/5

Overall reco: 5 Stars, and this is after I read the bonus chapter from the end of the book.
I have a lot of favorite couples from this series. Nico and Anthony have been my solid pair, and while I loved Nigel/Corwin and Carter/Zeke. I was not ready for Luke and Max. I completely forgot about Carter/Zeke until their little cameo. Shit this scratched my fucking Nico/Anthony itch but honestly, If I don't get an update on these 2 in the next several books I'm going to lose my mind.
I loved the way this played out and while that

beatdown

was so unrealistic.. IDGAF because it was so satisfying. I haven't screamed and cheered at something like that in a while and it was writing in such a cathartic manner. JJ Mulder is very good at leaning into a characters confusion without totally making the reader also feel confused and that was a clear highlight in his book. I don't think I've be nearly as emotionally invested about these 2 dudes if I hadn't FELT right there with ever step of Max's story. He surely wasn't better be the end, but it felt like we'd been there with him on the journey.

(Other Notes)
That bonus chapter had me fucking SOBBING (the download from the website at the end of the ebook.
I NEED to know how their story goes on. I was upset that many of the other characters got to have lives that we didn't get to see into anymore but OMFG I'm RAPID for more. I need to fill my fucking max tank god damn it. 

Plot: 4/5
Spice: 4/5
Characters: 5/5

Overall reco: The last book was a 4.25, this is a more solid 4. This book had way more angst too it and I pined right along with Lawson. There was also more miscommunication in this book that wasn't immediately cleared up like the others, but I wasn't upset about it. It made sense, and wasn't the kind of an over dramatic main character, but just personal history clouding judgement, WHICH IS GOOD. That is good miscommunication! Anyway. This felt really close to a 5 star but..

what the fuck was that ending? Like I'm used to JJ Mulder's epilogue's being not satisfying and that there is a branch off that comes from this series which I'm likely to devour immediately, but holy shit. That's it? I know we have another book but fuck.. the way the book ended felt like a series coming to an end and I wanted to throw up with how little we got. I feel actually really upset that I can't give Lawson 5 stars because it just fucking ended and I WAS NOT READY

(Other Notes)
Lawson is best boi of this series and I will fucking fight people about it. 

 Plot: 3/5
Spice: 4/5
Characters: 5/5

Overall reco:  I actually really enjoyed this more than the first. Nigel and Corwin are not the fluffy story that Troy and Sam were, there was more too it. More depth. Not super dark but mentions of past abuse, and the ramifications of that. I expected to really dislike Nigel and there to be more of a enemies to lovers thing but not more like reuniting. I did really enjoy the development of their relationship, and man.. Nigel is just.. great. I'm immediately considering jumping into the next book, that's how into this tory I am and I hardly ever stick with a series right through, usually bouncing between series and novellas.

(Other Notes)
Again the epilogue was lacking BUT now I know that's because these book appear to basically be right on top of each other in terms of timelines so its hard to find an epilogue that doesn't spoil things. 
AND THE BANTER! Corwin and Nigel's chemisty in the bedroom was HOT but also so very real. There were jokes, pauses for laughter and other moments and honestly it was very refreshing.
And to add. I gave this book a 4/5 on spice, mostly because of the descriptions even though there was more foreplay that didn't always go anywhere, but not in a cockblocking way, just because of the relationship. JJ Mulder has a knack for just.. giving smut that really tickles my fancy.

Spice : 5/5
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 4/5

Overall a highly enjoyable read. There is very little tension or drama. It's a very cute fluffy story of 2 dudes falling in love. Its very fast and there is so little tension. I went into the blood very blind and I'm used to romance being a bit of a rollercoaster with miscommunication and lots of not talking and expectations. There was but these 2 guys handled everything like fucking adults. Which was kind of refreshing. They communicated easily and it was just a great fluffy romance.

Also, The spice in this book was almost a 5/5 (I generally only give 5/5 when the book is focused on or includes very specific level of kinks.) The scenes were clearly well thought out and highly detailed. They were a joy to read and There was just about the perfect amount of them.

My only complaint is that I wanted more of an epilogue! But Knowing my hockey romances, this isn't the end of their story just the end of their POV's.

 (If you are thinking of wanting to read this but not the rest of the LoG books. It will spoil those books but if you don't care about that, you will not be lost. I wasn't)

Plot: 4/5
Spice: 4/5
Characters: 5/5

Overall reco: Fantastic read. Absolutely one of my top 5 books. I can remember at one point when I was up late trying to find a point to stop for the nice and just so lost in the characters. Usually there is a level of disconnect between me and the page. I found that blurring often in this book. It wrenched my heart from my body and was absolutely what I was looking for.
This would easily be a 6 star for me. I will probably reread this book in the future.

(Other Notes)
I want to start this by saying I have not read any of the other books by Rina Kent, it was highly suggested I start with at least the LoG #1 but I didn't want to I only was looking for an MM story. So I think its important to note that if you are like me, and don't want to read the rest, you will be fine. Yes, reading the others will give you like all this extra knowledge but if you truly don't GAF about the rest then you will be fine.
I do want to say that it took me about 3 tries to start the book. Bran is the first chapter and it took me a few ttries to get used to his narrating style. Once I did it was off to the races. I didn't have as hard a time getting used to Niko's narration, but I really enjoyed how different they narration styles were. It made it EASY to tell and remember who I was 'in' in a chapter. I've read a bunch of multi-pov books that it doesn't change more from character to character. You get their internal thoughts but its not in their 'style'. If this is the case for the other books by Rina Kent she may become an author I will need to consume regularly.