Chase and Jordyn started a flirtatious relationship over Twitter and when he bet her a date if her team lost, he didn't think she would agree. She was his crush, which is ironic because he was famous as well. Once they meet in person, things are going well, until she backs away. She is a singer and when she has to take a couple of months off, they spend as much time as his hockey career well let them. Again, things seem to be going smoothly, until a secret she is keeping comes out.
Will Chase be able to move past the secret in order to be happy with Jordyn? What happens when he lets her in on the news that he had an injury? Everyone in his life has left when he was hurt or not playing well, including his parents, do he isn't sure he wants to risk it again? Is there a difference between playing hurt and playing injured? Will Chase let his pride get in the way of their relationship, as well as end his career? Or, will he realize that Jordyn was right and help himself before it is too late?
A trashy good book that will take you through every emotion and leave you wanting more. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

Chase has had a crush on pop singer Jordyn for a while and when they start flirting via tweets, he finagles a date with her. Jordyn loves hockey and since Chase started following her via social media and she has been watching him play when his games are telecast, she’s more than okay about meeting him up for a date. What follows is a relationship that would normally not come to fruition had Jordyn not had some issues that forced her out of the spotlight for a while. And yet, everything these two do seems very fortuitous indeed.

I loved watching Chase and Jordyn together. Their banter was always light hearted and fun, the chemistry between them smoking, and the dynamics of their relationship felt very organic. While I was aggravated a time or two at Chase’s touchiness regarding his own issue, I understood why he reacted the way he did. But he gave good grovel when he messed up and I’m a huge fan of the grovel.

This was a very enjoyable read that really doesn’t have a lot of drama or angst. What it does have is just enough to drive the story forward and make the reader question how these two will eventually make a life together. It’s got a great pace to it, fun secondary characters, enough pain in the past to make your heart hurt, and a satisfying conclusion.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided by NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Kelly Jamieson is, hands down, my go-to hockey romance author. She knows the game better than any other author that I've read in this genre. And, she does a fantastic job of teaching the game, weaving that into the narrative in an easy to understand way. As a lifelong hockey fan, I appreciate this so much. More so, Jamieson is just a smart writer.

In Playing Hurt, we meet two characters that are suffering physical ailments that are vital to the storyline. Jamieson cleverly takes the reader through their ailments, informing the reader even as we watch Chase and Jordyn play through their hurt and fall in love. Their love story is sweet and sexy, especially their "meet cute" via Twitter. I really liked Jordyn, who is a successful performer, but really down to earth. She's bubbly and a bit absent minded at times, and loves deeply. She really struggles when she needs surgery that could be career ending, but even then seemed to stand strong.

Then there's Chase. I struggled with Chase initially. He's a recent acquisition and new to the Aces. He doesn't have the chemistry with this teammates that we've seen from the heroes in the earlier Aces books. This made it hard for me to connect with him at first, because that chemistry was super important for me in the other books. But, Chase eventually showed me that he was strong enough to stand on his own. He had surprising depth and insecurities that had me holding back tears at times. His isolation from his teammates and this insecurities drove his story and really paid off in the end.

There were moments that I did find the pace of the story slowed down. While I really liked Chase and Jordyn by the end of the book, they did seem a little flat at times. And, as mentioned earlier, I did find that this installment of the Aces series felt very removed from the other books. That said, Playing Hurt is worth a read!

I love the hockey sub-genre in the sports-romance field and I have enjoyed many books in this genre. This book was my first book by KJ so I was looking forward to it. Sadly, it just didn't work for me.

A few things threw me off, but it was mainly very slow and very descriptive.....and not in a good way. It was almost repetitive in nature, but it just made it feel like the book was dragging. I found myself skimming very early on in the book, and that is always an indicator that I need to move along. I do not ever like to skim, so when I did just to see if the writing style moved into a better cadence, but it didn't. Reading a sex scene between Chase and Jordyn was awkward at best and I actually skimmed that as well. I have never, in all my time reading/reviewing romance, skimmed a sex scene. Yes, that's funny to me....but still, again, very telling.

Adding to my discontent; I didn't connect with the characters at all, so I was also having a hard time with the overall flow of the story and the emotions that were being 'told' to me. It felt very....bland. That's really all it was. There was nothing really pulling me into the story or making me want to find out how these two ended up together and what, if any, was the drama they had to work through. This was a DNF, but I felt I needed to explain my feelings.

Overall, I was just bored and I literally had NO desire to continue with the book. Not one. It was a shrug-my-shoulders kind of read, and that isn't any fun to sit through. I didn't share my review on any platform other than my GR profile so that I could count this book in my Reading Challenge.

Fantastic story and a great addition to the Aces Hockey series. Really enjoyed this storyline as Chase, and Ace's hockey player and Jordyn, a famous singer bond over their love of hockey through twitter. Chase has always been a huge fan of Jordyn's so he flippantly throws out a bet. If his team wins she meets him for a date. Even wilder - she agrees! When they finally come face to face sparks fly instantly. Then they both have issues that affect them professionally. Weathering all the obstacles before them may be more than they can handle.

I think everyone will enjoy this one. I definitely recommend it.

when hockey player chase hartman starts tweeting at pop star jordyn banks the last thing either of them expects is to find themselves in the middle of a big romance. she's la-based and he plays for chicago. their lives are not easily intertwined, but their emotions are.

in playing hurt kelly jamieson again has another winning romance. i loved this book so much. chase and jordyn are absolutely fantastic, relatable characters. how their relationship deepens over twitter, over time is really sweet. but the aces hockey books also know how to pack just the right emotional punch. this one is so good. this series is an auto-buy at this point.

**playing hurt will publish on july 17, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/random house publishing group (loveswept) in exchange for my honest review.

Ms Jamieson has done it again! Knocked another book right out of the park, or should I say, shot past the goalie. I have but a handful of really good hockey romance authors and she is definitely one of them.
Chase and Jordyn was such a fun, flirty and sexy read. We got to go along on the journey with a famous pop star and hockey player when they take their twitter flirting to real life. But when they are both hurt can they be the one strong enough to help the other? Or will careers be the end of a most special relationship?

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book provided by NetGalley.

This book really didn't do it for me. I thought that the storyline was a bit on the sweet side and that is not what I thought that I would get from this book, Chase and Jordyn were good characters but they were hard to connect with. I had a hard time getting through this book.

Inspiration can come from the most unlikely of places. He has something to prove. She has the faith in him he lacks in himself. He's the hockey player who has lost his way. She's the pop star that helps him find his way back. Chase and Jordyn are used to life in the spotlight. However, they are about to find out it's the quiet moments that really matter when it comes to love. Jamieson carves out a larger than life tale that is really quite simple. Playing Hurt makes heart the star of the show.

Chase couldn't believe that Jordyn, a big time pop star, started following him on social media and is now flirting with him in tweets during a hockey game. Jordyn is a big hockey fan and because she grew up in Chicago, is a Aces fan. But Chase has been having trouble with scoring ever since he hurt his wrist at the beginning of the season. Jordyn had to have surgery on her vocal cords and has to recuperate for 6 month ... so she decides to do it in Chicago, and her and Chase begin to date. Neither one will admit it's a relationship because they have such different careers ... how could it ever work between them?

I loved the fact that Chase was not portrayed as a womanizer ... that was a real nice change. I also loved the fact that Jordyn had her own stardom and she wasn't this poor girl seeking out the rich hockey player. And the fact that they did have arguments ... just like any relationship in real life. This is just a sweet, down-to-earth romance with steam! A great addition to the series.

I received an ARC courtesy of Random House - Loveswept through NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

Playing Hurt is a sweet hockey romance. Nothing says cute like Twitter flirting with your pop star crush- just don't tell Chase it's "cute". He would appreciate manly, awesome, or a world of other adjectives but hockey players aren't "cute". 😉

This former bad boy of hockey is reformed. He doesn't party, drink too much, or misbehave. But being on the straight and narrow doesn't absolve him of the ridiculous rumors surrounding his playing. Add a Twitter bet on a hockey game and you have the talk of the Twitterverse.

A hockey player and a pop princess make a bet. A hockey player and a pop princess go on a date. But everything that happens seems to make it so much "harder"! (Snicker. If tournament a fan of innuendo, you might not be as entertained. The Hockey innuendo tweeted are a clincher for the book.)

This sweet story with some delicious sexy times is just what the doctor ordered.

Great read! Unique point of very and story line. Love the witty banter between Chase and Jordyn.

I received this ARC for a fair and honest review through Netgalley and the Author.

I am not a sports fan. Nothing about men getting paid exorbitant amounts of money and playing a game really excites me...BUT I absolutely love hockey. Maybe it’s that my boys play. Maybe it’s that we can go to local semi-pro games frequently. Whatever it is, hockey is my sport.

Reading a romance novel about a hockey player?! SCORE!! This book was a fun read and the author told a great story about two famous people who were both going through a rough time and just looking for a connection with someone else. I enjoyed getting to know this group having never read any of the other books by this author. I think she knows her sport and I think she knows how to write about it!

The pacing of the story was well done and the characters were really great. Chase and Jordyn both captured me from the beginning and I really was cheering for them throughout! I loved their early (and later) Twitter exchanges. I loved how cute Chase was about his crush. I think the story was well planned and everyone will enjoy it!



*** I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ***

When pop singer Jordyn Banks follows pro hockey player Chase Hartman on Twitter, Chase thinks it’s only polite to thank her for the follow. Somehow that progresses to Twitter trash talk during hockey games and a bet for a date. One date turns into more, but they’re both closely guarded. She lives in Los Angeles and he lives in Chicago, and they both have careers that keep them busy. Still, they each find something in the other that they find with few others – the freedom to be their authentic selves.

I love a good hockey romance, so I was glad to read an advance copy of this book, and I loved it! The storyline was interesting and kept my attention, in fact, I pretty much read this in one sitting. Jordyn and Chase both deal with major issues that impact their careers, and their fear and uncertainty as they work through things is palpable. Chase, especially, owned my heart as I empathized with the six-year-old boy who was taught that in order to receive love he had to be perfect. Jordyn and Chase were so great together. Besides their amazing chemistry, their differences balanced each other out and they were each their best selves when they were together. Their story is touching, funny, heartfelt, uplifting, and definite must read!

*I reviewed this book freely and voluntarily, having made no commitment to provide a review and receiving no compensation of any kind from any source for this review.

This was such a cute story about 2 celebrities secretly crushing on one another. When the 2 meet, the instant chemistry was so off the charts hot, I wanted instantly more. I read this book in one afternoon because I just couldn't put it down. 4.5 stars

Kelly Jamieson is back with the hockey series Ace’s. This book has Chase dealing with an injury and also with love from a singer. Jordan Banks a pop princess has responded to one of the tweets that Chase sent out. After going back and forth a few night on twitter Chase has made a bet with Jordan and if he wins he will take her on a date. When he does win thinking that it is just a joke she actually says she would like to go out with him and will be in Chicago the following week. He makes plans and have a wonderful time, he finds out that she is originally from Chicago and that made the date even better. What has not gotten any better is his play on the ice. People are beginning to think that he has fallen back into his partying ways before he was traded to the Aces. When he sees Jordan take a risk with her career having to have surgery, will he take the same risk to have surgery as well? Or will he end up losing the girl and the game. Read this very good book about hockey and what happens off the ice, or off the stage when you have to have surgery but of course you don’t know what is going to happen afterwards. A very good book to go along with the other ones in the series.

Kelly Jamieson scores with PLAYING HURT the sixth book in the Aces Hockey series. Left winger Chase Hartman and pop star Jordyn Banks strike up a friendship on Twitter. After losing a bet on a hockey game, Jordyn agrees to go on a date with Chase. The two have different medical issues that threaten their careers, thus relating to one another. This contemporary sports romance in suitable for adult audiences. The story primarily takes place in Chicago.

I really enjoyed this story. I love how Chase and Jordyn meet. They have a lot in common and help each other cope with their similar situations. They are a fun couple. I appreciated that they were both so down to earth and that they can act like themselves around one another. I was impressed by Chases date choices.

They both had potentially career-ending medical conditions to deal with. It was interesting reading how they handled their situations. They have several obstacles to overcome throughout the story, like Jordyn living in L.A. and Chase in Chicago. Not to mention crazy work schedules. They both grow throughout the novel.

Kelly Jamieson does a wonderful job with this novel. It is an excellent addition to the Aces Hockey series. Her writing is skillfully executed, and her plot is fun and heartfelt. I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

Chase and Jordyn the story of the hockey player and the singer.. I read this blurb and was oh this is gonna be good.. Two people with demanding careers and both in the public eye. The banter between them on twitter is hilarious and I knew this was gonna get good.. Chase bets her a date on twitter over who wins a hockey game, when he wins he can't believe he is really going to get a date with Jordyn. They have a major attraction but live crazy lives in two different states no way it can work. But when it seems to be working okay can anything get in the way? When Jordyn has a major hiccup with her career Chase just wants to be there for her but she pushes him away. When Chase gets injured and the pressure of being perfect for everyone weighs on him he pushes her away. But in the end can they see that while Playing Hurt you can still have love and a relationship? The banter through out was so much fun and I couldn't wait to see where this went


The ending fell a bit flat for me but overall extremely well written and fun, sexy story.

And it started with a tweet...

Who?
• Chase - A rehabilitated hockey bad boy, who was in a slump
• Jordyn - A pop princess, whose vocals were feeling off

What?
After Jordyn followed Chase back on Twitter, they began tweeting back and forth. During their Twitter flirtation, Chase wins a bet, and Jordyn owes him a date. They shared a fantastic evening and lots of sparks, but would they be able to navigate a relationship with two demanding careers?

Why?
I am a solid hockey romance fan, and was really excited to get back on the ice with the Aces.

I adored Chase and Jordyn together. I thought it was fun to have this celebrity romance, and also appreciated how 21st century it was, being cultivated via social media. I thought these two had great chemistry and the banter was great. I found their humor quite amusing, and enjoyed seeing them be able to just "be" with each other.

The connection between Jordyn and Chase was sort of based on small talk in the beginning, but as they got to know each other, it ran much deeper. Both were dealing with big obstacles in their careers, and it was great that they had one another to confide in.

This obstacle was both physical and mental for Chase. He felt the love he received from others was based on how well he performed on the ice, and due to his lackluster season, ghosts from his past were haunting him. My heart broke every time he brought up these feelings, and I really didn't want his past to get in the way of his future.

I enjoyed all the fun I got to have with this couple. From bowling to an island getaway, these two showed they knew how to have a good time. It was obvious how comfortable they were with each other, and I was totally shipping them.

Overall
A fun and flirty romance between two people, who provided love and support to one another at a rocky time in their lives. They made me smile, they made me laugh, and they made me cheer for them. Another fine addition to the Aces Hockey series.

I wasn't sure if I was going to end up liking this book because it started out a little rough for me, but it smoothed out and I ended up really enjoying it. My problem with the beginning was the maturity level of the characters. I wasn't feeling it at first, but they definitely got better and evolved as characters as the story progressed. I love that Jordyn and Chase's relationship grew organically. I like the way it started and I think that made a great foundation for a relationship in person. I could feel the heat and chemistry between them and Chase's dirty mouth was hot. They both had things they were working through and for the most part they worked through them together. Jordyn was able to make Chase see himself in a different light and I love who he became once he saw himself through her eyes. Overall, a solid, sexy romance that pulled at my heart strings.