Usually I'm a bit weary of reading novellas because they tend to feel rushed, but this one was great. I loved Addy and how unapologetically confident she was. Ford was just the right match for her. "In Skates Trouble" had great characters and was paced just right. A great steamy, quick read, that doesn't sacrifice the character's personality or the believability of the plot. I will definitely look for more books by Kate Meader.


Thanks to NetGalley for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.

"A dead man's dick would raise the lid of a coffin on hearing that voice of yours."

Confession, I read and loved this series before realizing there was a prequel. After reading In Skates Trouble I'm reminded how much I enjoyed it and am tempted to start over and read it again...sigh.

This story had me in its grip from the first chapter. I was so intrigued by the idea of the couple connected in darkness, hearing but not seeing each other. Their voices created fantasies that had no chance of being as good in the light of day...or did they? They were living in the moment without looking toward the future. But, what if they were to meet again, could there be more between them?

Holy Hotness Batman! I felt like a voyeur hanging out on a hotel balcony eavesdropping, and I'm not even ashamed. I enjoyed every second of it, and then some. I'm a big fan of Kate Meader's Chicago Rebels and it was such a treat to get another taste of them. Her #HockeyHunks have been a favorite of mine and Ford did not disappoint. He had my support from the beginning as he attempted to convince Addison to give him a chance. There were so many obstacles in their way, but they don't call him Killer for nothing, and losing is not a consideration in his rule book.

Sports players can be hyper and immature so when pro-hockey player Ford meets lingerie model Addy, all bets are off. It takes awhile before Addy sees Ford as more than a dumb jock and allows herself to be in a relationship with a player. Lots of drama-filled ups and downs with family as well as a few sensual escapades. At the end of a mountain of whirlwind of events, what happens at the end will only fill your need to read the rest of the books in this series.
I received a free book from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

OMG this ARC was HOT!!!!🥵☺️

This is not the first book that I have read by this author and she is quickly becoming one that I search for more books by her. This story is about a professional hockey player that unexpectedly gets caught up with the ex wife of his boss. They have a very “heated” relationship that is spelled out so vividly on the pages of this book! This book definitely deserves to go on your TBR list!

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley for my honest review.

This is a nice short prequel to the Chicago Rebels Hockey series. Addison Williams is a famous full figured model and ex of the owner of the Cajun Raguns Hockey team. She has an anonymous encounter with her neighbor on her hotel balcony (they could hear each other, but not see each other) and figured she would never meet. She is coming off a bad marriage and starting a new lingerie line, so she doesn’t have time for a relationship. Ford Callahan is the star right winger on the Stanley Cup winning Cajun Raguns. He wants to meet the lady on the balcony, but she checked out of the hotel. He realizes that he recognized one of the voices of Addy’s friends was the owners of the Chicago Rebels, Harper Chase. He gets himself invited to Harper’s dinner party and meets Addy. This is the start of a hot relationship. There is also a side story with Ford and his family that is pretty compelling. I really enjoyed this novella, and it didn’t fell rushed or glossed over like a lot of novellas can. If you like sports romances, this is a really nice start to the series.

In Skates Trouble is the perfect start to this series! Sexy and fun with a wide open rink to play in! It's just the beginning but what a start.

I did this backwards though. I read the series starting with Irresistible You. I have read and loved the Rebels but always forgot to loop back and learn how Ford got there. Well now that I know, I want to reread. The nostalgia of "seeing" Ford become a Rebel makes me want more Rebel action!

In Skates Trouble is a fun, flirty sexy little novella about Addy who is divorced and more focused on her business than being in a relationship, and Ford, a professional hockey player who plays for her ex-husband's team, who she meets one night by chance. They meet unexpectedly but really hit it off. Their chemistry is off the charts, but Addy keeps Ford at arms length as she thinks anything more could only lead to trouble. I have to give it to Ford though, who clearly saw something he wanted. and was willing to risk quite a bit to get it. I really enjoyed these characters and the author's writing style. I also reall enjoyed Addy's relationship with Harper and Harper's character in general. I am looking forward to going back and reading the other books in this series. This book was a quick read and I read it in one sitting. I would definitely like to read more from this author.

In Skates Trouble (Chicago Rebels, #0.5)
by Kate Meader (Goodreads Author)
Read
I really liked it. It was super sweet and I loved Addison. She's a strong woman who knows who she is and what she wants and Ford is just adorable.

A hockey player whose team recently won the cup risks it all for the woman he loves. Great love story of family and love. A new author for MY TBR of hockey romance.❤️

I had read the other books in this series so I enjoyed this first novella. I thought more could have been made of the age difference. It was briefly joked about in the epilogue but it seemed like there was an interesting dynamic there.

Another great book in the series about a hockey team in Chicago. This one has Addy, the ex-wife of Ford's boss in another team, and they find instant attraction. I liked this one, and for the most part liked the characters, but at time felt like parts were missing. The big issue of the ex, then nothing. Her issue with her weight, but yet she is successful, so wasn't sure what the issue was. Minor though overall, and I did enjoy this one and would highly recommend it. Really liked the side story of Ford and his brother.

Introduction to a great series!

Hockey player Ford Callaghan is in his home town of Chicago for his day with the Stanley Cup after winning with the New Orleans Cajun Rage when he overheard three women talking on the next hotel balcony about how guys fail to pleasure women even when the woman is giving directions. Ford talked with one of the women and really wanted to find her because he had never connected so much with somebody that he had never seen. Model Addison Williams is moving to Chicago to start up her new lingerie company and to move closer to friends after divorcing her billionaire ex-husband who owned the New Orleans Cajun Rage when a stranger overheard them talking on the balcony. Ford realized that he knew one of the voices and contacted Chicago Rebel co-owner Harper Chase to track down the voice through her.

Addison felt that her being the ex-wife of the owner of his team would cause many problems, but Ford was like a bulldozer because he knew that Addison was the one for him and he didn’t care who knew it.

I’ve read In Skates Trouble several times because it leads into the Chicago Rebel series and all of the books are worth reading if you love a good romance and Ford and Addison the perfect couple.

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

In Skates Trouble is a quick but hot and steamy fun read. Addison and Ford will get you hot and bothered in this one. I love them together. Ford is just fabulous. He knows what he wants and nothing will stop him from falling for Addison. I love how he just leaves everything out on the table from his family life to his love life to his career. Addison is lovely. She is trying to figure out her next phase in life. She is strong and doesn't want to be just arm candy anymore. She knows what she wants but it is so fun to watch her fight that pull with Ford. These two are hot together and you will love him. I love that we get this amazing introduction going into the Chicago Rebels series. If you love hockey you will love this one and the Chicago Rebels.

WOW! I loved this book! First time reading anything by K. Meader. I am a huge hockey fan in real life and love finding romance books on the subject.

From the start, Ford is just yummy. The "balcony encounter" with Addy is a GREAT way for their story to kick-off. Ford's character has depth -- he's not just your average alpha male jock. He's kind, thoughtful, and interested in more than just a fling.

Addison (Addy) is a great example of a regular woman. Okay, she is a lingerie supermodel, but it's still nice to see a curvy girl at the center of attention. Her efforts to make a name for herself beyond her body is great. Ford's encouragement of her efforts make him all the better.

This is a great, fun, sexy, entertaining read! I'll be looking for more from K. Meader.

Addison Williams is trying to get her life back on track after divorce. Her marriage to Michael Babineaux, owner of the hockey team Cajun Rage, was anything but good, he simply wanted a trophy wife. Starting a lingerie company for curvy girls has been her dream for a while. Ford Callaghan is fresh off of the best hockey season of his life leading his team to win the cup. Avoiding his brother for a few more days, he decides to stay in a hotel. Lucky for him, the room next door has the woman of his dreams, unfortunately for him, it's also his bosses ex-wife. Addison's happy to sneak around and have a fling, but Callaghan wants more.

This is a great introduction to the series. Short, sweet, hot, and with just the right amount of conflict for a novella, it is a bit of insta-love, but obviously has be due to the length of the book. Two things I really appreciated about this story, it's a slightly older woman with a younger man, and she's curvy. I feel like there aren't enough books with either of those elements.

This is the intro to a series that was released a few years ago now. I believe that it originally appeared as part of an anthology, but is now available as this novella. I haven't read any of the other books in the series, but I have recently read the first book in a spin-off series, Good Guy. I was interested to come back to this first series, after reading that.
This is a fairly quick read. Actually, I read it in one day, it would have been one sitting but some of us do have work to do, sadly. The story centres around divorcee Addison, who is in the process of setting up a lingerie business and hockey player Ford. What I did particularly like about these two is that unlike the pairings you often get in romance books, Addison was older than Ford and had been married before. It's such a refreshing change to not have the young virgin or fairly inexperienced girl who gets taught the ways of love by an older, more experienced man.
We get straight into the action, so to speak, when Ford overhears Addison and her friends discussing disappointing sexual partners. Before they even meet properly, the couple is enjoying one another's company, in more ways than one. I quite liked the way that that was done, it was unusual and entertaining. With this being a novella, getting to the action quickly was always going to be important.
Addison and Ford worked for me as a couple and there was certainly chemistry there. It's always difficult with a shorter story, as some things can be a bit rushed, but this wasn't too much of an issue here. It also set the series up well, which is what I assume the whole point was.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

In Skates Trouble is a novella for Kate Meader’s ice hockey based series, Chicago Rebels. Even though this is a smaller-sized book with a fraction of the amount of chapters as an average-sized novel, I still expect decent character development and information based on something other than sex.

Ford has an affinity for Addison based solely upon hearing her voice through a hotel balcony, and immediately these two are having a heated sexual relationship, with limited time spent getting to know each other, but that’s okay, because Ford knows he wants an exclusive relationship with Addison because her voice is sexy.

Add in drama in the way of Addison’s ex-husband owning the hockey franchise team that Ford is conveniently a part of, and the only thing we ever find out about Addison is that she is a body conscious curvy super model who only ever laments about that part of her personality, and that is about as deep as you’re going to get. It felt a wee bit contrived and rote.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this couple!

I’ve read and enjoyed Kate Meader’s previous series so I was excited to read In Skates Trouble the novella that introduced the original rebel series Chicago Rebels. Ford and Addison’s first “meet” is definitely one of the most unique I’ve ever read. Their chemistry is off the charts and Ford is one of those men we all want/need in our lives. Addison a woman we’d want to be or have as a best friend. This book just made me feel good.

This was a quick read without much plot or character development. Ford falls for Addison just by hearing her voice while eavesdropping on her and her friends from his hotel balcony. They share some dirty time without even meeting each other. And from that moment, he’s just totally in for her. They’ve barely talked to each other since they sneak off to have sex every time they encounter each other. Yet, after just a couple of weeks of having met her, he’s willing to put his whole professional career as a star hockey player at risk in order to be with her. I just didn’t buy any of it.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

Addison was definitely not looking for a relationship and when she encounters a friendly voice she let’s go of some tightly held reservations. She never thought giving a stranger in her name would end up into so much more. Ford “Killer” Callaghan was more that a pretty boy. He would be the man to knock her knickers off. Sometimes you know you’ve found the one who completes you in every way possible and you will throw all your chips in just for that chance of happiness that constantly alluded you.