"I feel like I’ve finally found my person. The one who won’t try to tame my chaos but will let me live in it and help me balance my impulsiveness with stability. He’s yin and I’m yang. He’s sugar and I’m salt."

This is an all-round good story. It has a little of everything I look for in a romance novel. It stirs your emotions and has you rooting for the couple from the start. There’s some angst, a dash of ‘what did I just read’, enough Awe! to make you swoon, a soupcon of hilarity and plenty to make you fan yourself. There is ex drama, family drama, & a forbidden relationship.
Ryan Kingston ‘King’ is the archetypal good boy. Respectful, considerate, teetotal, polite. He’s never met a rule that shouldn’t be followed.
Queenie, on the other hand, is impulsive, sassy, chaotic, confused, worrier. She the hot mess. Lacks self-confidence
Both are passionate. Though only one of them is following their passion.
After a secret is exposed King uncharacteristically decides to head to a bar to drown his problems, though not very successfully until Queenie lends a hand. Leading to a one-night stand which is totally out of character for King.
She’s gone in the morning, for a disappointed King life goes on unchanged, until the first practice of the season. King discovers that not only is Queenie his GMs new assistant, she’s also his only daughter. Queenie would quite like to hide from the situation; King, true to his nature takes the first opportunity to confront the situation head-on.
They are the perfect foil to each other. King brings stability to Queenie, Queenie mayhem/chaos to King.
“She’s my raging rapids, and I’m her calm lake at dawn. We’re good. Perfect”
Secrets of any size can cause problems, hence why we hide them. There are secrets aplenty, some inconsequential, others that are life-changing in their enormity
A shy little flower in the story will melt your heart.

Ladies, I know you have been waiting for Kings story, and now you have it! He is basically everything you'd want in a man without realizing it. He is the epitome of a 'good guy,' but isn't boring or lame or whatever adjectives one might typically describe a 'good guy.' Sure he drives like a grandpa, milk is his drink of choice and he refuses to allow himself to get worked up about things and heaven forbid he raise his voice in anger, but... he is loyal, not afraid of confrontation (though he tries to keep things peaceful,) sweet, respectful to a fault, and has a few secrets of his own. Least not forgot he is hot, and good in the sheets. One word, stamina. ;) She is a hurricane. Everything he is not. Messy, chaotic and living her life on fumes. She's also a bit lost. On paper they are nothing alike, have nothing in common, but they are anything but. They balance each other perfectly. She shows him how to loosen up and he shows her how to calm the fires burning inside. If you are familiar with this author, you will appreciate the humor, well, you'll appreciate it either way. It's a pretty lighthearted read, though there are plenty of angsty situations that happen and words spoken that bring the lightness down a notch or two. There is some sexual content to bring the steam factor up. As usual with this author, it's well written and well plotted. Easy and quick to read. While this is part of a series, each book can be read as a stand alone... though you will enjoy the characters more if you've read the previous books. There is also some of the Pucked characters included. Yay Violet! :D Due to the sexual content and the nature of parts of the story, I would suggest this for mature readers.

*I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley.

Y’all, I love me some Helena Hunting hockey romances!! Last year I discovered her Pucked series & then branched out to her spin-off series, All In. This is book 3 in that series & it publishes on May 12, 2020.
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Queenie & Kingston meet up at a bar one night, while they’re attempting to drown their stresses in martini glasses. What began as a wild one night *almost* hook up, soon becomes a flash of reality when they see each other again face to face at their place of employment. Their chemistry couldn’t be denied the first night they met, and it certainly won’t be overlooked again... even if the current situation is a bit sticky.
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I loved how carefree & wild Queenie’s personality is, only to be complimented by Kingston’s calm & orderly way of life. What should mix like oil & water ended up molding into something quite beautiful. Their romance has all the swoons (& the heat!).
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I love these types of romances because they’re quick-paced, laugh out loud funny, & irresistibly swoon-worthy. It’s the perfect mix to satisfy my romance reading cravings. And right now, we could all use a bit more of these types of escapes.
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Book 1: A Lie for a Lie
Book 2: A Favor for a Favor
Book 3: A Secret for a Secret
(all of these books can be read as standalones, or out of order, however I recommend reading them all in order b/c you’ll see a lot of character cross overs & cameos)

Well, I love Ryan Kingston. I was skeptical about the third book because I actually loved Rook so much from book one! But Ryan is now my number 1.

I loved how sweet and “gentle” he was with Queenie. I loved how he wanted the very best for her. Queenie’s secret caught me off guard but it made the story so good. Corey was a complete ass and he got what was coming for him.

I also loved that by the end of the book, Queenie was finally doing exactly what she loved. Her relationship with Lavender and eventually becoming an art therapist just made me smile!

Im so sad that this book is over. I need more! I’m going to miss Rook, Bishop, and Kingston.

3,5

Queenie and Kingston are strangers that met at a bar, had a one-night stand and didn't exchange phone number. Fast forward six weeks and the NHL goalie Kingston gets the surprise of a lifetime... The General Manager's daughter is Queenie, her father's new assistant. Neither knew of each other so this is awkward and they pretend to not know each other at first. Soon they realize that the one-night stand was not enough, they want more.

This is the typical romance novel that's easy to read with a little steam. The characters were easy to like, especially Kingston. I'm not overly impressed with the plot though, I think it was a bit thin. The last book, A secret for a Secret was better plot wise and also funnier. But at in all, a well written entertainment for a couple of hours!

I love this All In series, and this one didn't disappoint! 4 1/2 stars for this!
We meet Queenie, daughter of the GM Jake of the hockey team. She's always had to run home to daddy when things happened to her, and here she is yet again, living in his pool house and now working for him as his assistant for the team. Her first day she's in the team meeting with her dad, and she see's Ryan Kingston, or Ryan as she knows him. They had hooked up about six weeks before after telling each other what sorrows they were drinking away in the bar. King is a stand up straight laced guy, so it's unusual that he took her home for the night. King is a sweet guy, you will fall in love with him, but don't let all that sweetness fool you, he's got a dirty side as well which I know you will enjoy! Grab this book asap! King & Queenie will worm their way into your heart!

I've thoroughly enjoyed every book in this series, and A Secret for a Secret is no exception. When a bomb is dropped on Ryan Kingston, goalie for Seattle's NHL team, he has an uncharacteristic drunken one nightstand. With very little recollection of exactly what happened the next morning, all he finds is a thank you note and a pair of ruined panties. Queenie's avoided almost everything that has to do with the NHL for the last several years despite the fact that her dad's the GM of a team, Ryan Kingston's team to be exact.

I adored this couple and this book. A super polite Captain America type that's anything but behind closed doors, yes, please. Queenie was so relatable to me in general, everything from feeling like a constant train wreck to her impulsiveness and fears. The balance between King and Queenie was just so perfect, he was so calm and level to her storm. It's always amazing to "see" Violet, and Lavender made my ovaries ache to hold a baby. This book has everything, drama (more than the others, but not too much), a super swoony H, hilarious side characters (thank you, Bishop and Violet), and ultimate karma in the end (I'm looking at you, Corey and Sissy), it's absolutely the perfect distraction.

http://bananatricky.blogspot.com/Three and a half stars.

Two people meet in a bar, both feeling incredibly low, what follows is an out-of-character one-night stand, until six weeks later when she turns out to be his general manager's daughter.

Ryan is almost pathologically a rule follower, he drives five miles below the speed-limit, dresses like a summer camp leader, drinks milk with his meals, and is focused on his hockey career. Until a vengeful ex spills family secrets he really didn't see coming.

Queenie has been drifting through life, she's given up on several college courses, got fired from several catering jobs and is reduced to living in her father's guesthouse and working as his assistant. Her mother abandoned them when Queenie was just a baby, unable to cope with bringing up a baby when she was only a teenager herself. When Queenie does speak to her mother theirs is not a healthy relationship.

This series is a bit of a see-saw for me, couldn't finish the first one, loved the second and in two minds about this one. I think my issues are with Queenie's character, she is so bold and outspoken in her sex life yet so insecure and suffering from feelings of inadequacy in most other areas of her life - the two sides of her didn't seem to belong to the same person. Similarly, I think for this to have been a successful opposites-attract romance Ryan should have been too regimented in sticking to the rules, too uptight, maybe missing out on something at work because he couldn't colour outside the lines. Instead, he was just this amazingly sweet guy, thoughtful, caring, polite and so when Queenie persuaded him to cut loose it was actually to do something potentially detrimental to his career.

However, not to be all negative-Nelly, there were things that I did like. Queenie's relationship with her father was sweet, her interactions with the other WAGs were fun and their children were adorable. There were a lot of 'drama' plot lines which kept the novel pacey and helped to tie this book into the previous ones. There was also a surprise pot twist that I didn't see coming, so that was good.

Helena Hunting knows how to write a fast-paced, engaging romance, sometimes her characters work for me and sometimes they don't - but I keep reading them anyway.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review 2020/04/review-secret-for-secret.html

Honestly, after 3 Helena Hunting books (Pucked, A Lie for a Lie, A Favor for a Favor) I figured HH wasn't for me - her heroines feel unbelievable (as much as we love Violet, she is literally not a real person) and the banter is sometimes ridiculous. I mean yea Alpha dudes are hot but HH can sometimes take it to a whole new level. When I saw A Secret for a Secret on NetGalley and thought "well let's try ONE more time". And WHOA am I glad I did. Queenie is a GEM. She is a real life human - she is so hard on herself, has family problems while also having a pretty fabulous Dad, loves so hard but doesn't actually think she is deserving of love. And then there's Ryan Kingston - Ryan was so intriguing in the earlier All In books: loves khakis, super buttoned up, and the best friend a dude could have. I was hooked from the first chapter when Queenie and King meet after she gets fired from her job (again) and Kingston learns some truly wild news about his family. After a drunken one night stand, Queenie and King assume their amazing night of passion will never be mentioned again, until they meet again at the NHL facility where King plays and Queenie is now her Dad's (the GM) new assistant.

I thought this book was going to unfold the way that so many do with this trope: hero/heroine try hard to not get together but do anyway, sneak around Dad's back, Dad finds out, forbids them to be together and sadness ensues. Some of that is true, but then the book took a left turn, Jack turned out to be one of my favorite parts, and the plot really took off. I felt so much for Queenie - she has had years of people tearing her down so now she doesn't even need anyone else to do it for her, she tears herself down instead. Queenie and King's relationship (although filled with classic HH sappy lines and a little bit too much sex) is really beautiful to read and seeing the snippets of other characters from previous books was enjoyable. There is one secondary character who really steals the show and it made me want a spin-off so bad (plus I am hoping that Queenie's Dad gets his own HEA). Overall, I can't be over HH now because A Secret for a Secret was just so darn good.

I think A Secret for a Secret is my favorite of this series (do I say that every time?!). Maybe it was because I wasn’t certain if reading about straight laced King would be as entertaining as it was, but it was. The humor, as always with Helena Hunting, was pitch perfect and the romance was sweet and in these crazy times, it was just what I wanted to escape into.

King, if you recall from the other books, is just as good as he appears to be; he’s got to be one of the kindest and most patient and understanding male characters I’ve come across in a long time. And he’s not perfect, but even in his toughest moments, his default was something I wish I could be more like. His appreciation and adoration of Queenie was everything you’d want and expect in the character so it was no surprise that she fell for him.

As put together as King was, Queenie was not. Sort of. I mean, yeah, she was literally a mess and she had a ton of baggage but she didn’t give herself enough credit for many things and the more the novel progressed, the more it became apparent that she was a lot tougher on herself than she needed to be.

Together these two characters and their funny and sweet love story were exactly the escape from this quarantine that I needed. And if I’m guessing correctly, it looks like we may have one more book coming and let me tell you, I am here for it!

Third in Helena Hunting’s All In series, A Secret for a Secret continues in the chess game themed vein in main character’s Kingston and Queenie. Queenie is a 24 year old woman who is a bit without direction and an unfinished college degree. Queenie was definitely relatable in the beginning of the story, and then Hunting threw in many over the top curved balls and I started to not like the book more and more. I thought the slow unfolding between Kingston and Queenie in the beginning of their story was believable and enjoyable, but as soon as the unexpected situations kept on appearing in their love story, I checked out. Violet’s daughter Lavender was an unexpected delight, however the easy camaraderie and easy acceptance between Queenie and the other wives in the club felt forced on the author’s part. It’s okay for there to be tension between humans, not everyone is going to like one another, and in this book I needed to see that. Too much perfection is rote and artificial.
Hunting still is able to bring her humor to her writing no matter how peeved I may be with a story. For that I am grateful and will continue to look forward to her upcoming releases.

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

It’s no secret (too punny? Sorry I couldn't resist) that I’m obsessed with this series from @helenahunting and this book was no exception. When @emmyloves_books posted that it was Read Now on Netgalley I dropped everything to grab my copy. This book was everything I needed to get me out of the slight reading funk I’d been in. •
I love how Shippy and Stevie were mixed into the story, and the Seattle crew really feels like it’s starting to gel the way the Chicago Pucked crew did. We also got more Violet…. Which lets be honest everyone really needs in their life, and those adorable twins of hers Lavender and River, yep they totally stole the show. Based on what we know about Kingston from his friendship with Shippy, you’d kind of expert this to be a boring book. He’s a pretty straight laced guy, that doesn’t get into much trouble. But you would be totally wrong. There is some serious 🔥🔥 and 🍆🍆 here that I’m sure we all didn’t know Kingston had in him. (I think even Shippy might be surprised) I loved seeing him trying to reconcile his rule following ways versus what he was feeling/wanting with Queenie. I love the family dynamics and backstories in this series and Queenie and Kingston were no exception. His family is crazy (in the best possible way- I think….) and Jake was really the best single dad I’ve read in a long time. I’m really hoping we get more of him (Jake) and this whole crew. Helena please tell me there’s more where these came from!!!

I absolutely love this hockey romance. Love the story and characters. Helena has a way with words. So can't wait for the audiobook. It's a reread for sure. I'm so happy that I got an Advance Reader Copy. Can't say enough great things about this book.

So I’ll admit I haven’t read every single book by this author. But I have read the majority of her stories and I have loved them all.
This one though... oh my!
I freaking loved this story beginning to end! These two are so perfect for each other and I can fully picture the two of them. This doesn’t always happen to me. Sometimes they are just faceless characters. Nope. Helena nailed these two down for me.

Add in Violet - remember her and Alex?? - and you have one well rounded story with some amazing supporting characters.
This story provides the right amount of laughs, happy sighs, and ‘oh no’s to grab anyone’s attention.

I highly recommend you read this one!

Secret for a secret by Helena Hunting ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Well, @helenahunting never ever disappoints me with her ability to incorporate steam and romance together in perfect harmony. She has created a universe of characters that keep coming back to say HI and I just absolutely can’t get enough of it.

A Secret for a Secret is the third book in the All In series and focuses on Kingston “King”, a sweet as pie, Boy Scout type professional hockey goalie who after some crazy news has his first ever one night stand with a girl named Queenie. Well Queenie turns out to be his GMs daughter!
I waiver back and forth about whether I prefer bad boy characters or sweet guys and after reading about King..... well, I think I love good boys the most!! He is everything you want your daughter or best friend to find in a man. Queenie is smart, sexy and funny but lacks confidence due to past mistakes. Their story was fun with plot twists that really surprised me. I loved the epilogue and how it really wrapped things up with a sweet bow.

Now. Please please let’s get a story about Queenie’s Dad, Jake. He was one of my fave characters and he needs love!! 💜


Love catching up with d characters

LOVE King. I mean seriously the sweetest.

I love sour cream and onion chips too

I loved this book, and I think that this may be my favorite book in the All In series. We met Ryan Kingston, aka King, in the previous books. He is the goalie for the expansion Seattle NHL team and is a by the book guy. When he is at a particularly low point, he meets Queenie. They get drunk and end up hooking up. Queenie is having her own tough time. She is floundering in life, she quit college just shy of a degree, and has lost her latest menial job. After their hot night together, she skips out before King wakes up figuring she will never see him again. Of course, six weeks later, she is working as her father’s assistant as the new manager of the Seattle NHL team and they come face to face. King and Queenie seem like polar opposites, he is order, she is chaos, but they are both fundamentally good people with good hearts. Add in a lot of steamy scenes, crazy exes and a few secrets and you get a great read. I received an ARC of this book from the author and NetGalley for my honest review.

Another fantastic installment to the All In series by a Helena Hunting. If you’re new here, she is one of my favorite authors and I absolutely love her hockey romances. This is book 3 in the All In series. They can be read as standalone but are better when read in succession as each love story almost builds on one another.

A Secret for a Secret follows King (whom we have met before as Bishops bff in book2) and Queenie. I really enjoyed this couple. There was a lot of depth to their issues and their relationship. King is a seemingly straight laced hockey player. He doesn’t really drink, he doesn’t hook up and everyone would describe him as a perfect gentleman. Queenie is a bit of a whirlwind mess. She has dropped out of college, had a million jobs and and is really good at running from her problems. Her father also happens to be the general manager for the team that Kingston plays for. These two hook up one night prior to the start of the season, prepare to never hear from each other again and are reeeeaaally surprised when they see each other at the teams first meeting. They fight to maintain a strictly platonic friendship but as I’m sure you can tell, they fail.

Now Helena always writes some really good steam scenes and there was no exception here. However I’m finding that the way that each of her characters connect outside of their intimate relationships is what I enjoy the most. King has recently learned some heavy family secrets that he is trying to work out. And Queenie made a few mistakes at college that have recently come back to haunt her. The way that the two of them support each other and work things out was one of my favorite things. Also, Queenie is really interested in becoming an art therapist and the descriptions of the different aspects of that were really interesting and endearing. Another 5 star from me.

Queenie and Kingston met one night in a bar, they bonded over sharing secrets depending on their anonymity, they ended up going home together without expecting more. What they certainly didn't expected was for her to be the new assistant to the general manager of his hockey team.

Queenie is trying to get on her feet, the good thing is she can always turn to her dad for help, which is why he hires her as his assistant giving her only one rule, no dating any of the team players. Queenie's mother has always beat her selfestime and confidence down, she was never there for her and that can have an impact.

Kingston is the most reliable man, he doesn't drink, doesn't party and in general doesn't do anything that can be consider bad behavior. So, having a one night stand with the team's manager daughter is something that throws him off. He is a sweet marshmallow, so shy and proper but also protective and always ready to fight for the people he cares about.

I had the best time reading this book, they are attracted to each other from the start. I loved how they came together and each one completed the other. There were some funny awkward moments which were on point. I also love how we saw the lives of their friends, it was great to see them all together and and see how everything was after the previous books. One of my favourite things was that Kingston called her my queen, as pet names goes it was perfect.

*I received an arc and this my honest review.

4.5 stars

I have been in a bit of a reading slump with everything going on in the world, but when the opportunity to read and listen to A Secret for Secret came up, I couldn't resist. I have been waiting to get my hands on Kingston's story from the moment he was introduced in the series, and he was everything I hoped he would be and more! I know that some readers love the bad boys and others can't get enough of the alphaholes, but there is no hero I love more than the all around good guy with the heart of gold. I don't think that there could have been a more perfect hero written for me than Ryan Kingston.

I loved everything about King and each new quirky thing I learned about him, from his geriatric driving skills to the OCD dishwasher loading, just made me love him more. On paper, Queenie couldn't have been more different than King, but I loved how they challenged and also supported each other. I do wish that Queenie would have gained her confidence a little sooner, but given her history, I understand why things played out the way they did. King and Queenie each learned a thing or two from the other and they complemented each other very well. Plus, their chemistry was amazing and scorching hot! I thought that I was going to burst into flames from all of the anticipation and build up. Having King be the opposite of a boy scout in bed was a fantastic bonus ;) What I love best though, is that Helena Hunting can write an insanely sexy scene and follow it with one of the most hilarious and awkward moments ever. Strawberries will never quite be the same for me. LOL

The story was fairly low on angst, but there was a little too much OW/OM drama going on around our characters at times for me. I did appreciate that it was never a question of where King or Queenie stood in that drama though. The series and characters definitely live up to the "All In" name. Catching up with Pucked series favorites, Alex, Violet, and their family was wonderful and I loved getting to see what the future holds for them. I'm excited to see where these Lavender and River story bread crumbs lead and I definitely have my fingers crossed that momster and a certain GM might get their own HEA. A Secret for a Secret was a wonderful book to finish this series!

Audiobook Review
Overall 4.5 stars
Performance 4.5 stars
Story 4.5 stars

I was fortunate to be able to listen to the audiobook as well as read the ebook, and the casting was amazing. I have to say that Jason Clarke was a million percent the perfect choice to voice Kingston. He has just the right amount of boyish charm and sexy growl to bring the character to life. Stella Bloom was equally fantastic as Queenie and I was very impressed by their ability to voice numerous characters (male and female) distinctly and believably. This was a truly enjoyable listening experience.

*I voluntarily read and listened to an advance review copy of this book*

I absolutely love Helena Hunting's books, they're so funny and my brand of humor. But Hunting's All In series is quite different than what we're used to from her and she proves again that she can write in variety of ways and genres, because you will absolutely enjoy it. Even if you're not a fan of her rom-com hockey series, this series offers something different but still has substance that you'll most likely enjoy this series. And vise-versa. The plot and characters and heat level are well-developed and might get you to care about these characters and their relationships. I devoured this in one sitting because I was completely sucked in and grew to come to care about these characters. I can't wait for more! Thank you for allowing me to read an advanced copy from one of my favorite authors.