This was a beautiful LGBTQIA+ sapphic love story. I really loved it because I am a queer ice hockey player. Ice hockey is very much a patriarchal, heteronormative, cisgender, and white sport. While women's hockey definitely has more LGBTQIA+ out athletes (I can't even think of a single male hockey player, playing or retired), it was really uplifting to read Maisy and Jen's love story. I thought there was depth and chemistry between the two so their love story made sense to me. I also really loved how they grew and changed throughout their journey and before they got together. I loved how centered this was on ice hockey, too. A really brilliant story and I hope Farmer continues the series!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to the advanced copy of this book to read.

I really enjoyed this book. It's not just about the enemies to lovers main couple, but about the whole team of women that surround and support them. You don't need to know or love hockey to enjoy this book, but it will add to your enjoyment. The setting was also great, I feel like the author really captured Boston. I liked the story but think it would have been better a little shorter, maybe novella length. Overall, the characters were very fun to follow and I loved reading a book with so many different, dynamic female characters.

This was a delightfully sweet little 'off the pages' WLW romance about hockey rivals to friends to lovers. I loved the believable way that Jen and Maisy went through these steps as well and that it wasn't just instant. I also think that Kelly did a very good portrayal of the internal conflicts that someone who comes out later in life may have and I really loved how Jen was super supportive of that all around. Such a sweet little romance and I can wait to read the next one. Hopefully we'll see cameos from them as well as Amy and Caro that one.

This was a fun read. I'm always a sucker for the enemies turned lovers, especially when it involves sports. I'm not so much a hockey fan, but you don't need to be. It's more about what happens off the ice, and basic knowledge that American and Canadian hockey players aren't fond of each other...

I didn't read the first book, but I don't feel like you need to. May have been nice, since the same characters make an appearance (especially Amy) but what happens in the first book doesn't sway anything in this one.

I do wish there was a little bit more intimacy shown between the two MCs, especially because it helps heat up their other interactions, but that's just more my jam.

Overall, not an off the charts book but a solid read. Great for a vacation/beach book.

It’s the Winter Olympics again, so you know what that means? WOMENS FREAKING HOCKEY AND CANADA IS JUST ABSOLUTELY CRUSHING IT (as always). I will fully embrace every hockey loving Canadian stereotype you can throw at me. Including falling absolutely head over heels in love with the premise of UNEXPECTED GOALS. This book is unashamedly queer on every single page. And it’s delicious.

There’s a lot that I could say about this book but I’m not really sure how to even begin to put it all into words. But this book was incredible and I absolutely adore it.

“My sexuality is Jen Donato” - Maisy Goode (and honestly me).

🏒 F/F enemies to friends to lovers
🏒 TEAM CANADA vs team usa
🏒 embracing queerness in every form
🏒 wow she’s really, really pretty… wait what?
🏒 fade to black but just really delicious pining

I am in desperate need of some more sapphic hockey romances. Where are they? Please send them to me! This is a need. No exaggeration…

Thank you so much to Carina & NetGalley for this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

UNEXPECTED GOALS has been out for a bit now. As is book one OUT ON THE ICE. These are two complete stand-alones with some incredible overlapping queer friendships.

This was a cute and sapphic hockey romance that was perfect for this time of the year. I love that it's apparently so common IRL for Canadian and US female hockey players to get into relationships with each other, I really don't follow hockey and that's the only fact I know (and care to know).

I was pleasantly surprised to see in an adult romance an identity journey that was in some ways similar to my own. While Jen is an out and proud lesbian, Maisy has always thought she was straight. Her coming to terms with her attraction to Jen is quite easy relatively to her crisis about exactly what her identity is. I think I'm more used to seeing a similar coming out journey in YA books, so it was nice to see it happen to an older character in a more mature type of relationship. Maisy thinking about different labels and none of them feeling quite right, while also none of them feeling wrong, was something I think a lot of us have gone through, and I really liked how at the end she settled on the word queer because that's what she kept coming back to and what felt right. I can actually relate to that a lot.

While I rather enjoyed the book for what it ended up being, my expectation about an enemies to lovers romance weren't really met. The two characters start out as rivals, but the actual romance has none of the tension that makes that trope so juicy. Don't get me wrong, there is still some conflict, but it's about external factors like Maisy's family still seeing Jen as her rival. Overall it just made me feel not any different than I do while reading a cute friends to lovers, which is perfectly fine, just not what I expect from how the book was marketed.

There is also the fact that for all the talk about sex that happens on page, none of it is shown, not even a fade-to-black situation. Everything happens completely off page and I'm sure a lot of readers will enjoy that but I personally prefer steamier romances when it comes to sapphic stuff. The writing itself was also not my favorite, though it really lent itself well to the dorky-cute type of romance that was portrayed here.

All these elements made this the type of sapphic romance I usually don't like because I need something more, and yet I still lean towards mostly positive feelings because while it wasn't what I expected, I still liked most parts of it. Basically my recommendation is to not expect too much of the enemies to lovers trope, but if you're in need of a cute romance without steamy scenes this should be right up your alley.

I’m a lesbian who lives in Minnesota and loves hockey, so I’m a perfect audience for this book. It’s all of my favorite things. I was a little worried when Maisy wasn’t out, but I thought that plot was handled pretty well actually. I loved that right after they kissed, she knew she wasn’t straight. She didn’t know what she was, but not straight.

Jen was my favorite character. Maisy was a little obnoxious sometimes. Would I read more about them and/or by this author? For sure.

As a lesbian who used to play ice hockey, I was super keen on this book, and Kelly Farmer did not disappoint. I went into Unexpected Goals thinking it was going to be a chill and cute enemies-to-lovers romance - and it was! - but it was also a beautiful story about exploring and understanding one's own identity and coming to terms with the fact that what you thought your life was going to be might not actually be what it becomes. A lot of Maisy's story echoed my own, and I thought the author did a wonderful job of expressing the journey some folks go through when they start to realise they're not as straight as they once believed.

The romance between the two main characters was well-developed and believable, and while I was a little taken aback by the introduction of so many side characters at the beginning of the book, Farmer was able to create individual characters out of each of them, which really added to the richness of the story. Also, as a warning/aside: Farmer doesn't waste time explaining the ins and outs of ice hockey to readers, which is great for those familiar with the sport, but if you're going in blind, you may feel a little lost. Stick with it - the romance and the relationship is worth it!

I will be keeping an eye out for Kelly Farmer's name in the future. I loved the way this book was written, and am so keen to read more of her work - especially if it involves more sports gays!

Unexpected Goals is an FF enemies to lovers, hockey romance. It tells the story of rivals Maisy and Jen who find themselves on the same professional women’s hockey team. The two start out bickering but choose to put the past behind them for the sake of the team. As they spend more time together they develop feelings for one another. For Maisy this is the first time she has had feelings for another woman, so it is also a story of her self-discovery.

I liked both Jen and Maisy. They had fun banter and ended up being so supportive for each other in a way that was just darling. I do wish that there had been more heat (the book was closed door), but that was my only real issue with the book. I absolutely adored the teammates and found that they added such a fun dynamic to the book. I will have to try to find the first book in the series and keep an eye out for more that may come out.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin, and Carina press for the ARC.

Enemies learning to respect each other in the highly competitive world of hockey. Enemies, frenemies, competitors, fans and finally lovers.

Fun story with a current view of a popular women's sport.

Heat Factor: At the point I stopped reading, Maisey was thinking a lot about how women have sex, but my understanding is that it’s a slow burn (so I’m guessing at least one scene toward the end)

Character Chemistry: There were plenty of cute moments

Plot: I think this is what people are referring to when they say they want “no plot just vibes”

Overall: Once they stopped being enemies at the 25% mark, all tension driving me to read was lost, so this one’s a DNF

So I’m feeling like if the primary conflict is an enemies to lovers trope and the enemies component is resolved by 25% … there’s not a lot to drive me to figure out what happens next. Like, snuggling on the couch is great and all, but why should I care what’s going to happen next if everything is just… Fine? I wouldn’t even call this a character-driven romance, although I suppose technically it is, because the characters aren’t particularly driven by anything.

Bottom line, I had no idea what the problem was. Why couldn’t they be together? At first they hated each other’s guts, so okay, that works. Then, on Maisey’s side, she’s never been attracted to a woman before, so she’s running a little hot and cold as she wants to spend time with Jen but doesn’t know what it means. On Jen’s side, there’s no problem except that she doesn’t want to keep being an experiment for straight women who peace out after they have their fun. They’re not working against a team no-dating policy. They’re not being held apart by external pressures. They’re just sitting on the couch, watching nature shows, talking a lot about food. But as each of these perfectly sweet but tension-free scenes piled on, one after the next, I was just…at a loss as to what each scene was supposed to be doing to drive the narrative forward. There are only so many scenes in a row where Maisey can be having confusing feels and Jen can be trying to read Maisey or deciding if she needs to move on before the story is stagnating and repetitive.

I really wanted this book to be a fun new fave. I have been reading so many fun sports romances lately, and I thought an enemies-to-lovers hockey romance featuring a f/f relationship would be so awesome! But I guess at the end of the day I am not a “no plot, just vibes” reader. I need some kind of tension driving the story, or it’s simply two perfectly nice people doing perfectly nice things as they figure out their perfectly nice relationship. Which is perfectly nice…but not at all interesting.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

My love for this book — just like the title — is unexpected! Not having read Out on the Ice, I didn’t know what to expect, but wow, Kelly Farmer has impressed me! Farmer’s writing is smooth and thorough, and her characters — main and side alike — are fleshed-out and lovable. I love the large cast of characters, including the Boston Ice team members, their friends and families, and three adorable doggos who left an impression on me despite their limited screen time. I also love the conversations surrounding community and how many queer identities are represented.

American Jen Donato has just signed with the Boston Ice hockey team, but she and her Olympics nemesis, Canadian goalie Maisy Goode, are less than thrilled to be on the same team. At first I thought Jen would be an ice queen, but it’s revealed pretty early on that she’s nowhere close to one (though she definitely is a queen on the ice). While Jen is often quiet and not overly emotive, she’s such a quirky, laid-back, thoughtful person, and I just adored her! While Maisy has been on the Boston Ice for a while, she sometimes feels left out of the tight team bonds. Maisy is the anal-retentive spreadsheet lover to Jen’s laid-back artistic vibe, and while she’s sensitive and (mostly) sweet, in the beginning I didn’t like her as much as Jen because I thought she was mainly the one who wouldn’t let the Olympic events go. Throughout the story, though, I came to understand that they both played a part in the extreme rivalry, and that it made sense for Maisy to act out in the ways that she did.

I just love this pairing — we’ve got enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, opposites-attract, and toaster oven! Jen is an out-and-proud lesbian and I love how patient she is with Maisy, who’s just figuring out that she likes women and is unsure how to label herself. While they’re opposites in several ways, they do have a common interest they can discuss for hours, which is just too cute! Nothing about their attraction to each other felt contrived in any way. Farmer is a master at including swoon-worthy small details that, for me, elevate the romance from good to great. They’re so cute when they just happen to notice things about each other — hair, eyes, skin, scent — and when, bit by bit, their icy opinions of each other start to thaw. In particular, I loved the little details surrounding Maisy’s realization that she likes women. I just — ahhh!!!! It’s so freaking gay and so freaking relatable! The conflict didn’t feel rushed or contrived at all, and I loved the abundance of communication.

This book doesn’t contain any sex scenes (Maisy and Jen definitely have sex, but those scenes are fade-to-black), and it looks like many reviewers think that by not seeing those sex scenes, we missed important moments of romantic connection. I can see where they’re coming from, as I think that for this particular book, a sex scene or two would have definitely added something to the story. However, I found the MCs’ connection incredibly strong as it was, and since I’m ace-spec and am not too affected by sex scenes anyway, I have no complaints about the scenes that were and weren’t included.

In short, I loved this and can’t wait to read more from Kelly Farmer (starting with Out on the Ice)!

content warnings: alcohol (recreational), mentions of medical stuff/hospitalization, mentions of sex

3.75 Stars! This was a cute, enemies-to-lovers, sapphic sports romance. I’m happy to say that I enjoyed this more than I expected and that it was a definite improvement over Farmer’s sapphic debut. After reading some of the earlier reviews I had lowered my expectations some, I don’t know if that actually helped in the end or what but this was quite an enjoyable read for me. It did have some issues -I will go into them more later- which was a shame since had a few things been different I might have even loved this book. But overall it was a good romantic read that I enjoyed.

While I am calling this a sports-romance it is much heavier on the romance than the sports. One of my issues with the first book was that there was not enough hockey and too many possible exciting sports scenes where skipped over instead. As a big sports fan, there still was not enough hockey for me personally, but there was an absolute improvement over the last book. The hockey parts that are there were cute, exciting, or actually helped to push the connection between the mains forward. I think Farmer was able to make sports fans a little happier, yet she still kept the book very romance focused.

This is the second book in the Out on the Ice series. You do spend some time with the couple from the previous book, but this book is about two other characters so while I always recommend reading books in order, I don’t think you have to here. Unlike in the first book, where it took me a while to warm to one of the mains, I liked both main characters in this book almost right away. I’m a big fan of enemies-to-lovers and it was a lot of fun watching these women with their rival chemistry, and seeing it turn into sexual chemistry. They really formed a connection and I believed in them as a possible couple. The intimate scenes were well done, and there were lots of sweet moments, but this does lead me to one of my two main issues: There were no actual sex scenes in this book. Normally, I don’t mind fade to black, but I really felt the absence of sex in this book. This happened in the first book of the series too. Farmer, is good at lighting up the pages with lots of sparks, but then it feels like a letdown that the book never goes there. I don’t often say this but this series really needs sex scenes and it feels weird that there are none. (I could see potential for a book 3, staring an ace/aro character so if that happens my statement is just meant for the first two series books obviously.)

My other big issue ended up being a pacing issue. I really enjoyed the beginning and end of the book, but the middle slowed down too much. I liked what was happening in the middle, but Farmer got caught in this circle and could not seem to step out of it. The same feelings, the same inner and outer dialogue, everything kept repeating over and over but weren’t going anywhere. I kept yelling at the book that “I got it!” I understand what’s going on so you don’t have to explain it more anymore. Let’s move on! Farmer has to trust her readers a bit more and not beat them over the head with the same thing. I think one, but probably two, chapters could have easily been cut out and it would have made the flow of the story so much better. The pace would have been much more consistent, the whole book, without getting stuck in the mud of the middle.

TLDR: An enjoyable enemies-to-lovers, sports-romance. This was an improvement on Farmers’ sapphic debut and a solid second book in this series. The characters are easy to like, are super cute together, and they actually try to communicate. The book had some nice sparks going but I did think it took a hit by not having any sex scenes. The beginning and the end are really good, but Farmer should have tightened up the middle because it became repetitive and dragged a bit. In the end, I still enjoyed this more than I expected and I would absolutely read a book 3.

I enjoyed the second book in the Out on the Ice series, Maisy and Jen’s story. I loved the low angst take on this enemies to lovers story. It’s a breath of fresh air to be able to read a story where the sexuality is just accepted and not a drama fest. Two women who had a less than positive past together find themselves on the same hockey team and needing to work together for the common goal. I’m a big hockey fan, so this definitely spoke to my love of hockey. The heat level in this one was low, but it was an enjoyable read and a great story.

It isn’t that often that I come across an enemies to lovers romance in which the protagonists genuinely dislike each other for legitimate but bridgeable reasons and neither is a terrible person. Kelly Farmer’s Unexpected Goals was a very enjoyable read with two protagonists who genuinely and quite famously dislike each other at the beginning and end with a lovely happily ever after.

Maisy Goode and Jenny Donato have had a public beef after an incident in a game between Team Canada and Team USA at the Olympics several years prior to the beginning of the book. Maisie, a goalie for Canada felt like Jenny, on the offensive line for the USA, played dirty and put her at risk of serious injury. Jenny says she was pushed and thinks that Maisy has been whining about it for too long. Now they are on the same Women’s Hockey League – the Boston Ice. Not only that, their lockers are next to each other. Farmer has placed Maisy and Jenny in an interesting place. Their dislike is personal, but based in their professional actions. They don’t really know each other. Which gives them room to grow into loving each other.

I enjoyed Jen and Maisy disliking each other as much as I enjoyed their transition to being in love. They tried in their own ways to bridge the gap and become good teammates, but their communication is so fraught. I genuinely wondered how Farmer was going to pull it off, but she did. The small discoveries they have about each other and themselves were lovely.

I read the first book in this series, Out on the Ice, and am pleased to see that Farmer is clearly more comfortable as an author.

I received this as an advance reader copy from NetGalley and Carina Press. My opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this one! As a hockey fanatic, I appreciated how hockey-focused and accurate much of the book was...and as a sucker for a good romance, I loved the emotional development between Maisy and Jen! I haven't read the first book in this series, but I followed this book just fine without it! I did have some trouble keeping all of the side h crafted teammates straight, but it didn't detract from my reading experience at all.

Enemies to lovers readers will really like this book! I felt that the grudges and eventual truce and friendship that built from that was believable, and charming. I really loved that Maisy was a goalie, too--definitely an underutilized dynamic in hockey fiction!

The only thing that was a little tricky with this story is that the two POVs felt pretty similar, so I sometimes had difficulty knowing which character we were following. But other then that, this is a charming sapphire hockey story that gave me the warm and fuzzies...what's better than that :)

I didn't hate this, but I sure didn't enjoy it. My complaints are pretty similar to the first book. There was a bit more hockey in this, but I still wanted more. The sources of conflict made me incredibly angry. And again this book was way too horny in the first half for having zero sex scenes.

Canadian Goalie Maisy is very skeptical of on-ice rival Jen and her aggressive playing style. When Jen and Maisy end up on a team together tensions rise and what used to be a rivalry quickly begins to develop into something more. Loved this story and the tensions between the two of them. Anytime you've got a women's sports story, I am here for it!

Jenny and I are a lot alike as I do not like drama with my romance (laugh). I really enjoyed Unexpected Goals. There is some drama but Kelly Farmer keeps it to a low key level which I appreciate.

I think what I appreciate the most about Farmer’s books is the variety of people. Jenny is not as involved as Amy is in the rainbow community, but within the hockey team itself there are a variety of humans who come from different countries, experiences, and with a common goal of playing a sport to the best of their ability. There is even the distasteful Renata who is all about the sport and you have to admire that even if you don’t agree with how she showcases her ambition. No one says that she isn’t a beast on the ice.

Farmer groups these athletes together and makes it work...even for enemies which is what Unexpected Goals is all about. I actually get both sides of the argument in which these two have battled since the Olympics. I also understand the desire to just move past an issue, but no one else is able to. Farmer has such a great handle on a delicate issue in society and applying it to such an important issue in sports.

Maisy is all about facts, figures, and safety. Who does not love that? Then add in that she is a vegan and you have perfection. Never mind that when Farmer had her do her stretching routine, I was just as hooked as Jenny.

As for Jenny, she is the perfect lesbian. I do not know what stereotype lesbian book she has been reading, but she can date me. I love flowers and candy. Light some candles for me please. Make me coffee every morning (now that had about every woman sit up and say “yes please” didn’t it?). Jenny is chill and goes with the flow. She speaks Italian and Spanish. She cooks. Her family is loud, boisterous, and filled with love. Did I mention she is artistic?

Farmer has created two women that anyone could easily fall for never mind an enemy. Unexpected Goals has feisty athletes, abuelas, and visits from previous characters. This is a feel good sports romance that makes you want to date at least one of them if not both ladies. Thank you Farmer, I needed this.

I received an ARC of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily.