5 Stars for this hockey romance!

I just love Ms Jamieson's style of writing. Her characters are always so real and the banter makes me feel like I'm right there in the book with them ... and Owen and Emerie's story is no different. I felt so sorry for Emerie and all the loss that she had to deal with and totally understood why she would be so overprotective of her little sister. Owen had demons of his own and channeled them into hockey ... which was his whole life. Neither one of them are looking for a relationship, but the chemistry between them is so strong that before they know it their "fake" relationship is turning real. This book had me laughing, swooning and wiping my eyes. A fantastic start to a new series and I highly recommend it.

I received an early copy courtesy of Victory Editing NetGalley Coop through NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

This was another enjoyable hockey romance by Kelly Jamieson, focusing on the New York Bears hockey team introduced in her Bears Hockey series. I'm not entirely sure why this isn't listed as #4 in that series, but regardless, it works well as a standalone or as the start of a new spinoff series. Owen is a power forward on the team, not necessarily the most talented player, but a real student of the game, who lives and breathes it 24/7. Recently, his attention was caught by a subway busker with a gorgeous voice and presence. He looks forward to seeing her on his trips to the arena, but chooses not to approach her, until the day when she asks him to coffee, then asks him to be her date to a party in order to fend off her ex, who has been refusing to take no for an answer.

Emerie's mother died years ago leaving Emerie's wealthy, disinterested stepfather as her and her much younger half-sister's only parent. Emerie doesn't want her sister to suffer through his indifference so she long ago put her own life on hold to be a surrogate parent for her sister. Since Emerie is supremely uninterested in hockey, she doesn't recognize Owen. What they both don't know is that Emerie's stepfather is the owner of Owen's hockey team. Needless to say, complications arise right and left as a result, and they end up getting far deeper into a relationship than either of them meant to. However, they both have baggage to work through before they are ready to commit to a relationship or to each other. I really enjoyed watching these two likable MCs explore their chemistry and work through their issues.

Whenever I'm in the mood for a hot hockey romance, I know I can count on Kelly Jamieson to deliver. But The O Zone is so much more than a hot hockey romance. I loved Owen with his rigid routines and his line-by-line knowledge of NHL rules. And I loved Emerie who was trying so hard to do right by her little sister. But most of all, I loved how each character grew and healed as a result of their relationship. The black moment broke my heart. I needed Owen and Emerie back together and I stayed up way too late reading the entire story because I could not put it down! Sure, I was tired at work the next day. But it was totally worth it. The O Zone is a fast-paced, emotional, unputdownable read and I highly recommend it!

Sexy, adorable and sweet! With the first book in a brand new Bears Hockey II series Kelly Jamieson brings on the feels when Owen and Emerie connect and sizzle. THE O ZONE is fast paced and emotional and I highly enjoyed it. I can't wait for the next book in the series!

Emmie is a sweetheart and super easy to connect with. The only thing I felt lacking with her character was digging a little deeper into what her relationship with the ex had really been.

I love Owen! He's one-sighted but man is he a nice guy. I was happy to see him deal with his past and learn to let her in more.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a hockey romance with lots of heart.

Emerie has never truly felt like she belonged anywhere after her Mom died. She has helped raise her younger sister, but when her stepfather starts pushing her to marry a guy she detests, she finds a stranger to date. Little did they know Owen was a hockey player on her stepfather’s team and he was not happy they were together. This story could not be put down!

The O Zone is an amazing hockey read that you are going to fall in love with. I love this Bears Hockey take two addition. You get to meet more of the players and fall hard for the whole team all over again. Owen is so hockey driven. He is amazing at what he does and an all-around great guy who still struggles with the loss of his brother. Emerie is so talented and caring. She is such an amazing big sister. If you love fake relationships to more than you are going to love what Owen and Emerie bring to the pages. Owen and Emerie are one red hot couple that bring out the more in each other. I love the banter and the chemistry. Emerie fits right in with the rest of the women of the Bears hockey loves. I loved the little bit of that unexpected when it comes to the beginning of Owen and Emerie's relationship. This is a hot read that will pull at your heart strings some. All I have to say is hold on and enjoy Owen and Emerie.

Kelly Jamieson writes top tier hockey romance books - and this one is definitely a great one on the list of great romances. To say that Owen is driven would probably be an understatement. He lives and breathes hockey - and really doesn't remove his focus off of it for even a minute. He is captivated by an incredibly talented subway busker - but doesn't think anything more about her than her talent - until she asks him to go to a party as her date. Emerie is a talented musician - but has also put her dreams on hold while she's been raising her sister. After Emerie's mother died - she put all her energy into her half-sister's life. Her step-father has been largely absent - driven by business interests alone. What neither Emerie or Owen realize - is that Emerie's step-father is the owner of the team Owen plays for.

Both Emerie and Owen have a LOT of baggage to work through. And they do work through it - I loved seeing both of them put in the work to get to better places emotionally. And it is clear, even with their happy ending - that they are both still going to keep working on themselves. My heart broke for both of them at different points in the book.

Overall - I highly recommend this one - and can't wait for more Bears hockey books.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own!

Owen has one thing on his mind - hockey!! So when a busk singer catches his eye his life is no longer his own, especially when she asks him to accompany her to a holiday party in order to keep her ex and her step dad off her back. But it all goes down the tubes when her step dad just happens to be the team owner. Will Owen pick an instant love and connection over hockey? Or will he push everything to the side and be the best player can be? With emotions running high from the opening pages and a storyline that captures the readers heart this was a great read. I cannot wait for more in this series.

You know what you’re going to get from a Kelly Jamieson novel. There will be a very hunky, young hockey star who encounters an attractive young woman. They’ll face some difficulties, have lots of hot sex, and then, eventually, get their HEA. The difficulties in this novel are that the heroine, Emerie, is the stepdaughter of the owner of the team that Owen plays for. And the stepfather doesn’t want them to date because he wants Emerie to date and marry the son of a wealthy business associate. Emerie is staying at thome to help raise her young half-sister and spends her time busking in the New York subway where she encounters the tall, handsome stranger. Not knowing he’s a hockey player, she asks him to pretend to be her date to a party her stepfather is hosting. Imagine everyone’s horror when they figure out who everyone is. Of course, by now Owen and Emrie are attracted to each other so their romance continues.

It’s all rather light, but still enjoyable if you like sports romances.

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.

I really wasn't expecting how emotional this book would be. I love when you pick up a sports romance book and get so much more than some light read you think it will be. I really liked both Owen and Emerie. They both had some trauma they haven't dealt well with, and you could see it would all come to a head and yet I couldn't predict how the author was going to get them past it. Both of them had me feeling for their situations and I was so very happy to see them get that happily ever after. This was a great emotional read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This unfortunately will be a DNF. I've read other books I've enjoyed from this author and I will keep reading books by her but this one I struggled with the food shaming and the first kiss felt dubious consent to me. I seem to be in the minority in my feelings and I love the tropes in this one so it may just be a me thing.

Just what could go wrong with faking a date with someone he doesn’t know?

Emerie Ross was busking to fill her time after she had put her life on hold to take care of her little sister when their mother died because her stepfather was too busy. Hockey player Owen Cooke had noticed Emerie busking but agreed to fake date her when her former boyfriend wanted to get back together with her stepfather’s blessing. But Emerie didn’t know that Owen was a hockey player and that her stepfather was the owner of the Bears! Just what could go wrong!

I totally enjoyed Emerie figuring out what she wanted to do with her life and Owen learning to relax but realizing in the end that love takes a lot of work.

I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the Bears II series!

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

The author has written several hockey series. This is her second Bears series and its called Bears 2. It is the first book in the new series. Whats cool is we see characters in this series from the Bears 1 series as well.

This story was really original. Honestly I have never read another hockey book that was anything like this story and it was what made this story so interesting. The female main character in this story is Emerie. She has a half sister who is 12, Cat, and their mother died several years before. She has a step dad and both girls don't spend much time with the dad Vince though they live with him.

Emerie has always felt very alone and she never wanted that for Cat. She loves music and is very talented but because she takes care of Cat she never went to college and doesn't have a job, so she can take care of Cat. Instead she works as a Busker. She plays music in disguise at subway stations.

And thats where she meets her biggest fan, Owen. One day she decides to talk to him and she asks him to be her date because her step dad is trying to fix her up with an ex, Roman. And thats when her step dad, Vince, Owen and Em get a huge surprise.

Vince wants Em to date and marry Roman. Em wants to take care of Cat and date whoever she wants, and well Owen really just wants to play hockey. When Vince plays hardball with Em, I loved how Owen steps up. I also loved that Em ends up making some friends from the characters in the first Bears series. I love how they have her back no matter what.

This is really a coming of age story. All the main characters, Vince, Cat, Em, Owen, amd even Roman really grow in this story. They mature and grow up and have to decide what they want their future to be. They have to let go of the past and move on and sometimes that is easier said than done.

Emerie is a secretly wealthy woman who performs in disguise as a busker. She needs a date to ward off her stepfather’s pick for her. She thinks she is asking stranger to help but instead it’s a hockey player on her stepdad’s team. Emerie hates hockey. The ruse must continue to convince her dad she doesn’t need his choice of a husband. As they date, a relationship progresses.

Although this is touted as a hockey series, there is very little hockey in this book. I was a bit disappointed in the overall story as compared to other work by Kelly Jamieson.

This was a fun read with likable, caring characters. Owen was a focused hockey player who was fascinated by a woman busking (singing and playing guitar) in the subway station. For some reason unknown to him, the music and her lyrics really got to him. He didn’t think that she noticed him as he tried to stay in the background, but she did. Enough that she trusted him and asked him for a huge favor. Little did either of them know where that favor would lead them! So far, there hasn’t been anything that Ms Jamieson has written that I haven’t enjoyed!

Mein Leseerlebnis

Mit dem Buch beginnt eine neue Reihe in der Bears Hockey - Welt und da mir zwei der drei Bücher der ersten Bears - Reihe gut gefallen haben - “Must love dogs … and hockey“ und “You hat me at hockey“ - habe ich mich auf “The O Zone” gefreut.

Der Schreibstil der Autorin war gewohnt einnehmend und hat es mit leicht gemacht, der Geschichte zu folgen. Emerie und Owen waren mir beide sympathisch, auch fand ich sie als Charaktere interessant.

Probleme hatte ich leider mit so einigen Entwicklungen in der Geschichte. Vieles rund um Emeries Lebensumstände wirkte auf mich zu konstruiert und wenig überzeugend. Ihren Stiefvater fand ich charakterlich wenig ausgereift, da war mehr rauszuholen.

Hätte die Autorin Emeries Geschichte nicht ganz so außergewöhnlich dargestellt, hätte ich wahrscheinlich einen besseren Zugang zum Roman gefunden. So bin ich hier und da über Details gestolpert, die mich aus meinem Lesefluss gerissen haben.

“The O Zone” lies sich insgesamt gut lesen, konnte mich aber nicht vollständig überzeugen. Weniger wäre im Fall von Emeries Leben vielleicht mehr gewesen. 🖤🖤🖤1/4

Am Ende des Romans findet sich ein Textauszug für den zweiten Teil in der Reihe - Good Hands - und da mir dieser gut gefallen hat, plane ich das Buch zu lesen (Erscheinungsdatum April 2022).

Für wen?

Wenn euch der Klappentext anspricht, lohnt sich ein Blick ins Buch. Ihr könnt eine nette Liebesgeschichte erwarten und solltet offen sein für Entwicklungen, die teils vielleicht etwas übertrieben wirken.

Okay, I admit I was greedy. I couldn't read Owen and Em's story fast enough. I sighed and laughed and teared up. The characters aren't fiction anymore, they are my close friends who I want to yell at, console and congratulate. What a wonderful, entertaining, heartfelt story. I just made a fresh cup of tea and am going to reread this book. Slower. When a story is this wonderful, it deserves to be savoured and slowly devoured!
If I could give it 10 stars, I would.

Thank you NetGalley for providing this copy. The opinion expressed in this review is solely my own.

The O Zone starts out as a cute hockey romance but then goes a little deeper. I’m not usually a fan of tear-inducing romances but this one was sooo good! It’s not a sad book at all just a bit of life lessons learned. And of course the HEA is beyond sweet. This is the 1st in a series and I am looking forward to the next one-Good Hands- out in April 2022!

Kelly Jamieson is back with more fun for Bears Hockey fans like me. This time teammate Owen "Cookie" Cooke meets his match in busker/team owner's stepdaughter Emerie. The O Zone was a part fake relationship, part forbidden romance that also had an air of mystery surrounding Emerie's stepdad's intentions and actions. While I ended up really enjoying The O Zone, it wasn't smooth sailing the entire way for me. I'll explain why.

The rocky part of this book for me was the beginning. Owen's POV was right on track with what I would expect, but Emerie's left me with a weird feeling. It's hard to explain without giving too much away, but the secrecy around her busking and the help she got with it felt awkward to me. I was also kind of weirded out that she would make a date with a complete stranger and invite them to a party at the apartment where she and her young sister lived just because he wore a suit and looked like a banker. Avery was one of those characters I didn't easily connect with and didn't exactly love for the first maybe half of the book. I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself rooting for her and her relationship with Owen.

As I said before, I enjoyed Owen. He was overly dedicated to his sport/job. He was also a stand-up person willing to help out a complete stranger. Owen might have been surprised by seeing his team owner and made some crazy decisions to keep up the facade, but he did it all with the best intentions for the most part.

With the way I felt about Emerie at the beginning, I was kind of dreading the actual romance between her and Owen. I was happy that once Emerie and Owen started spending time together and their fake relationship started to feel more real, I began to love them together. They were opposites in many ways, and I enjoyed the way they had to learn each other's idiosyncrasies. I also loved how Owen stepped up to the plate many times when he didn't have to, and that Emerie learned some important things about herself.

It was fun to be back in the Bears Hockey world and get to see the original players. I loved how they supported Owen through all his ups and downs. I also enjoyed how their girlfriends came to be a support system for Emerie, so that she had more than her sweet sister to be there for her. There were also a couple of new to me players who I can't wait to get books for. Thankfully, Kelly Jamieson already has those planned out for me.

I'm happy The O Zone ended up winning me over in the end. It was a good start to the beginning of this series. I can't wait for the next book to release.

I love the fake dating trope. I love it even more when the girl asks a girl she doesn’t know is actually a professional hockey player. Owen and Emerie hit it off immediately and their pull to each other helps the faking dating seem, and then become, real. They deal with some heavy baggage that seemed like a lot for a light sports romance, but this was a good, easy read overall.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for An honest review.