Overall, this book is a delightful read that will tug at your heartstrings and leave you cheering for the characters as they navigate the ups and downs of their relationship. Perfect for fans of contemporary romance, it’s a story that will resonate long after the last page is turned. If you're looking for a blend of laughter, tears, and genuine connection, this romance is sure to satisfy!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Play Your Part by Kathryn Kincaid and would never have guessed this was a debut novel. Whilst this initially appears to be your almost stereotypical ice hockey romance, this goes a lot deeper and explores topics including grief, personal sentiments and challenging life situations.

This was an easy read with some of my favourite tropes - fake dating and enemies to lovers. The chemistry is off the charts and made it so easy to get involved in rooting for Kennedy and Alexei.

A steamy pageturner perfect for ice hockey romance fans!

Cute fake dating romcom that definitely will appeal to fans of Elle Kennedy - not my all time favourite, but enjoyable nonetheless.

A cute fake dating romance! I love a hockey romance and this is a cute one! It didn't blow me away but its enjoyable and worth picking up.

So this is your typical fake dating sports romance, but it also delves into aspects such as grief and family. It starts off with the trope of team owner's daughter and the 'bad boy' player who get caught in a situation where the only option is to fake date for three month to try and repair their image....what happens? They fall for each other. But this book does it in such a way that it doesn't feel like the author is pushing anything but that it flows really well with consistent pacing that kept me wanting to read more. I loved the fact that there were aspects of enemies to lovers, a lot of tension, and forced proximity, but also that there were moments of playful banter and emotional scenes along the way. Overall, it's a great book

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.
This was a great enemies to lovers.

3/3.25 ⭐️

This was fun, it was a good time. Hockey romance - there isn’t like a TON of spice, but it’s there. Fake dating, “enemies” to lovers. Something about it felt uneasy or just unrelatable though. I really didn’t like the FMC - She felt really just bitchy and standoffish to everyone throughout the story. She was absolutely going through a lot and trying to process all of that but it felt like she had so many people trying to be there for her and she was just rude.

I really loved all the side characters in this - I would be excited to get subsequent books revolving around them.

It was fun, but i feel like it will probably be more forgettable for me unfortunately but i will revisit the series for future books!

If you’re looking for your next hockey romance, this is it! This has fake dating, he falls first, grumpy x sunshine, and enemies to lovers which are all my favorites!

I received an ARC from NetGalley.

This was my first Kathryn Kincaid book but it definitely won't be my last.
I'm deep in my Hockey Romance Era and this was a fantastic addition. It has all my favorite tropes! Fake dating, enemies to lovers, ex-rivalry, owner's daughter and bad boy with a heart of gold. It's filled with witty banter, chemistry and an amazing cast of secondary characters. This book was so much more than JUST a hockey romance. It's a fantastic story about love, loss, grief, family, and moving forward.

please note that the trigger warnings and topes/themes may contain spoilers
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
HEA: yes
spice: a couple open-door spicy scenes
TWs: death of a parent (recounted), OM drama, grief, slut shaming, public humiliation
standalone: book 1 in the All In series
final thoughts: there was so much about this book that I loved, and all the tropes were spot on, but there was something about it that fell just a bit short for me. I still read it, enjoyed it, and would recommend it to others who like the tropes and genres, but I kept feeling like I couldn’t get a handle on how old these characters were. We know they’re over 21 because they’re in America and they’re drinking at events, but they keep mentioning college, the NHL, home ownership, marriage but the characters seem to be written as much younger. I was getting whiplash on if these characters are in their late teens or early 30s and it was pulling me out of the story so maybe it’s a personal problem as to why I liked but didn’t love this story.
Would recommend this book again solely because Alexi was a big ol’ cinnamon roll who the media/former teammates painted to be a villain. He’s so cute and I loved seeing their relationship progress.

read this book if you love

😬 angst
🏝️ forced proximity
💓 slowburn
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 great side characters
💏 fake dating
🏉 sports romance (hockey)
🫡 big MMC
🤜 rivals-to-lovers
😳 forbidden lovers
🍪cinnamon roll MMC

I love a good hockey romance and this one hit the spot. Not only did I love Kennedy and Alexei’s banter and steaming chemistry. I absolutely loved all the side characters, well with the exception of Justin. He could eat trash for all I care. 😂

I love hockey romances, I love fake dating, so this book was exactly what I wanted. The chemistry of the main characters was great! It wasn't the PERFECT read for me but I had a great time and I will definitely read the next book in this series.

This book was super cute and honestly, I adored it. I am a hockey romance fan, so that helped. This book drew me in pretty quickly, I really liked Kennedy from the get-go, she was so relatable and so overwhelmed with life, and who isn't? Volk took me a minute, a brooding hockey star who has gone off the rails.... This was such a quick cute read and if you love a hockey romance you will enjoy it. I am excited to see what Kincaid does next!

3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Kathryn Kincaid for providing me with an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review.

While I do love a good sports romance, this one didn’t feel overly different to all the hockey romances I’ve read in the past. Overall, it was enjoyable but didn’t have me unable to put it down or any unpredictability

I am a huge hockey romance fan and this book did not disappoint.

Highly recommend this read for those looking to get their hockey romance and fake dating fix and Kennedy & Alexi bring all the romance tropes you need!

Katheryn knocked her debut novel out of the park!.Alexei and Kennedy chemistry felt natural along with their banter. I love the tie in of grief, courage and finding yourself throughout the book.

Enemies to lovers, fake dating, he falls first, hockey romance, grief

Favorite quote: “You know how it is, you have a plan for your life, then something happens and it’s… gone. Sometimes, it doesn’t feel real.”

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of the e-book in exchange for my honest review.

The way I absolutely ate this up!!!!!!! Omg. Kathryn I don’t know what you put in this, plus please send it to my local CVS. I loved!

I really enjoyed this book , the enemies to lovers particularly at the beginning of the book was excellent. The way kennedy is roped into fake dating Alexei the new bad boy in the team just to help Improve his image.

The character development , the supportive parents and hilarious side characters made for a lovely read and I was pleasantly surprised when I found out this was Kathryn Kincaids debut novel.

Such a fun hockey romance with fake dating, dual pov, and a dash of enemies to lovers. I know hockey romance is having such a moment so I have been trying some more to see what all the hype is about and this book makes me get it. I have not read a lot, but I did start with Elle Kennedy as I knew she was big and I would say this is a good one for her fans.

This felt like slightly less steamy hockey romance that I have already read a hundred times already yet I ate it up like i also do (and will continue to do in the future). There is just *something* about a hockey player "bad boy". I really enjoyed this debut by Kathryn Kincaid and can't wait to see what else we get from her in the future!