3.5⭐ Ezekiel Boehm is no stranger to teaching kids with famous parents. But when the pro hockey player he’s been thirsting after walks into the Rittenhouse Friends School gym hand in hand with a tiny kindergartener, he figures he must be hallucinating. Spencer McLeod is a lot of things—Zeke’s favorite winger on the Philadelphia Liberty; a menace on the ice; a mumbling, reluctant but somehow captivating-as-hell postgame interview—but he’s not a dad. Except he is. Apparently. Zeke can be chill about this. He can.

Surprisingly, the more time he spends with Spencer, the easier this becomes. School volunteer events turn into reserved seats at games, turn into…more. And even though Zeke is 100 percent committed to ignoring Spencer’s blush, to ignoring the way he looks in that one pair of gray sweatpants, he can’t take his eyes off him. This can never work. Can it?

This had some of my favorite tropes of all times, especially the single dad, teacher, and sports romance aspects of this. It was enjoyable enough, but I think the story would have been more interesting if we had dual POV, like most romance books do. Sometimes it's hard to understand what the other person is thinking and they they act the way they do when we can only see them from someone else's flawed perspective of the relationship. Fun read, but not something that will stick with me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!

This was a fun, queer, hockey romance. There were some cute parts and lots of funny moments too, I liked the characters, though I typically prefer my romances to have dual perspectives (which this did not). I wish we'd also gotten Spencer's thoughts throughout the story, but it was still a fun read.

Lucky Bounce would make a great romance read for the wintertime/ holiday season, It was a quick read too!

This was a very sweet book. I loved the grumpy sunshine dynamic between Spencer and Zeke. Addie was a very cute kid and a great addition to the story. All in all, super cute book!

Thank you to Netgalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. When I saw the premise for Lucky Bounce, I was very excited to be given a chance to read it. Unfortunately, it did not quite live up to expectations. First, it's very short and ends very abruptly. It is only 194 pages. In my opinion, there could have been a few more chapters or even an epilogue to tie it up, but instead, it just ends. Second, the dialogue is a little rough, immature, and "dude/bro".
The story had a lot of potential and probably could have used another review or editing.

Cait Nary is just advancing up the rungs of hockey romance difficulty with ease, huh? This one has basically no external conflict and yet I couldn’t put it down. I’m giving it four stars mainly as an incentive to myself to reread sooner rather than later.

(Also - Jan Brett’s The Mitten?? JAN BRETT’S THE MITTEN?!? Sure just come for my childhood why don’t you?!?)

When I started this book I was hit with the biggest sense of familiarity, and thankfully I was in fact able to confirm that this had been a fanfiction and I wasn't just making stuff up. I don't remember how the fanfic ended, but it seems that only about 5k words were added while this was converted to original fiction, and I just wish the ending of this book was less abrupt because tbh the ending as it is now is just sooo abrupt and a bit frustrating because of that unfortunately.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin - Romance for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book was cute and the characters were sweet. I personally felt like some of the characters and plot were not done to their full extent though. In addition, there were so many "trendy" words and phrases that just felt awkward. I am not a fan of viral slang in books because I personally find that it cheapens the story, but that is just a preference of mine.

This book was just not for me, but I am sure that many people will absolutely love it.

This book was so fun! I always enjoy getting my hands on Cait Nary's next book, and this one was no exception. The characters were a delight to live along over the two days I read it, and I love how present Nary makes you feel.

It would have been 4 stars, if not for 2 things, which were very much me-problems. First, parent/teacher AND fan/celeb tropes are ones that kinda make me go eek, but I trusted Ms Nary to deliver a good story despite that (and she very much did!!). Second, I wish there had been a proper third act! We get a fantastic first act, a fantastic second act, but then it kinda slides to the end without a proper denouement.

Regardless, I had a very fun time with this book! Def will be recommending it to friends, and I think it's likely I may re-read it in a few years too.

Though I remember really liking Cait Nary’s debut, I wasn’t completely sold on this one at first. There were a lot of parenthetical statements, sometimes back to back, and the tone was almost too casual, if that makes sense. Anyway, I found myself not liking that, though many will probably love it. However, once we got into the meat of the slow burn between Zeke and Spencer, I was completely hooked. I liked that there wasn’t any unnecessary drama or third-act breakup, and everything ended quite happily. I would’ve liked a little more hockey action, but I understand that this wasn’t that type of book. It was fairly lighthearted with a few more serious elements, and both Spencer and Zeke were extremely likable, even though they were so different from each other. All told, I ended up really liking this book!

This book is such a joy - sweet and sexy and funny, with enough emotional interest to keep the reader riveted without being angsty or stressful to read. I loved it!

I unfortunately did not enjoy this book. It had a promising start and I liked the first part of the book where Zeke and Spencer are getting to know each other. But then very quickly I found myself questioning the chemistry between the main characters. Both the plot and the characters seem under developed to me and I struggled to make it to the end of this book.

I truly loved this book—it's now my favorite of Cait Nary's. It's so low angst, which I always love, and it's also just funny and all-round delightful. I don't see a lot of really young single dads in books, so I liked that aspect a lot, and I loved having a hero who suffers from migraines.

This was cute and very low angst. I didn’t find the dynamic between the two of them to be that endearing, but regardless, had an enjoyable time reading. I felt like the pacing was a little off and more plot lines could’ve been fleshed out. I also felt like the MC’s were very “bro-y” which is totally fine but just not something I personally, as a gay man, resonate with in a romance about gay men. But if you’re looking for a short and sweet hockey romance with some decent spice, read this book.

Thank you to the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was SO CUTE! This is the 3rd Cait Nary book that I've read and I really enjoy her writing style. I don't think it would necessarily work for everyone, but for me, I just love the chaos of her narrators. The characters were great and the romance was adorable. She does a great job in the beginning of her books with setting up the tension but I do agree with other reviews that said that their relationship went from this amazing slow-burn to all of a sudden sexting that felt like it came out of nowhere so I definitely would have liked to have seen more development there, and then the ending came too soon!!! This book needs an epilogue!!! I loved where Zeke and Spencer were with their relationship by the end, but then it just ended so abruptly and I really wish there was more of an official ending between them.

Overall this was adorable and fun with some really loveable characters and a super sweet romance and I didn't feel bored at any point while reading. Give me all the Cait Nary hockey romance books with her messy characters please!!!

Meh this was an okay read. It was cute, especially once Spencer and Zeke got together but it wasn’t really engaging. I literally forgot Zeke and Spencer’s name as I was writing this and I started this immediately after finishing the book.

I considered dnf’ing it at first but I just decided to skim it to get through. There wasn’t really any plot to this 193 page book either so do with that as you will.

I was so intrigued when I read the description of this book: a single dad pro-hockey player falls for his daughter's teacher? And that teacher also happens to be a super-fan? Sign me up!

There was a lot of promise, but unfortunately, Lucky Bounce didn't live up to my personal hype. I'm not even sure how the title relates to the plot. I didn't enjoy Cait Nary's writing style - it read like a fanfiction, but not the type that I enjoy. I wouldn't be surprised if this started out as an RPF fanfiction since some of the plot points happened to real hockey players.

I liked Zeke, but Spencer felt a little off. Spencer gets almost no character development, and the reason that Addie lives with him is built up to be this big thing that is weirdly solved in, like, one small paragraph. And the paragraph is a summarization from Zeke, it's not even in Spencer's own words. It's also revealed very close to the end of the book, which then ends oddly abruptly.

I don't want to roast this book endlessly because there were some things that I liked: I read it all the way though, which says how much I wanted it to work. This could very easily be someone's ideal book, but it wasn't mine.

The premise was fun but the characters felt a little flat to me. If you’re predisposed to like hockey romance I suggest going for it, but if that’s not an area of interest there’s not much else there.

This was a cute premise, and fans of hockey romances will no doubt enjoy the grumpy-sunshine tropes and very little angst. The characters fell a little flat for me and were not quite as developed as I would have liked, but for a quick fun read, this was fine.

As soon as I read "A single dad pro hockey player falls for his biggest fan who just happens to be his five-year-old daughter’s teacher?" I immediately clicked to grab this story. Absolutely, sign me up! I like Cait Nary's humor and I was so excited.

It starts off great. Zeke's a great character: funny and bright, and he needs to be, because it's his sole POV for the entire story. We get the barest information about Spencer (or Addie. For example, the reader isn't let in on why Spencer has Addie until 91% of the book is done). Zeke's a whole character with backstory, motivation, character development...everything is there. Spencer...not so much.

In contrast, Spencer is like a ghost in the story. He shows up for moments, but nothing much of depth, and it left me feeling consistently like I was missing part of the story. Honestly, at a certain point I started to convince myself this was supposed to be a collaboration with another author who didn't turn in their pages. I feel like if we'd gotten Spencer's POV even just once in the beginning it would've really helped to get to know and start to like Spencer. Instead, we barely get to know him and most of the time (to me) he comes off like a taciturn grump.

What I liked most about the story is the humor and Zeke. What I liked least is I would've liked more actual romance, and to have gotten to know Spencer better and been able to read his POV. I also would've loved to get an epilogue or something giving more than the abrupt ending we do get (it just left me feeling like the "other author" didn't turn in the epilogue pages either).

2.5 stars rounding up for Zeke and the humor.

Really enjoyed this book! Several of my favorite tropes… Hockey romance. Grumpy-sunshine. Found family. Zeke was super funny. And so relatable.

(Please note, it’s a steamy one!)

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Watch for Lucky Bounce to come out January 9, 2024.