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.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for allowing me to read this book for an honest review.

This is more of a novella, than a book, but still very enjoyable (and I am not someone into sports!). One of the things I was waiting for, that never came, was that moment of adversity where something challenges the relationship, like a silly lie, or a misunderstanding, or some other potential relationship-ending roadblock. The fact that it didn’t happen was kind of refreshing. There were hints that it could happen, but it never did and I’m not complaining.

If you’re looking for a quick, heartwarming M4M romance, then I would definitely recommend it.

I'm leaning toward 3.5 stars on this one.

Zeke is a gym teacher at a private elementary school and is completely flabbergasted when his favorite player enrolls his daughter that no one even knew about into his school and class roster. He strikes up an unlikely friendship with this single dad and tries to keep his feelings to himself which doesn't work, like at all. They end up being friends and then before you know it, it's love. At least he can quit hiding his secret stash of McLeod jerseys after they get together permanently.

Spencer is a truly terrible communicator but I'm not mad at him for it or anything. He's not great at words but it was nice to see him show up in other ways for the two people who end up being his family. I was cackling when Zeke realized he was invited to the away game that is really only for serious partners and wives to attend. He had absolutely no idea because Spencer never made his feelings clear to Zeke and it was so on brand.

This could be a formatting issue on the arc but I had a heck of a time distinguishing texts from Zeke's inner dialogue. We would be mid sentence and have a text response without changing the font or literally anything to separate it. I kept having to stop and reread these sections so they made sense.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Gym teacher Zeke has always thirsted over his favorite hockey player, Spencer McLeod. So when Spencer shows up at the beginning of the year with his kindergarten daughter in tow (a child nobody knew he had) Zeke is reeling. He knows he needs to ignore his feelings, but Spencer is so hot, and so good with his daughter, despite his usually gruff manner. And when Spencer needs help with one of his parental duties at the school, Zeke provides that help, which blossoms into a friendship, which... blossoms into something Zeke has never let himself dream could actually happen.

It took me a little while to get into the writing style of this book, but once I was used to it I actually really liked it. The romance was sweet, and Addie (Spencer's daughter) was adorable. This book was very fluffy--I'd say the biggest conflict was Spencer's mom wanting him to focus on Addie and not date, so there was some mild disapproval of Zeke, but not because of Zeke himself or the fact that the characters were gay. It's been a while since I've read something this fluffy, and I found it very refreshing.

Zeke is a an elementary school gym teacher at a fancy private school in Philadelphia. He couldn't be more shocked when his favorite hockey player walks into school with a kindergarten age daughter no one knew about. Pretty quickly Zeke is helping Spenser figure out how to be the best story-time reader he can be and getting closer in every way possible. Zeke and Spenser are a classic grumpy/sunshine pair - with a sweet, normal kiddo thrown in the mix.

So I am normally a lover of all things hockey romance - particularly the M/M hockey romance genre. This one just wasn't my favorite - and it really felt unfinished. I don't know if Cait Nary plans it as a duet or more - but just as Zeke and Spenser were getting closer, the story just kind of ended. It definitely ends happy for now - with a foreshadowing of things to come - but it also just kind of ends and nothing really happens. Zeke and Spenser meet, date, start to fall in love and that's that.

I also didn't love the perspective this book was written in - it is definitely not my favorite ("Zeke knows he's got a smile on his face...") it just felt a little awkward and distracted me throughout the book. It is also written entirely from Zeke's point-of-view. That can be awesome - but I think I would have liked to hear from Spenser a bit more. Because we didn't hear from Spenser - I didn't really like him very much. I ended up being almost more invested in side characters than the main relationship.

Overall - this was just meh for me.

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and Carina Press for this advanced copy!

I enjoyed this book for what it was! The narrative relies heavily on telling throughout, versus showing, but it was so well written I didn’t mind.

It’s definitely character driven versus plot driven; all the conflict is really internal. The one thing that threw me is that about 35ish % in, they just JUMPED from friends to sexy texting, without nerves or hesitation on their end. No alcohol involved, no second guessing, and while Zeke said many times throughout he was too much, that was almost TOO TOO much.

Overall, the writing was so wonderful I was able to overlook the minor issues.

Oh this book was so good! I started it kind of on a whim and then couldn't put it down hence why I'm writing this review at like 3am. It was very charming and funny and I loved all of the characters!

I got the chance to read Lucky Bounce because I loved Time to Shine by Rachel Reid. I instantly thought perfect! A hockey romance for hockey season. This sadly fell flat for me. The story follows Zeke an elementary school gym teacher and Spencer a professional hockey player. They meet due to Spenser’s daughter being in Zeke’s class. Their relationship is heavy on the grumpy/sunshine.
The story fell flat with Spencer being a surface character. There was no real depth to him and his history was confusing. Zeke had some background that gave insight on who he was. The relationship between Zeke and Spencer lacked. There was no conflict. That’s not to say every story needs conflict but this was too much everything is perfect. There were several parts that could have been expanded on. More conversations needed to be had.

Thank you to NetGalley and Carina Press for giving this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Lucky Bounce was everything I was hoping it would be based on the synopsis: a single dad, low angst, parent/teacher, hockey romance that was incredibly sweet though all the while Spencer was incredibly grumpy. Seeing the relationship move on from Zeke’s crush and Spencer’s teammates meddling into something more substantial while they kept their opposites-attract personalities was really enjoyable. I particularly liked the writing style and getting Zeke’s inner monologue/stream of conscious thoughts. Not all of the relationship’s issues are solved by the end of the book which is bittersweet, but it leaves the reader feeling hopeful that they’ll continue to working towards solutions in the future. I will definitely read more from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and Carina Press for giving this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review! Lucky Bounce will be published on January 9, 2024.

I enjoyed this so much - it's a sweet, spicy romance that is exactly what it says on the tin, between a star hockey player and his daughter's teacher. It's from Zeke's PoV entirely, so we don't get much hockey from a player's perspective, but don't worry, there are plenty of games that Zeke attends and plenty of interactions with many of the team members so that it definitely feels like a hockey romance without being overwhelming to someone without much knowledge on the ins and outs of the hockey season.

The dynamic between Zeke and Spencer is great - it walks all of its tropes (grumpy/sunshine, celeb/fan, parent/teacher) with a balance that feels realistic and not overbearing in any of them - and I really enjoyed that the plot is much more about how they make their relationship work across of their differences than about any one or two conflicts (there's no third-act-breakup or real interference), leaving plenty of room for both of them to learn more about the other and become more and more comfortable with their relationship. There were a number of conversations that helped solve things before they started to fester, which I appreciated a lot, but did make me think that the characters were older than early-20s, though I'm not complaining all that much.

All in all, this was wonderful and I can definitely see myself re-reading this

Single dad hockey player falling for his daughters teacher who’s secretly a huge fan?? ARE YOU KIDDING ME! 🤭

This book had me feeling feral— I was kicking my feet and giggling!! I loved watching Zeke and Spencer drift towards one another, their banter quickly won me over. The writing felt very fresh and I was able to fly through this book in no time. There’s some heavier topics in here, Spencer’s new relationship with his daughter and Zeke’s unsupportive family affect their mental health and cause of a slight barrier in their developing relationship. I loved seeing them mesh their lives and create their own little family. Zeke worries about being too needy and overbearing and I appreciate that Spencer made it clear that he wanted Zeke as he is. This is Spencer’s first real relationship, so I understand that he’s shy and clams up. I found it endearing for awhile, but I wanted to shake him when they were in St. Louis! Use your words, dude!! Overall, I had a *great* time reading this and now I’m going to binge a bunch of hockey romance to keep this good feeling going. 😅🫶🏻

4.75 stars, LUCKY BOUNCE by Cait Nary is available January 9! Thank you to Carina Press and Netgalley for the chance to review an eARC.

I went into this one with great anticipation for pure enjoyment of a hockey romance -- as I really enjoyed Cait Nary's "Season's Change" and "Contract Season" .... but my enjoyment just gradually kind of crumbled away little by little as I read -- I still loved the 2 main characters, particularly Spencer's initial shyness & his loud friend/wingman/teammate helping to get the ball rolling. These interactions amongst the group Zeke and his roommate Jake, Spencer and his teammate. Also loved their initial texting and particularly Spencer finding him in the stands at games, and there were just some really funny/cute interactions. I also appreciate the relatively low angst plot & that we didn't have some fabricated 11th hour crisis.

But as it went on, the writing, and some of the scenes and phrases and descriptions grew very repetitive. Zeke finding somewhere to park the car that's not the cost of 'an organ'; how much energy Addie has; how Zeke loses his mind every time Spencer texts/gets in touch; etc etc...

I also felt like we needed a few more actual CONVERSATIONS to progress the relationship along. I get that Spencer is being painted as the taciturn grump. But he's GOT to say more than 'whatever' five million times to get the relationship off the ground.... I also felt the progression of the relationship was a bit whiplashy -- one minute we're sending tentative texts (ie. are you really interested or are we just friends stage) and the next the texts escalate to sexts, but they haven't even had a conversation that kind of shores up the 'we're on the same page here, right' (other than 1 look in the car). Almost every time they had dialogue together, I was left wanting something more - either Zeke to actually say something supportive instead of reverting to 'bro'/ 'dude' kind of teasing, or Spencer to say something at all -- the one or two times he does are just sooooo sweet. Wish we could have gotten a little more of that.

I dunno - it was still FUN, but just wanted a little less repetition and a little more relationship-building. Also LOVED the fact that Zeke had 4 of Spencer's sweaters/hockey jerseys and was eagerly awaiting the reveal to Spencer of this - and it was good, but I feel like it almost could have been even better - like not quite enough was made of this.

A fun, quick low-angst romance that made me laugh out loud several times. Zeke and Spencer were an engaging couple, even if Spencer felt very surface-level when it came to his own thoughts and feelings. But, considering I was sent this because I enjoyed Rachel Reid's 'Time to Shine', I knew more or less what to expect.

My hat goes off to Cait Nary for writing a child character who was not annoying, and for actually touching on tough family situations, but in a way that showed it wasn't thrown into the mix for added drama. It stayed light, but it gave depth to Zeke, and was great because it made sense regarding the impact it had on both his self esteem, and his relationships.

I wish there was more hockey in this romance, but what we got was enjoyable, and I did not mind how much time we spent with Zeke at his place of work and at home--but I do wish we had gotten to know his friends more! Everyone else does not shine nearly as bright as Zeke, but thankfully he's an enjoyable main character.

Many thanks to Shannon Dales and NetGalley for the advanced copy, in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVE HOCKEY ROMANCES. Add a teacher/parent romance I’m freaking SOLD.

I do wish the child was involved more ( I feel like I’m one of the few that just love the parenting trope) Zeke and Spencer were just so fucking adorable

Zeke Boehm, a teacher at a Friends School, falls in love with the parent of one of his students. The parent is someone that Zeke admired long before the daughter became involved in his life as he is a pro hockey player of some reknown. Zeke gets more and more involved in the Spencer McCleod's life, and the attraction seems mutual. How it could work is the question, as Zeke has a professional responsibility to the daughter, and the athlete is in the closet, except to his family and teammates.
Author Cait Nay makes it work in a delightful fashion. I tagged right along as the relationship grew and finished the novel nonstop.
Thanks NetGalley and Carina Press for the ARC. I loved it!

2.5 rounded up

I was super excited about this one--I loved the first book I read by this author and the summary seemed really promising. I enjoyed it overall, but I can't say it quite lived up to my hopes for it.

I've read variations on the dad/teacher thing before, but I thought the twist of the dad being famous *and* the teacher having already been a fan was interesting, and I generally thought it played well--pretty easy for it to veer into creepy, but I didn't feel like that line was crossed. I'm not always a big fan of kids in books, and I actually didn't find the five-year-old to feel all that present in the book. On the one hand, I personally appreciated it, but on the other, it did feel a little weird for there not to be more of her considering she's pretty young, Spencer is a single dad, and Zeke is her teacher. There aren't even conversations at the end, when it's clear they're serious, about what it means for them to be in a relationship when one of them is raising a young kid and the other is (at least at the moment) her P.E. teacher... Felt like a very odd omission. There's also hardly any hockey for a hockey romance. I wasn't personally bothered--the POV character is the teacher, and we don't get Spencer's POV at all so it makes sense there isn't a ton of hockey, but I know that's a draw for some people.

The writing itself... there was something about the writing here that felt a little off for me, and I'm having a difficult time articulating it. I think that part of it was the fact that Zeke's character in particular felt a little all over the place. Despite being the POV character, I never really felt like I had a solid read on him, because his characterization never felt entirely consistent. It almost read as if the author's conception of him evolved as they wrote, but then there was no going back through to edit him into a coherent and consistent character. It was subtle and hard to place, but I had a difficult time connecting to him, in part because I never felt like I knew him. (As a smaller aside, I don't know that we ever really even got a good description of him, so I had no idea what to even picture, which I found a bit frustrating.)

The pacing here also wasn't quite right for me. The lead up to the relationship was excellent, but the sudden sexting pivot point felt like a really sudden and aggressive flip, and then the jump into a full relationship with absolutely no discussions about what they were doing was really confusing. The whole last 1/3 of the book I kept waiting for something to happen (3rd act breakup, some kind of DTR) but it just read like an extended epilogue in which not much happens and I was sort of scratching my head. I appreciated the maturity of the relationship (though it was jarring for me to realize these guys are in their mid-20s and not their mid-30s, as they mostly read as older to me) but I was a bit bored at the end, waiting for some kind of tension or climax or *something*, instead of just a slow descent into the ending, which felt fairly abrupt considering the lack of a climactic event to mark the coming end/resolution of the book, and no official epilogue.

There were some good bones here, but it felt like it could have used a stronger editor to work on the pacing and characterization/writing issues.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Lucky Bounce features Zeke, a kindergarten teacher, and Spencer, a professional hockey player with a secret daughter who happens to be in Zeke's gym class.

I enjoyed the romance between Zeke and Spencer as they get to know each other/flirt in texts while Spencer struggles to be himself and open up. I with there had been more about Zeke's family, it's touched on but it could have been more to feel more of an emotional connection to Zeke and what he went through.

This book was a treat! It didn't quite reach five-star status for me, but definitely four-plus. Zeke (the POV character) won my heart from page one—I loved his voice—and I loved the secondary characters. In single-POV books, I often end up wishing I could get more of the non-POV MC, and that was true here. But I can see that single POV was probably the right choice for this story. Probably. I loved the way the relationship progressed, and while it seemed to evolve a bit quickly (I'd have happily read another big chunk of these guys dating before getting quite so serious about each other), it didn't require me to suspend disbelief any more than many other romances do.

Minor quibbles: For my taste, there could have been more hockey. But since the POV character wasn't the hockey player, I can see how that would have been difficult. (Another reason I'd have loved to see both POVs.) Also, stories featuring kids are not my preference, so that was a minus for me—but won't be for many readers. The choice not to have a third-act breakup worked well, I thought, though I admit I kept waiting for one. Still, I ended up liking that the characters communicated and dealt with things and made it work without a big blowup. That said, I found the ending a bit abrupt. I actually sat there trying to page forward, expecting there to be more.

So, all in all, this was a ton of fun, even if it wasn't perfect. I'd gladly read more in this world and will definitely be looking forward to whatever Cait Nary writes next.

My thanks to the publisher/NetGalley for a complimentary advance copy of this ebook.

DANGIT

When I was invited to read this early, I was so excited, because I love a hockey romance (hooray for a book that makes me care about sports!) and it was compared to a recent book I loved, TIME TO SHINE by Rachel Reid. So I immediately started it and was INTO it. I flew through the first half. But that's where the book kind of started to fall flat for me. And I'm BUMMED!

PE teacher Zeke's world is rocked when the secret daughter of his favorite hockey player (and crush) Spencer is enrolled at his school. As Zeke and Spencer begin interacting more, a connection starts to build...

And I was SO here for the tension! I was eating. It. UP! I was giggling and kicking my feet! Two idiots in love who don't realize it? Chef's kiss!

"I'm trying to have a moment." Like? *screams*

But then I turned the page and they're sexting all of the sudden? It was such a good slow burn that I thought they'd have this tender communicative moment and it would evolve more naturally. They're both interested but unaware, so the quick jump to the physical threw me off. It felt kind of jarring and I was disappointed. Like, the first half characters and the second characters weren't the same or something? IDK, maybe this was just a 'me' thing.

But I also felt like the pacing in the second half was off -- the third act conflict felt early and glossed over (if there even was one?) then the ending was abrupt and a bit unsatisfying.

Overall, this book felt so promising and I loved the early buildup -- unfortunately, it didn't end up delivering for me. But I'm definitely going to check out some of Cait's other stuff -- I bet I'll find something I like.

Thank you to Shannon, Carina Press, and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review! LUCKY BOUNCE is out January 9, 2024!

I absolutely adored this book ADORED it. It’s rare to find something that stands out in the romance field, and as someone who admittedly reads a lot of hockey romance, I wasn’t expecting to be so enthralled with Lucky Bounce as I was. I’ve read Cait Nary’s previous books and knew I was a fan of their style and the particular way they write romance. Like the previous books, Lucky Bounce was delightfully voicey, Zeke was both hilarious and extremely fleshed out, and I loved being in his head. I adored how grumpy and reticent Spencer was, and how he was quietly determined to both being a wonderful father to Addie and making Zeke feel loved and appreciated. I’m always a fan of one character being a bit blind to the adoration of the other and though the trope was really well done. While the spice wasn’t a huge portion of it, I thought it was perfectly done and really enjoyed Spencer and Zeke’s dynamic in that regard, and how open they were with each other with consent and preferences. I do wish there was slightly more at the end, it’s a very low conflict story which made me feel like there might be a sequel? Either way, I really loved it and will eagerly read anything Nary might write in the future!