I’m very conflicted on how I felt about Lucky Bounce. I liked aspects of it, but there weren’t enough of the good parts to keep me going to truly *love* (or even like) this very much. After not enjoying Contract Season very much, I decided to give Cait Nary a second chance with Lucky Bounce - it has so many tropes that I adore: hockey, single dad romance, fun and dynamic teachers. Unfortunately, I don’t think Nary is the author for me.

This is a very quick read - and is still enjoyable, even if I have several issues iwth it. Mostly, I had quite a few issues with the overall writing style and pacing of this book. I was immediately drawn in by how cute and quick it was - I’m a sucker for pining idiots and the first half had that in droves. Unfortunately, their relationship didn’t feel fleshed out. They were great friends and then all of a sudden they were sexting and then immediately after they were in love. It either needed to be longer, more detailed, or lose some of Zeke’s frivolous internal monologue, and it could have been great. Unfortunately, where it is now feels incomplete.

I did like the characters - and I really liked Spencer’s relationship with Addie. And I enjoyed Spencer and Zeke’s friendship dynamic - I wanted more of that. This really would have benefited from being dual POV - I would have loved to see more of this pining from Spencer’s POV and seeing all of his friends rib him for being as obvious as he is.

I just found myself needing more - more angst, or more hockey, or more development in general. It fall flat in almost every aspect.

Thank you to Carina Press & Netgalley for the advanced copy.

First off, thank you netgalley for sending me an arc of this book. The summary of the book sounded very interest especially since I love lgbtqia+ romance books & the addition of sport was a bonus. The problem I had with the book was that it wasn't very captivating, nothing about the story or characters held my interest. The couple chemistry was lacking and I couldn't fully get into it. Both of the characters were basic and I felt like I barely knew anything about them. The writing was also a little slow, I felt like I was reading alot but not really getting anywhere. There was some unnecessary info randomly in place that didn't need them. It was a very generic romance novel, nothing too amazing.

Zeke Boehm is a PE teacher at a small private school that’s no stranger to children of high profile parents. Still he’s very surprised to find he’ll have kindergartener Adeline, daughter of Spencer McLeod, as one of the students in his class. Not least of all because, even with Spencer being his absolute favorite player on his favorite hockey team, Zeke didn’t realize the man had a daughter. Even more surprising are the sheer volume of blushes aimed in his direction as they get to know each other in between school events, rink visits and more.

This book was So Much Fun!

Zeke is energetic, oblivious and wonderful, all while having zero chill. Spencer is an awkward grumbly grump of a rich hipster, which makes him entertaining in a whole other way. Even though it seems like they shouldn’t fit, they absolutely do.

I also enjoyed how most of their friends and coworkers were excellent meddlers/supporters.

Other than the difficulties of working a relationships around a schedule, the book is pretty light on hockey itself. Instead of expecting breakneck play by plays, expect characters being breathless for spicier reasons. It’s more than an okay trade.

There’s also them navigating relationship things like different degrees of being out and financial imbalance - insert friends gifs where Joey says ‘Like we can afford to go here and there’

It seemed like the book ended a little abruptly - or maybe I just wasn’t ready to let them go? - but they’re left in a hopeful place so I was *mostly* okay with it. But what I wouldn’t have given for some an epilogue, maybe dual pov…

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for the ARC!

I’m a fan of hockey and queer romance books, so I was looking forward to reading Lucky Bounce. It’s a quick, queer, sports romance read featuring Zeke, an excitable physical education teacher who's like a golden retriever, and Spencer, a pro hockey player who's a bit of a grump. There are some underexplored conflicts (teacher dating the parent of a student; a plan for the future regarding the transition from teacher to parent’s partner), and I think it would be interesting to get Spencer’s POV in addition to Zeke’s.

Content warnings: sexual content, homophobia, drug use, drug abuse

5 stars

Lucky Bounce is my favorite of Cait Nary's books so far. It's fun, fast-paced, has good hockey content, and I didn't even mind the kid (and i am not a big fan of kids in romance novels). The romance is great too - I was invested in the two main characters getting to know each other and eventually figuring it all out.

There was some Personal Family Stuff with both dudes that wasn't really explored in depth or resolved at all but I don't enjoy family drama so I didn't mind that it kinda went nowhere.

The ending is probably my biggest complaint because it is A B R U P T. It seriously just ends with the world's most vague sentence and i kept trying to turn the page for more but nope. Nothing. If this was beefed up a bit it would be 5++++ stars lol. Still worth the read and a great addition to the annals of gay hockey romance.

I loved this book! I devoured it in only a few sittings and wish there was more to read. The story line was paced very well and the characters were easy to love!

Give me a single dad, hockey romance and I am IN! This book was enjoyable and yummy at the same time. While the third person POV is hard for me to get in to, I was able to follow the story and fall in love with these characters!

I was hooked from the very beginning. This book was just what I needed the perfect distraction from life’s business with this absolutely adorable plot and characters that you can’t help but love!

Between the third person POV, and the confusing writing style, I found teh whole book hard to follow and not that enjoyable. The plot is cute I just dont feel it was executed well. It was hard to keep focus and enjoy the story because of the other issues.

I really enjoyed this! It hits a lot of the right notes with me: single dad, teacher/parent, cute kid shenanigans, hockey player/fan, not to mention all the couple dynamics. Zeke is a fun character, and his anxious, high energy, no filter perspective is both amusing to read and highly relatable. There are many times when Zeke is about to spiral but he works through it, and I liked that he's so aware of his mental health and has a routine and way to manage his thoughts and emotions. Zeke and Spencer's relationship is a bit of a slow burn that turns into a wildfire as soon as they both decide to move forward with things. Spencer's not much of a talker, something that kind of frustrated me, but Zeke makes up for it by talking a lot. I'm glad that, when they needed to, Spencer was able to open up about his feelings and needs. Family plays a big role in the story, and I loved that both guys adore Spencer's daughter and enjoy spending time with her, even when it cuts into their date nights. Overall this is a fun read filled with sweet moments, some very good spice, and heartwarming feels.

I received an invitation to read an advanced copy of Lucky Bounce via NetGalley from HarperCollins. I'd enjoyed a hockey romance or two before, so I decided to give this a try. I'm glad I did, as it was a good read. Bit slow, but otherwise enjoyable. Lots of swearing, and made me want to visit Philly again.

Thank you to HarperCollins, Harlequin, and CarinaAdores for the free eARC.

I found this one to be a fun light read--not my fave but it definitely had great moments. I appreciated the nd rep, was charmed by Addie, and liked the Zeke and Spencer’s courtship. I’m a sucker for a good hockey romance.

For some reason I couldn't picture these characters as young as they were supposed to be, maybe because though they weren't perfect they also.... kinda were? The book kept saying they weren't perfect, but there was truly no conflict in this novel, and once the two men decided they were in love... that was that. And it went from texting and flirting to doors wide open real quick. The only people who weren't on board were off screen and didn't make much of a splash in the story. I really enjoyed the characters though, and I picked up my Kindle to read this more than just at night as I was going to bed, so that's a sign that I liked it.

I was so excited about this book!! I read through it quickly, and while I would love to see some more character development/depth, I had no real complaints -- until i hit the ending!! I'm still in a bit of a shock, and not because something shocking happened. This book just.... ended so suddenly. There was no central conflict, no closure on any of the storylines, just a tentative (maybe?) happy for now.

This book has so much potential -- but I feel like it needs another 50+ pages to tie the story together.

Absolutely loved this one - so cute! This was my first achillean sports romcom and it definitely did not disappoint! I'm ready for more! Being open about your sexuality can be a little intimidating, and can make you really self-conscious, and this book did a great job showing that.

The tense bounced back and forth between third-person present and third-person past, and it was extremely uncomfortable to read. Stopped at 2%.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for the ARC.

Spencer was Zeke’s favorite player!

Teacher/coach Ezekiel (Zeke) Boehm has had a crush on Philadelphia Liberty player Spencer McLeod forever but he never expected to meet him at Rittenhouse Friends back-to-school night holding the hand of his daughter Adeline! Because Zeke knows his background and he doesn’t have a daughter.

Hockey player Spencer McLeod never expected to have custody of his daughter but he did and he’s going to try and be the best dad he can be. But he needs help and there was something about Zeke after being friends made him want to get to know him a little bit better.

I would have loved to have a little bit more about Zeke and Spencer getting together and raising Addie.

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

Thank you HarperCollins for sending this to me to read and review.

I savored this book like it was an expensive box of chocolates. I could have finished it much sooner but then my first time reading this book would be over. This is definitely going on the reread list, it was so heart warming.

Spencer and Zeke falling for each other was incredibly sweet. I loved their friends knowing looks as they watched. And just all the different characters interactions.

All the kids in this book acted like real children and I never got annoyed by them.

This book has low angst and such a sweet love story I can’t recommend it enough.

This was a really cute book overall. I have only rated it four stars instead of five because of the excessive amount of times that Spencer blushed in this book. It was cute at first because it was a singular POV focused on Zeke's perspective so it helped show when Spencer was interested in him, but it was way too much.

That's probably my only real criticism though. That and some of Zeke's social tics like saying "He's not too much, okay" were a bit overused in the narrative. Apart from that the writing style drew me in and totally got pining down realistically, which I appreciate. Read too much instalove or if they have a crush on each other there's no tension or suspense, each character is a too perfect Mary Sue. Not so with these two.

In "Lucky Bounce," Zeke has long had a crush on the star hockey player of his favorite local team, and then it turns out that said player, Spencer, has a secret daughter who is enrolled in the gym class he teaches at a local school for the children of celebrities. They start spending more time together, resulting in a very cute arc in which Spencer's teammate intervenes to get the grumpy hockey star to act on his feelings for his daughter's hot teacher. Even though we never saw Spencer's POV I never doubted his feelings for Zeke, and it was a good way to get inside Zeke's head and show his feelings and insecurities as a neurodivergent character.

I also have a personality very similar to Zeke's - I am also neurotic, filled with nervous energy, always putting my foot in my mouth and generally cheerful even when I'm depressed - and finally I found the neurodivergent rep authentic and not annoying like I have with other nd characters in the past. I related pretty strongly to Zeke's character.

The story also kept up the tension when they hooked up and handled Spencer's sexuality and Zeke's struggles with his family sensitively. I did wish that Spencer could have come out publicly after they got serious about each other but I understood why it played out like it did according to the characters.

All in all a very cute read and I'd read more by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Lucky Bounce was a lighthearted, tender read about an elementary school teacher and his budding relationship with his favorite hockey player.

If you're looking for any kind of angst or a structured plot, this is not it. Lucky Bounce is 100% in the "vibes over plot" category, be warned. Usually, if the vibes prove to be immaculate, I can get down with a single-character POV that leans hard into a stream-of-consciousness writing style. And to be honest, I was enthralled by the first 60% of the book. I love a relationship that develops from weirdly coincidental, semi-embarrassing roots.

Plus, Spencer bodying a player into the glass just because Zeke told him to, brought on a visceral reaction.

After the first 60%, I got progressively more disengaged. Issues between the characters seem to gloss themselves over. The same goes for Zeke's internal turmoil which dissolved the second Spencer looked his way. I wish we saw Spencer's supposed moodiness in more than just him saying "whatever" every time he spoke. The ending was rather abrupt but it came after a couple chapters of aimless wandering so I can forgive it.

I think these tidbits can be looked over, especially considering it's meant to be a lighthearted read (and it definitely is). I would put this novel next to Rachel Reid's Time to Shine because it's undeniably a warm, light, holiday read.