I had previously reviewed both of Cait Nary's "Trade Season" books. I didn't really love those either, but since I got an actual e-mail saying that I should take a look at this one (because I "loved" Rachel Reid's Time to Shine)...I decided to give it a shot (note: I did not "love" it. It was fine, but Reid begrudgingly earned every one of those 4 stars I gave it). I didn't make it past the first page. Unlike the Trade Season books, Nary has decided to write in 3rd Person, Present Tense. I have a visceral dislike of present tense fiction, but making it 3rd person, literally makes me want to gouge out my own eyeballs.

The plot itself seemed cute, and someone who doesn't have quite the reaction I do to 3P/PT may very well enjoy this. I just could not and I am sorry. I was sort of looking forward to ripping it apart. Alas, it 'twas not to be. However, since this mostly on me and just my own personal reaction, I"ll give the book a median 3 star, which is kinder than the rating I gave the two Trade Season books.

I’ve been on a run of teacher romances falling in love with someone who has a small child - I’m not sure exactly why, but I’ve ended up reading a strange number of them this year and I haven’t even been actively looking for them lol

Out of all of the ones I’ve read this year though, Lucky Bounce falls the most flat. I did not connect to either characters, and both felt pretty cardboard cut out. Not only that but the plot felt like it had no real resolution. There were no real stakes that gave you a chance to root for the characters, besides the very basic “oh but he’s a celebrity, and I’m just a regular person.” For some this would be enough, but unfortunately for me it was.

Finishing Lucky Bounce, I was left unsatisfied and wishing that there was just a little something extra to make you want to root for the two characters together. Instead, I closed the last page with a “meh.”

Originally I had this at 2.5, but as I sat on it, the utter lack of a climax or rather anything to wrap up the story has me dropping this down to a 2. Some folks are going to eat this book up - I just wasn’t one of them.


*I received an eARC from Harlequin - Romance, Carina Press, & NetGalley. All opinions are my own*

This book was okay. I think it would have been so much better with dual POVs and also not such an abrupt ending. It was enjoyable though and will recommend as a light read.

I loved this sweet teacher/hot hockey player dad romance! Zeke and Spencer were so sweet together. Spencer is a little grumpy but clearly has a crush. His teammates try to help him out and it's adorable. I loved their connection and the added plotline of Spencer learning to be a dad with some coaching from Zeke. Secondary characters were a treat, especially Franky and Zeke's best friend. My only constructive criticism was I wanted just a little more emotion from Spencer at the end. Definitely recommend!!

I enjoyed this M/M romance between a gym teacher and hockey fan whose absolute favorite pro player unexpectedly brings his daughter into his kindergarten class. Zeke finds himself charmed by Addie and getting to know her famous father, and against all odds, he and Spencer are attracted to each other. I loved how Zeke hides the fact that he owns several hockey jerseys with Spencer's name and number on them. The two come from different worlds, but it's possible this may actually work out. Recommended.

I was really excited to read this book based on the description. I am sad that it didn't live up to my expectations. I love a single parent trope and I love hockey romance, but this one fell short. The beginning felt very rushed and choppy. There were several time jumps that felt forced and I had a difficult time following the pacing of the book.

Additionally I would have loved to see Spencer's POV. Without his perspective the relationship didn't feel fully developed. There was several times that we were told about dialogue happening without giving us the dialogue. If we aren't going to have Spencer's POV I think this would have helped develop the relationship more. Without their fun convos and his POV Spencer felt like he was still a celebrity and not a fully formed character.

The book improved a lot towards the end. Once they were in a relationship I enjoyed it much more. That being said the ending was very lackluster. I'm happy they didn't have a 3rd act breakup, but there was very little conflict and the small conflict there was never truly resolved.

This was such a sweet story, with characters written in a way that made them feel like living, breathing humans out in the world. Zeke and Spencer were a beautiful team to root for, and the side characters added even more depth and love to the main characters' romance as well. While it took a bit for the story to pull me in, and I would have loved an epilogue just to "check in" with their "later" (and letting the reader KNOW there was a later!), Lucky Bounce was a sweet MM romance and I will be looking for other Cait Nary titles. ❤️
**I was provided an ARC by Netgalley to offer my honest opinion about the book.**

This was everything I could have wanted in a hockey romance and more! Zeke and Spencer were such a fun pairing and I loved watching their relationship blossom in this refreshing love story.

Admittedly, I’m not the biggest fan of books that have young children in them because I feel as though authors write them inauthentically and make them, quite frankly, annoying. However, this was not the case in LUCKY BOUNCE. Not only did Zeke and Spencer have fantastic chemistry and a lovely romance arc, but their interactions with Spencer’s daughter, Addie, were sweet and oftentimes hilarious. I also have to give a huge kudos to Cait Nary for throwing in the unnecessary third act breakup that I assumed was coming. This story didn’t need it and I was so glad when I realized it wouldn’t be happening.

Overall, I loved this book! The romance was sweet, the bedroom scenes were sexy, and the dialogue was fun and entertaining. What more could you want? I’d definitely recommend this book (and will be) to romance lovers everywhere!

Zeke finds out his new student is the daughter of Spencer McLeod, a famous hockey player, and to make things more awkward, this player is Zeke's most favorite ever. Now he can't even watch the games in his jerseys because every piece he owns has Spencer's name. But Spencer is new to parenthood and he needs all the advice he can get to fit in with the school, and that brings the two together.

This book has the weirdest writing style I've ever seen... I still wonder if it's me, because I couldn't find any review talking specifically about it, but I can't not mention it when it was the one big obstacle to my liking it. It's not an easy read. It's supposed to be. The deal we have with these writer is very explicit: give me a story I can devour when I need some comfort reading. But each time I tried to read this one, I'd feel mentally tired trying to keep up with Zeke's narration.

I usually avoid reading reviews before writing mine, but since I ended up doing it, the one point in common was that people liked Zeke in the beginning but then they got tired that the book was only from his point of view. Indeed, I would have liked to know more about Spencer. I didn't feel especially bothered by Zeke (despite the mess that his narration was), he's just your usual main character in romance books, sometimes he's relatable, sometimes he's too dumb. Nevertheless, I'm sure hearing more of Spencer's voice would have contributed to deepening the plot instead of just being another fantasy of common guy meets idols of his dreams and idol seems to be into him. There were things there for Spencer to tell us. There were some conflicts that would have been more interesting with information only Spencer had. On the other hand, I'm not a fan of double povs and romances are already saturated with them, so it's not that big a loss. Better planning of when to present us with the conflicts could have had a similar contribution.

Above all, I just wish the narration didn't feel like I'm hearing a sports commentator. I think I would have enjoyed this story if the narration had left me time to sit in and breathe.


Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

I loved the first fifty percent of the book but didn't fully enjoy the second half. In all the book was okay.

Overall I liked the characters. I wasn't a big fan of Zeke calling Spencer dude constantly. It seemed a little forced. And there wasn't really a story in the book. Like no misunderstanding or anything. They just met, went out and stayed together. Zeke didn't resolve anything with his own family. It just ended. I would read another book from this author to see if this was a fluke.

Lucky Bounce is the first book I've read by Cait Nary and overall, I enjoyed it very much. Zeke Boehm is the gym teacher at a prestigious school and his new student just happens to be the secret daughter of his all time favorite hockey player slash crush Spencer MacLeod. The story follows Zeke as he gets to know the man behind the hockey mask.

It was a cute story and the relationship between Zeke and Spencer both sweet and spicy. The story has enough dramatic elements to keep it interesting without it tipping into unnecessary drama, and the side characters were entertaining enough that I would be interested to read a novel centered on just them. I would have loved if the story was told from Spencer's perspective as well since I didn't feel like we got to know him as well during the course of the novel. It also felt like it ended rather abruptly, but that could be because I didn't want the story to end.

Overall, Lucky Bounce was an enjoyable read that I would recommend to readers of romance. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

This book was a cute concept but fell apart for me with all the hipster-ness. I was turned off by all the (IMO) try-hard to be cool and relevant language and references. Which to be fair will be totally irrelevant in no time. The characters to me fell flat because if this and I struggled to continue to read it. The right reader will enjoy this and probably find it witty but it didn’t work for me at all sadly.

This book was solidly OK. I enjoyed reading it, and it was a good mix of funny and spicy...but after 250 pages I can't really even tell you what happened. In some ways that is cool. Reading a romance with no huge crisis or grand gesture was oddly satisfying. At its heart, this was just a book about two hot sports nerds hooking up and navigating the annoyances of real life. As a cozy sports romance, this was a delight. However, if you are looking for character growth or people resolving their issues like adults, this is not the romance for you. When the story (abruptly?) wraps up we still have two people who have not made any major commitments to each other experiencing a relationship that one of them won't even make public. They don't communicate (Spencer can't even complete a sentence) or formulate any plan to reconcile the differences in personalities, financial status and life plans. No side characters do anything except be tropey archetypes and even the "focal point" daughter remains a generic kid. All we get is a HFN between some people whose primary shared activity is (albeit scorchingly hot) sex. I mean, I don't hate it, but I would have loved a more thoughtfully crafted romance with this collection of characters.

Lucky Bounce is the first book I've read by Cait Nary and overall, I enjoyed it very much. Zeke Boehm is the gym teacher at a prestigious school and his new student just happens to be the secret daughter of his all time favorite hockey player slash crush Spencer MacLeod. The story follows Zeke as he gets to know the man behind the hockey mask.

It was a cute story and the relationship between Zeke and Spencer both sweet and spicy. The story has enough dramatic elements to keep it interesting without it tipping into unnecessary drama, and the side characters were entertaining enough that I would be interested to read a novel centered on just them. I would have loved if the story was told from Spencer's perspective as well since I didn't feel like we got to know him as well during the course of the novel. It also felt like it ended rather abruptly, but that could be because I didn't want the story to end.

Overall, Lucky Bounce was an enjoyable read that I would recommend to readers of romance. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I’m loving sports themed romances so of course I had to read this one. Hockey romance is becoming such a big thing that I’m not surprised when more and more pop up. This was a short/sweet romance that made me laugh and smile. Zeke and Spencer were very cute and it felt like lust a few times instead of love, but it definitely felt like a Harlequin book. Thank you again and I hope everyone enjoys!

I devoured Lucky Bounce in one sitting! Cait Nary drags us into the world of Ezekiel Boehm, who goes by Zeke, a kindergarten teacher surprised by the child of his favorite winger on the Philadelphia Liberty, Spencer McLeod. Zeke tries to keep his fanboying to himself, but as he slowly gets to know Spencer he realizes that Spencer's crunchy exterior has some marshmallow underneath.

Zeke and Spencer's relationship has a very sweet development, and Addie is one of the cutest children I've ever read. I do think adding Spencer's POV would have improved the depth of his character arc, given the circumstances of how he became a single dad. I definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a fairly low-angst sports romance.

Thank you to Carina Press and NetGalley for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

There was a lot here that I was excited for! Single Dad, Hockey, Queer Romance, and it even takes place in Philly (where I live!). Unfortunately the pacing and their relationship trajectory just didn't make a lot of sense to me and left me wanting a bit more.

The story is told in third-person present, single POV. I have said it before and I will say it again, this tense never seems to allow me to really get into characters heads, understand their motivations, and ultimately root for them. This one struggles even more because it's single POV and I think it REALLY would have benefited from also having Spencer's POV. Also for a hockey book...there's a shocking lack of hockey? Like Zeke does go to a fair amount of games but we hear more about his seat location than we do about the actual game.

I really liked their text and email banter (less so their in person communication which just ended up being so awkward most of the time). I thought their friends and Spencer's kid were funny and cute. There were some really cute scenes but I think this book could have done with some editing, particularly regarding pacing.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC. All thoughts are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A really cute story about an elementary gym teacher and a professional hockey player. Zeke has a crush on pro player Spencer, even before Spencer walked into his school gym with his cute daughter. I really loved Zeke and Spencer's awkward flirtations and even the peripheral characters are well fleshed out. One thing that I was missing was that the story is told entirely in Zeke's perspective and it would have been really nice to see inside of Spencer's head, too. I would definitely read more in this world of characters.

There were a lot of things I wanted to like about Lucky Bounce - single dad hockey player, kindergarten gym teacher, excellent tension. Unfortunately this one wasn't for me. It's written in 3rd person present tense, and entirely from Zeke's (the teacher's) perspective, so we get a one sided angle on the romance in a format that didn't work for me. Zeke and Spencer are young and awkward, and that's translated to the page, making this reader shift uncomfortably in her seat over inability to communicate. There were some bright spots - Addie, the daughter, was a fun ball of energy. Spencer's sister Olivia and teammate Franky are fantastic supporters. I also love messy characters trying to figure out their lives. But the transition from acquaintances to sexting to lovers was as awkward as the boys were, and the overall pacing and tone of the book felt too casual to me.

Thank you to Carina Press for an eARC to review.