3.5 stars. Thank you #netgalley for this ARC. I enjoyed this one a lot. Super cute mm romcom. The dialog was just ok for me but I did love Zeke and Spencer’s love story. I enjoyed the awkwardness of Spencer and I also really like that even though Spencer is the big hockey player that you assume would be the more assertive one he wasn’t. I enjoyed that the stereotypes were reversed. This was the first book I’ve ever read by this author and I will read hear work again. This was a pleasant surprise.

Lucky Bounce
By Cait Nary

📚💕⭐️⭐️⭐️💕📚

Story concept is good!

I really, really wanted to love this book. The story line was great but the execution was not what it could’ve been. The character development was to one sided and made Zeke look desperate and willing to take whatever he could get because he felt that’s all he deserved. Written in single POV left the feelings of Proffessional hockey player and new dads feeling completely unknown other than way too often small snippy comments that left you wondering if he even respects Zeke. If it wasn’t for the description of how Spencer touched or did the opposite of his words I’d have thought he was not really into the relationship.

I guess ultimately I think this book could be so much better. The author can write and the story itself is conceptually good just missing so much context. Then add in the lack of an epilogue and if I’d actually paid $6.99 for this book I’d be pretty upset. If I’m being honest and if I didn’t believe that when gifted a book through Netgally or an ARC through an author you have to read it fully to give it a truly fair assessment. If I’d purchased this book I would not have read the entire thing. I’m glad I did because overall I liked the characters but they could and should be so much more.

Authors Blurb: 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?

Thanks Netgally for letting me read and review.📚💕

thanks to netgallery & carina press for the free earc in exchange for a fair and honest review!

this wasn't bad by any means. it's actually very cute, and the characters are just interesting enough to keep you reading. unfortunately, this didn't break the rom-com mold even a little. if you're looking for something to pull you out of a reading slump that you won't get particularly invested in, this is probably the direction to go. the quality of writing honestly wasn't bad, and i don't have any complaints in terms of writing style. overall, a very cute book just interesting enough to keep you reading.

Four and a half stars. There was so much to love about this book. First of all, gay hockey players are totally my favorite guilty pleasure. But this book is just so well done. Zeke and Spencer’s growing relationship was a joy to read through. The supportive side characters were the absolute best. Zeke’s bestie Jake was lifelong bestie goals. Frankie being Spencer’s support and the one to not so gently push Spencer was awesome too. Also the opposite ways both their family reacted to their sexuality was very real and at some points heartbreaking. My one gigantic negative was the end of the book. It just…ended. Like I seriously thought my kindle was having issues. No true happily ever after, just a great day the end. It was unsatisfying. But overall, love love love and I found a new author’s storytelling I can’t wait to explore.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I’ve read the other hockey romance titles by the author and this is a departure from those. There’s a chaotic energy from the moment we’re introduced to our two main characters, Zeke and Spencer. A fun story of fantasy made reality - super fan Zeke is surprised when his favorite hockey player is a secret dad whose daughter is in his class. Absolute no chill ensues.

Story was enjoyable enough but much of the chaos did make the narrative difficult to follow at times. And it just ends. I’m spoiled apparently and expect an epilogue with happily ever after.

I’ll keep reading as long as there’s more hockey romances to come, but it does leave you wanting more.

This book is a cute, feel-good, insta-love romance between a hot, single-dad, star hockey player and his fan who also happens to be his young daughter's new teacher. It has every beat you'd expect from the premise, minus the third-act breakup, which is not a surprise, because the way the story is set up really doesn't have any conflicts that could blow-up their relationship at all, and for that I'm grateful. Although it doesn't do anything particularly novel, it's a relaxing and quick read that got me to smile a few times. I just wish the main characters and their dynamics get fleshed out a bit more, because when the romantic development trajectory is predictable, I really need to be invested in the characters, but I don't feel protective over or attracted to Zeke and Spencer, either as individuals or as a couple. Still, if you like hockey romance and kids, you can't really go wrong with this book.

Nary's story telling has a realism element that really brings me into he heart of the characters. It's a bit slower paced than others in the genre, letting the story breath. This does mean there is no over the top gestures, no flash, no epilogue 20 years from now, but I'm a details person in my reading and it all worked for me, even the child (which authors always seem to struggle with). The characters feel older, logically so given Spencers career and living as a single dad.
Something about Lucky Bounce just feels warm and cozy, ready to join you in a winter day.

Thank-you NetGalley for the ARC.
I found the beginning of this one hard to get into and connect with the characters. it improved probably about a third into it. I really liked the characters and would have liked a little bit more. A little bit more depth in characters and in the story. I found the ending a little abrupt. However, I did enjoy it while I read it!

Thank you NetGalley and Carina Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a quick and fun read, although a bit unremarkable. I think it would benefit from a dual point of view to fully explain all of Spencer's actions/motivations. The ending too felt a bit rushed, I would have liked just a bit more!

Overall I am glad I chose to read this, but I prefer some of Nary's other works.

This was such a cute and fun book! Zeke is the PE teacher at a private school where the daughter of Spencer, the famous hockey player, is five years old and attends the school he teaches at. No one knows she is his daughter, so when they meet at a meet the teacher type event, Zeke loses his mind because Spencer is his favorite hockey player who he has a crush on and has fantasies about at night. It's so cute how Zeke and Spencer stumble through miscommunication wand Zeke overanalyzing everything because he isn't sure if Spencer is really interested or if Zeke has overreacted because he has a huge crush on Spencer. It takes Spencer a long time to open up and there's some miscommunication, including the fact that his daughter is actually his and that he isn't straight. I thought the book could have been longer and included more, but I really liked it! It was fun, cute, steamy, and as always, we love a good M/M book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Carina Press for the eARC of this book.

I wasn't a huge fan of this book, which was evident in how long it took me to read it. I usually devour sports romance, but I just couldn't buy into the relationship in this one. Spencer was very flat as a character - he was very closed off in his responses and since the story wasn't told in his perspective, I feel like we get the tiniest slivers of information about him.

I also felt like there was no peak to the story, and that it ended abruptly. I'm sad I didn't like this one more because the pretense is cute, but the characters needed a lot more work to bring the story to life.

Thank you to Carina Press and Netgalley for the arc.

Mein Leseerlebnis

Die m/m romance von Cait Nary ließ sich insgesamt gut lesen und ich hatte mit ihr eine nette Zeit. Allerdings hat mich die Liebesgeschichte nicht so tief berührt wie erhofft und die Charaktere sind eher leicht zu vergessen.

Das Leben der beiden Hauptcharaktere wirkte auf mich durchaus interessant, als echte Personen konnte ich mir sie aber nicht vorstellen. Dafür wirkten sie nicht lebendig und vielschichtig genug. Auch konnten mich die Dialoge dafür zu wenig mitreißen.

Der Grundton der Geschichte ist eher heiter und spürbar anders als es in “Contract Season”, einer anderen m/m romance, war. Das hat für mich gut gepasst, da ich ein Fan von Liebesgeschichten bin, die leichter sind und gute Laune verbreiten.

Als nette, kurzweilige Unterhaltung hat das Buch für mich funktioniert, mehr würde ich von der romance nicht erwarten.

🖤🖤🖤 1/4

Für wen?

Wer eher ruhige Liebesromane mag, in denen sich die beiden Helden so langsam ineinander verlieben, für den könnte das Buch einen Versuch wert sein.

I really loved this super cute and quick funny romance read!

Zeke is the PE teacher at a private school where Spencer’s, the famous hockey player, five year old secret daughter (Addie) attends school. They meet at a meet the teacher type event and Zeke loses his mind because Spencer is his favorite hockey player who he has been having nightly fantasies about. It's so cute how Zeke and Spencer stumble through miscommunication with blushes and Zeke overanalyzing everything because he isn't sure if Spencer is really interested or if Zeke has overreacted because he has a huge crush on Spencer.

Spencer is so shy for a huge hockey player and definitely has communication problems. He mumbles a lot and he takes him almost the whole book to explain about how he has a secret daughter when he obviously not straight.

The book ended a little too quickly for me. It doesn't give you a picture of a HEA for Zeke and Spencer but it lets you imagine their life together which is nice too.

I gave the book 5 stars because: (A) it was so funny and sweet; (B). it was spicy; and (C) the characters felt real to me.

Thank you to Carina Press and Netgalley for providing me a free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

4 Stars!

I loved Cait Nary's previous novels, so I was excited for this one! It's definitely a bit different, as it's one POV and it's not of the hockey player. I was expecting a bit more hockey from it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it regardless!

Zeke Boehm has been an elementary school PE teacher in Philly for the past 3 years but this school year his favorite hockey player, Spencer McLeod, walks in with his secret daughter?? Zeke tries to take it all in stride, but it's Spencer McLeod, the man who he has dreamt about and who is on all of his Philly Liberty sweaters, all 4 of them. When a player meet and greet ends with them actually meeting and greeting (though Zeke was trying to avoid him), they end up talking more. Spencer is new to being a dad, Addie has only been living with him recently and no one even knew he had a kid - he didn't even know for the whole time. But he's trying to make it work, between buying a new house, taking care of his kid, getting her acclimated to a new city and school, playing hockey, and his budding friendship with Zeke.

They are such a great grumpy/sunshine pairing that I truly enjoyed their back and forth. I think only having one POV threw me off because so much of the grump felt actually rude and without Spencer's POV I feel like we missed a lot, but I do see the value of just seeing Zeke's side as well. Having a hockey novel focused more on the hockey fan and the love interest being the hockey player was definitely refreshing. I would've also just loved more communication? I feel like so much was them assuming things or just realizing it must be the same. I would've loved some more actual conversations, but I guess this worked for them.

I would definitely recommend this as it's a cute hockey romance and a fairly quick read! I absolutely loved it being set in Philly and called out actual aspects of the area; I love seeing books representing a city well. All in all, it was cute and I enjoyed it!

Wow. I honestly don’t know what to say in my review. One is disappointment. I had high hopes, but that was quickly dashed. It needed an editor to go through the extra words that were not needed. The romance was a bit off. Spencer mostly grunted throughout the book. I had front row seats to every thought Zeke had. Which was very annoying. And took away any enjoyment I might have had in reading this boring book. If you want a really good and spicy hockey m/m love story I have recommendations. This was an romance fail. I didn’t understand how they could be together. Oh, and the ending! What was that?! It was so sudden with no idea if the relationship ends in a hea. Though, at that point I didn’t care. Overall, it was a messy and boring book, I received this ARC from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my review.

Unfortunately the writing was not great for me. This was an okay contemporary that read like a hallmark movie.

If only this book had a dual narrative …

Lucky Bounce is okay. Nice. Fine. I’ll admit, I really, really liked the first pages. I smiled, and I chuckled, and sometimes I had second-hand embarrassment because of Zeke’s crush. But after a few chapters, my enthusiasm faded away. I think this story could have been so much more! Such a shame.

I terribly missed Spencer’s narrative. And now that I’m spouting criticism, I also missed character depth. There was wit, and my lips turned up in a smile, but Zeke and Spencer were also very one-dimensional. I kind of hated their dialogues because there was hardly any, especially in the beginning. It would have been okay, but I didn’t feel any yearning or longing, or at least some buildup to something more. Yeah, Zeke felt sexual attraction, but that’s it. I think the book is much too short. Add at least 100 pages, dive into the characters, upgrade the dialogues, tell Addie’s background story in more than three sentences, and lose the bro/dude/bud thing, and this romance could suddenly be really good. But right now it isn’t, at least not in my opinion , and therefore, Lucky Bounce became an in-between. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed myself, but this book is rather unforgettable. And that’s a pity.

If you love an easy read and at times funny story to dream away for a while, readable in one sitting, this one might be for you. Oh, and there’s no third act breakup and that’s great!

This has been one of my most anticipated books of the year, and I've had it pre-ordered since May 2023. It absolutely did not disappoint.

The growth of the relationship between Zeke and Spencer is fun and funny, with Zeke's starstruck feelings and occasional fits of teenager-like angst over interacting with his favorite celebrity both believable and relatable. This book contained two of my favorite tropes, parent/teacher and celebrity/fan, wrapped up in a hockey romance, which added to my delight.

The story is told from Zeke's point of view, as he meets hockey player Spencer and discovers there's much more to the grumpy skater than the public sees. The slow unwrapping of Spencer's background is lovely, adding just enough tension to the burgeoning relationship.

Contents include: Slamming a hockey opponent into the boards as a love language!

The only complaint I have about this book is that I wish there was more.

I was hooked from the very start. Gay hockey romances are one of my greatest weaknesses. I feel in love with both of the leads and their romance progressed wonderfully.

But that ending left me wanting more. Not sure if this is meant to be the first book in the series or a standalone. I guess it works as either, but.

I would definitely recommend this book.

Uh, not sure what went wrong here? Contract Season is one of my favorite books and I have been eagerly anticipating this book because it’s Cait. But this was very messy and not in a fun way.

I had fun in the beginning. Zeke is the PE teacher at a fancy private school where Spencer’s, the famous hockey player, five year old daughter attends school. They meet at a meet the teacher type event and Spencer is obviously enamored but Zeke can’t see it because he assumes Spencer has a secret wife like he has a secret child. From there it’s bumbling miscommunications and free tickets to hockey games and akward hang outs. And then suddenly … they’re having sex and dating. It made no sense to me.

I think what mostly hurt this novel is that it’s single POV. Being in Zeke’s head was okay because he’s funny but also I never felt like I really knew him nor did I ever really get to know Spencer. All I know is they’re both young, hot, have a few normal life issues, and they have a lot of sex. And Zeke calls Spencer bud a lot which rankled me here although it didn’t rankle me when the characters in Contract Season did it. It’s referenced that Zeke has family issues but it’s never addressed at least not on page. These dude have a few discussions of tougher topics but it’s still just kind of glazed over for the sake of keeping this so low angst that it felt like a caricature of a novel instead of a fully formed one. A lot of time is spent on Addie, Spencer’s daughter, but she still never felt fully formed either. She’s an outsider in this story that the reader never really gets to know despite her heavy prescence. You don’t find out until the end about how Addie even came to be considering Spencer is gay because again these guys barely talk about anything but sex or hockey or witty banter that tries too hard.

Also it ended so abruptly I thought maybe there was an error with my arc but apparently not as other reviewers have mentioned that as well. No epilogue and just a very tentative HFN for this couple. I’m giving this three stars because it didn’t make me mad but it wasn’t memorable.

Mostly, I’m disappointed because I’ve been eagerly anticipating this since Cait announced it almost a year ago. I’ll still read her work in the future but I’ll be cautious about getting my hopes up now.