Overall Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
🌶️🌶️🌶️½
“What do you want?”
“To take you back to my place and f--- you senseless.”

📚 Book Review 📚
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½

A surprisingly sweet and spicy hockey rom-com, Walk of Shame is a one-night stand-to-FWB-to-lovers, forbidden/hidden relationship (Coach’s Daughter) full of laughs, angst, and one dirty-talking MMC. I thoroughly enjoyed Astrid and Cal’s story and found it to be an easy read.

Astrid is jaded – she was left at the altar by her fiancé, who chose hockey over their HEA. After swearing off hockey (eff hockey) and going on a “no attachments” world tour, she is brought back to the rink by her coach father. Despite breaking all her rules, a one-night stand with the stranger Cal becomes a “this is the last time” FWB relationship that develops into feelings territory. Unfortunately, Cal is off-limits, as he is the coach of her ex-fiancé, and she’s avoiding the media frenzy that their relationship would ignite.

Walk of Shame is a fast-burn and spicy MF romance.

This book can be read as a complete standalone in the Downside of Dating series. It’s the perfect palate cleanser.

Of Note – I typically avoid 3rd Person POV but enjoyed Avery’s take. It read more like 1st Person POV (without the use of “I”).

🎧 Audiobook Review 🎧
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved the dual-style narration of this book! Both voice actors were great fits for their characters. It made it an easy and enjoyable listening experience.

Robert Hatchet gave life to Cal and made the sexy bits all the hotter with his performance.


Genre: Contemporary Romantic Comedy
Tropes/Features: Forbidden/hidden relationship, forced proximity, hockey coach, coach’s daughter, One-night stand, FWB-to-lovers, jaded FMC, ex-fiancé drama
POV: Dual 3rd Person POV
Narration Type: Dual-style
Narrator(s): Robert Hatchet & Savannah Peachwood
Relationship Type: MF, fast burn, spicy
Book Type/Ending: Standalone with HEA
TW/CW: None listed

Another hockey romance? Yup. This was the perfect steamy RomCom.
I found myself laughing out loud so many times. And I was rooting for Astrid and Cal from the start. They are both such likable characters and Cal does all the right things.
Also I knew it would be spicy, but omg this book had so much sex.
If you like RomComs or sports romance, you’ll eat this up.

The narrator's did an incredible job of bringing the story to life.

I think this is my year of audio books, so far it has been a better one than the last
.
Of course the plus of it being a hockey romance and written by one of my auto buy authors helps a lot, that adding to the perfect narration is cheff kiss
.
but that pleasure of listening to the characters and laughing with the voice in their heads is a thousand times greater, especially when I have other things to do or go from one place to another... although of course it also makes me want to have it in paperback and bookmark the hell out of it with the best parts the dreamy and the fun ones they're are thousands
.
The crazy and unthinkable plot of having a night with her ex's new coach who is also his dad's employee is something that only Avery Flynn can make work in the most correct way that makes you laugh and fall in love at the same time
.
It's so crazy and spicy that it reminds you of the fun of reading a sports romance and make you wish for another book in same universe
.
Thanks to Avery flynn and RB media for give me a copy of this beautiful book in exchange for my honest and voluntary opinion

Astrid gets stood up at her wedding and goes on a world wide fuck fest of one night stands until she meets our hot hockey hero. Then it takes the whole book for these two crazy kids to work out what everyone in their lives plus us the reader know is the inevitable. It’s a lot spicy, a little raunchy, but fun and sexy. The angst is angsty and overall I had a good time.

Walk of Shame
Downside of Dating, Book 2

I Picked Up This Book Because: Sounded good at the time.

Media Type: Audiobook
Source: Netgalley
Dates Read: 2/23/24 - 2/25/24
Stars: 4 Stars
Narrator(s): Robert Hatchet, Savannah Peachwood

The Characters:

Astrid O’Malley
Cal Matson
Tig (Astrid’s Ex), Astrid’s Dad, Nola and Thea (Astrid’s BFFs), Cal’s sisters

The Story:

I had forgotten how much I enjoy this author’s writing. I was a bit jarred going from my slow burn last read into this one-night stand, but I recovered quickly. I love the back and forth between Astrid and Cal. Even when they were just texting their chemistry was off the charts.
I need the next book in this series STAT cause I need many explanations about this epilogue.

The sport that goes with Romance and Spice right now is hockey.  In Avery Flynn’s latest book ‘Walk of Shame’ which is part of the Downside to Dating series she puts Hockey as the main focus of how Astrid and Cal see each other past the one night they spent together.

‘Walk of Shame’ is a great book to read (or in my case listen to).  Some moments make you chuckle, go awe and the spice is there to make you need the water and Avery was able to bring in Taylor Swift’s ‘You Belong To Me’ somehow in the story. Not only once did she do this but a few different times.

When it comes to audiobooks the writing needs to be on point as well as the narration. I have to say they picked the right people to help tell this story.  Savannah Peachwood has been on other audiobooks I have listened to and she is so great when telling a story.  I couldn’t see Astrid being done by anyone else.  Robert Hatchet is one I haven’t heard of before, but he does such a great job as Cal I couldn’t see anyone else being able to top his performance. Savannah and Robert did such a good job. I hope they do more books together. They were able to help get that steam up.

Now I’m sure you are probably wondering what I would give ‘Walk of Shame’ for a rating.  Well, I would give these a solid 4 stars.  It was a great story that has everything I am looking for in a story to escape the real world (which let’s face it the real-world sucks at this moment).  The Sizzle rating is a 4! Trust me, this was great when it came to sizzling but also giving a story.

Walk of Shame
Avery Flynn

Thank you Entangled Publishing and Netgalley for the eARC, and Recorded Books for the ALC. All thoughts are my own.

Check out Walk of Shame if you like:
-Hockey romance
-Forced Proximity (workplace & neighbors)
-Romantic Comedies
-Dual POV (and dual narrators on audio)
-Thoughtful gestures
-Short Chapters
-Lots of spice

I remembered loving Anger Bang last year as a fun and spicy rom-com, and thankfully I’m learning this is what I can expect from all of Avery’s writing. With the prologue, you quickly understand why Astrid is over everything related to hockey, a sport she’s known her entire life. Cam is desperate to find normalcy again in the sport that his life revolved around before his career-ending injury. Together, their chemistry is electric and unstoppable, even though they have every reason to stay far away from each other. I think this can serve as a palette cleanser but honestly it was just a really fun, light read – definitely great for fans of Tessa Bailey and Meghan Quinn. Audiobook fans - Savannah Peachwood and Robert Hatchet provide a listening experience that captures their character’s unique personalities.

Walk of Shame is the second book in the Downside to Dating series and much like many series romances it can be read as a stand alone. This is a story about a woman who has decided dating isn't for her. She likes men just fine, but only for a night and only for one thing, then she is off to enjoy her own life man free. She has been successful at that since the day she was left at the alter by her childhood sweetheart, that is until a hard man in a soft sweater came to her rescue at the bar one night and she just can't seem to figure out how to keep her panties on anytime he is near.

Astrid hates all things hockey since Tig dropped her the day of their wedding to run off to another city and play for another team. She is now is that city after her dad got a coaching job there. She might be there for family but she still wants nothing to do with hockey. Seems like fate has other plans for Astrid. First, she broke all her rules and had sex with Cal even after she learned he lived in her building, but it gets worse when she figures out he is the new hockey coach brought on to help her ex out of his slump and worse than that when her dad talks her into coming back to help out the team in his last season. Now she is trying to avoid Cal because he is like catnip and she just can't get enough.

Cal might not be able to play the game anymore but this is his shot to be a part of it. Trouble is he is so distracted by Astrid that he keeps forgetting why hooking up with the head coach's daughter is probably a bad idea. But there is just something about her and Cal is going to pull out all the stops to see if he can find a way to not only get into her panties but maybe even into her head and her heart. Which might be more difficult than he realized since she keeps dodging him.

I had so much fun with this story. Astrid is a bit on the broken side but after the wedding debacle who wouldn't be. I loved watching her grow and Cal figure out how to do some adorable things to soften her up. Who knew Diet Coke could win a girl's heart. Their story is pretty cute with just enough angst to really seal the deal. Once I got going I didn't want to stop listening to the story to see what it was going to take for these two to figure out they were more than just people who hook up.

The epilogue was a bit strange but worked overall and sets up the next couple solidly. If you have read some of the other series about the Ice Knights , Harbor City or the Hartigans then you are in for a treat as there are quite a few cameos from other books.

Narration:
Robert Hatchet and Savannah Peachwood are gold in this. Both have all the angst and sexy in their voices and really sold the characters. I love that each of the main character had their own voice for the story, it made it flow great. Plus both of their performances were just candy to my ears. The sexy times were soooo hot, so pick your listening place accordingly, you have been warned. I was able to listen at my usual 1.5x speed.

Tropes:
ONS (more than once.. oops) to ❤️
Hockey romance
Forbidden
Coach’s daughter
Jilted bride
“Good girl”
Forced proximity (neighbors and coworkers)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley, Avery Flynn, and RB Media for the ALC!

I love a hockey romance, and this was perfect to listen to whilst running around doing errands.

Astrid was publicly humiliated when her fiance left her via facetime on the day of their wedding to take a job with a new hockey team five years ago. Since then, she’s travelled the world and removed any mention of hockey from her life. That is until her Dad (who happens to be her ex’s coach) asks her to come back for his final year of coaching and help the team. How can this get more complicated for her? Oh yeah, her one-night stand from yesterday, happens to be the goalie coach hired specially to get her ex out of his rut. AND he happens to be her upstairs neighbour too.

I loved the build up between Astrid and Cam, how they couldn’t help themselves from giving into each other. Cam was also super cute with the Diet Cokes (read and you’ll see what I’m talking about), and the spice was great!

The ending definitely intrigued me to see if there is a next book and what happens with the MC’s there!!

Hockey romance is one of my favorite tropes.
Astrid and Cal have an interesting relationship. With their jobs they find themselves in tricky situation.
There were fun moments.
I was just hoping for a bit more from the story.

I listened to the audiobook version narrated by Savannah Peachwood. She is very talented and has been on numerous titles. i recognized her voice and will be listening to more titles narrated by her. Male voice was read by Robert Hatchet. Both did an excellent job.
This story was captivating, relatable, and bingeworthy. I had to keep pausing it at work because of the SUPER steamy scenes I was afraid of someone overhearing.
Walk of Shame is the first title I’ve read by Avery Flynn. I will be reading more by her.

Witty, charming and wildly entertaining. Walk of Shame has Bestseller potential!

A hilarious rom-com, Walk of Shame by Avery Flynn, follows Astrid and Cal's escapades in a tale of one-night stands, workplace dynamics, and hockey antics. After being left at the altar by her pro hockey player fiancé via Facetime, Astrid swears off long-term relationships, hockey, and Taylor Swift's 'You Belong With Me.' But when she meets Cal, a former pro player turned goalie coach, sparks fly, leading to a steamy no-strings-attached encounter.

However, Astrid's plans take a turn when she agrees to work with her father during his final year before retirement, only to find Cal as the new goalie coach. Determined to stick to her one-night rule, Astrid finds herself struggling to resist Cal's charm as they're constantly thrown together, each encounter resulting in Astrid shedding more than just her inhibitions.

Narrated by the talented Savannah Peachwood, Astrid's tough exterior and vulnerable moments are expertly portrayed, while Robert Hatchet brings Cal to life with his humor and underlying vulnerability. Both narrators capture the essence of the characters flawlessly, making for an entertaining and captivating listen.

I received an arc of this audiobook from Netgalley & the publisher in exchange for my honest review. I liked this story much more than the first in the series, it seems like the authors writing has come along way since the 1st book. I also really like Astrid as a strong female mc. I like her take no shit attitude after her devastating and public break up with her 1st love.

The story was funny and the chemistry between Astrid & her hook up turned love interest is amazing. I loved their banter.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC audiobook! Solid hockey romance novel. I enjoyed the narration for both Astrid and Cal! I did not read the first of this series and had no issuing following the plot or the story. I liked Astrid’s story line after being left at the alter. Would recommend to anyone looking for a quick, sport, steamy romance read.

I enjoyed this funny coaches daughter romcom. This is a hockey romance with repeat "this is the last time" plot. When a one night stand turns into coworkers and throw in training an ex fiancée. Let the tension build. Definitely a spicy listen. I enjoy the dual narration and the narrators worked well together. The pace was good and I enjoyed the emotion in the voices. I read this as a standalone but might go back for book one and continue on in the series.

This was such a sweet book! I loved the characters, and their love story. The dialogue was realistic and enjoyable.

Thanks to NetGalley and RB media for an audiocopy of this book.
I did not expect Walknof shame to be as good as it was! Very steamy with an actual storyline and fantastic narrators which actually fit the characters. My favourite character however is the old noisy neighbour with her no nonsense attitude and surprising language.
Plot:
5 years ago Astrid was left at the alter by her superstar Ice hockey goalie fiance Tig when he got a better offer to play for another team. Since then Astrid has sworn off Hockey and men (except for one night no strings attached sex). 5 yrs later she gets an offer she can't refuse to return to the world of Hockey except lines start to become blured when her latest conquest turns out to be her new colleague and neighbour! Can Astrid stick with her self imposed rules?

A good and entertaining book for fans of spicy sports romance.

This was an audio ARC that I was looking forward to listening to. The narrating duo of Robert Hatchet and Savannah Peachwood were "new to me" narrators and I felt like they did a good job. There are some narrating greats in this genre and sometimes I think I might just be getting spoiled.

This book is set in an already existing world but it took me a little bit of time before I realized that (that's a big "duh" for me). I think it is a spinoff of the Ice Knights Series (and also the Hartigan's Series which is also set in this world). This book is part of the "Downside to Dating" series and the Ice Knights hockey organization are really just peripherally mentioned - it's more for context, I think.

We meet Astrid who was left at the alter by a professional hockey player - a goalie. Then, the book jumps to 5 years later and Astrid unknowingly finds herself involved with another "former" hockey player even though she has completely sworn of hockey completely.

This is a very quick and easy read/listen that does not take itself too seriously. There is a small amount of angst, but not too much and ends in a little bit of a different HEA than usual.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen and review this ARC. The opinions above are mine and mine alone.

Great banter, one night stand after heroine was jilted at last minute before wedding.
Astrid is the heroine, Cal is the hero. Tig is the douche canoe Astrid's ex.
Hockey is the common denominator. Astrid's dad was the head coach, who retires. Cal takes over, but the ex- Tig is on the hockey team !
Astrid and Cal have instant chemistry. Once they find out who the other is, there's a lot of sparks.
Astrid is hesitant to get involved in another relationship. She hopes she can avoid Cal. No she can't.
I kept hoping Tig would get lost. I usually don't like the om involved in the story. In this case, it was unavoidable.
Astrid and Cal -the tropes abound: work place romance, forbidden romance, hockey romance, one night stand, starting over (yay).
I listened to the audio. Narration by Robert Hatchett and Savannah Peachwood.
This is book 2. Can be a standalone. I'll need to check out book 1 now