Things I liked: I really liked the relationship between Nikolai and Isabelle. They obviously had feelings for each other from the very beginning and their relationship grew and only became stronger over time. I also liked the Callahan sibling dynamics was great - I do love the found family aspect of this book.
Things that I was not so wild about: the novel was way too long and should have been edited down. Lots of repetitions and rehashing of the same thing. I did not love the “break” from the relationship towards the end - it really felt forced and unnecessary. The way bilingualism was portrayed was just wrong. As a native Russian speaker who went all the way through high schools and grad school in a Russian speaking country, I do not think in Russian now that I have lived in the IS for a while. Nikolai is even less bilingual having permanently moved to the US at 13 and having an American mother so I have a hard time imagining him thinking in Russian on a regular basis. Also “my favorite” on the back of the photograph was grammatically wrong in Russian - little things but if you can’t do it right, don’t do it at all. Finally there was way too much spice for my taste (but this is a personal preference not a fault of the novel).
I received an e-ARC of this novel from netgalley.com

This is the first book of the series I've read (I know I'm late discovering the Callahan family) but it won't be the last book i'll read from this author.

Izzy thinks she is less than her brothers so when her volleyball coach won't give her the position she wants she thinks her family won't be happy. But thanks to Nik, who has a summer fling with her and now is on the same university as her, she start to work harder but in the end it's not for her family but for her because she loves the sport.

Nikolai was drawn to Isabelle (Izzy) since the first time he saw her but her brother was his rival, and now that he is on the same team he has to befriend him, so he'll keep his relationship with Izzy.

This book is a journey about growing up, believe in yourself and try to overcome past traumas. But all that with spicy moments.

This was a light and fluffy, forbidden romance story. I loved seeing their relationship bloom. Nik and Isabelle were so adorable. Isabelle was cute and shy and Nik was strong, and outgoing. They went well together and rounded each other out well.

what you will get:
* college hockey romance
*forbidden love
* brothers rival (opposite hockey teams)
*he falls first

This was the last in the Callahan Siblings stories, but it was a sweet ending to a fun series. Can't wait to read more by Grace Reilly

was lucky enough to get an arc of wicked serve <3
- i think cooper & penny will forever be my favorite but nik & izzy were definitely cute!
- i loved getting to see all of the callahan family together, especially during the moments where james, cooper, or sebastian would help nik w tough love or phone calls 🥹
- forever admiring nik for recognizing that he needed help if he wanted to make his relationship with isabelle work 😭 & him making sure that when he comes back, it’d be for good 😪!! brb crying
- at times i do feel like there were some parts that weren’t really necessary for the plot but it wasn’t happening SO much that it made me want to stop reading the book or anything! the book itself was just a bit longer than i think it needed to be
- i will say, we get it isabelle. you like pink. 🤣
- there were some of the 🌶️ scenes that i wasn’t that into just because it sometimes didn’t make sense but nonetheless, overall i enjoyed the book :)

i'd probably give it a 3.5 ⭐️!

This is another one that’s marketed to be a light rom-com, but is a way deeper and more nuanced tale than that. If this wanted to be a romcom, it would have ended half-way through; instead it stayed and dealt with the complicated nuances. Large sports family, late-college setting, where they are considering next steps, family drama, etc. Loved it.

Thank you, Harper Collins/Avon, and Net Galley, for the arc.

I absoutley loved this book so much! One of my favorite series I have read and a great way to wrap up the series.

Loved this story of two athletes finding each other. The characteristics of each MC is very realistic per their sport.

On the surface, I did like this book. It was entertaining and the characters were likable. I appreciated that the relationship felt like it progressed naturally without any super overdone drama. Both Izzy and Nik have personal challenges they were working to overcome as they faced their final year in college. The hockey player aspect was a lot of fun as I am a huge fan of the sport. Because of their ages, this is YA and does read as such. That being said, the intimate scenes felt a bit outlandish for college students. This probably reads well for someone closer to their ages but I couldn't help but find some of it a bit of a stretch for how young they were. Nik's background had some truly dark aspects to it. I appreciated that Reilly acknowledged that this was something that wasn't easy to work through and that there were healthy conversations and therapy coming into play. The book was a bit too long for me but was overall entertaining.

Thank you to Avon for an ARC of this book. The opinions here are my own.

This book was so adorable. I love hockey romances so much and I loved how this one took it a step further. You get into such serious topics in this book and it created such a heartwarming and impactful story. It was just amazing. I loved the romance and how the two characters interacted. They have such great banter and such great chemistry. This is such a great book!

Wanted to love. Truly I did. But it was a little cheesy for me. A little too insta love and all that. But if you like an insta love cheesy book then go for it!

Thank you for this book. Grace Reilly thank you for giving me new characters to obsess over and a new series to fall in love with.

I was unaware this was part a series, the last book in fact 😅. I should have done my homework before hand, but I definitely don’t regret signing up for this ARC.

Nikolai and Izzy have a summer fling. Unknown to Copper, Izzy’s brother and Nikolai’s hockey rival. But summer is over and so is their fling…or is it?

I fell in love with Nikolai 🖤 He’s so sweet, he watches and remembers everything when it comes to Izzy even if she doesn’t always notice. He’s the type of player that’ll settle down for her and only her. Calling her sunshine and little sun.

Izzy is the cutest! I love all her quirks and the names she’s calls Nik when he’s being sarcastic with her. Their banter and the way they are with each other is amazing. They support each other and lift each other up when they’re at their lowest or thinking too critical about themselves.

The romance, characters and plot pulled me in, but the SPICE kept me coming back for more. If there was little to no spice in this book I would most definitely still read it. The romance, fun, and banter these two have is cute and will leave you giddy. Nik and Izzy have difficult moments/situations and mental health matters that come up. They handle each situation in the best way that they can and support each other no matter what.

I loved the writing, the pacing, everything just flowed. Grace Reilly didn’t it rush this story and I am grateful for that. I have read books that have fell short because of the faster pace and rushing of the story; it leaves out too much and I find myself lost, confused and unwilling to continue. I want the story, the details, the 400 page count if need be.

Beyond the Play series is over, but for me this is the beginning. As I previously said, I was unaware this was a series so I will backtracking and reading the three books before Wicked Serve. Each on is about Izzy’s brother and their romance stories.

Just by reading this book I have high hopes for the others. Looking for a cute, lighthearted, spicy romance? Then this is it

2.75 stars / 4 flames
This book was more than okay, I liked it, but it took me longer than it should have to finish it.

Hockey romances are one of my favorites and it had a lot of great tropes: college romance, brother's rival secret relationship, and he fell first. It was cute, spicy, romantic, without any of the miscommunication / misunderstanding stuff to build angst. What I really loved was the positive mental health representation. There is off-page domestic abuse and I loved that the author normalizes getting therapeutic help for mental health, especially in the realm of professional sports, which seems to still suffer the stigma of toxic masculinity and not asking for help when needed.

I found Izzy to be rather immature at times and juvenile, which yeah, she's young, but it still irked me a little. What I didn't care for was the length of the book. It felt too long with too many scenes that did little to move the plot forward. It was heavy on the spice (4 flames) and light on substance, which was disappointing given that the substance of the plot has real weight to it. The overabundance of these scenes meant I ended up skimming a good portion just to get on with it and made it easily put-downable. It was something to do when I had a few minutes, but I wasn't overly invested in the characters or the plot.

If you're looking for a sweet, easy read with a healthy relationship at the focus and a lot of spice, you'll probably like this book.

Just another not-great story jumping on the hockey romance bandwagon. I’ve enjoyed plenty of these stories, but I think I’m ready to move on.

Received this as an ARC from Grace and Valentine PR

Let me tell you…. THIS IS GRACE’S BEST BOOK TO DATE!! I devoured this book in one sitting taking only 3 hours it was that good!
If you love:
Hockey romance
BOY OBSESSED
Panic disorder rep
Brothers rival turned teammate

Beautiful ending to this series and you should check this book and the rest of the series out!!

LOVE. I’m a huge fan of hockey romances and Grace hit it out of the park. My favorite part is that the FMC was also an athlete, but not “dainty” in it. The title is also chef’s kiss given the dynamic.

Isabelle Callahan has always been overshadowed by her three older brothers. As part of a notoriously athletic family, she feels the pressure to excel on her college volleyball team, especially since she knows she won’t be good enough at her sport to go pro like the rest of her family. What she doesn’t need is the distraction of her brother’s hockey rival, Nikolai, arriving on campus and reminding her how good their summer fling was.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Absurdly enough, I didn’t care for Isabelle’s character as much as I thought I would. She has great qualities—she’s bubbly, fun, and a very supportive family member and girlfriend. But even in her darker moments, she was still a ray of sunshine. This is fitting, since that’s Nik’s nickname for her, but no one is sunshine, rainbows, and pink 24/7. She just didn’t feel like a real person to me.

Nikolai was the saving grace for me in this novel. His character had a lot to overcome throughout the book, and I was very happy with his development and the steps he took to heal himself in the end. My only complaint is that he had me wishing I’d married a trust fund baby so I could be whisked away to Australia to play with koalas. How dare he be so perfect.

Overall, this was probably my second favorite book in the series, with Breakaway being my favorite. There’s just something about those hockey boys.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon & Harper Voyager for my digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

First and foremost, thank you Grace Reilly and Netgalley for the e-arc. All opinions are my own, and are being left voluntarily.

I tried so so hard to like this book. I made it about 25% of the way in before deciding to DNF it. I just felt like there was too much spice, and not enough plot. I love spice as much as the next person does, but not if it overshadows the plot 🙃

This romance novel enchants with its compelling love story and deeply relatable characters. The author beautifully captures the intensity of emotions, making every interaction between the protagonists feel authentic and heartfelt. With its blend of passion, tension, and tender moments, this book is a delightful escape into the world of love and connection.

I have absolutely loved this series! I love when series go through a family of siblings and I have been waiting for Izzy's story. I can easily say that it did not disappoint! This book was the perfect way to end the series and I couldn't put this one down once I started it! the secret relationship with a brother's rival will always be my favorite and Grace did it so well! I highly recommend this whole series, the Callahan family is one of my favorites!

All summer Izzy has been secretly hooking up with Nikolai, her brother’s hockey rival, but knows it is just for the summer. In a surprise turn of events he is forced by his grandfather to transfer to her university where she is on the volleyball team and her brother is captain of the hockey team. Nikolai joins the team and the pair keep their relationship secret until Izzy is injured and they have to tell her family the truth. Nikolai is dealing with his own complicated family dynamics and navigating what he wants and what others expect from him.

This is apparently the fourth book in the series, but I read it as a standalone. I don’t feel like I missed anything by not reading the other books, but the other couples do appear in this book. This book was steamy. We’re talking multiple prolonged scenes, anal, public scenes etc. which is not what you would expect from the cover. This is exactly why I hate cartoon covers. Also, let’s be real here, these characters are 19 and 20, they are not having the type of sex described in the book (New Adult books are notorious for this). I liked both Izzy and Nikolai and appreciated that they really were a couple for the entire book. The only downside to the pair being together the entire time is that there wasn’t really anywhere for the relationship to go. I was expecting the secrecy to be the main source of conflict but that was resolved by the half-way point, so it really was the pair navigating their respective families and interests. While the book was paced well and I read it quickly, it was about 75-100 pages too long. I was honestly surprised to find this wasn’t a KU book that had been acquired given the length, but I guess this is just the length of books now. Overall, this was an enjoyable read and I had a good time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.