⭐️: 4/5
🌶️ : 3/5 (2.5 rounded up)

Forbidden romance with her brother’s biggest hockey rival? ✔️
An unforgettable summer fling? ✔️
Never having to see Nikolai again? ❌

Nikolai and Izzy had the perfect summer plan, enjoy each other’s company for the summer and when it ends they go their separate ways. It was a good plan … until an incident at UMass gets Nik transferred to McKee University for his senior year. The downside: joining his rival hockey team under Cooper Callahans captainship. The plus side: being in Izzy Callahans immediate vicinity again. When their fling starts to heat up again, lines start to blur. What happens when you don’t bench your feelings?

I’m a huge hockey romance reader, but I can’t say I’ve ever read a hockey x volleyball mix but it didn’t disappoint. I was drawn in with Nik and Izzy right from the start. I was curious how they’d interact once back in each other’s bubbles and I think they worked great together (on all aspects). While at times they had a hard time sticking up for themselves, they certainly had no problem sticking up for each other or giving the other the encouragement they needed.

I really enjoyed the character growth and development from both characters. They both had issues they needed to work on and you see them working through that in different ways. It’s important to have the hard conversations because it’s the first steps in healing. I really admired the way Nik went about his healing journey and realized that in order for him to take his own life back in his own terms, he needed to keep promises - to other people but most importantly himself.

I think it was also noteworthy to mention that a lot of athletes struggle with the pressure that comes along with sports. I think Grace did a really nice job of including the mental and emotional aspect it can on an athlete.

Wicked Serve is the 4th and final installment in the Beyond the Play series. This book is an interconnected standalone, however it’s always fun to know the backstories of other characters in the story and keep updated tabs since seeing them last. The epilogue in this was cute and tied together all the character updates perfectly!

✨ Sports Romance (Hockey x Volleyball)
✨ University
✨ Brothers Rival
✨ Forbidden Romance
✨ Found Family
✨ Mental Health

— Please take note if the trigger warnings as this book contains mentions of serious subject matters including: domestic violence, alcoholism, disordered eating and panic attacks —

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager and of course Grace Reilly for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Grace Reilly, Valentine PR, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Wicked serve follows Nikolai, a hockey player, and Isabelle, a volleyball player, as they navigate their relationship while fighting low self confidence, feelings of unworthiness, and past trauma. Both of them are super supportive to each other and build each other up while dealing with their own poor mental health. Grace Reilly does a great job of writing about mental health in a sensitive way.

I, however, felt that this book dragged on a little too much. There were too many conflicts. They'd work through a conflict, stabilize, then have another conflict they needed to work through. I also felt the spice overtook the plot in some spots.

Wicked Serve is for anyone who loves spice with their hockey players and good girls.

This is the book I was waiting for and I couldn’t be happier with it! Grace Reilly puts something special in each one of these books- they’ve all been so amazing. Every character is just so enjoyable to read, and the emotions are so tangible throughout.

I felt for Nik so much through this book. His struggle with his future and his difficulty opening up to his mom was heartbreaking.

Izzy- oh my goodness. I can see her struggle, watching her brothers be amazing athletes and dominating their chosen sports-I’m sure it’s easy to assume the worst about yourself and begin to lose self esteem. I can’t get over how much I LOVE their family dynamic though- they are so loving and supportive! Every one of them supports each other unconditionally.

This book is fun, sweet, and a LOT spicy!! Grace Reilly really knows what we want when it comes to spice, and boy did she deliver with this book!
Make sure to pick this up if a brother’s rival, summer fling turned more story sound up your alley!

Such a bittersweet moment for the final Callahan sibling book / series to be over! I was really excited for this one for a few reasons: both were college athletes, brothers rival and I love when a series is just wrapped up! I thought Grace did a really good job including all the characters from the other books, it made it really come together and close well. I felt like this book was extremely mature for the characters ages, which was pretty unrealistic in a lot of ways. I also felt like it was just a little too long. It was super spicy and hot but I felt like the plot was rushed in the end and a smutty scene could’ve been removed to balance. I really liked how these two communicated well, even if they didn’t at first, they always worked through their problems together and there was very minimal miscommunication which was great. Other than the few those few things I really enjoyed Nik and Izzy so much!!

✨College sports (hockey x volleyball)
✨Brothers teammate/rival
✨Secret relationship
✨He falls first
✨Found family
✨dual pov

I am sad that this is the final book for the Callahan siblings but we finally get to have Izzy’s story. Wicked Serve focuses on volleyball player Izzy and her brother’s hockey rival Nikolai. There was plenty of spice from the beginning and I also loved how Izzy and Nik knew how to communicate when there were disagreements. This is such a sweet sports romance but there were also some heavier topics like childhood trauma and domestic violence that are written gracefully and respectfully. Nik takes control of his life and I loved his personal growth throughout the book. We also get to have glimpses into the lives of the other Callahan couples and the epilogue ties everything up in a nice little bow!

A cute romance for anyone in their ice hockey era. I won’t lie, there wasn’t anything unique about this book compared to the other hockey romances I’ve read, but still a light read in between other books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for providing the ARC.

So this book has me conflicted. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Did I think the writing, characters, and story were good? Also yes. Did I think it was too long and dragged in a lot of places? Very much so.

I love a good forbidden romance and a brother's rival is a pretty good premise for a story. I'm also a sucker for a good hockey romance, and this had it in spades. What I needed to happen with this book is more focus on moving the plot along and less focus on the simple mundanity of two people being in a relationship with each other. I found myself having to push through spots where It just felt like the same self-flagellation over and over with no growth from either Izzy or Nikolai. But when the story finally moved on and actually gave a bit more to the plot, the book really started to pick up for me.

It's not a terrible book, just a bit on the long side with a lot of character focus that doesn't lead to a lot of growth right away. Still enjoyed it thoroughly.

I love sports romance books. One of my favorites is where both the FMC and MMC are athletes. Where the FMC is just as much of a badass as the MMC. Isabelle is a volleyball player who somehow bears the brunt of the Callahan family name as her coach thinks she got on the team by name alone.

Nikolai is a hockey star that took the blame from a young player at his old school and is now playing with his rivals at Isabelle’s school.

Theirs was a summer romance that gets a reboot now that they are at school together. Nik has been obsessed with Isabelle since the summer but is cognizant of Isabelle’s brother being the captain of his new team so they start to date in secret.

With both MCs fighting to be successful in their respective sports and the hot romance between them, this was an easy book to get into. I enjoyed the chemistry between Nik and Isabelle and that there was no miscommunication. But overall, I thought the book could have been shorter. Parts of the story seemed more like fluff rather than carrying the story forward.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for this eARC. Wicked Serve is out Aug 13th!

I received this free eARC novel from NetGalley and Valentine PR. This is my honest review.

Nikolai and Isabelle are fantastic together! I loved how they met for the summer and really connected and was a bit frustrated with Nik for ghosting her. I'm glad they got a second chance and that Isabelle made Nikolai work for it the next time around.

I'm also glad the secrecy didn't last too terribly long since I'm not really a fan of that trope. I was able to make it through for this book and I'm glad I did.

Both characters are dealing with personal issues in this novel. Some heavy hitters too and things that should have been addressed a long time ago. I'm glad they both have each other in their lives because the only reason they were able to get the help they needed was because the other stepped in and made sure they found the right people to make those positive changes.

I'm glad I got the chance to read this book and I'm sure one day I'll read the rest of the Callahan clans HEA!

4.25 for me!
I love a sports romance and I love a hockey romance even more! This is a great read and you will fall in love with Nik and Isabelle. I loved their communication, chemistry and their family and friends. I hadn’t read the other books in the series and will definitely be adding to my TBR!

I’ve been a huge fan of the Callahan boys but Isabelle Callahan may be my new favorite sibling. The pressure is on for Izzy to earn her spot on the volleyball team and with all her successful siblings, failure isn’t an option. She tries to stay clear of distractions, but when her summer fling transfers to her school, everything becomes a little trickier. I was obsessed with Nikolai from the start as he felt very genuine and had undeniable chemistry with Izzy. This has been one of my favorite sport romance novels of the year as it was filled with spice, fun banter, and character growth. I definitely would recommend!

This story ended up being more emotional than I was expecting. I thought, "Ah, yes volleyball and hockey. Two of my favorite things. Perfect. It'll be so cute." And it was. It definitely had cute, sweet moments (and spicy ones), but it really dealt with some heavy, emotional feelings as well. I enjoyed seeing both Nik and Izzy grow as people and work through their hang ups.

Thank you ValentinePR for the ARC.

After spending one hot summer with her brother's hockey rival, Nikolai, she doesn't expect to see him again. But when he unexpectedly transfers to her college... and her brother's hockey team... Izzy can't help but be in his orbit. They both know rekindling things is dangerous, with brother looking over their shoulder and Izzy fighting for her spot on the school's volleyball team with a coach who seems to hate her guts, but their attraction is strong.

There's a trend of new adult sports romances being exceedingly long--perhaps to make room for all the spice? But this book is about a quarter to a third longer than it needed to be to get the story across and is standard for an adult romance novel. It also felt a bit contrived, especially how exceedingly wealthy everyone in this book is. However, I enjoyed it. I really did. Izzy and Nik are great characters, who I obviously shipped, and their sports subplots really buoyed the romance. It also brought that steam in all the best ways. I guess I shouldn't really be complaining about the length, ha! Dare they cut some of the best parts...

Thanks to Avon for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4 stars - 8/10

Izzy has a problem. The guy she hooked up with all summer long that is now transferring to her college for his senior year is her brother's hockey rival. Sparks fly the second they come back together.

This was a cute and spicy romance! Here's what I liked.

Nikolai was amazing. I loved so many of his scenes. While Izzy was great, I really loved how Nik dealt with things in his life and turned his attention on Izzy,

The spice. This one was hot and heavy. All of those scenes were well put together and super hot. Loved it.

All in all this was a good NA spicy hockey romance,

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy.

I was not expecting this book as I have not read the other books in the series so I thought I would be confused. This is an interconnected standalone from the Beyond the Play series and is book number 4 following the youngest in the Callahan brood Isabelle. She thought her fling was over until everything changed.

I enjoyed this book. I loved the goofy parts and the series parts that made me tear up. I gave this book 4.25 ⭐️ and 2 🌶️ there was some scenes i will not look at a hairbrush the same and a mirror scene 🥵. If you are a fan of a good sports romance then this is a good one. It was a quick and easy read for me.

Happy reading everyone 📚

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I should have know Izzy would be my fav Callahan sibling.

This book was perfect from start to finish. From the get go Izzy and Nikolai don’t make sense. She’s his rivals sister and interning for his mom’s wedding planning company for the summer. Anything happening between these two would be set for failure. But after a steamy summer fling, Nikolai ends up at McKee instead of back at Umass awhile Izzy knows it would be smarter to stay after from the broody defenseman, but the two end up rekindle their summer fling instead.

Such a great ending to the series. 🩷

I absolutely loved this book. It was deep, it was flirty, it was sad, and it was beautiful and happy. It was just everything.

Grace Reilly outdid herself on this one! I am now in a reading slump and simply don’t know how to move on.

4.5⭐️
Wicked Serve is the fourth book of the Beyond the Play series of interconnected standalones. This was my first book by this author and I will for sure be going back and reading the other books in this series! Both Nikolai and Izzy are such lovable characters. Nikolai is going to live rent free in my head for a long time! The way he whispered sweet and sometimes not so sweet things to Izzy…whew! He is definitely swoon worthy! The only complaint I have was I felt the book was too long. I found that it dragged a little towards the end. It is still a great story that I would definitely recommend.

Wicked Serve is the sweet story of Nikolai and Isabelle… Volleyball and Hockey romance. Loved the volleyball rep, as you don’t see that often in a sports romance! 🏐 I loved that, although this was a forbidden romance, there was no miscommunication between the MCs! Such a refreshing read! Overall, good spice between the MCs. A light, fluffy, feel-good read! Thanks so much to Net Galley and VPR for the chance to review!

I really enjoyed this. This was the first book I read in the series and I immediately went out and bought the first three after I finished!

I adored Nik and Izzy. I loved how they balanced each other out and they had a really healthy relationship for how young they are. They didn’t have a lot of miscommunication which I loved! And there wasn’t a lot of unnecessary drama! I also loved that both of them were athletes. They both had different struggles surrounding their sport and I loved seeing both of them work through them and be supportive of each other.

I really enjoyed seeing Izzy and Nikolai’s growth throughout the book. They both had their own issues that they were dealing with and I loved that they were able to find the resources they each needed to grow. I did love Nik’s decision to grow on his own but still keep his promises to Izzy and come back to her.

This book definitely had its quirks but I think its biggest flaw is that it felt way too long. I did love most of the plot and spicy scenes but there were a few that just seemed a little unnecessary and made the book feel longer.

Thank you to Valentine PR, Avon Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!