This book was so cute! I genuinely was invested and even though I do not know much about tennis, I felt like there was enough explanation to be able to understand.

I wanted to love this book so much but that's not the case. I love hockey romances and this was not it. I didn't like the characters, I didn't like them as a couple, too long in my opinion, and it felt disjointed. Don't get me wrong I love books that are more sex than plot but I was wanting the opposite for this book.

I am so upset with myself for having finished this book. I was told multiple times by other people who read the book not to finish it, but I didn't listen.

There are a ton of issues with this book. This book is easily 100+ pages too long. The characters are not particularly endearing. I didn't find myself rooting for this couple. The other background plots were introduced quickly, shoved to the side, and then quickly resolved at the end. There were too many supporting character plots, and they all felt jumbled together. The ending was unsatisfying and didn't feel like a good enough payoff for such a long and drawn out book.

I'm really sorry - I just did not like this book at all.

Ahhhh.... the perfect hockey love story does exist. Such a beautiful story that weaves hockey, family, past trauma, and mental health. I fell in love with Nikolai - don't we all need a sexy Russian to whisper in our ear?!
On the flip side, it's also a lighthearted summer romance, rivals to teammates, and SPICY. You can't go wrong with that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for this arc in return for my honest opinion.

Pub Date: 13 August 2024

Very cute conclusion to the series. The only thing I wish there was more of was contention between Cooper and MMC since Coop’s book spent a lot of time explaining how much he disliked his rival. Then it just felt like things were tense for a moment and then they were friends. Considering one of the trope appeals for the book was “brother’s enemy” I was hoping for more enemy

Hockey romances are my comfort zone. The small breath I take between fantasy.
I was so excited to read this book, and it gave me that breath I was needing.

The bit of forbidden love in here was so good. It did need to be so extensive. Sometimes great stories have 200 pages.
Despite this, I love their relationship. It was a cozy read.

Definitely not my favorite hockey romance I have ever read. Still a good read. I love a book with either the secret forbidden love or brothers best friend/teammate/enemy. This was a cute story with a happy ending.

Wow was it hard to finish this book. I was so excited for another hockey book and one that was apart of a series. I hadn’t read the other books but I was excited to read them after finishing the others. I quickly realized I would NOT be reading the rest of the series. This book was loooooong. I hadn’t no desire to read this book each night. It was just filled with these two college kids sleeping together. Every other chapter was about them getting together. There was no real plot. I couldn’t connect to the characters and I really didn’t like Izzy.

⭐️4.5
🌶️3.5

I’ve been missing the Callahan family and I’m so happy to get Isabelle’s story. I love this family of athletes so much.

Isabelle is the only girl in the family and she feels overshadowed at times. During her summer internship she meets Nikolai and they have a fling. Despite the fact that Nikolai is her brother’s hockey rival, Isabelle falls hard for him. After the summer is over they go their separate ways. That is, until Nikolai ends up at Isabelle’s school and they keep running into each other. Their feelings have not dissipated despite the distance so they fall into old habits.

Nikolai’s backstory made me hurt for him and want to give him all the hugs. Some of it was painful to read, but beautifully written. The mental health representation was perfect. I loved that Nikolai had the support from people who cared about him when he needed it. While I understand the need for Nikolai to better himself and take some time to heal, I wish that he didn’t shut everyone out during that time including Isabelle.

This definitely brings the spiciness! Nik is probably my favorite MMC in this series because of how he is with Isabelle. I can’t get enough of them together!

Wonderful story, great character development, great writing! Highly recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it

This was a cute, fluffy read. It seemed to be about 70 percent smut and 30 percent plot but overall it was decent. There seemed to be a lot of random information and scenes that didn’t really add to the story. It makes me wonder if it was just for a word count. I loved that there was not a single toxic issue in the relationship. I’m so sick of reading about toxic relationships and this one felt so cute and real.

This definitely wasn’t my *favorite* book ever, but it was still decent. I’ve read other GR books and really enjoyed them, but this one fell a bit short for me. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s the last book in the series and I had high expectations and then was let down?

Wicked Serve is the 4th book in the Beyond the Play standalone series. This book can be read on its own but you truthfully get the most out of it when it’s read in order. There’s a lot of backstory with Izzy’s brothers and family. This book rivals for my favorite in the series with Breakaway. Nik is a senior and Captain of his hockey team at U Mass and is nothing like we have been lead to believe. He is truly a leader and inspiration to his teammates despite Cooper’s original opinion. Izzy is the youngest sibling in the Callahan family and a volleyball player. She is a sophomore at McKee and loves to have a good time. Izzy grows up a lot in this book and really finds herself and her voice outside of her famous family. These two come together in a secret romance that was just supposed to last for the summer but when circumstances occur that force them to be around each other and her brother, who hates Nik, the pressure really is put on them. Nik’s haunting past and Izzy’s shining light personality create the perfect storm with great spice, deep love, and a past that refuses to be forgotten. This is easily one of my favorite sports romance books!

4.5 stars. I ended up loving this book more than I thought I would. It had everything I wanted within a hockey romance, and was more original than other romances I've read. I didn't get many icks, and I'm excited to read the previous books!

Wicked Serve was a cute sports romance read. While I didn't absolutely love it, it was fun and a refreshing read from typical romance books that are mired with conflict and miscommunication. I loved that they supported each other, and of course the sports aspect of it. While I didn't feel like it was profoundly deep, it was sweet and an enjoyable read.

I received a copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest and fair review.

5⭐️ 2.5🌶️
Such a superb ending to one of my favorite series! There’s just so many things I loved about this book, and I’m sad it had to end! Isabelle is every girl who’s ever dealt with the stress to be perfect and crippling anxiety and I love her relationship with Nik and how they heal each other. His anxiety and panic disorder mirrors my own - and it perfectly explains the notion “you can’t judge a book by its cover”. Solnishko will forever be one of my favorite nicknames ☀️ I also loved how it made it seem like choosing yourself and being selfish isn’t always bad - sometimes it has to be done to better yourself so you can not be selfish in the future🫶🏼

Can’t wait to see what Grace writes next -
IF GRACE REILLY WRITES IT I READ IT🤍


“I reach for the hem of the jersey, but he shakes his head. “I want the reminder of who you belong to.” He tugs on the collar for emphasis. “I want you to see it when I f**k you against the mirror and to feel it in every thrust. It’s like I said at the bar. You’re mine, solnishko. Every part of you.””

“If she’s sunshine, I’m the guy who hopes it never starts raining.”

This was my first read in the Beyond The Play series! As someone who grew up playing volleyball, i was so excited to receive this ARC. Wicked Serve was cute, lighthearted, and the spice was spicinggggg. I adored Isabelle and Nikolai. Their relationship was perfection. I love a vulnerable man who chooses to be better for himself, his family and friends, and his partner. And Isabelle was so relatable in the way she struggled to fit in with her family. She was so sweet and i loved her bubbly nature.

If you’re in the mood for an easy read, pick this up! Read if you love summer love affair, forbidden romance, found family, broody MMC X bubbly FMC, lovers turned friends-with-benefits, sports romance (volleyball and hockey), brothers rival turned teammate turned best friend, mental health rep.

Wicked Serve is the fourth book in the Beyond the Play series. You don’t have to read the rest of the series to read this, but it is worth it to read the others as they are all fun reads.

Nikolai and Isabelle have a summer fling but they both know it can’t go any farther than that one summer. But then they end up at the same college, and they can’t seem to stay away.

I wish that we had a little more of the story from the beginning and their summer together, just to understand the baseline of their relationship. However, the story does move forward from there pretty quickly into their stolen moments, banter and emotional moments too.

The moments in the book where you get to see what the rest of the family is up to now are also cute updates and I love that they were included.

Overall a cute fun series to read, I do recommend it for some fluffy reading.

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

4.5…A cute read with a sometimes emotional love story. Izzy is a college volleyball player with dreams of being a wedding planner. She comes from a family of extremely successful athletes and sometimes struggles with not being enough..but don’t we all. Nikolai is a college hockey player with NHL dreams but struggles with what he truly wants and who he truly is. He had an intense backstory that added an extra dimension to this story. This was a love story about family, and being accepted for who you are. About loving your family so much that you don’t truly know yourself…until you learn how to love yourself. I really Liked Nikolai and Izzy together they truly belonged together. I loved how they supported each other and stood up for each other. I look forward to reading more books by this author

I loved this book this series is amazing! I have always loved this series. I loved the character development, and how the book flowed with the rest of the series. I am very thankful for the opportunity to get to read this book early.