3.5 ⭐️

Wicked Serve is #4 in the Beyond the Play series but can be read as a standalone. I read book 1 but not 2 or 3. The story made sense as a standalone and I did not have any issues understanding what was happening. The plot of this book however was not my favorite. It seemed like every other chapter the main characters were having some disagreement that could have been solved with a simple conversation. They did have their cute moments through the book that I did enjoy reading but the book felt about 100 pages too long. I would still recommend reading it but this is a book I will probably not reread.

izzy and nik are the cutest, supportive couple! the book felt the tiniest bit too long at times, but i appreciate that it dealt with some tough themes and did so respectfully.

🏒🏐 sports romance
↔️ opposites attract

After a summer fling with her brother Cooper's hockey rival, Izzy returns to McKee ready to prove to her volleyball coach that she's ready for a leadership position. No distractions. School and Volleyball. That's it. Until an incident gets Nikolai expelled from his university and transfered to McKee. Izzy does not need this distraction, but everyone needs to vent some frustration every now and then right? It's just casual. As their relationship grows, Izzy isn't sure she wants to keep it a secret anymore. Or be casual. But Nik has been keeping secrets too. Secrets that could change everything.

This might be my favorite of the series. Nik and Izzy have such a beautiful story. Trigger warnings for this include domestic and child abuse, as well as anxiety attacks. I thought the writing was well paced and easy to read. The story flowed smoothly and had a good pace.

I also loved that Nik took time to work on himself and recognized his need to step away and refocus. I think that was a really important component. There was definitely a suspenseful feel throughout the book. You knew that Nik's dad was going to come into play, and I definitely felt that hanging over the story. I really enjoyed it though! 4⭐

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the arc! Such a fun little brother’s enemy book!
Loved the characters and the banter! Izzy and Nikolai were really fun and their relationship was incredibly sweet. Nikolai’s backstory was heartbreaking and made me really sympathetic to his character.
Hadn’t read any of her stories prior to this arc and this actually made me go back and read them.

College senior Nik is not only navigating a new school, but a new role on the school’s hockey team. On top of that, his new captain is his former rival, and the older brother of his summer fling.

Izzy is determined to be better this year, no distractions, just focusing on her school, and improving her standing in the eyes of her volleyball coach. That is until she realizes her summer fun now also attends the same university.

Despite being warned against seeing each other, Nik and Izzy agree to some casual stress-release to get each other out of their systems and focus on their goals, but their undeniable magnetism towards each other might just prove to be too much…

I love reading Grace Reilly! Wicked Serve is no exception (I had read 65% of the book before realizing it was 3am!). Izzy and Nik are beautiful foils for each other, and Reilly does a great job of allowing both of them to work through their pasts and family issues in a palatable way- without feeling like a life lesson. Wicked Serve was a wonderful wrap-up on the Callahan siblings!

Thanks to Netgalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for the early ebook!

Good quick read. Not much of a book club book unless you are a steamy book club. Definitely a spicy book. I think most of the book was steam. It was entertaining though and had some cute moments. Most of the story flowed well and was well written.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the ARC of Wicked Serve in exchange for an honest and independent review.

While this is the fourth installment in the Beyond the Play series by Grace Reilly, this is the first of the series I've had the pleasure of reading, which was in no way an issue of any sort. I appears each of the novels are standalones, which I greatly appreciate. Reilly very briefly fills you in on any need to know information from prior books as well as any family dynamic information to move the book along quickly without getting too deep in the details of past novels.

The Beyond the Play series follows each of the Callahan siblings through their intricate love stories with their significant others. Wicked Serve centers around the youngest Callahan sibling, Izzy, and her under-cover relationship with, Nikolai, her brother's hockey rival. Izzy and Nikolai are fresh off a romantic secret summer together while Izzy is interning at his mother's wedding planning company. The bliss of summer comes to an end when Izzy and Nic go their separate ways back to separate schools in hopes of being able to walk away from their fantastic summer with no strings attached in the wake of a beautiful memory.

Back at school, Izzy cannot help but continue to cling to the memory of Nic and their whirl-wind summer together. Not far into the school year, Nic finds himself in trouble and kicked out of UMass and off the hockey team. In a scramble to find a new hockey team and school, Nic's grandfather steps in and pulls some strings to get him into his rival school, McKee University in exchange for a deal that will greatly impact Nic's potential future in the NHL. It just so happens, Izzy attends McKee and is more than shocked to run into him at a campus party.

Sparks fly immediately as the memory of their summer together comes crashing back. They decided to put it all on the line and continue their relationship on the down low in order to keep the peace between Nic and Izzy's brother Cooper, who also happens to be Nic's captain on the hockey team. Izzy and Nic continue their ruse over the weeks to come until Izzy realizes she no longer wants to keep Nic a secret. Nic has is own dark secrets that justify his need to keep Izzy at arms distance, however, that's becoming increasingly hard to do as their lives seem to fall effortlessly together on campus. Nic risks losing Izzy forever when he fails to respond when Izzy makes it known she no longer wants to keep Nic hidden from her every day life and her family.

In a great story about finding themselves and their way back to each other, Nic and Izzy discover what love can look like when they are open with each other and those around them. A beautiful story about self discovery and first loves that keeps you wanting to turn the page over and over again. While this story is most certainly sprinkled with spice here and there, the characters and storyline feel very real and captivate your curiosity. I loved the dynamic of the Callahan family and how they slowly bring Nic into their fold. You cannot help but root for Nic and Izzy as they navigate this new territory and begin to come into their own in college. A wonderful read that kept things spicy and exciting and I'd really like to find the time to go back and read the prior three novels centered on the 3 elder Callahan siblings!

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book. I love this series so much and I don't have words to describe my love for this book. This is my favorite of the series and Nik and Izzy's relationship made me feel all the emotions: blushing, butterflies in the stomach, smiles, and even tears. There are too many moments between them that I loved reading but if I had to pick one thing it was always the love and support they had for each other no matter what the challenges were. I'm glad to see Izzy have a happy ending. I would recommend this book and this series to everyone.

I really enjoyed this book! This was my first by Grace Reilly and it won't be my last!

You can absolutely read this one without reading the first 3, you won't feel lost.

I loved their relationship and how supportive they were for each other through everything that was thrown at them. Their love was true and you felt it from the beginning.

Also the spicy scenes were SPICY! I loved every second of those scenes.

Cute college romance with a sports theme. Enjoyable read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for an e-arc in exchange for an unbiased review.

This started off strong, I was super into it. I liked that the characters in the previous books made appearances and got to see where they are now. However, I got lost midway and found finishing the book a difficult task.

I always cringe a bit when I start reading a New Adult Romance (and never seem to catch it before I start reading). Reading a romance about individuals in college feels a little cringey as a woman who is closer to 40. However, once I got over myself I really enjoyed this read.

The Good: I really enjoyed the relationship between the two main characters. We saw them grow with each other, face adversity, and came out of it stronger together. The 'sports romance' part of it was there, but did not take away from the story. Its definitely spicy.
The Bad: Some of the chapters were just too long. I enjoyed the shorter, 'popcorn' chapters but felt my attention drawn away during some of the longer ones. My biggest gripe, however, was that there was no reason to make this FMC 19. And if you were going to make her so young.. can we not pretend that its normal for her not to get carded literally everywhere she goes?

I did not realize this was fourth in a series but I can not wait to read the rest! This can absolutely be read as a standalone.

*secret relationship
*college sports (both MC’s)
*he falls first
*her brother’s hockey rival
*dual POV
*mental health rep
*strong family bonds
*spicy

I started this without reading any of the previous titles and, aside from definitely feeling like I was missing out occasionally, read it easily as a standalone.

I do tend to enjoy sports romances but I found this particular one way. too. long. I also didn’t like how Izzy kept prying and pressuring Nik to share.

Overall, I enjoyed this.



Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the DRC

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Izzy is looking forward to her second year in high school. She is surprised to learn that her summer fling is attending the same school. She decides to keep some distance between them. A nice read.

This was my first hockey romance and my first book in the Beyond the Play series. It was cute and I really appreciated the mental health representation. I felt it was a bit too long. And there was A LOT of sexy times. Too much for me anyway. A different audience may appreciate it more. Nik and Izzy were a cute couple and very supportive of each other. I did not appreciate how Izzy was always pressuring Nik to confide in her or how she was so adamant in including herself in his mental health journey when it was clear he needed to do it himself. All in all it was a solid read. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series. 3 stars!

3.75🌟🌟🌟🌟 I rounded to 4

🏒sports romance
🖤brothers rivalry
🏒second chance ( after a fling)
🖤secret romance
🏒he falls first
🖤 family dynamic

I have mixed feelings on this book. I like the sweet romance between Isabella and Nik. There was also a lot of family dynamics that I did enjoy.
I also loved the characters, their development and just how much they really bonded and loved each other.
They bonded but also had a genuine connection with each other and supported each other.
Now what i didn't like was I felt this book was long. I felt stuff was just dragged out, and it actually at times made me dis interested,
I also wasn't a big fan of the Russian vocabulary. I get that it was part of Nik background but I dunno I think it took from story and made it flow less
Overall a cute story. Thank you to net galley n publisher for allowing me to read in advance

As happy I was to receive this book, I was also sad because it means it’s finally the last of the series. I have enjoyed reading all of the books in the series and was patiently waiting for this one to release. It was well worth the wait! The love between the two main characters is unreal and you can feel it through just reading aboht them. I enjoyed following Nikolai’s progress with hockey as well as following Isabelle’s journey with volleyball. The tropes in this book were some of my favorite including brother’s enemy/rival and hiding a relationship. I am going to recommend this book to everyone!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon books for sending me this e arc!

"Wicked Serve" is the fourth book in Grace Reilly's "Beyond the Play" series. I've never read any of Reilly's books, so I wasn't sure what to expect. This book centers around college students Nikolai and Izzy, both of whom are student athletes (Nikolai-hockey, Izzy-volleyball) trying to juggle practices, academics, and their social lives. While they had a secret summer fling, it's harder for them to keep quiet when Nikolai is transferred to Izzy's school and isn't states away anymore. Any hopes of keeping their relationship quiet are dashed when the sparks between them just can't be ignored.

I typically like the forbidden romance/athlete trope, but this book was lacking something for me. While the two did have good chemistry, it was hard to see what else they liked about each other. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

i enjoyed this book so much! i loved the growth of the two characters throughout the book and the many spice. we definitly cannor complain about it being boring.

however, this book was very long. it did not need to be this long.

I didn't realize this book was part of a series until I finished this book, but I was able to read it as a standalone. I enjoyed a sports romance where the female character is also an athlete, not just a fan for her boyfriend. The plot line of brother's enemy was emphasized a little too much considering how quickly that changed. The story was dragged out a little bit, but overall it was a great book, and I would recommend it to others.