I can definitely convince you to read this book with just one of Nikolai's quotes 😏 "crawl to me, Isabelle"

SCREAMS. Okay, serious talk, this book was freaking amazing.

First of all, it was filled with giggling, spicy, and romantic moments that I couldn't stop reading. Nikolai is her brother's hockey rival, and after getting kicked out of college, he transfers to the same college as Isabelle; his sunshine girl ☀️. Meanwhile, you have Isabelle, who just wants to be enough to be the team's setter. After a summer fling with Nikolai, she wants to focus on her volleyball career—no distractions. But that's kind of hard when Nik is basically in every room 🥵.

Even though they are the cutest couple ever, their relationship delves into both their pasts, insecurities, and childhood trauma, making you want to hug them and feel their emotions on a deeper level. AGH, I LOVE WHEN AUTHORS DO THAT.

Anyway, I recommend this to anyone who loves a balanced sports romance book—a balance between SPICY scenes, mental health awareness, and relationship development.

Why a 5 star Read? The storyline as well as the characters really made me feel hocked since the beginning I couldn't stop turning the page and the spicy scene reeled me in even more lolol

Fav quote: "I've never felt so owned by him. So completely his. It's raw, it's dirty, and somehow, my heart feels more exposed than the rest of me."

Tropes:
☀️Sports Romance
☀️Hockey MMC 🏒 x Volleyball FMC🏐
☀️College Romance
☀️Secret relationship
☀️Brother's Rival
☀️Found Family
☀️Mental Health Rep (childhood trauma, panic attacks, "am i enough")
☀️Dual POV

This is my first by Grace Reilly and will not be my last! I went into this thinking it was going to be some simple college second chance romance but no it is so long and varied in the best way! I LOVED how long this book is truly. There were spicy little callbacks to their summer fling together and at first I was bummed thinking I missed all the good stuff but no I did not, the best was yet to come.

Our MMC Nikolai may seem like a reformed playboy but actually he is the protagonist of Mine by Taylor Swift just gender bended. The reason for him not having a serious relationship is because he never thought he was good enough and caution about his past he would have to share. CW for on page panic attacks which he has a few throughout this book (and positive rep for going to therapy and medication).

FMC Izzy is also a really great balance of being a sweet spot of sunshine but without being a pushover. The forbidden secret aspect was hot but also a little angsty. Back to the length of this I thought the brother's sports rival love interest angle was going to last for longer than it did but the tension broke at just the right time. And if you are one who dislikes when brother's are overprotective you will like this one! Yes there are feelings and resolutions needed but Izzy's family, bio and found, is full of love and respect for each other and I loved to see it.

This is also a bit of escapism. There are major rich family shenanigans which I honestly loved because it made the college aspect feel aged up. This really wasn't overly New Adult to me even with Izzy's college volleyball side plots. I just loved Nik spending money on Izzy and vice versa but also there was quite a bit of drama with Nik's grandfather and family secrets with his mother.

CW for parental and spousal abuse, domestic violence, these were all in the past but very much affecting Nik's present and he does explain the past in detail.

Overall, this was such a fun comfort read that I kept wanting to go back to. I loved the relationship they built and the open door spice was varied and fire. Thank you SO much to Avon for this eARC!

Isabelle and Nikolai
College romance
Secret relationship
Brother rival
Both fall hard
Mental health
Hockey/ volley ball
After having a summer fling with her brother enemy, they part ways because they are attending different university. They start to miss each other but knowing they can’t be together. Isabelle has always been supportive and caring for others and never putting herself first. She has to proof to other she deserve to have what she earns because of who her family is, especially to her coach who seems not to like her.
Nikolai is a Russian and sweet and genuine man who struggle with mental health and he doesn’t hide it or let it define who he is and he working on himself with the help of a therapist. I like the book very much I enjoy the characters were wonderful. I’m happy the author talk about mental health.

This was a great addition to Grace's college sports series. This had everything I loved in a sports romance- two great MC's, a fun friend group, and lots of banter and humor through out. This was a fun and fast read, and I enjoyed this a lot. I can't wait to see what Grace Reilly does next.

This book was so addictive. I have been looking forward to this book for quite a while and I was not disappointed. The romance was so good!

I really enjoyed this entire series! This might be my favorite out of the 4. Izzy and Nikolai are incredible. The way Nikolai and Izzy hold onto each there throughout their struggles is so sweet. You get all the Callahan family dynamics and glimpses into the future of the other couples from books 1-3. Loved it! If you love sports romance covering different sports across the series these books are for you!

I didn’t think that this series could get any better, but boy was I wrong.

After going through her three brothers stories, I was already attached to Izzy. But seeing her story play out and watching her find her own place in the world was beautiful.

Her and Niks love story is my favorite. You could tell from the very beginning that it was just right between them. They helped each other heal and move forward.

🏒🏐brothers teammate
🏒🏐forbidden romance
🏒🏐volleyball x hockey romance
🏒🏐found family

The epilogue killed me 😭❤️ it was so good to wrap all of their stories up with the fam back together.

Thank you Avon Books & the author for the e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion. 4.5 ⭐️

If you love a sizzling romance, Grace Reilly’s latest should be on your radar. In it, protagonists Izzy and Nik see their divergent worlds collide in the most unexpected and fulfilling of ways. Not only is this book light-hearted and downright sinfully delicious, but it’s also powerful and real. Reilly expertly works in themes of abuse and family trauma into the overall plot, which also ends up making this an impactful read.

It’s simple: WICKED SERVE is damn good.

This book was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 and I’m so grateful to have been given an eARC.

Grace Reilly did it again with Wicked Serve. I love Izzy and Nikolai together, and they’re so sweet.

Izzy encourages Nikolai to stand up for what he truly wants while Nikolai encourages Izzy through her actions she had pre-planned out.

Their second-chance romance was such a thrill to read as they navigated secretly dating, as well as keeping their summer fling a secret from Izzy’s older brother.

I cannot wait to read this again on release day.
Thank you so much NetGalley and Avon/Harper Voyager for the ARC!

This book became instantly my favorite one of this series and Nikolai my favorite male character (sorry Seb). It was incredibly heartwarming to read about Izzy and Nik’s relationship and their growth not only as a couple but as individual. And the heat was heating for sure. I’m so used to the potential conflicts that I was sort of expecting everything bad to happen but I was so glad that everything was solved with communication and just support from each other. I even ended up shedding tears of happiness while reading the epilogue, getting to see how happy everyone is. Not enough stars in the system to rate but 5 will do.

What in the world did Grace put in this book because it is perfection!! Here is the thing, I haven’t read Izzy’s brothers books yet, so this is from someone who is meeting the Callahan family for the first time and absolutely loved their family banter as well as how realistic they seem to be. Without giving anything away to the story, because you can read the blurb to get the general idea of what Izzy and Nik are about, I will give you my honest reaction to the characters and how much I enjoyed them. What started out as her brother’s rival summer fling, turned into Izzy finding her passion in a future career and a support person who heard things that she was telling him but also what she wasn’t saying. Nic has always played hockey and it was always going to be his life, yet sometimes the pieces don’t all seem to fit right away. What I loved most about Nikolai is that he has faults, and they are his battle to overcome. He acknowledges them and talks to Izzy about them. Neither of these two are perfect by any means and they both have backbones when they need them. I love that for both Nik and Izzy we get two people that are there. They listen to each other, and they fully support them. They both try to problem solve and help the other and once push comes to shove, we see family members stand up and do the same thing. I seriously loved this book and am now off to read each of the brothers books. Thank you so much NetGalley and Avon Books as well as Harper Voyager for a chance to read.

Grace has once again given us a GEM of a Sports Romance. Nik was the broody grump we all love to see behind the mirror on. And I loved finally getting to see Izzy after we have had sneaks peeks of her all this time in the books of her brothers!

Grace knows how to write a cozy romance and she brings it again in book 4 of this series!

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, Harper Voyager, and Grace Reilly for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book! There are many reasons why, so buckle up.

The main characters and their relationship was handled so beautifully. Without giving anything away, there was a decent amount of room for major toxicity in this pairing, but absolutely nothing unrealistic or unnecessarily dramatic came about. Both characters were genuine and acted authentically, which I so appreciate when reading about a couple in this age range. Young people do not have to be emotionally immature and dramatic just because they are young! Both Isabelle and Nik are level headed and incredibly self aware as individuals as well as with and for each other.

The development in Nik alone; from being closed off to not only sharing but realizing what he needed to do in order to maintain a successful and healthy relationship, was so impressive. Isabelle was adorable and feisty, and I found her to be relatable as a person who is trying to 'do it all' as well as living up to everyone else's perceived expectations along with her own (which were unattainable, no person is perfect).

Let's not forget that this is a sports romance as well! The inclusion of one of my favorite sports, volleyball, was awesome and I thoroughly enjoyed the sub-plot here with Izzy, her teammates, and her coach. Of course, hockey is Nik's sport and everything surrounding the Frozen Four and transferring teams was so realistic. It was an added bonus to read from their perspectives about how and why they loved their sports and what made it fulfilling to them. Not everyone 'gets it,' but you can tell Grace really puts her all into these books. Her passion for writing a whole story really shows - and you can't just have these two amazing sports figures without some actually realistic behind the sport scenes. I loved it!

The couples from the first three books make many appearances as this is a series about the Callahans, after all! I loved the secondary storylines that were taking place alongside Izzy and Nik's story. The epilogue ended things perfectly and gave us the closure that all of these wonderful and well loved characters deserved.

Grace really knocked it out - I'm sad to see the series come to a close but it was just perfection overall. I'll read whatever she puts out next and I'm sure I'll love it.

This book was amazing, I could not put it down! I loved everything from start to finish, and the character dynamic was beautifully written. I haven't read the other three yet, but that was not an issue with this one! I am so excited to read the others now and see all of the characters from the beginning. Plus, the personal growth the Nikolai and Izzy both have was well written!

I do love me some sports romance….the main characters were each really invested in the relationship which I appreciated. The story flowed easily. Probably went on a touch too long but I can def forgive that.

I love the Beyond the Play series by Grace Reilly so I was very excited to read this book (the fourth installment) before its release.

We finally get to see Izzy (Isabelle), the youngest Callahan sibling, get her own love story with Nikolai.

Nikolai is the “rival” of Izzy’s brother, Cooper (who we followed in the second book). Izzy and Nikolai spend a secret summer together in NYC. When Nikolai covers for a teammate and gets expelled from college, he ends up at Izzy’s college where they (obviously) can’t stay apart. While their secret hookups are hot, I was anxious for them to be able to be together. Of course the point of romance books is to watch the characters overcome their struggles and find a way to end up together, but I couldn’t wait!

I loved seeing Izzy as more of an adult, especially standing up for herself n regards to volleyball and her relationship with her father, her brothers and her coach. She is fiercely protective of Nikolai - something he’s been lacking in his life. Nikolai has a difficult relationship with his father (to put it lightly) and struggles with panic attacks.

I loved both of these characters and it pained me to watch them struggle. After I thought they had solved their problems,, Nikolai gets called up to the NHL and basically leaves without saying goodbye / cuts Izzy off. Of course this ruins her. He shows back up a few weeks later for James and Bex’s wedding, and they reunite happily without much fanfare. I was MAD that he left her like that and sort of mad that after all of her growth she just forgave him so easily without much discussion. He even got a dog (“our dog”) without letting her be part of that journey etc. So … I was sort of mad at Nikolai by the end of the book. But other than that I truly enjoyed this story.

Story: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

Fun, flirty and lots of Sizzle. I love a “forbidden romance” story and this one delivers. Izzy’s hot summer fling was with her hockey playing brother’s rival turns up the heat when circumstances change and he finds himself as her brother’s teammate. I liked that Izzy was athletic in her own right as a member of the college’s varsity volleyball team - a sport that isn’t often found in romances, but should be. This is a great finale to the Callahan family books. Very enjoyable and I loved re-visiting with characters from the previous books in the series. Thank you to Avon Books and #Netgalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

’m so glad I was able to get this ARC… it absolutely pulled me out of my reading slump! I have really enjoyed the Beyond the Play series but this book was my favorite out of them all!

Getting to see more of Isabelle and know her more was so fun. Grace writes dynamic, fun, interesting FMCs and Izzy fits right in! It was easy to love her. And it was even easier to love Nik. His transformation was sweet, tender, tense, meaningful… it made me tear up more than once. It was a really empathetic portrayal of child abuse and domestic violence, which I find isn’t always addressed in a nuanced way. It was healing to read, in a way.

Outside of that, I loved the relationship between Nik and Cooper and the continued love that flows from the Callahan family. I adore them and could read about this group for so many more books. This books is charming and sweet, serious at times…. It’s just another entertaining read by Grace!

Also, for the people who need to know…. The smut smutted. I need Nik in a biblically. Y’all will too, I promise. I’ll just leave you with “good girl” and “hairbrush”… take that as you will!

Thanks for a fun read NetGalley, Grace Reilly, and Avon and Harper Voyager! Everyone go add this to your TBR!

This has been one of the easiest 5 star reads this year. I loved Nikolai and Izzy's relationship and the growth that came from the both of them through it all. His and Coopers friendship made me teary eyed & i loved all the feels these characters gave me.
Thank you NetGalley, Avon Books and Harper Voyager for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review <3

3.5/5

why would any author think a college hockey romance needs to have SEVENTY FOUR chapters...

sports romance is a genre that i adore wholeheartedly and i really haven't read one in awhile so i sat down to read this today. i was honestly having the time of my life for the first like 60%. the characters were great, there was some good sneaking around, we had brothers rival!!! all great things. but why oh why was this book so damn long. there was genuinely no need to have this many chapters about nothing really. you can only write so many chapters about nik and izzy fucking and then hiding and then having a cute moment. this is the like fourth book in a series and i read one of the others i think but i don't plan on reading the rest.

nik and izzy were a really good couple so there's that. the first 30% was honestly perfect. them reconnecting and hiding from her brother was really good. once the book got too long and messy i just got slightly bored. the third act was also really weird, like her went away got therapy once and they were good??? idk. also some of the language used in the sex scenes was over the top and low key cringey. there was no need for some of the scenes. overall a fine book just too long.