I loved this book! I enjoyed having a sweet, romantic book that was closed door and not at all graphic. Eli fall head over heels for Bailey and doesn’t even realize it until they start spending more time together. I enjoyed this book so much, not just because of the wonderful characters and sweet romance that ensues, but also because of where it takes place - our own little slice of the Appalachian mountains! The setting just helps make the story that much more realistic for me!

“Who’s taking care of you, Bailey?”

Eli’s words settle over me, soft as snowfall, only warm not cold.

“No one,” I murmur.

“I could,” Eli says, and now I’m really not sure if I’m dreaming. Because this is the exact kind of thing I wish someone would tell me. “I would.”

OH MY PRETTY PINK STICKY NOTES AND DREAMY CENTAUR-UNICORNS!!! Y’all are not prepared for the ooey-gooey, yummy goodness of Eli Hopkins! Emma gave us Just Don’t Fall with the “Logan Barnes Effect”, and she one-upped herself with A Groom of One’s Own with the “Effervescent Eli Elixir”. That man is potent, he can turn your frown upside down, make your gray skies turn blue, give you a toothache from his sweetness. His fun loving, enthusiastic personality is contagious and his tender, sweet protective side is sa-woooo-nee!

This marriage of convenience hockey romance was AMAZING!! And it was filled with so many laughs, super sweet tension, and cute dogs!

Things I LOVED:
The nicknames
Canadian birthday traditions
Pink sticky notes 🥹
The Proposal!!!
Annie’s wedding surprise😂
Bailey Bucks
Eli’s softer side 🫠
All the kisses
The whole Appies team 🥰

You need this book in your life! And I cannot wait for Nathan and Van!!!

Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for my advanced copy, all opinions are my own.

#emmastclair #agroomofonesown #hockeyromance #cleanromance #bookstagram #netgalley #arcreview

I look forward to books by Emma S Clair. This book had me smile reading. Cute romance with fun characters. I feel like there has been a lot of hockey and green card books. This one was a great balance of both and realistic.

A sweet romance to swoon for! A bit of friends-to-lovers, close proximity and fake marriage wrapped into an insta-love romance. He's an over-the-top gestures kind of guy who loves with his whole heart and she is an excessively shy gal who hates the limelight. Can this popular Hockey star convince her to take the leap with him or will she fade out from all the attention? Unfortunately, he needs to know sooner rather than later in order to avoid deportation back to Canada. Witty dialogue, sweet interactions and lots of opportunities for unsaid things to lead to uncertainty causing a slight bit of angst. Fortunately, for those who like a sweet romance with little angst this is the perfect book for you to read. If you like big, hunky, cinnamon roll guys who loves dogs, his family and the shy girl who is sure that she is far from perfect then you have found your next book! This book is part of the Appies series and let me tell you, if you like a good hockey romance then this is the series that you should be reading!!!

Facing deportation, Eli has two choices: return to Canada and miss the next season or find someone willing to marry him. Fast. Meanwhile, Bailey is struggling to pay her grandmother's mounting assisted living bills while saving for veterinary school. Could a fake relationship be the answer to both of their problem? And how fake is it when they both have a crush on the other?

If you are looking for a low angst, sweet hockey romance with a lot of heart this is it. The chemistry between Bailey and Eli is off the charts. He's an adorable golden retrieve type who loves dogs and she's got adorable, girl next door vibes. There is no third act breakup, no spice (but a lot of tension), and all the things I love about the marriage of convivence trope.

4.5/5⭐️

Was requesting a book on Netgalley the day before it's published date the smartest thing I've ever done? In this case, yes. Yes it was.

This is exactly what I needed in my life! Marriage of convenience is one of my new favorite tropes, and combine that with hockey romance ... I knew I couldn't pass this one up! This was the absolute sweetest, most adorable book ever! I was blushing and giggling and kicking my feet the entire time! The perfect palate cleanser between the other books I was reading. There was low conflict, and no third act break-up. Just a blooming romance between two people who are utterly perfect for each other. And the side characters were *chefs kiss*. Especially Eli's mom and sister. I devoured this in less than 12 hours.

Synopsis:
Bailey and Eli have been secretly crushing on one another since Eli began making regular visits to the animal shelter she works at. Risking deportation, his mom's health, and his spot on the Appies hockey team, Eli jokingly makes a marriage proposal to Bailey one day during his visit. Bailey, also facing some financial hardships, accepts. The only catch is - Eli now has to convince her that it's not just a fake marriage, but something he wants for real.

Tropes:
golden retriever mmc × shy mfc
hopeless romantics
mutual pining
hockey romance
marriage of convenience
cute awkward flirty banter
chronic illness rep
sloooooow burn
closed-door romance

This was predictably sweet, which I was definitely reading for something sweet. There was no real tension, even for this being a hockey romcom. I've kind of gotten used to the hockey player in these books being gruff and violent but Eli is as far from that as possible. Full golden retriever energy. I personally prefer a little more bite in a romcom. In the sense of I prefer my main character to face more drama, bickering, tension. But if you're a fan of Sarah Adams, you'll like this book. It is very sweet

I always enjoy Emma St. Clair's book and this one was no different. I have been enjoying the new hockey trope. This story is so damn adorable, cute, funny, and sweet. This book was so swoony my cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing out loud so many times through out. You will fall in love with these characters. This was such a fun read and I can't wait for the next book. I HIGHLY recommend this book and her other books as well.

Thank you NetGalley and ARC provided by Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for allowing me to read this ARC in advance for my honest opinion.

A super sweet hockey romance with a romantic chivalrous MMC, a shy FMC, and a little white lie that becomes true.

Don't expect a lot of spice but the kisses are so sweet and you feel the yearning from both Bailey and Eli.

A Groom of One's Own by Emma S. Clair was a phenomenal hockey romcom!
It really is a wonderful story and I thought Emma did a fantastic job.
The way she blends her characters quirky humor with deep—and often profound—emotion is a guaranteed attention grabber for me.
The chemistry perfectly came together into this wonderfully engaging and entertaining read. I laughed and swooned my way through this addictively charming story, falling in love right along with Eli and Bailey.
Overall this was such a sweet, authentic, and fun story.
I can’t wait to read book two Romancing the Grump!

Thank You NetGalley and Victory Editing for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

the exact meaning of a feeling good book! i am enjoying this book so much. the story is so damn adorable, cute, funny, and sweet. this book is so swoony my cheeks hurting for smiling and so funny that im laughing so many times.

ELI HOPKINS! omg this man. he is a romantic with big feelings inside him. can i have one eli too please??? he is a ray of sunshine and i love him so much. reading his pov is so refreshing and i can understand fully when other characters said that being close with eli makes them happy. when i read his pov or every time he showed up i can feel the positive energy he radiated towards his surrounding! he is also so protective and always puts people he loves first. every gesture he made for bailey turns me into a puddle. the candy bouquet, the pink sticky notes, the first date, the proposal, the wedding ceremony etc etc, he did everything to make her happy. also his relationship with his mom is so heartwarming!!! i love his mother so much!! ALSO the teammate's banter is so freaking funny i love the appies!!!! i hope every guy will got their books too!

BAILEY MCKINNEY. she is a real definition of a strong woman. she is such a kindhearted and deserves ALL the happiness in the world. her shyness match perfectly with eli's confidence but when they both nervous they turned awkward together, SO DAMN ADORABLE. and when bailey being bold?? oooh i love her for it! i am so happy that she got everything she wished for and not so alone again<3

there is one inside jokes that i love so much between eli and his teammate:
"the oracle has spoken"
I WAS LAUGHING SO HARD IYKYK

A Groom of One's Own is the first book in the new Appies hockey romance series but is a spinoff of Just Don't Fall & Absolutely Not in Love from the Sweater Weather series. While I definitely recommend those books (they're amazing!), you can definitely enjoy this one as a standalone as well.

I fell in love with the Appies in Sweater Weather, so I was really looking forward to this series. When I learned the first book was going to take on marriage of convenience!? Even better! Hockey and marriage of convenience are two of my favorite tropes, so my expectations were very high. Thankfully, this one absolutely did not disappoint! I feel like a bit of a broken record saying each new Emma St. Clair book is my new favorite... and yet, here we are. Again. This book was absolutely fantastic! Eli was such a wonderful, outgoing character and so hard not to enjoy. He balanced out Bailey's shyness and they really had the very best chemistry together. I couldn't get enough of them.

As much as I love Eli and Bailey though, the side characters absolutely made the story as well. I loved seeing more from the Appies teammates, of course... but I also loved getting to know Eli's family. His mom's meddling and his sister's lack of boundaries had me laughing out loud! As someone who deals with chronic illness and pain, I really appreciated that representation in Eli's mom as well.

A Groom of One's Own is a closed-door romance. It did seem like it had just a hint more sizzle than we typically see from Emma St. Clair, but just barely and no spice. I have found that tends to be more typical in marriage of convenience stories anyway, because--- well, they're married. There is one scene that would probably technically be considered fade-to-back but felt more like implied intimacy to me. There's no doubt what happened off the pages and there was some slight buildup, but it felt pretty tame. And again, they are married at the time. There was also a handful of very minor language (Four uses of H-E-double hockey sticks--- that's it.)

**Complimentary copy received for consideration. All opinions are my own.

I love the Appies! I’d already a couple books with players on the team, so I knew I had to dive in on this one. And it was adorable! Eli has big golden retriever energy, and Bailey was a very relatable sweetheart. I love a good fake marriage trope, and this delivered it nicely. I can’t wait for more books of the Appies!

Thanks as always to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was the quintessential “sweet romcom”. I love everything about it.

Eli is the MOST unproblematic MMC you could ask for, the closet romantic, a kind and loving friend and person. I adore him. And Bailey, while she is a sweet and shy lady, she really goes for it, and it’s so refreshing to see someone shy voicing what they want. The main characters really make this book an easy and cozy one to read. I love them with my whole entire heart.

And that’s not even including the AMAZING side characters, Eli’s mom (who is one of those moms who is a mom to everyone) and sister (I would love to see her spicy brand of fun in a future book) his teammates (WHO DOESNT LOVE A GOOD GUY GROUP WHO SUPPORTS EACH OTHER?), and Bailey’s bffs (two of the sweetest friends to ever support a bff). They’re so fun.

And I love that, while there are stakes, it wasn’t a really heart wrenching book. It was a perfect read when I needed one that wasn’t too anxiety filled. 😍🥰 EASY five stars. Definitely one I’ll reread.

It was a good book. I would have liked to see more of them married, I understood the build up but it would have been nice if they had married earlier. I was so happy there was no 3rd act breakup, I was really dreading one. Eli was so freaking adorable, such a sunshine of a person, would do anything for the people he loves, fantastic man really. Bailey was one of those people that takes a while to process their feelings and I have to admit that the speed at each she went, frustated me to no end. I understood her struggle and all but the times she questioned Eli and his actions and feelings wasn't fair. But overall, it was a cute book

It was sooo good to be back with the Appies. Eli is a real peach of a guy. So sweet, caring and loveable. Bailey is the perfect match for him, she sees him for who he really is. A big thank you to the author for normalizing that it’s okay to be shy and socially awkward. Not everyone is an extrovert, and yes, ambiverts exist, too. I also really loved Eli’s mum, she’s such a sunshine. The fake marriage thing worked out the best way it could. The affection between them was swoonworthy.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of the book.

4/5 stars! I really enjoyed this book. It was a nice quick read. I always love to read a hockey romance book. This book is released March 1, 2024. Thank you to Emma St. Clair, and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op.

absolutely loved this book! i couldnt put it down and i was so happy to back in the appie world! i loved their connection and they had amazing chemistry. this story had me laughing constantly but it also had me in my feels, the perfect mix! i couldnt get enough of these two, the passing was amazing and i love how much they cared about each other since the beginning! i definitely recommend this one to all the hockey lovers if you love marriage of convenience and the sweetest hockey team as much as i do!

Not your typical hockey player....

And that's a very good thing. Eli Hopkins is as sweet as a puppy, a Viking sized, hot, puppy. He's crushing on the shy vet tech, Bailey. Oh, and he's also going to be deported to Canada in one month, unless he marries.

Bailey is super shy, strapped for money (she's supporting her grandmother in a care facility) and crushing on Eli, who she didn't know was a hockey player until he sort of proposed to her.

These two are the sweetest, caring people who are perfect for each other, if they could only say the words. So, its a sort of marriage of convenience but they both really want to marry each other.
Recommend for a feel good, low angst, sweet read.

Marriage of convenience is one of my favorite tropes, and who can’t resist a cinnamon roll main male character? Read this if you want to laugh your socks off. You’ll fall in love with the Appies, and there are more great books to read next!