4.5⭐️Summer is the new in house lawyer for Appies hockey team. Nathan is a grumpy player who swore off relationships. The two agree to fake date to help with Nathan’s publicity but of course we know that the line between fake and real can get very thin.

I loved Summer and Nathan and every moment between the two (her taking care of him, their ice skating date, jersey wearing, the grand gesture). She fell for him despite knowing his relationship struggles and her sunshine personality complimented him so well. The found family between the hockey teammates was the cherry on top! I adored the text chats between “The Dream Team” and the comic relief the players brought! While this a closed door romance, and I usually prefer some spice, the relationship did not feel juvenile at all and the banter/ chemistry was sizzling.

Read if you like:
-Workplace setting
-Hockey player x team lawyer
-Fake dating
-Grumpy hero
-She takes care of him
-Kissing only
-Cameos to the Hawthorne Brothers

Jenny Proctor is my go too book person. Must read books.

This checked off everything I look for in a book. Was not disappointed. Really enjoyed this book. I will read more from this author. Must read

This book is so sweet! I'm excited to read more about the Appies!

I'm thinking the characters met in a previous storyline and didn't have the best second meeting when Summer "stole" Nathan's parking spot.

I love how brave and honest Summer was with her feeling in this fake romance.

Some may not enjoy it as much, but I enjoyed the social media aspect and felt that it brought the story to present times. It gave me "Georgia Fruit Baseball" team vibes (iykyk) and I loved it.

My favorite part of the story was when Nathan gets sick and Summer comes to the rescue. Beautifully written to tug on the heart strings. Oh! The initial bus scene was so perfectly high school, which is how I picture young athletes acting.

I also appreciated the epilogue so we weren't left in the dark about their relationship.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This story of a seemingly grumpy minor league hockey star and the team’s newly hired legal counsel is just so well done, I can’t say enough about it. Nathan and Summer start off either him seemingly disliking her (though he secretly pines for her) while her crush on him becomes increasingly hard for her to hide.

When circumstances arise that require them to “fake date” (we love a fake dating trope!), all bets are off in terms of the way their feelings change. Of course, with Nathan having lots of childhood trauma associated with relationships, he’s utterly resistant to the idea of love (much to Summer’s disappointment)…but their love is palpable and inevitable — something that’s so very clear on the page.

I’m an equal opportunity reader in terms of spice in a book — I am open to any level of spice from zero to HOLY SMOKES. This book, while very much closed door, G-rated spice, was no less butterfly inducing relative to the passion felt between our main characters. I didn’t miss the spice at all — Jenny is amazing at making us really FEEL without being explicit.

I loved this sweet, heartfelt, quick read and can’t wait to read more of Jenny’s titles!

i LOVED this! i'm a sucker for fake dating, sunshine/grump trope, and sports romances and this just had everything bundled up together

i also love romances that have dual POV - in this one, we get to the characters falling for each other but refusing to admit it to each other. Nathan has put himself off limits when it comes to dating while being a hockey player and he has strong walls built around his heart, but we see how these walls crack and crack before they come tumbling down and he finally lets Summer in. i loved seeing the emotional growth of these characters throughout the book.

this book definitely has a slow burn kind of fake dating trope. i do wish we got to see more of these characters actually together than just an epilogue, especially because it felt really rushed and cheesy. the books builds up to this climax of them finally admitting they have feelings for each other and then it just fizzles out because we only get the end of a chapter and an epilogue of them being an official couple.

This book was a decent read. I would’ve liked it a lot more if i didn’t get the ick from these men every other chapter. The plot had so much potential but there were so many scenes that were too ridiculous to believe. Exhibit A: a group of hockey players sitting around at a bar talking about their rules for respecting women. Exhibit B: when Nathan gets the man flu and she’s somehow able to help move and hold up this giant hockey player. sigh. i wanted to like this so badly. It’s also closed door, so.

𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐏
𝙰𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚜 #𝟸
ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

🏑𝚂𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝙷𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚢 𝚁𝚘𝚖𝙲𝚘𝚖
💚𝙲𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝙳𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚁𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎
🏑𝙶𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚢/𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎
💚𝙵𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜
🏑𝙵𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐

Summer Callahan just started a new job as part of the Appies Legal Team, an up-and-coming minor league hockey team. She met the grumpy enforcer, Nathan Sanders, and immediately tried to flirt with him, only to be ignored completely. Just when she decides to give up, a situation arises that requires them to be fake dating to fix his online reputation. And of course, their fake dating will turn into more…

OMG, I didn’t expect to enjoy this so much. Nathan is so adorably grumpy, we learn that he is just an awkward person with a tendency to blurt rude things when he’s flustered. But he’s actually really sweet guy with a bear and broody appearance, who doesn’t love a guy who brings you coffee everyday? Summer is such a delight, she’s funny and witty, and she knows what she wants. I love the friendship that they formed when they are fake dating, it’s so stinkin’ cute! This was a sweet feel-good romcom, I had so much fun reading this, highly recommend it!

🅆🄷🄰🅃 🅈🄾🅄 🄶🄴🅃 🄸🄽 🅃🄷🄸🅂 🄱🄾🄾🄺:
✅𝙰𝚍𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝙶𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚛 𝙻𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝙷𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚢 𝙷𝚞𝚗𝚔
✅𝙱𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚕𝚢 & 𝙲𝚞𝚝𝚎 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝙵𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝙵𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚎
✅𝙼𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝙿𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙵𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜
✅𝙻𝚘𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚂𝚘 𝙵𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙼𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 & 𝙺𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜
✅𝚂𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚂𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚎𝚍 𝙼𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝

✿ 𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚙𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 #netgalley 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚖 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 𝚟𝚘𝚕𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚢 ✿

I love both sunshine-grumpy and sports tropes, so Romancing The Grump caught my attention. Thankfully, it didn't disappoint. I really enjoyed reading this. I especially love that there were no explicit scenes, yet the attraction was clearly portrayed. Thank you, Netgalley, for giving me this book in exchange for my honest review

This was mas my first time reading anything by this author, but it is not likely to be my last. I really enjoyed it. Summer and Nathan are great characters, each coming with their own emotional baggage. Their mutual attraction is immediate but is slow to evolve into a true relationship. It was well-written with high a level of sexual tension and more than a few laughable moments. Overall, a perfect choice for lovers of rom-com who prefer "somewhat sweet" to "steamy" yet without any religious undertones.

FTC disclosure: I received an advanced review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This has not affected the content of my review.

I like this book the couple was cute, but nothing super groundbreaking to me. The story just fell a little flat for me.

This was so FUN! I love a good hockey romance and this is no exception. Nathan was an absolute dreamboat and Summer was so relatable! The only thing that kept this from being a 5 star was that while Nathan felt complex as a character, Summer didn’t.. it sometimes felt like her only personality traits were having a crush on Nathan and being a twin. Overall though I REALLY enjoyed this and would definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Romancing the Grump is a major upgrade from the first Appies book (which I also enjoyed). Fake dating is one of my favorite tropes and I feel like we got a lot more of the actual dating aspect this time around. The romance and relationship from fake to real doesn't feel rushed or forced here.

Summer, our FMC, is the new team lawyer for the Appies. She has met Nathan, the Appies resident grump, once before and makes it her goal to crack his hard shell, convinced there is soft man inside. After a hashtag for Nathan #TamingtheGrump gets out of control, the teams social media manager, Parker, suggests Nathan and Summer fake date to get them off his back. Summer is already interested in and likes Nathan. Nathan's father was an NHL hall of famer who played for the Bruins and was not the best father. Hurt by his past, Nathan has made it very clear he does not believe in relationships, especially while he is playing hockey. As Summer falls further into love with Nathan, will he be able to stop running from Summer and instead towards a bright future with her?

We get even more Appies in this book, which really ties the whole thing together. You really feel the love and brotherhood the team has for one another. They support each other and aren't fueled by being Alphas or by toxic masculinity. I am hopeful for more books with more of the team (here is to hoping Van gets a book soon!)

If I had a criticism, some of the growth in the relationship between Summer and Nathan happens quickly and via text messages. I get that it may be easier to say things via text than in person, but I missed getting their reactions/internal monologue to what they were discussing and things they were saying to one another. There also was not a time frame given for the text exchanges. It's an entire chapter, but how long of a period are we talking about? Was this all in one day? Over the course of a week? Multiple weeks?

Overall, this was a quick and enjoyable read. Fun main characters and plenty of side characters to root for. 3.75 stars rounded up to 4 for Goodreads.

This is a really lovely slow burn romance, no great angst or drama but full of depth and great characters.
Summer has a new job working as a legal representative of a minor NHL team The Appies . Here she meets Nathan an extremely grumpy taciturn star player. Instantly attracted to him despite his sternness and grunts, Nathan is also attracted to Summer but won’t show it and does not want any type of relationship due to a hard childhood.
Summers happy approach to life and work slowly wears down his barriers and their developing relationship is well described and beautifully told.
My only minor quibble… I hated the team name for some reason it did not gel and was to me annoying. That said I loved this story
My thanks to net galley and publisher for the opportunity to review this book honestly.

Grumpy x sunshine hockey romance yes please! I will say I typically need all the spice in a book but I did not miss it a bit with this one. You have your major grump hockey player and your full of sunshine summer (literally) and although he seems grumpy and broody he is a total teddy bear for summer.
-grumpy x sunshine
-hockey romance
-workplace romance
-she takes care of him while sick 🥹
-he protects her from an old boss 😍
Overall the banter in this was amazing I was laughing constantly and the sizzle between them you could feel through the pages I do love that there was no third act breakup 💚

Grumpy x Sunshine hockey romance with fake dating are the best kind of tropes! I read this book so quickly. It was heartwarming and light hearted in a way that stopped me from putting it down.
An easy read, with the right amount of romance and slow burn to keep it interesting.

The main characters were perfect for the premise, and although Nathan is portrayed as the typical grumpy hockey star, sunshine Summer and her upbeat personality helped us to understand Nathan for the big softie he truly is!

There’s little drama and no third act break up, which is usually my thing, but the writing style and easy flow of the plot made it just as enjoyable. This book is just filled with the usual kind of ‘found family’ you have within the hockey scene, wholesome moments and banter!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Grumpy/Sunshine is one of my favorite tropes so I was super excited to read this book. Summer and Nathan were so cute and I loved their individual growth in the story. Character development is such a huge component of a story that draws me in and this one definitely had that! The side characters were cute, banter with the boys, and overall romance was perfect! I loved this romcom and will definitely be reading more from this series!!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this book and will definitely read more from this author.

This book had a great mix of sunshine and grumpy. Nathan is one of those grumps that you just feel for. You know they aren’t a bad person and you want to get close with them but you are also kind of scared too because they don’t show emotions well. He is so easily to relate to and very well written.

Summer is such a strong fmc. She has been through a lot and being in her field doesn’t help. I am so happy that she doesn’t let her past scar her away from anything and she still has a lot of personality.

Closed-door contemporary romcom with sizzling kisses.

Full disclosure here, I think I've had a book hangover for a few weeks. I read an amazing book with ALL OF THE FEELS and have had trouble connecting with characters since then. I've read and listened to more than a dozen books that haven't really made me love the characters. The drought has been broken!

Nathan and Summer are in the house and rocking it! Their chemistry sizzles but there is heart to the book too. I was invested in the story. I could feel the emotions being described. It was lovely to feel that connection to fictional characters again.

This is the 4th book that features the fictional hockey team, The Appies. They are set in Harvest Hollow, NC. That town was featured in the Sweater Weather series. Those are each standalone stories, as are these, but are loosely inter-connected. It's fun to read them all and see the camaraderie in the team and the town too.
So those books not only introduce us to our hockey hero, Nathan, but Summer shows up too. She actually is first seen in the 4th Hawthorne Brothers series book. All that to say, read this one... Read them all!

Thanks to the author and Netgalley for the complimentary ebook. I am happily leaving an honest review.

I loved it. I am on my hockey romance era. It was cute grumpy sunshine vibes. It had some fake dating. i loved that the girl falls first. Thanks for letting me ARC read this one. I can't wait read more for this author. ❤️

I just started the Appies series with a different book, saw this one and had to read it. This series is so great!

Romacing The Grump brings us team grump, Nathan. He is grumpy but not too grumpy to make you dislike him. I love the dual POV so we can see how he really feels. Summer is the new legal counsel. There is mutual attraction and then a plan to fake date to help Nathan. Will the fake dating turn into something real?

Jenny Proctor does a great job of keeping the romance and some steam without anything but kissing. All the characters in this book are ones you may have met before or maybe you'll want to go and read their stories. This book was an awesome, sweet read!

Thank you to NetGalley and JPC Publishing for this e-ARC. This review is my own opinion,