I think Nathan is my favorite Appie. Omgosh. He’s so grumpy but when Summer comes around his grumpiness goes away. I loved the way they were together. When he falls through the hotel room door. 😂🤣 Warming her cold feet under him. The way he softens up to Summer and does what he can to help his family. Too many highlights. It’s safer to show what isn’t highlighted. Another perfect Appies story. Can’t wait for the rest of the guys to get their stories.

Summer and Nathan had such great chemistry, in my opinion. It had just the right amount of tension and was really beautifully written. These characters fit the storylines perfectly. Despite being a clean romance, nothing seemed missing in my opinion. Their chats were honest and they had a genuine chemistry. Every character had enough depth to keep the plot developing and the plot going forward. The supporting cast members were also enjoyable. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author! Highly Recommend!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing Negalley Co-op for this arc in return for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this sweet hockey romcom, Romancing the Grump.
The story of Nathan and Summer is swoon-worthy. What’s better than a hot, grumpy defenseman that doesn’t believe in relationships, and a team lawyer who becomes his fake girlfriend for social media? Only the fact that he falls and falls HARD.

I devoured this book - it was that yummy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing Negalley Co-op for this arc in return for my honest review.

Pub date: 23 April 2024

"𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙛 𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙥𝙮 𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚. 𝙔𝙤𝙪'𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙮, 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙮 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙡𝙮, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣, 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙗𝙞𝙜 𝙨𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙞𝙚."
......
📚 Romancing The Grump
⭐ 4/5
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💌 REVIEW:: Nathan and Summer have the cutest love story!🩵 Nathan is a hockey player and Summer is their new lawyer. The forced proximity was on point🤌

Nathan is such a giant teddy bear - grumpy on the outside but a massive softie on the inside. Everyone expects him to have his life figured out as the son of an ex-hockey star but he too, like anyone else, has his own struggles. He's a massive grump and has this whole "i don't date" energy but the moment heaus eyes on Summer, all his defences come down one by one.
Summer is the new lawyer for the Appies team (Nathan plays for this team) and she's the only person who can make Nathan grin (slightly). She loves sparring with him and poking his buttons and even though Nathan tries his best to remain stoic, he secretly loves it.

This book was such a cute read. I think it's a little too fast paced but maybe that's because i haven't read the other books in the series yet. It's part of a series but can be read as a standalone too. All their banter with each other and cute scene among the other teammates was so fun to read about! Found family trope🤧🩵 Despite being fast paced, i absolutely enjoyed reading it because that helped me manage reading along with my personal life. Absolutely love the writing style of the author and I'll definitely come back to read about the other characters in the series 🤭✨

When I read a rom-com I try to do my research to make sure that it won't be too raunchy, so when a trusted friend told me I would LOVE Jenny Proctor's books I took a chance and requested an ARC of her new book. And hurray!! I was not disappointed. This was such a fun book! This was a fake relationships trope done perfectly. This was my first hockey rom-com and I was not disappointed. Hockey is definitely only a side character. The characters are fleshed out enough to feel real and in this case they are all likeable too (not that that is a requirement in a well-written character:) And as promised, not dirty--I can't wait to read more Jenny Proctor book!

Thank you netgalley.
I really enjoyed the story. As I am a sucker for hockey romances this story was very cute. She really falls hard for him and eventually he starts to crack. The lines between fake and real start to blur.

The only aspect I didn’t like was that the grumpiness didn’t stand out as much as I wished it to. It felt more like a friends-to-lovers bc he just acted like the average hockey player.

➡️Definitely will pick up the other books in this series.
4⭐️/5⭐️

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story. Summer's unconditional love for Nathan, and her willingness to give her all to him, even if it meant risking a broken heart, was heartwarming. Witnessing Nathan's struggle to come to terms with what he once thought was impossible, and his eventual acceptance of the truth, was truly rewarding. The side characters were well-developed, and the humorous banter between the boys was a delight. I am eager to read more stories set in this world.

✨ Publication date: May 1, 2024✨

This is the fourth instalment of the Appies hockey team romance series. I have not read the other books so they can definitely be read standalone.

Summer Callahan is starting a new job as the counsel for the Appies hockey team, an NHL affiliate that has increased in popularity thanks to some great social media campaigns. Summer knows nothing about hockey but is excited for a new start after leaving her old job and old boss behind.

Nathan Sanders is the enforcer left defender known for his grumpiness and overall lack of emotion. He’s a great hockey player and teammate but has no interest in relationships outside of his family and hockey brothers.

Summer met Nathan a few months before starting her job and expressed interest in dating him, but he shut her down immediately. When they meet at Appies head office Nathan is grumpy and broody as usual and Summer gets the message.

After one of the social media campaigns gets out of hand and women turn the Appies hashtag into something sexual aimed at Nathan, the social media director needs to pump the brakes and get the socials back to family friendly.

Summer and Nathan start a fake dating relationship to prove to the fans that Nathan is already taken. Summer knows Nathan isn’t interested. He’s made that clear but what happens if she falls in love with her fake boyfriend? And what happens when fake starts feeling real for both of them and Nathan is forced to face the reasons he never wanted a relationship in the first place.

This book was great! I loved Summer and Nathan’s story and their connection was amazing! Nothings better than taming the broody hockey player! This is a 4 star read for me and I’m definitely going back to read the other books in the series!

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#NetGalley #jennyproctor #romancingthegrump

This book made me a proud fan of the grumpy x sunshine trope! Engaging characters and heartwarming moments made it a delightful read, even without spice. Summer's determination to make Nathan smile added depth, and their interactions were pure gold. Nervous about her new job, Summer agrees to be Nathan's fake girlfriend for PR reasons, hoping to connect with him. Nathan, drawn to her warmth despite his past, begins to question his reservations about relationships. This light, enjoyable read left me smiling.

Grumpy x Sunshine will always be my fave!

Really enjoyed this cute easy read,

Tropes: forced proximity
Grumpy x sunshine
Fake dating
Thank you so much net galley for the arc!

Grumpy hockey players?!?! Sign me up!! I really enjoyed everything about this book, as an avid hockey romance reader, there wasn’t much that made romancing the grump stand out from the rest of them. However it was still enjoyable!

This book was an absolute delight—light-hearted, entertaining, and filled with just the right mix of drama and fun to keep me hooked from start to finish. Even though I didn't realize it was part of a series when I picked it up, it works perfectly well as a standalone. There are no major spoilers, so you can easily go back and enjoy the earlier books if you get attached to the couples.

The pacing of the story is spot-on, keeping you engaged without feeling rushed. The characters are well-developed and relatable, each bringing something unique to the narrative. Their interactions are charming and often humorous, making the book a joy to read.

Overall, this book strikes a wonderful balance between heartwarming moments and playful drama. If you're looking for a feel-good read that will leave you with a smile, this one is definitely worth picking up. I can't wait to dive into the rest of the series and see what other adventures await!

I received an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review

2.5/5 ⭐️
0/5 🌶️

this book was okay. i didn’t completely hate it but it felt like a 200 page book you find in a little free library that you pick up just cause it was free.

i did like the characters, i just feel like we were missing major character development and a genuine connection between them. like where did the love and romance come in? it felt like 2 platonic friends who had a love confession at the end.

it would have been nice if once nathan started accepting his feelings, we got more tension buildup between them until it finally snapped.

i think it needed to be longer. both the story and the characters needed more depth. i just didn’t feel emotionally invested at any point.

the dialogue was decent and i liked the premise of the story!

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I would definitely recommend it especially to my hockey romance girls. It definitely had some background stories going on which were interesting but I felt were a little dragged out to be honest. It was entertaining but felt like I was playing trope bingo, I love a lot of different tropes but sometimes it can be too much to try to hit each one. What really kept my attention were the characters. I loved them all! I kind of felt like I was missing parts of the backstory, but then I realized it was because I was! While not necessary, they should be read in order because of the mild spoilers. I enjoyed the dual POV because if not how would we know anything about Nathan! He didn't give much information in the dialog his POV was needed and I think well done. It was a bit long, but it was definitely a sweet ride.

Spoilers Review Below:
I felt like I trope baited, "Romancing the Grump" definitely felt like I was going into a Enemies-to-Lovers trope, which we got in Chapter 1, but never again. It was more of a "Omg he hates me" and "Omg she thinks I hate her but I just don't know how to use words" The ML was quiet and protective but not mean at all, yeah the first encounter was leading us to believe this would be their relationship but It was more of a Friends-to-lovers than anything else. I mentioned it being a trope bingo, and 100% stand by it, it almost ruined the story for me but if I ignore that aspect I enjoyed everything else, other than the half baked plot points. Would I call it cozy? No, it was too long to many extra plots to be cozy. Would I call it sweet? Yes, which is great because we don't have many of those. I'm happy I read it, and I might explore the other couples because they almost all seemed like main characters.

Thank You, NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley co-op for allowing me to review this ARC.

Please note, this is posted to Goodreads and Amazon.

YES YES YESSSSSS. 10/10 ⭐️ stars. Jenny Proctor will forever be one of my favorite authors. This book had me blushing and kicking my feet. There’s just something about a grumpy hockey player that has me in a chokehold. 😩 SO GOOD. Nathan and Summer have my heart and I love them so much.

Summer is leaving a less than ideal work situation to step into a whole new world as the in-house legal counsel for Tik Tok famous Appies hockey team.

Nathan is known as the broody member of the Appies. And he has gained quite the fan following, some even want to take it too far to #TameTheBroodingBeast.

So to protect Nathan from these feral women, the Appies social media manager suggests Summer pose as his girlfriend. After all, they obviously have great chemistry.

Summer starts to fall for Nathan for real, but Nathan has his walls up for reasons he'd rather not hash out. Can Summer get past his gruff exterior and uncover his soft side?
_____

I love Nathan and Summer. I adore when characters are upfront about who they are and what they want in a relationship and Summer is so forward and I love especially seeing a female main character being so clear in how she communicates.

Nathan is a complex character, but I love when love makes a grump turn into a bit of a marshmallow.

One thing I continue to love in this series is the comradery. In this book in particular we get the friendships of the players, the connections the hockey girlfriends/wives have, and we even get a glimpse at the brotherhood of the Hawthornes from Jenny's previous series.

If you haven't read a Jenny Proctor book yet, jump in here and then you will definitely want to go back and read more!
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This is a closed door, kisses only rom com. It is part of a series but can be read as a stand alone.

📙Available on Kindle Unlimited

Thanks to the author for the gifted book. A favorable review was not required, all opinions are my own.

I loved the narrative of this story. Instead of a woman searching for anyone to love her; she LOUDLY shows she WANTS to love HIM. Idk the switch up worked for me and I ate this book up so fast. goodbye slump and thank you Jenny!!!

This one is a grumpy/sunshine trope and I loved how the writer dragged it out! It's not my preferred trope but I still somehow read multiple books with that trope.

I just adored everything about Nathan and summer. Their banter was top notch! I was gigging and kicking my feet. There were multiple kind and delicate moments woven all over also that just had me adoring these two even more.

Content: clean, drinking/alcohol. Some kissing, I'd say a teenager could read this.

All in all it was cute, but not big on closed door.
I received my copy from the publisher/author, JPC releasing, via NetGalley.

This was sweet but I didn’t feel like I truly got to know the characters well enough to be able to root for them. I liked the dual point of view and use of their text messages to drive the plot. It was nice to see the Hawthornes again though.

I’ve recently become addicted to hockey romances and this book is no exception! I found the closed door aspect very refreshing as in a lot of hockey romances I’ve read I’ve found the spice has overtaken the actual storyline. This book gave me all the warm and fuzzies and I cannot wait to read more by this author!