I loved this. It was light hearted and fast paced with some lovable characters. I found the MMC, Blake, to be kind of annoying at first, but he was actually really sweet and grew on me. I gave it four stars instead of five because I felt like it wrapped up pretty abruptly. There were also some loose ends with the whole nursing thing and not having any money, but I guess it’s all implied.

All’s well that ends well.

Read this if you:
🐶 love a golden retriever MMC
🐶 enjoy banter between the MMC and FMC
🐶 have ever switched jobs and/or majors

Everything Sarina Bowen and Ellie Kennedy write is amazing. Good Boy is no exception and I loved getting Blake's story after enjoying him in Him and Us.

Blake is a breath of fresh air and one of the best MMC I seen in a while! His totally off the wall comments and endless energy left me completely entertained. Jess is his complete opposite as she struggles with her confidence and finding her path in life. Together they make a perfect opposites attract couple. This book is set in the same world as Elle Kennedy and Sarina Bowen’s Him series, so expect to see some familiar faces if you have already read those books. This story is a complete standalone though so you can easily read it without having read that series. If you are looking for a great hockey romance read then choose this book!

My Rating: 3⭐
Spice Level: 2🌶

Good Boy is a re-releasing ARC that I was so excited to get because, as many of you have learned, I'm a HARDCORE hockey fan and Elle Kennedy is an iconic sports romance writer. That being said..... this one was not for me. I'M SORRY.

Jess is a funny, and completely relatable, character that I quickly fell in love with. She sees herself as the indecisive family screw-up who's tired of taking handouts. She decides to go to nursing school and finds herself in a new country and constantly running into Blake Riley, neighbour and teammate of her brother-in-law.

Blake's entire POV sounds like you're listening to a drunk fratboy. His thoughts were only ever about one thing (his... blake... snake) and were about as shallow as a puddle. He does have a sweet and protective side to him but it's hard to be affected when it finally comes up because you're too busy reading "cheezus" and "samsies" every 3rd sentence.

The plot as a whole definitely fell a little flat for me. I kept waiting to find out where it was going and it never really led anywhere. I did love seeing Jess going through the ups and downs of first year nursing school, but even then it was only for like... a chapter or two. And also the dog on the cover is weirdly misleading. There's no dog involved in the book like the cover implies. It's just an odd choice.

I really wanted to love the book and I really think it just wasn't for me. Please don't come for me!

ok so the dialogue in this book was not my favorite. The story was well crafted and I actually really enjoyed the romance, but I hesitated to recommend this to my book bestie because the dialogue was almost silly. It's intentional. Blake is meant to be a big squishy goofball, but it made it hard to love him at first.

Good Boy is fast and light and fun and easy to get into. But there isn't as much dog presence as I wanted. And the dialogue was hard to settle into. I will absolutely read the next book. I need to know who gets their HEA.

This is a quick read for hockey romance! I love the banter between Jess and Blake! Blake never did hide his true self which was really nice to see there were many funny moments.

This reminded me a lot of The Score by Elle Kennedy but it just didn’t hit the spot in the same way that one did. It was really lovely to see Jamie and Wes and in general this was a very enjoyable, easy, steamy read that I absolutely flew through. The fact it was such an easy, fun read is the reason I rated it so highly but I know that inevitably this will be a little forgettable for me.

Also, I can definitely pick out the parts written by Elle and the parts that Sarina has written and I enjoyed Elle’s writing much more than Sarina’s, but that’s just personal preference.

I would recommend it if you loved Him and Us by Elle and Sarina or you like a hockey romance with a sassy FMC and a MMC that’s a bit of a himbo.

Always happy to be in the Wesmie universe! Fun to get to know Jess more, and see the Canning family in action. Blake is a little overbearing at times and if I didn't love him so much from Him/Us, I might have found him frustrating instead of funny. This is just a fun story and I enjoy being back in Wesmie's orbit!

Good Boy is SUCH a good time! It’s a lighthearted, hilarious, and spicy story of two semi-opposites with blazing chemistry and hearts of gold.

Jess is pivoting careers once again, much to the chagrin of her family, this time going from party planner to nursing student, and holding onto lots of insecurities. Blake’s a professional hockey player and gregarious jokester who’s masking some deep pain. He doesn’t trust easily, but figures out pretty quickly Jess is not a gold-digging groupie.

From the get-go, the banter and spicy references are there, so you KNOW the steamy scenes are going to be hot (and they are). The conversations and quotes cracked me up—even if Blake was a little over the top, I loved how he would say anything and light up a room.

I enjoyed this! A quick & fun romcom with a steamy romance.

I really liked the character Jess. I found her to be relatable. She felt like someone I could be friends with. She's under a lot of pressure and I think a lot of readers will relate to that. Blake took some warming up to. He comes off strong (very forward) with Jess who clearly does not want to be distracted. However, as the book went on, I found him to be goofy and head over heels for Jess so that warmed me up to his character as a love interest. I found their romance to be very cute.

I also enjoyed the side characters and the setting.

A fun read!

Thank you to Sourcebooks Bloom Books and NetGalley for providing me with an egalley of this title for and honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I will pretty much read anything Elle Kennedy writes. And I know this is a re-release but I've actually never read this series so I wanted too jump in. And when she combines her writing with Bowen, it's even more fun. I loved their Him and Us books. I wasn't expecting a spin off of that series but they did it and I'm all about reading it.
The plot line is typical of a fast and quick romance. I love the friends to lovers aspect. And it's fun to see it grow in the presence of a little bit of a sorted past between the two characters. The plot heavily relies on humor, which I really like. Blake Riley and Jessica "Jess, J-babe" Canning could not be more different. But their chemistry does sizzle. And the plot grows that chemistry but also their growing attraction to each other as people.
Blake really is your stereo-typical athlete dude. He's cocky and very sure of himself. But underneath there's this sweetness too him. And even though he comes off not as smart as you think he might be, he actually has so much more going on underneath. His biggest asset is his heart and how he puts himself in the way of those he cares for (or cared for) so they won't get hurt. It's a bit detrimental to him. He's very worried about hurting people but it is hurting him for much of the book. I'm glad he's able to come to terms with this. The one thing he never waivers on is his love for Jessica. And his determination to show her they are right for each other is a bit over the top, because he is that cocky, but sweet at the same time. And his sisters are so much fun. I would have loved to see a bit more about them but what I got from his family is the women are big and bold and not afraid of opening their mouths.
Jessica was a fun character. I love that she's Jamie's sister. They have a big family and Jessica has always felt like she is the screw up. But she's actually so much smarter than she gives herself credit for and it takes her the entire book to realize that. She's very busy comparing herself to others for most of the book and when she finally realizes there is so much more she can give than what she thinks she can, it's fun to watch her see it in herself. I do wish there was a little more substance to her than her being super insecure. It took up her whole personality and I really would have liked to see more from her as a character.
The pacing is easy and light with this one. The chapters flow well and it's a pretty fast pace getting you from beginning to end.
If you're looking for something fun and funny, this is that book. I will say the actual plot is very light. There's not all that much there but it didn't detract from the relationship between Blake and Jessica growing and just being a joy to watch. I'll definitely continue to read this series to see what other character relationships Kennedy and Bowen grow!

This was a great book to end my day with. I love these kinds of romances that make me laugh out loud and wish for a man like the male character. Also this was set in Ontario! It was VERY interesting to see a sports romance set in a city that isn’t too far.

The Good Boy by Elle Kennedy and Sarina Bowen is such a fun escape – the characters are sparkling and fun – Blake is a hockey himbo and Jess is fun loving, but insecure wonderer – there’s plenty of chemistry and banter, the side characters are fun and there’s no third act breakup. This was light and fluffy and just an afternoon well spent – not too much angst, but rather enjoyable prose and shining dialogue. As a start of a new series, I can’t wait to read more!

I read the Him, Us, Epic series a while ago and I was planning on reading this « sequel » when I saw it was going to be republished traditionally 🥰

I just loved the dynamic and the banter between Blake and Jess.

This is a Brother’s best friend Hockey romance, one night stand to friends with benefits to lovers 🤭

And the spice 🫠

Blake + Jess

-brothers best friend
-hockey romance
-friends with benefits

these two were cute & the background drama was very entertaining. i love that jess stuck up for her man

Good Boy is a novel I’ve been eagerly anticipating reading ever since I learned of its existence. For those of you not familiar with Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy’s previous collaboration, the Him series, the main characters of Good Boy were first introduced to us there. Good Boy can be read as a standalone novel and is part of a new hockey romance series, but you really don’t want to miss out on the amazing experience that is the Him series. I highly recommend reading it before Good Boy. Now to focus on Good Boy…

In Good Boy, Jess Canning is tired of being a failure. She’s hoping successfully throwing her brother and his boyfriend the celebrity wedding of the year will prove her abilities to her family. All she has to do is make sure it goes off without a hitch, and that means avoiding the best man. Hooking up with Blake Riley again would constitute a disaster in Jess’s book. Too bad Blake has every intention of getting Jess to do just that.

I know the first question fans of Him and Us are going to ask is if we get more Jamie and Wes. The answer is yes. It won’t probably be as much as you would like, but it’s enough to satisfy your needs to know what they’re up to. At least, it was for me. Plus, Jess and Blake are awesome characters, and you’re going to love spending time with them!

The second thing readers will want to know is was Good Boy as good as Him and Us? In my opinion, yes. It was. But here’s what I need to point out: Good Boy isn’t Him or Us. It was its own kind of amazing. Don’t go into expecting the same type of story. Jess and Blake truly have their own thing going and it’s so much fun. I absolutely adored every moment I got to spend with them. They made me laugh so much, and their chemistry was insane.

Jess is one of my favorite female main characters in a while. It was so easy to relate to her. Who hasn’t felt like they weren’t good enough at some point? I loved her determination to prove herself and make her own way in life. I admired the effort she put into making her dreams come true.

Blake was a force to be reckoned with. He wasn’t about to let Jess get away. I loved his flirty personality and ability to make everyone (including me) laugh with his made-up words. Cheezus, he was funny! But what I loved most about him was his caring loyalty. Blake would do anything to keep those he loved happy. He was a much deeper character than I was expecting.

Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy are an author collaboration made in heaven. They fill their books with so much heart and humor. I adored every moment of Good Boy. It was so much fun learning more about Blake and Jess, reuniting with old characters, and getting to know some new and upcoming ones. Good Boy was great beginning to the WAGS series, and I hope there’s many, many more books to come.

I love the banter between Jess and Blake! That made it so fun to read. The book jumps into the spice fairly quickly and of course, you simply can't go wrong with a goofy hockey player. Good read!

Jess and Blake are hilarious! These two are complete opposites and yet Blake will stop at nothing to show her that he is the man for her!

Blake is a playboy and doesn’t take life serious! He is the jokester but underneath the laughs is a man who has been hurt and has finally realized he wants forever, if only she would give him a chance!

Jess is a flighty one! She has no time for romance and is about to make a life change that isn’t going to help her case but when she lands in the same city as Blake these two can not keep away and well things get heated fast!

I love the all the jokes and quips in this story! Blake and his family are hilarious but so is just about every other character! So many laughs but also tons of emotion as we get to know both Jess and Blake!

3.5 stars

I was pretty skeptical when I first started reading this because of the MMC’s cringy dialogue and over the top sense of humor, but he did grow on me after a while and even made me chuckle a few times. I also appreciated Jess and how she never gave up on finding a career that she loved despite any criticism.

It’s spicy right off the bat but takes some time to develop into something deeper and I thought the progression was well done. The more I learned about the real Blake, the more I liked him, and it was really sweet to see Jess start to realize that as well. The whole WAGs / hockey storyline was really fun and I’d be interested in reading about some of the other characters.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Bloom for the ARC!

3.5 stars

Good Boy follows the dual POVs of Jessie Canning, an event planner turned nursing student determined to find her way and make her family proud, and Blake Riley, star Toronto hockey player who is a pervy horn dog with a heart of gold determined to get into Jess’s pants over and over again….

I’ll be honest here - Blake’s character seemed to say a lot of outlandish things for shock value and made me cringe throughout the novel with with how pushy and determined he was to claim Jess as his own — definitely gives “frat boy” vibes, and Jess is pushing him away but at the same time giving into her desires….

There is some substance to the plot other than the predictability of the romance, but the story seemed a bit superficial at times. I enjoyed the scenes in the pediatric oncology unit and appreciated seeing the sweeter sides of Blake, especially around his family and annoying ex-girlfriend.

I would recommend this book to hockey lovers and folks looking for a quick and spicy contemporary romance.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books for the ARC! I would love to read more from Elle Kennedy and Sarina Bowen.