Y’all.

I am BEGGING you to go back and edit this so that the male main character is not everything that is wrong with hockey culture. Unsolicited dick pics, not taking no for an answer- in 2024 this is unacceptable. I promise you can write a golden retriever himbo without having him be a walking civil suit.

This was cute. A fast and easy read. I liked that it was a bit of a spin-off of the Him/Us duet. Golden retriever MMCs are my favourite. They’re just so endearing and Blake is definitely a sweetheart. He was a goofy guy and eager to please. Jess is Jamie Canning’s sister and was likable when she was introduced in Us and so I was looking forward to reading more about her here.

This one had a bit of fake dating. A bit of friends with benefits. This wasn’t a complicated book. Not a lot of depth or emotion to it but that’s ok. Just a regular good ol happy ending kind of romance without much drama or third act breakup.

3.5⭐️ rounded up.

If you need a good laugh, Blake is your guy. I knew the kinda fun guy Blake is from meeting him in Him/US. So if you are just meeting him, just know he's a lot. Learning what his ex did made me absolutely irate for him. By far my favorite part was Jessie putting her in her place and standing up for Blake. I love these two together and am glad I have finally read their story.

Another good read by Elle Kennedy and Sarina Bowen. This was great from page one. They write a fun easy read that even non hockey fans enjoy. I loved the connection between these two characters.

Overall Good Boy was cute, but Blake was so obnoxious and annoying and I genuinely did not like his character at all lol

This was such a cute book! I loved everything about it. the main characters worked so well together.

"Cheezus! Samesies! J-Babe!" These are a few of the most used words in Blake Riley's vocabulary and I loved them all. Once I started Good Boy I could not put it down. And I definitely had a feeling that this was going to be the case because I love both Elle Kennedy and Sarina Bowen's writing style. It had the perfect amount of humor, witty dialogue and of course sweetness.

If there were a perfect book boyfriend Blake Riley would be right there with the best of them. I will admit that when I first started reading the book I was thinking "Whoa! Blake is a little much to take on," but he grew on me and by the end of the book I absolutely loved him. I loved how much he saw in Jess. Not just that she was sexy, but also that she was caring and compassionate too. Jess doesn't always believe so strongly in herself, but Blake was so good for her. He saw so much positive in her that she had no choice to believe it in herself and that definitely had me swooning.

I'm so excited to read more of the WAG series!

Fun and steamy. Jess Canning hooked up with Blake Riley when they were both in the same wedding. They meet again at her brother’s wedding to another player on Blake’s professional hockey team. At first Blake is the kind of guy I loathe. He is cocky, smug, and sure of himself. But underneath is a man who loves hockey and has a heart of gold. Jess has failed to find what interests her and decides to return to school to become a nurse. Tuition is cheaper in Canada where her brother lives as well as Blake.

I enjoyed that the story is told from both POV’s. I laughed hard at some of Blake’s made up quotes. Yes, he is cocky, but he is a professional athlete who can probably have most women he wants. Jess has some underlying insecurities that get propped up with Blake positivity. Things come a little too easily for Blake but he’s had his share or past mistakes too. This is a quick read, with likable (eventually) characters. It gave me a needed break from hours of endless Olympic binge watching. This book was previously published in January 2017 and is getting a new release in August 2024.

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.