Thank you NetGalley, Bloom Books, Elle Kennedy and Sarina Bowen for access to Good Boy.

Good Boy tells the story of Jess and Blake. Jess feels like the only one in her family who hasn’t got her life together. After organizing a beautiful family wedding for her littler brother that has a hockey player filled guest list, Jess needs to break the news to her family that she’s making her another career change. With high nerves of the news and the event, the last person she wants to see is Blake. Blake is her brother’s soon-to-be-husband’s best friend and hockey mate. Of course he’d be at the wedding. What she doesn’t need is a reminder of the last time they were together and the explicit acts that she is trying to not think about. Blake on the other hand can’t get enough of Jess. He doesn’t date, he isn’t interested in dating, so why is Jess taking up so much of his thoughts?

Blake and Jess have extensive chemistry, funny banter, and show the importance of vulnerability. Good Boy is a spicy Hockey Romance with golden retriever energy.

Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy have tapped into the ever-popular world of hockey romances with Good Boy, delivering a fizzy, sweet treat that is sure to charm fans of the genre. As someone who doesn’t usually gravitate toward hockey romances, I was initially dubious, particularly about Blake, the male lead. But I have to admit, the strong writing kept me hooked, even as I hesitated in the early chapters.

The title Good Boy is a fitting nod to Blake’s golden retriever-like energy. Like any good boy, he ultimately won me over with his unflagging positivity and loyalty. If I were to place this on a “divorce tier list,” I’d bet on Jess and Blake going all the way. Jess, the female lead, embodies a familiar trope in contemporary romance—she’s grappling with a crisis of confidence. However, Blake’s unwavering support helps her navigate through it, offering a heartwarming dynamic.

Overall, I enjoyed Good Boy. Despite my initial reservations, it’s a delightful read that offers exactly what it promises: a light, engaging romance with a lot of heart.

Reread August 2024
This book was just as wonderful the second time around! I love Jess and Blake so much! An adorkable golden retriever cinnamon roll hero - SOLD! I have missed Blakey’s jokes and antics. This was such a great feel good, low angst romcom (Yay for no third act break up!) If you want to laugh and smile, don’t miss this book!

*****
Original review from June 2017

Cheezus I loved this book! The hilarious and witty banter, the playful innuendo and flirting, and of course the smoking sexy times made for the perfect book! Good Boy is the first book in the new WAGs series. It features characters from other books by the writing duo of Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy, but can be read as a standalone.

Blake is a character that you will find immensely amusing and loveable, or extremely annoying and immature. I clearly found him adorable.

He comes across as a cocky and wisecracking jock, but underneath, he's a loyal, protective, and huggable teddy bear. His inner monologue was some of the funniest I have ever read and I had a perpetual grin on my face reading this book. Jess is also an amazing heroine who really grows through the course of the book. Her struggle with her confidence and her drive to go after her dreams was realistic and heartfelt. Haven't we all felt a little lost and less than at one point or another? The chemistry between Blake and Jess was amazing and I loved how they each kept each other in check and could be both playful and serious with each other. They may not have started their relationship in the most conventional way, but I loved how it all unfolded. Another thing that made this book really enjoyable were the awesome secondary characters (Wesmie!) and that there wasn't any unnecessary additional drama. Truly a fantastic read, and I can't wait for the next book, Stay!

Good Boy by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy is an equally humorous & emotional spicy hockey romance.

If you’ve read the Him series by these authors, you will be excited to see cameos & more from them. However, you can easily read this as a standalone.

Good Boy is great for fans of…
🏒 Hockey Romance
🏒 Brother’s Husband’s Best Friend x Best Friend’s Sister in Law

This is a book that starts with ridiculous antics & humor but evolves to something that is much deeper & surprisingly emotional. This is a hero that is bold & boisterous that loves to push the heroine’s buttons but give them a chance & watch their friendship simmer until the love boils over.

These authors continue to write entertaining stories & excellent hockey romances. It you are looking for a place to start, Good Boy is a great way to score a chance at your heart & skate your way through these author’s work!

Massive thanks to NetGalley & Bloom Books for the gifted copy, which I voluntarily read & reviewed.

This was a cute book! The MMC was the definition of golden retriever! Which isn’t my favorite kind of MMC! I did love Jessie though! 3.5 stars! I will def continue the series and read the next book 🤩

Thanks NETGALLEY for the ARC

Thank you NetGalley, sourcebooks Bloom Books and Elle Kennedy and Sarina Bowen for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute story but with some problematic behavior. I enjoyed the main female character but struggled with the main male character, Blake. He was a thoughtful guy in the end but total d-bag energy and vocabulary. I just could not handle all the terms and abbreviations he uses. And he was so forward and sexual when Jess wasn’t receptive it was inappropriate. I don’t think we should be showing this behavior as acceptable let alone leading to a successful relationship.

I loved the close family vibes and that the WAGs were a positive, welcoming community to Jess and Jamie.

This was a quick, easy read.

What a fun read! As a giant Wesmie stan, I was so excited to read more in this universe. Good Boy was hilarious and heartwarming. I really loved reading it so much!

We know that Jess and Blake had a fling during the Him/Us/Epic trilogy. At the start of this book, they are helping other with Wesmie's wedding activities. However, their opposite personalities and snarky banter let to some hilarious moments.

Blake was one of my favorite side characters, and I was so excited to get his perspective. He always had main character energy. He is so sweet and loves his people so fiercely. I love how he decided that Jess was his and how he played the long game to get her. Jess didn't take him seriously at first cause she was so focused on finding herself. In addition to the romance, I really liked Jess's professional journey as well. I loved

Good Boy is the first book in the WAGs series, and I can't wait to see where the series goes next.

This hockey romance has all components of your favorite cozy romance. MMC that’s a closeted golden retriever, best friend’s sister [in-law], banter, duo POVs, and a funny/flirty storyline that’s easy to read.

Overall, this is a classic Elle Kennedy style hockey romance with a cute new cover! This was my first Sarina Bowen book so I’d also be curious to read more of her stuff too.

3.75/5 rounding up to 4.

Thanks NetGalley and the publishers for this eARC!

I was not too fond of the start. Hero was portrayed as a dumb obnoxious jock using abbreviations and words appropriate for a sixteen-year-old boy not a grown-up guy in a successful career. He later redeemed himself and was slightly less obnoxious in the book's second half. But if I judged the book by its beginning I would DNF ages ago.
4 stars.

In Good Boy we get Blake and Jess's story. We meet both characters in “Us”, which is a sequel to “Him”, where we get the story of Jamie and Wes. Blake is Wes's teammate from hockey, and Jess is Jamie's sister. The characters meet each other for the first time in “Us”, when they are charged with taking care of Jamie while he is sick. Oh, and they also hook up during this meeting. However, Good Boy can be read as a standalone, and it is not necessary to have read Him or Us. That being said, I would encourage everybody to read these books anyway (especially Him), just because Wes and Jamie's story is so amazing. (Don't rule it out just because it is a MM-romance.)

Good Boy starts with Jamie and Wes's wedding, which in itself is enough of a reason to read it I think. Jess is planning her brother's wedding and are quickly coming to realize that party planning isn't the right career path for her after all. It doesn't help that Blake, who is Wes's best man, is trying to pick up where they left off in Toronto, and is also interfering with her plans for the perfect wedding. After the wedding, Jess finally breaks it to her family that party planning isn't for her, and that being a nurse is her destiny. This isn't easy, because Jess already feels like a screw up for changing career paths so often.

Jess's new career path takes her to nursing school in Toronto. Naturally, she often runs into Blake, who lives in the same building as Jamie and Wes. Blake wants Jess, and pursues her in classic Blake-style. Jess on the other hand, has no time for Blake, who she considers childish and depthless. However, Jess soon realizes that Blake is more than meets the eye, and that he is a genuinely good guy with an easy smile and a big heart.

GOOD BOY was a quick and engaging read with fun characters and many laugh out loud moments. Some of the dialogue was a little over the top and even cringeworthy at time, but the book was truly entertaining and a fun read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloom Books for the opportunity to read and review GOOD BOY.

3.75🌟

After the first initial 50 pages i really enjoyed this book. It’s sport romance, bridesmaid and best man and hate to lovers.

This book is about jess and blake. Jess is hosting her brother's wedding for an MVP guest list along side blake the guy she hates and just so happens to have a week moment with last spring

At first blake’s character really agitated me but as we go through i really fell in love with him - it definitely doesn’t lie when it says “Beneath the flirty jokes and goofy smile, he's got layers” and he is big golden retriever vibes.

i just wish this book was a bit longer/didn’t have such an abrupt ending to it 😂

Meh. That's how I felt about this book. First, I've been very hit or miss with Elle Kennedy, I also think that I'm into a different story than what she and Sarina Bowen typically write, so my review may be biased based on my reading preferences of late. Also big caveat here, but I have not read the series that introduces us to Blake so maybe that would have helped to give him more appeal. But I had a very hard time with him as a character for about the first 100 pages. I just found him so off putting, and I get that that's part of who he is on the outside. But on the inside, he pretty much acted the same way. I feel like he went out of his way to do stupid and immature things, and he was overly aggressive with Jess sexually. She said no on multiple occasions, but he kept pushing her. And sure, she was saying no but actually wanted him, but with the current climate, it just seems out of place for him to be lauded as a hero in a romance for this pushiness.

Jess is also a bit of a pain at the start. As a parent, I too would be upset with my child for flip flopping between career paths like Jess does. But I also think that Jess posits a lot of her own issues on her parents and family, making them seem to be judging her when they likely aren't.

All in all, the start of the book made it very hard for me to read. But I am not a DNF reader, so I pushed through. And that's what eventually led me to give this book a 3 star instead of the 1 star I had originally thought to give.

The characters do get better. In the case of Blake, it's almost an about face. His stupid and immature stuff gets tempered. In the case of Jess, when she got into school, it just felt like her story came together. Actually, starting her degree basically kick started the whole story in a more positive direction for me. And that's what saved it.

If you like Kennedy and/or Bowen already, you'll probably enjoy this one. If you start it and get annoyed, maybe see if you can stick it out to about the halfway mark. Because it does get better. Like a fine wine I guess?

I understand there was a previous book or series I should have read first BUT let me state I was not aware of that while I was reading and it was FINE!! This worked as a standalone FUN EASY HAPPY read! You know how sometimes someone will say they smiled while they were reading a book? Well this is definitely one of those. Jess has planned her brother's wedding to his hockey player boyfriend perfectly. Everything must go as planned, not just because she adores her brother, but she's about to reveal to her parents that she doesn't want to be a wedding planner anymore - she wants to go back to school (again) this time to become a nurse. Enter trouble in the form of the best man, (Jess had a one night stand with him months ago), Blake, who turns everything inside out and upside down. At first you think he's just a pain, but like an adorable puppy dog, you can't help falling in love. He wants to pick up with Jess where they left off only he is serious - he's not looking for a hook-up, he's wants her to be his serious girlfriend. There is a lot of charm, learning curve about her new career, some steam, and of course, a lovely HEA which is what we signed up for when we started! And yes, I'll go back now and catch up on whatever came first.

Thank you, Netgalley, for allowing me to read and review this book. These opinions are completely my own.


I want to start this off by thanking you for writing non-cringe spice. I love this book and the characters, except for Molly. I was confused about the golden retriever on the cover, but the wonderful writing made up for it. Can't wait to read Hailey's story.

Thank you Bloom Books and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. While I am very familiar with Elle Kennedy, I was not with Sarina Brown. I liked this light summer read and it did not disappoint.

An overall satisfying sports rom-com. He is the teammate and best friend of her younger brother's new husband. She is a former events planner now enrolled at a prestigious nursing school in Toronto. Fate keeps throwing them together and they keep "accidentally" hooking up—for the last time, really!

I have two quibbles, and I will let you decide which lost them a star from me. The narrative alternates between the two of them and in the first half, he is so convinced that "she wants it" that he dismisses all of her objections (including to dick pics) as her way of flirting with him. Very close to "no means yes," for those of us who remember that. And despite the name and the dog on the cover, there is no actual dog until the very end. Even though dogs are natural ice-breakers and champion facilitators of the "meet cute."

3.75 stars rounded up. I found the story itself interesting, just didn't love the dialog. It came across as very childish to me.

Jess feels like an outcast in her family of successful siblings. And now she wants to start yet another career. That’s how she ends up living in Canada. Blake plays hockey in Toronto. Jess’s brother is his best friend and teammate. When Jess and Blake find themselves living in the same city they figure out that they just might be perfect together.

Jess struggles with self-confidence. The author did a great job showing how Jess improved her confidence and found her place in the world. Blake has a reputation as a player with the ladies but now he wants more. The author did a good making it believable that Blake was ready for a committed relationship. I really enjoyed Blake’s family. It was a cool addition to see how close he is to his family. I like how the author shows Jess and Blake melding in with each other’s families. I believed that their relationship could work.

This story takes place mostly in Toronto, Canada. This is a hockey romance, but a lot of the hockey is from Jess’s perspective. If you are looking for a nice romance between two nice people, give this a try. I will definitely read more from this author in the future.

I absolutely absolutely loved this. When I started it, I wasn’t completely sure, I thought originally that Blake was a vapid, dumb jock/frat boy but man did I have that wrong? It’s amazing to see the character development of both of these characters through the book, and I think they did that for each other. I love Elle Kennedy so when I got this arc, I dove right in. I have never read Sarina Bowen before and didn’t know about the him and us series, but I am definitely going to go back and read it now.