3.75⭐
1🌶️
Tropes: Historical, time travel, marriage of convenience, forced proximity, one horse/bed, “my wife”
Single POV 3rd person

Tucker Taylor, a famous hockey player, accidentally travels back in time when he gets trapped in a pond during a car crash. When he emerges from the water in 1812 England he meets Lizzy: bestie to Jane Austen, aspiring writer, hermit and widow, and black sheep of the Wooddash family. Tuck seems to be the way for her to achieve her dreams of freedom from societal constraints. They agree to marry, since when he is able to find a way to return to his time she will effectively be a widow, but they just can’t fall in love with each other first.

The story is cute, but it dragged a little for me. I think the storyline had a lot of potential but the execution fell flat so I’m pretty neutral about it. It didn’t really grab me, but nothing stuck out as being bad.

Puck & Prejudice is a cute and unique spin on a romance set in the time of Jane Austen!

During a near death experience while visiting his sister in the UK, hockey goalie Tucker Taylor finds himself 200 years in the past. Luckily, Lizzy discovers him and actually believes he’s from the future. They band together—Lizzy needs a husband. And when Tucker returns to the future (or “dies”) she’ll be an independent widow. They just need to figure out how to get him there!

I love the connection between these two characters. Yes there’s some awkwardness between them at first, but they soon trust each other and their communication is top tier! There are both laugh out loud and heart melting moments. And Tucker has the most green flags I’ve read in awhile 🩷

Highlights—
🤍 Time Travel
✨ Marriage of Convenience
🤍 Fun spicy times
✨ Unique connection to Pride & Prejudice (not a re-telling)

Don’t miss out on this one friends!

A hockey player ends up in Jane Austen’s time period via time travel. An odd combination but it kinda works, it’s a very fun read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
🔥🔥🔥

Quick Breakdown

Hockey Hero
Historical Romance
Magical Realism / Time Travel
Marriage of Convenience
Teach Me
Only One Bed
Himbo / Golden Retriever
Dual POV
Open Door - Moderate

On medical leave from his NHL career, Tucker Taylor travels to England to visit his sister. He accidentally crashes into an icy pond trying to avoid hitting a child & subsequently wakes up in 1812. It’s there, while walking out of the same pond some 200 years in the past, he stumbles upon Lizzy quite shocked at his presence. The pair devise a mutually beneficial plan: they’ll marry to explain Tucker’s presence & then when he eventually returns to the future, Lizzy will finally have her freedom as a widow.

HOLY COW! This was the best escape read. As a mash up of two of my favorite things: Pride and Prejudice & hockey heroes, I’m not surprised. I mean, Jane Austen herself is a secondary character!

Imagine your favorite hockey hero.. I’m talking the lovable himbo, golden retriever variety & drop him smack in the middle of England in the Regency era. It’s delightfully quirky with humor on point & fantastic banter. My favorite piece though, is how it’s sooo fluffing 𝗵ö𝗿𝗻𝘆. Tucker & Lizzy have a palpable chemistry intensified by the forced proximity of long carriage rides in route to Gretna Green, lodging rooms with only one bed not to mention Lizzy’s curiosity & her desire to know about the marital bed before she’s a widow. Suffice to say, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨.

If you go into this fun & spice, I can guarantee you’ll enjoy! IMO, this is a great way to get your feet wet if you’re new to the historical romance genre, too.

Thank you @avonbooks for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Utterly fun and a nice change of pace form the normal trad books being pushed out into the world today. I had such a great time and love a bonkers book!! WE NEED TO NORMALIZE THEM MORE!!!!

DNF at 50%

I loved the premise of this story from the start as I enjoy reading both historical and sports romances, but the execution fell a little short. I thought the writing and language felt genuine in both eras, but the pace was just too slow. At the halfway point in the book, Tucker and Lizzy had barely reached Gretna Green for their elopement, and it felt like the story dragged and very little had happened so far. I skimmed to the end because I wanted to know how their story was going to be resolved, and ultimately I'm glad I didn't waste my time reading all the way through.

It was a cute concept, im a sucker for hockey romances but it wasn't my favorite. Definitely was a cute read if you just need to escape into something out of the normal hockey romance style.

Puck and Prejudice took some of my favorite genres and mashed them up beautifully. I love a good time slip romance, and this threw a hockey player with the best friend of Jane Austen. Lizzy is a 27yo spinster that dreams of becoming an independent widow so she can finally do what she wants without society's pressures. Tucker is a hokey player in remission, having survived Hodgkin lymphoma and visiting his sister in England. He crashes into a winter pond and falls out in a summer pasture next to Lizzy. Her friend's decide this is a great opportunity to elope to Scotland, figure out how to return him to his time, then become the widow. Of course, the forced proximity and fake marriage with a time limit allows them to open up to each other and begin to feel real feelings, against their better judgment.

You can expect:
Regency Romance
Time Slip to 1812 England
Marriage of convenience
Force Proximity
Only one bed
Sick care
Found Family
Family Trauma
Austen Cameos
Late 20s MCs
Dual, 3rdP POV

I love how they were able to work it all out in the end, and just wish there was more in between. If I had a criticism it would be that there are a few times that it jumps weeks and I wish we had some fluff to fill that in more. I appreciate that it discusses the things I think about in time travel novels, like how to fit in with his weird haircut and accent. We get some fun nods to Austen's novels, as she is in her early career and uses the phrases she will later write. This is not a Pride and Prejudice retelling, just set along side it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for providing an eARC for my honest opinion.

3.5 - ⭐⭐⭐ 💫

“Very well, let’s embark on some more bad decisions…”

Puck and Prejudice is a standalone historical time travelling romance following Tucker Taylor, a hockey player who finds himself travelling back in time in Regency England where he meets Lizzy. Lizzy is a young woman burdened by the expectations of her time. Yearning to live her life freely by writing and engaging in discourse, she is desperate to find a way out of a traditional marriage. When Tuck and Lizzy meet, they discover they can help each other out with a simple marriage on convenience...she can gain the title of widow and be left free while he can use her resources until he can get back to the future. Yet what happens when they start to feel more? Can they say goodbye when it's time to leave?

Tucker is a very easy going character. He has had a hard couple of years (cancer) and was taking a vacation with his sister to get things together. I will say he does struggle with communication and likes to assume things but he is willing to listen.

Lizzy is a woman who just wants the freedom to be in an era where that is not easy. I liked seeing her run with the challenges. At times she did just resign herself to things but I felt Tucker was her first chance to really be able to speak freely.

In terms of spice this book is about 2 spicy peppers out of 5 spicy peppers. The connection between the characters grows in the first half of the novel with spice happening in the later second half. The spice is more romantic than explicit. It is also Lizzy's first time so there is an element of teaching there that is fun to explore.

“Trust me, you have no problem bewitching a man.”

The story itself is pretty straightforward. It is a quick read and moves along well. There are fun little tidbits with Jane Austen and very little of hockey outside of Tucker acknowledging it is his profession. I enjoyed the side characters adding to the story and some of the external conflict brought in from Lizzy's family that shook things up. The one thing for me was that the romance didn't wow me. It had some fun moments and was easy to follow but it was fairly low key. I also felt the ending was a bit of a cop out with it's happily ever after - admittedly it did do something different.

Overall, if you're looking for a quick low risk historical romance with a sci-fi vibe, this book will do the job.

Thank you Avon for this arc!

This book was really fun. I really liked all the characters. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about a time traveling hockey romance but the characters and their challenges made for a fun read. I was interested as to how they would work out in the end and I thought the ending did a good job of figuring out that problem. There was a bit more smut in the book than what I would like but I just skimmed those parts a bit.

📖 Book Review 📖 What could a hockey player from modern times have in common with the Regency era? One accidental slip through an ice pond lands Tuck back in 1812, in the company of Jane Austen and her lovely friend Lizzy. While the whole experience is a bit jarring, surprisingly his chemistry with Lizzy overrides their centuries age gap. Puck and Prejudice is a delightfully fun rom com filled with magical realism and literary references that draw the reader into a playful and deliciously fun book!

Puck and Prejudice by Lia Riley was a fun marriage of convenience romance between a pro hockey player who accidentally travels back in time to Regency Era England and the brazen contemporary of Jane Austen he just can’t help but fall for.

A slow burn romance that had me in its grip till the very end.
This was a quick read that I really enjoyed.
The characters are intriguing and the romance was really sweet.

Thank You NetGalley and Publisher for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Sometimes a book comes along thay just brings you an immense amount of joy: and Puck & Prejudice is exactly that for me.

The second I heard “hockey player time travels to Regency England,” I knew I wanted to read this, and when I opened it up and saw the dedication to a BTS member (💜), I knew it was going to be exactly the balm I needed.

The story follows Tucker Taylor, an NHL goalie who finds himself transported to the 1800s while visiting his Jane Austen-obsessed sister in Bath, and Lizzy Wooddash, a friend of Jane’s with her own writing aspirations and burning desire for independence. After discovering Tucker emerging from a pond (😏) and quickly accepting he is a time traveler, Lizzy agrees to help him get back to his time. But then Jane and Lizzy’s cousin throw in a kicker – Tucker has to marry Lizzy so that once he disappears, she can be a “widow” and thus have her freedom.

It’s an incredibly fun and deeply feminist story with a whole lot of heart and some pungent spice – and it’s obvious that Lia Riley had the absolute best time writing this.

So if you’re in the need of something a little bit silly but in the way that feels like the best kind of comfort romcom (and who among us isn’t?), definitely pick up Puck & Prejudice.💜

This was very cute! Nothing groundbreaking but kept my attention and I enjoyed my whole time reading. Would recommend for a cute palette cleanser.

Puck and Prejudice was an unexpected treat to read. I didn't realize that it was a time travel trope but once I started, I was all in! Tucker is a well know hockey player who lands in 1812 and is rescued by Lizzy, an independent minded spinster. She is so well written: full of spunk and ambition but stuck in a horrible situation with a horrible family. Tucker is a fish out of water trying to assimilate to the situation and learn the manners of the men and women around him.
I like that Lizzie and Tucker are older characters, she is 27 and he is 30 because I don't think younger characters could have faced the truth with such maturity. Readers get both characters’ points of view, and we can see how each one thinks and feels. Although the story is a stretch of the imagination, the feelings it touches are very real. I found myself in tears in the last chapters due to Tucker's and Lizzy's deep conversations about their hopes and goals for their respective future. He was the man Lizzy never expected to met who respected her and she was the woman who saw Tucker, not of a famous hockey player. I so wanted a HEA but we don't always get what we want.
I enjoyed reading Puck and Prejudice by Lia Riley. It was my first book by the author and am interested it what story she will bring to us next!
I received an Advanced Reader Copy and am leaving a voluntary review based solely on my reading experience.

That was seriously one of the best books I’ve read this year I loved everything about it from the characters banter to the plot it was amazing! I loved how she ended it it made me tear up and was so perfect

As both an Austen fan and a hockey romance fan, I very much enjoyed Puck and Prejudice. The premise was unique and the plot and story development were a bit unexpected, and it was both a sweet and steamy slow burn.

Given that this is also a book about time travel, I was happy that our star crossed couple were able to enjoy the best of both worlds.

I do enjoy time travel romance, and this is a unique one. Lizzy is clever and feisty, and Tuck is kind and observant. The dialogue is snappy.

Super cute and fun time travel read! I liked how the time travel system was explained but as always with books like these my brain catches on the dumbest things like "how can Lizzie exist in the present day with no social security number" even if it is only for a few weeks at a time. But I really liked these characters and getting to "meet" Jane Austen was a fun touch!

Tuck Taylor is a famous hockey player who wakes up to realize he’s in 1812 England, and now he must blend in! In comes Lizzy Wooddash, who ends up becoming his confidante to try to get him to go back to the modern time. A sweet story about how sometimes what you’re wanting and can both be what you’re looking for and not what you’re looking for.