Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. Honestly this book needs no introduction. Another 5 star and 5 chili peppers for spice for Emily Rath. If you love you love the Jacksonville Rays series the you’ll obviously love this book. Poppy, Novy, and Morrow are amazing main characters. This is a MMF book. I love the fact that we get a retelling of some of the events from the first two books but through their eyes. It does have a pregnancy plot and usually I’m not the biggest fan but this one is written nicely and doesn’t make you cringe if that’s not normally your thing. Literally loved this book and can’t wait for the series to continue!

I will never get enough over the Jacksonville Rays! I am obsessed with this team and the fact that I am from Florida so it is so fun hearing about familiar locations.

Lukas, Colton and Poppy are such a great trio. They each balance each other so well.

Lukas goes through such a great journey throughout this book. He starts off as some playboy who has no true responsibilities and only seems to care about himself. Obviously we learn why he acts the way he does as the book goes on. From his first interaction with Poppy, you can tell that he met his match. She is someone who not only looks out for him, but will take no crap from him and put her foot down. He knows not to mess with her, and when he does do something to upset her he is a groveling mess. The journey of self-acceptance and love that he goes through is sweet, powerful and emotional. He finds family and love in Poppy and Colton.

Colton is our resident golden retriever cinnamon roll. He accomplished and had to go through to much to get to where he is, and he never let any of the obstacles in his way stop him. His crush and then love for Poppy was so sweet and gave "girl next door" vibes. He never gave up on her and just wanted her to be happy whether it be with him or not.

Poppy is a 5'2 queen. it is nice to read about someone who is a total girl boss being the same height as me. From the previous books I thought of Poppy as being a total hardball who was all work and no play. I was dead wrong. Poppy is a total spitfire and I love her. She understand the importance of hard work and is definitely a workaholic, but for good reason. Her behavior in the beginning can be attributed to her awful family. All she wants is their validation at first until Colton and Lukas help her realize that the only person she needs to make happy is herself. Her journey of self acceptance is also great and I loved how she finally told her awful mother off.

Together, Colton, Lukas and Poppy are an amazing trio. Not only are they perfect for one another which each one bringing something to the table, but they are also super hot. The scenes were so spicy but also tender at times. Can't wait to see more appearances of this trio in future books.

I do wish we got some sort of closure with Poppy's family. We saw the wedding fallout, but never found out if her father redeemed himself or if her mother ever got what was coming to her. I wish we could see some sort of reconciliation with Violet, or learn if Poppy got the trust fund money.

Overall, loved this book. I love poly MMF books and this one was no exception. Emily Rath is the queen of queer romance and I stand by that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for a digital arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I was so surprised (and quite chuffed) when I saw this was read now on my netgalley …. So I did! Read now, that is.

Pucking Sweet is the much awaited story of Poppy (PR manager to the Jacksonville Rays, and players Lucas and Colton (aka Novi and Morrow). The book spans the time period of the previous books so we get glimpses of what was happening for Rachel and her three men, and Tess and Ryan. IMO this book must be read in order to get the full picture for these characters.

I enjoyed Poppy’s strength and seeing how she managed challenges she faced. IMO she’s more palatable than Rachel who I’ve found really hard to gel with (whilst still enjoying the previous books). The dynamic between the three characters was great, and the added dynamic between Lukas and Colton was absolutely icing on the cake. I have to say I wanted more of this, and the working through of the realisation of there they wanted to go with their collective relationship.

I also loved this one for the concept of parenting and as always with Emily Rath’s books the concepts of family (in terms of constellation and found).

Loved it. X

Okay, I'm low-key obsessed with this book! I don't know what I was expecting, but what I got was 1000% times better than what I hoped for! I was a little nervy jumping into this book after my feelings on the first two, but I honestly think I loved this book more than anything else Emily has written so far!

This book was fun, cute, and sexy!! Poppy is 1000% this badass strong female character that takes no shit, I'm quite literally obsessed with her. And Colton and Novy were the PERFECT match for her and for each other. Their dynamic was so so so much cuter than anything Emily has written before! I loved the way this book played out and couldn't put this book down!

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC!

Pucking Sweet is #3 in the Jacksonville Rays series. This is the story of Poppy, Colton and Lucas, Definitely a very spicy MMF story.

P Sweet by E. Rath is book 3 in the Jaksonville Rays Series.
This is a mmf sports romance, packed with yummy scenes, scorching hot, a full length sports romance - rom/com.
Blurb: The lines between work and play get deliciously blurred in this hockey romance:
My name is Poppy St. James and I’ve just landed my dream job as the Director of Public Relations for the NHL’s hottest new team, the Jacksonville Rays. But if I want to stay beyond my one-year contract, I'll have to prove myself. Easy. PR is in my blood. What’s not so easy are the hockey players. They’re a real handful—especially party boy defenseman Lukas Novikov.
I don't care how well Lucas plays hockey. Off the ice, he's a PR nightmare. Brash and bossy, he's always finding ways to drag his teammates into trouble—especially fellow defenseman Colton Morrow—and I have to find brilliant ways to drag them out of it. The players can all call me PR Barbie all they want, but I'm getting the job done.
With one little phone call from home that leads to one mistake, my carefully balanced life is knocked off-kilter. And now I'm staring down at a little blue plus sign and I have no strategy, no idea what’s next. All I know is that nothing will ever be the same.

Poppy St James is the head of PR for the new Jacksonville Rays hockey team and she develops feelings for two of its players, Lucas and Colton. This third book in the Jacksonville Rays series is just as spicy as you'd expect, and Rath continues to do a marvelous job of weaving interesting plot and character development in between all the smut. Like the first book it's a "why choose" situation (MMF) and the timeline of this book coincides with the first two books. I was impressed by how Rath was able to go back and weave this storyline into what had already been written in Pucking Around and Pucking Wild. I didn't love all of the plot decisions but fans of the series will love this newest installment.

Final verdict: if you're looking for a very spicy why choose hockey romance, start with Pucking Around and read this series in order.

OMG, Pucking Sweet was EVERYTHING I wanted from a Jacksonville Rays book AND MORE. One of my most anticipated new releases this year, I was SO thrilled when I was able to get my hands on an ARC. Pucking Sweet is laugh-out-loud funny, incredibly spicy, and oh-so-heartwarming it made me giddy. And the END! I SOBBED, it’s PERFECT 😭. Y'all don't even know, and I cannot wait for you to find out!

I related to Poppy SO hard - definitely the most "me" character in the Rays universe. She's driven and a little dramatic, but when she decides she's going to let loose, she goes ALL IN 😏. I absolutely loved that she is SO committed to what she wants, whether its her job OR the two men she falls for. Though she can verbally spar with the best of them (Novy) and is VERY comfortable not taking no for an answer (her "lean in" moment with Mark Talbot had me yelling YOU GO GIRL👏🏻👏🏻), I appreciated that she could be vulnerable too. By FAR my favorite FMC I've read in a LONG time.

Y'all, I've been incredibly loyal to Team Jake since the first time I read Pucking Around, but I might have to switch my allegiance and buy a new jersey - I'm kind of in love with Colton🥹. He's so sweet, kind, and attentive, the perfect person for both Poppy AND Novy. Colton is really the glue that holds this throuple together. Novy, on the other hand, is a straight up wild card. He's incredibly entertaining to read, and his antics had me cracking up more than once. While he has a tough exterior, his insecurities broke my heart - Novy had the most work to do on himself, but he ends up being all-in by the end.

The coolest part of this book was the fact that most of the book runs parallel to events every Rays fan is familiar with from the other books. Seeing each one from a totally different perspective was SO MUCH FUN. Every time a scene I knew popped up, I'd get a little giddy, because while I knew SOME of what was about to happen, it was a blast seeing it from an entirely different lens.

Bravo @emilyrathauthor. Pucking Sweet is hockey romance perfection 🤌🏼🤌🏼. I literally couldn't ask for anything more... except for more Rays books (I'm VERY excited about Pucking Strong y'all).

"Apart, we were three lonely people, living our lives in quiet isolation. Together, we’re a family. A communion of souls flourishing best together."

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

THEMES
🏒 Sports Romance (Pro Hockey x PR Agent)
🌈 Poly-am & queer representation
🤰 Accidental pregnancy
🤫 Secret relationship
🏥 Medical issues (specifically heart)
🏡 Family issues (including abandonment, childhood trauma)
🌶️ Impeccable spice between all the characters (separate and together)
📚 Continued story from previous books in the series (IMO you must have read these)

"This right here is all I will ever need. I love you, and I love him, and I want the three of us to be together."

FINALLY we get the story of Novy, Morrow and Poppy after having easter eggs dropped in our laps throughout Pucking Around and Pucking Wild. And DAMN. MA'AM. DR EMILY RATH. YOU DELIVERED.

Honestly, this review isn't going to be a synopsis of the book, if you want that go read the blurb, this is going to be my unhinged feelings about yet another INCREDIBLE installment to the Jacksonville Rays world.

"Colton John Morrow III doesn’t panic. He’s the steady rock on which my life is now built."
Colton. Sweet boy Coley. He's been pining after Poppy for so damn long and here we are finally. Also dude is a total surprise, just when you think he'd be the whole sweet words and sweet missionary kinda guy he's throwing in a sprinkling of degradation and a hand necklace.

“I won’t stop complimenting you and telling you that you matter. I won’t stop coming home to you at night. Lukas, I will always come home to you because I love you.”
Lukas. Get the poor guy into therapy because he's got some hectic abandonment issues and he just needs to be loved. Hard. He's a total tough nut who is actually scared shitless but thankfully Cole knows how to handle him.

"To be loved by Poppy is to be wrapped up body and soul in her goodness, her light."
Poppy. My girl, take a bow. Running the PR for an international sports team while in heels while dealing with the emotions of two men while also being trodden all over by her horrendous family - I'm exhausted thinking about it. Then add in an accidental pregnancy. ooft.

I love that this story took place through the same storyline as Pucking Around and Pucking Wild. It fills in holes that were deliberately left and just works so seamlessly - I kind of wish there was a way to tandem read them all (can someone sort that out for me please? Emily? Ta).

I love the relationship development between them all, but especially between Colton and Lukas. I honestly haven't read a lot of MM so I don't have strong reference points, but I absolutely love the way Emily writes MM scenes in all her books. Makes me all the more excited for Pucking Strong. And she’s been dropping hints about a damn shower scene, well, yep. Thank you. Well done.

Overall, for me, the wait for this book was worth it. The Jax Rays world is one of my favourites and when I saw that I was approved for the e-ARC through Netgalley I squealed so loud I probably set off the neighbourhood dogs. My only problem now is trying to get my hands on the US pub all the way from Aus so that my books match. Oh, and the long wait for the next book.

I have been waiting for this book, and it does not disappoint. The assertiveness of Poppy, the chaos of Lukas, and the steadiness of Colton is the perfect dynamic. I love revisiting characters and moments we've already come to love from previous books. And oh boy the spice is HOT. I loved every minute of the book and am over the moon there will be another. I can't wait!

Ten thousand freakin stars ⭐️

This book has made me laugh more than any other book I’ve ever read. The one-liners are freaking everything! Poppy, Lukas, and Colton are freaking hilarious. Sarcastic, dramatic, hilarious hooligans. I freaking loved this book. This combined star perfect slow burn between Lukas and Colton with the back and forth banter between Lukas and poppy and also the “I’ve been secretly pining for you for two years” of poppy and Colton.

Absolutely Perfect. No notes.

I loved this story! Emily Rath knows her characters so well, and it shows. I loved the dynamics between Poppy, Lukas, and Colton, and the way the story unfolded. Real characters, with banter, spice, and vulnerability. I can't wait for the next story!

I loved this book it had the banter,love, and laughter. It’s everything you expect from an Emily book. I l laughed out loud, cried and little mad and read it in two days a must read for every romance lover

This book is fun, like the rest of the Jacksonville Rays series is always fun, though this installment felt a little like it was trying to shoehorn into what was mentioned about this group in the previous installments, so I don't necessarily know that it works as a true standalone.

Dr. Emily Rath…your writing is addicitve. I loved the other two books but this one.. It is now rivaling Pucking Around for the numeber 1 spot.
Not only does Emily Rath write a great story that will make you feel a range of emotions. She made me laugh, cry…I felt annoyance and a little bit of rage. Dr. Emily Rath also writes stories with great chraracter growth with development that just stays with me long after I finish the book. It’s memorable and for me that is rare. I am a person who tends to remember I loved a story but will forget a lot about it because I have a hard time recalling things. But this series and anything I have read from this author leaves a lasting impact on me. Her books are one that I want to savor and make last but also want to devour in one sitting because I can’t stop readin them because I can’t put them down.
This book run in conjunction with the other two. It is the same timeline so there are a few key scenes that we do obvious see from these characters perspectives and how it played out in their POVs. But I still ate it out and laughed when those happened. I was like “OH HERE IT COMES!”
If there was one critique that I could put on here I really with that I could see more after that fact from Poppy’s family, one in particular, after the final event we see with them in the book. I am hoping that there is another novella book in the future and maybe something like that is added. But that still does not change my rating or love for this at all!!
That epilogue was brutal I NEED to know what happened…Until the next book when we find out…until then I guess this series will be on continuous reread!

If Emily writes it, they will come. She puts together a story full of love and hope and joy that keeps you turning the page. Raw emotions just spill from each character. It's always a great time when visiting the Ray's between pages.

oh my god!!!!!!!! this is 1010% my favorite pucking book yet, i cant even begin to comprehend how much i loved these three beautiful characters 😭

i was absolutely enthralled by this one from start to finish, i truly couldve read a thousand more pages of them i never wanted it to end!! i thought the pacing was so well done and the plot to smut ratio was *chefs kiss*. i loved that we really got to know them and whats going on a little bit before we started getting spicy. i loved revisiting some of the things that happened in books 1 and 2, i thought that they were so well done in a manner that didnt feel repetitive. it brought a great new POV for those scenes 🤭

i have to say i am SO SO happy that while writing PS the dynamic shifted to mmf instead of the originally intended mfm becuase colton and novy together brought such a BEAUTIFUL dynamic to the story and made it ten times stronger, i do wish we got just a little bit more one on one time with the two of them but overall just absolutely obsessed with how much it felt like it added to their story.

i absolutely love the way that emily writes her FMCs, they are bad ass foul mouthed take no shit women that i aspire to be like one day. i could not have loved poppy more i swear, she is the IT girl of this series the way she handles herself and everyone else at the same time is truly something else.

this will easily be one of my top reads this year, i cannot believe how in love with this book i am and i am already dying to get started on planning a reread 😭

Although the story line was a little repetitive, Emily wins me over with heartbreaking moments. i.e. Colton's heart dysrhythmias, Violet's betrayal, the pregnancy. Emily is artistic when it comes to erotic scenes. The Elevator Scene by far my favorite. Keep these books coming.

This book is both a slow burn and not enough. While I enjoyed the backstory of Poppy, Lukas, and Colton, the time it took them to even get together did not seem to match the first two books. Yes the flirting was cute and the events were important, but I still wish they had gotten their crap together sooner. Once they did, I was not able to get enough of them. Their story then seemed rushed and unfinished. One second, they finally decide to be together and then the next baby is here(along with the other thing I am not spoiling) and epilogue is happening.

That being said, I did thoroughly enjoy this book, probably more than the first two. I cannot wait for the next in the series and I hope to see more of this group as well.

This one didn't work for me - usually hockey romances and I go together like PB&J but unfortunately, this was more like mayonnaise and pickles. The main characters had few redeeming qualities. I didn't believe the romance. The plot was really over exaggerated and seemed silly in the context of the story. I wanted to like it, I really did but it fell flat.