A small town, second chance sports romance that is part of a multi-author series. Professional hockey player, Dan, returns to his home town with his sights set on winning back his ex, Keira. But Keira is intent on protecting her heart. This is a closed door romance and part of the Love on Thin Ice series.

Thank you Kate O'Keeffe and NetGalley for this eARC.

#secondchanceromance
#smalltownromance

When Dan the Man comes back to his hometown to captain a hockey team through a series of charity games after an injury. In drops (literally to the rink floor) Keira, his first and only love.
This is a happy-go-lucky story that was a quick read. I really appreciated the role of 'Aunt Kiki' and the dynamics she had with her niece and nephew. I did feel like the re-connection was drawn out at times. Overall, cute read.

I love a good second chance romance as well as a good hockey romance. This book has both of these things! I love that it's short and sweet and it's part of a little novella like series. It's a very cute idea and I can't wait to read the rest.

If you're a sucker for second-chance romances with small-town charm and swoon-worthy hockey heroes, Kate O’Keeffe’s The Rebound Play (part of the Love on Thin Ice series) is the perfect escape.

This sweet, easy read centers on Dan Roberts, a hometown hero turned NHL superstar with the Chicago Blizzard, and Keira Johnson, his high school sweetheart who’s stayed behind in Maple Falls to care for her chronically ill sister. Dan returns to town to play for a charity hockey team - the Ive Breakers, and sparks fly as he reconnects with Keira, the woman who still holds his heart. But Keira wonders if there’s any space in Dan’s fast-paced NHL life for their small-town love.

The Rebound Play delivers exactly what you’d expect from a second-chance romance—lots of sweetness, heart, and an almost instant rekindling of feelings. The story definitely has that Gilmore Girls vibe, with the charming small-town setting and lovable characters.

That said, I do wish there had been more insight into Dan and Keira’s high school relationship. It would have been nice to see a bit more of their history and why they’re still so deeply in love after all these years. I also found myself wondering why they didn’t try to stay in touch when Dan went off to college—if they cared so much, wouldn’t they have made the effort?

Overall, if you’re a fan of Gilmore Girls, Hallmark movies, or just love a good feel-good second-chance romance with a bit of small-town magic, The Rebound Play is the perfect read. It’s charming, sweet, and sure to leave you with a smile. I can’t wait to dive into more of the Love on Thin Ice series!

This is a super short book that could be read in a day or a few depending on how fast you are. It is apart of a multi author series so I highly recommend reading all of them!

Love in Overtime is set in a small town in Washington state (which I loved because I live in Washington!). This one is a second chance romance.

The Rebound Play follows Dan, the hometown hero of Maple Falls who has returned to play in the charity hockey tournament, and Keira, his high school sweetheart who runs the town's farmer's market and cares for her chronically ill sister, as well as her niece and nephew. Dan and Keira broke up when they left for college, but never really forgot about each other. Running into each other again at the rink forces them to acknowledge that their old feelings never fully went away. But with time quickly running out on Dan's return to Maple Falls, Keira has doubts that their second chance would be able to work.

I really enjoyed Keira and Dan's story. It was fast paced and for the most part, a fluffy, sweet romance. I do wish that it was a bit longer, as it felt like the conflict was resolved too quickly and the ending as a whole was on hyper speed compared to the pace of the beginning of the book. Normally, I'm not a huge fan of second chance romances because I tend to be skeptical that they can prove to me the issues that caused the relationship to fail initially will be properly resolved, but I felt that O'Keeffe did a very good job with clearing that hurdle. I also appreciated that she didn't gloss over the hockey aspects of the plotline. The Rebound Play is a well-written, light-hearted romance.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC to review!

The Rebound Play is a contemporary hockey romance novel written by Kate O'Keeffe. It is book two in the Skating on Thin Ice series. It is not necessary to have read book one in order to read book two, but characters do intersect throughout the series.

Summary: Keira is stuck with the uncomfortable truth.

She still has feelings for her ex.

And he's coming back to town.

Can she avoid him forever, or should she tell him the truth and risk being hurt all over again?

My Thoughts: This one was OK. I had a hard time buying the fact that if they really loved each other to begin with, they would have let each other go and never gotten in contact in some way.

It kind of tainted the romance in the story for me because they let each other go, and then threw themselves into a new relationship as soon as they saw each other again.

It didn't seem super believable to me.

Overall though, it was a decent one-time read-just not my favorite.

I would like to thank Wild Lime Books for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my review. Thank you.

I really loved the small town feel and the energy in this one, the side characters are phenomenal and I loved the incorporation of hockey and actually reading about plays on the ice. Kiki was cute and relatable and Dan was Man!

Note: this book was provided as an arc by netgalley.
Firstly I would like to say that I LOVE shy girl x popular guy/jock guy so I came with an already some sort of formed opinion, what I didn’t expect was how short the book was, if felt more like a novel than a book and I feel like if the book included their past and than the present this would’ve been so much better because it definitely has potential, the writing is beautiful and well written.
The main reason this book got three stars although I enjoyed it was because if felt flat. The characters didn’t have any “character”, if felt more like an idea rather than an actual plot and interesting characters, again I assume that if the book was longer we would’ve seen much more plot and depth and here it just… lacked.
Also if ENRAGED me how at the beginning of the book he called her his girl like dude you’ve spent ten years sleeping around with every single woman than you dare say shit like “she was always the one in my heart” if you loved her that much you shouldn’t have left her, let’s say you did it but waiting ten years for that is wild!!!
Kiera also made me super mad because of her reaction like excuse me but if my ex broke up with me to become famous without even trying long distance and slept around with other women for years than came back acting like nothing happened I would’ve LOST it and I wish she did to. I’m glad they had their happy ending but like come on the book had so much potential and the idea is there.
I would like to finish with the fact that I did enjoy the book, mainly because it’s short and fun and nothing really deep or dramatic but coming from a point of view of someone who reads and reviews for years this was flat.

I have loved read the maple hills series and like the rest of the books, found this very sweet, an easy read and cute! I found parts a little cheesey and not necessarily my kind of book, but overall a really lovely read and as a whole series something I’d definitely recommend! Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review this!

This book was… incredibly cheesy and lacked much of any substance. I will say it was a short and easy read but definitely not one that excited me or held much of my attention. It felt like maybe something for teens as opposed to an adult romance book… pieces of it were okay and I was interested to see where the story took Dan and Kiera but overall not my favorite.

This was a cute read and I really enjoyed it. It was a second chance love story. The characters were real like and funny banter.

First f all, Thank You, Netgalley for the ARC granted to me. Woah! I can say that this story got me completely hooked up for the entire book! I love second chances/ small town/ sports romance trope and this one was deliciously sweet and romantic to read. Keira e Dan were absolutely well developed and has the best cliché plot ever! Super recommended!

The rebound play is a dual pov, small town, second chance lovers story by Kate O'Keeffe, and a must-read to all hockey romance lovers. Dan and Keira were high school sweethearts who split and went separate ways in college only to find themselves still madly in love 10 years later. After an awkward 1st meeting on Dan's return to Maple Hills, it is clear these two have unfinished business right from the beginning. This book was a great quick read. I just wish it was a full sized novel so I could get more of Dan and Keira. There was so much more I wanted for them!

What a cute, feel-good, small town romance! This was an easy, quick read. The perfect palate cleanser book!

Similar to the first book in the series, this is a fun, quick read. It is also very surface level and I think there might only be one conversation that passes the Bechdel test (I don't think about this with every book I read, but for some reason it hit me with this book). I love a second chance romance, though I wish we had gotten to see more of the relationship itself. Instead, we got a lot of the lead up to the relationship, them getting together, skipping over the middle part of them dating, and then the third act break up (which lasted all of twenty minutes if you're worried). This was a nice book to use as a palette cleanser between by in depth fantasy books I usually read!

Review goes live October 14

Arc Review
Overall Rating: 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Cover Rating: 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Tropes:
- Second Chance At Love
- “I Want Her Back”
- Jock/Nerd
- Opposites Attract
- Former High School Sweethearts/First Love
- Hockey Romance
- Small Town
- Fall Vibes
- Swoony Cinnamon Roll Hometown Hero MMC
- Dual POV
- Closed Door/Clean Romcom, Kisses Only

Welcome to the ‘Love on Thin Ice’ series, seven authors, seven short novels, and one charming town, welcome to Maple Falls where heartwarming love stories live. Our second book of the ‘Love on Thin Ice’ series is ‘The Rebound Play’ written by. Kate O’Keeffe.

Dan and Keira were high school sweethearts who broke up and went their separate ways after graduation, both figured they would move on, but no one could ever replace the other. Now it’s 10 years later Keira is still in Maple Falls running the local farmers markets and other town events, along with taking care of her sick sister Clara and her niece Hannah and her nephew Benny. While Dan is now a famous hockey player playing in the NHL but is currently benched do to an injury in his wrist. When Dan is asked to return to his hometown to not only play in a charity hockey game but but to be the captain of the team he’ll be on for the charity hockey game that is raising funds for a good cause he clears it with his coaches and all the other people your suppose to clear that stuff with and accepts the offer, but Dan also has other motives to go back to his hometown he wants to get Keira back his Kiki, the girl he’s never been able to forget his first love, and the only girl he wants to have a future with. When old flames start to rekindle will Dan and Keira get their second chance at a happily ever after or will the sparks fizzle out? Read ‘The Rebound Play’ and find out.

I’m two books into the ‘Love on Thin Ice’ series and it’s been a good experience so far.
I have to say the chemistry between Dan and Keira is amazing, they are just so cute.
Keira is smart, strong-willed, caring, and relatable. When she lays down on the floor to avoid seeing Dan is hilarious I couldn’t stop from laughing. Dan is charming, a romantic, and a big softie. Cutest thing ever when he teaches Benny how to play hockey and buys him all the equipment, also when he makes Keiras birthday his jersey number like omg swoon!

I liked to wrap this up by giving a huge thank you to the author Kate O’Keeffe along with NetGalley and the publishers for sending me an advanced readers copy of this book, I really enjoyed reading it.

This series has a really interested approach. Each book revolves around the same high-level plot line (i.e., the hockey charity tournament), but from the lens of different characters. Each book adds a new context. When I first started book 2, I thought it would be off putting, but it was actually interesting - knowing “secretly” what’s going on behind the scenes with the other characters. If you like hockey-related romances or first love reunited books, this is the book for you.

I couldn't get into this one. Very faced paced, no character depth and no chemistry. There wasn't really any flow to the story either.

I wish I could have been more emotionally invested!

While I enjoyed the overall plot of the book, the characters and the plot seemed very surface level to me. I liked both the FMC and the MMC, but I felt like I really didn't know enough about them to love them. I also couldn't get why they were still in love after 10 years because the story stayed so surface level. Tell me WHY we're so obsessed with our high school boyfriend. Make me get it. Unfortunately it was just not there for me. 2.5/5