This was my first sports romance book so far... I was so excited to read this book. The story was cute, tender, and has no drama (not much) it is a fast paced which is so easy to read it has no spice with few kiss scenes it is soooo teen friendly and if you don't like reading smut and you're into cutesy, sports romance novella this is for you.

The FMC willa is a photographer who has strong character but not sassy which pulled me to read this story. It's not must read but yeah it's a cute read. And Noah.... he is just sooooooo cute. The cutest. I loved his character and he loves self help books and the character developments of mainleads are just great, perfect example of "If he want to he will"

Tropes:-
Second chance
Forced proximity
Enemies x lovers (Enemies thing is one sided though)
Former bad boy (not a complte jerk)
Sports romance

I just don't want spill the beans so I'm just signing off quickly

⭐️ 4/5
🌶 0/5

𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂 𝒑𝒐𝒑𝒔 𝒖𝒑 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅, 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅.

This was a sweet and well written ice hockey romance with all the banter and flirting and a touch of past drama.

Willa and Noah have a really nice back-and-fourth chemistry going on. But after Noah finallay decides to take charge and make a move, Willa is brave enough to take the step too.

“𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓, 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕, 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆.” 𝑯𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅, 𝒑𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒔. “𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓.”

I am absolutely love these sweet romances with ice hockey players and watching their hearts warm. Yes.... it just melts me to the core 🥹🩵

This is a standalone in a series, and they are all equally as sweet and enjoyable to read.
I recommend this to anyone who enjoys some drama, tension, swooning, pining, and HEA.

🏒 Ice Hockey Player MMC
⛸️ Photographer FMC
🏒 Both have a shared past trauma
⛸️ Second Chance
🏒 Enemies to Lovers
⛸️ He falls first
🏒 Bad boy turned cinnamon roll
⛸️ Small town
🏒 Dual POV

I normally love a hockey romance but this one is definitely worth skipping. The characters and plots were all just half baked. It almost seemed like the author was throwing in characters just so the main characters weren’t just talking about each other. But the additional characters didn’t do anything for the plot or even for themselves. I also didn’t love that the author at the end of the book wrote out every single couple and who they are supposed to be with even if they aren’t together in this book. I know romance books don’t have surprises but you really don’t need to write it out so plainly. It goes to show that the author didn’t do a great job of explaining characters backstories or relationships in depth in the book.

Photographer Willa Blackwell has an assignment in Maple Falls, and one specific assignment is to photograph ex-NHL hockey player Noah Beaumont throughout her time in town. Years ago, Willa worked with Noah, and it ended pretty ugly. Now, she is working towards a promotion and has to work with the guy who ruined her career. Will they be able to work together?

Overall, I think this book was cute. It was refreshing to see the character development of both Willa and Noah. They're adults and pretty much communicate pretty well to work through their issues. There was no major petty drama or anything between the characters.

This is a second chance, a small town, hockey romance novella. So it's quite fast-paced, which makes it an easy read. It is not necessarily enemies-to-lovers because the enemy part was one-sided. However, if you like books with super low drama (no crazy plot twists or anything like that) and no spice (just a few kisses), then this is the book to read.

This was a really fun and cute light hearted read. I really enjoyed all the special details in the book about Maple Falls. I really enjoyed it!

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ⭐️⭐️💫


𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: Willa is a sports photographer, and Noah is an ex-NHL hockey hotshot. These two go way back to when his team tried to ruin her career. When they see each other a few years later will they reconcile? Will sparks fly?

𝐌𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞: I LOVE LOVE LOVE a hockey romance. They are my first choice and my guilty pleasure. However…
The above synopsis is literally it. That’s the book. There’s no plot twist, there’s no real story, nothing. I like a predictable book and all, but there wasn’t even any tension. It was just reading about two people getting into a relationship. Also, very light on hockey.

Thankfully Willa and Noah are adults and act like it. They talked about their past. They spoke about their issues and their run ins. Noah took responsibility for his actions while in the midst of his addiction, and Willa was able to start to see him as the man he is, not the man he was. Aside from that, this book is majorly forgettable and super boring.

One of my biggest gripes is that this author wrote her character going into a bookstore only to choose HER IRL PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED BOOK! It was like 2 pages of shameless plug of her own writing and promoting other authors that wrote the books in this universe. It felt icky.

It is a closed door romance. It’s also a novella, so it’s a super fast read. If it weren’t for the weird icky self-promotion, this book might have been cute/tolerable. We’ll never know because I was so off-put by that I’ll never recover.

I received this book from Netgalley and Red Bird Publishing in exchange for my honest review. This book was so super sweet and easy to read. This second chance and force proximity romance. Willa is in Maple Falls for her photography and journalist job when she runs into someone from her past. Noah has changed and is in Maple Falls for a charity hockey game when he runs into Willa, someone from his past. Noah has worked hard to change from his past. Willa is having a hard time seeing the change in Noah. Over their time in Maple Falls, Noah, and Willa overcome their past and the fact that both of them have changed. Once they begin to have a relationship, it is great to read that they both are good for each other and see their relationship grow.

Content warnings of substance abuse and parent loss are both mentioned in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Red Bird Publishing and Anna Kemp for allowing me to ARC review for ‘Penalties and Proposals.’

Well, this was a very ‘mixed bag’ for me.
I LOVE a book with a map at the front, it makes me feel so warm and fuzzy.

As this book is on the shorter side, ‘insta love’ is to be expected. I actually didn’t mind that in this context, because it’s kind of inevitable for a shorter book. It worked just fine. It did, however, bother me that this is marketed as ‘enemies to lovers,’ but I really didn’t get that from this book. The cause for the characters being enemies is mentioned, but it just didn’t feel believable, and I’m unsure why.

The characters are fairly well developed.

I unfortunately could get past the fact that the author chose to make the FMC visit a book shop, and then had the FMC buy an actual, published book written by the author themselves. That would have been fine on its own, but the author then chose to hype/ plug the book for almost an entire page afterwards. It struck me as… odd, and kind of made me not want to read on.

I did persevere, but found I didn’t enjoy it quite as much after this. It felt unnecessary.

Didn't want to leave Maple Falls but alas a perfect end.

A super sweet read with all the tension between WIlla and Noah.

The start was already a nice quick twist and it was nice seeing familiar characters from the Love on Thin Ice series.

If we have to say goodbye to the Love on Thin Ice series and Maple Falls this was the way to do it. Penalties and Proposals is a fun and lighthearted, quick read.

Noah and Willa were so much fun to get to know, their banter is so much fun and I loved seeing them communicate and work on their past issues.

Seeing some characters we've already met was fun to tie this series together.

This is the seventh book in the Love On Thin Ice series which is a super cute multi-author hockey romance series where each book can be read as a standalone, but is so much better if read all together!

What a fun couple to close out the series! Though I will say I haven’t had enough of Maple Falls, Noah and Willa were a perfect ending. A bit of an enemies to lovers vibe to start out with, as we get to see Willa working through some things including an assignment she is given in order to receive a promotion that involves her spending lots of time with her “enemy”, Noah Beaumont.
We have been able to see and get to know Noah a bit throughout the series already and I was so excited for his story. It was everything I wanted and more! We really get to learn about the things he has been through and what makes him the man he is today. Their relationship was so fun to watch develop. The banter, personal growth, he falls first goodness in this one was delicious!

My one and only complaint was a bit of a weird plug in a bookstore scene where the author mentions another of her own books and her name, and then others from the authors in the series. Not a huge deal, but for some reason it just felt strange and forced. Wasn’t a fan of that part, but it didn’t change my opinion of the book.

Otherwise, this was a fun, clean, flirty, small town, fall vibes read that was quick and enjoyable. I recommend it and the rest of the series to anyone looking for something perfect for the holiday season!

Thank you to Netgalley, Red Bird Publishing, and the author for the opportunity to read and review this advanced copy!

Penalties and Proposals is the final book in the Love on Thin Ice series, which is a series of small town romcoms with each volume being written by a different romance author. This one is by Anne Kemp.

This is a series that revolves around a charity hockey competition and the hockey players taken part in it in the small town of Maple Falls. This final volume stars Noah, a former NHL star who blew up his career due to addiction problem, went to rehab, and has been making a comeback playing in the AHL, and Willa, a photographer who has spent a number of years loathing Noah because of what an incident that occurred that sidetracked her career. She never expected to see him again, she sure didn’t expect to fall for him. While he never knew the effect he had on her career, he’s never forgotten her. This was a really sweet enemies to lovers romance. Well, enemies is a bit of an overstatement, but their start is definitely antagonistic, at least on one side. Extremely likable characters and an engaging story made this book a great ending to a really fun series. I’d like to thank Red Bird Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of Penalties and Proposals.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R19IVE4SJXCND1/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_SRTC0204BT_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Penalties and Proposals by Anne Kemp completes the Love on Thin Ice series. Noah and Willa are front and center and get the opportunity to share their story. Noah is the Comeback King who has a darkened past. He has truly rehabilitated and is a new man. Unfortunately, Willa only knows him as the man he was. She is tasked with taking professional photos for him and starts to see Noah in a new light; the new man he has become. Once Willa allows herself to get past his past, the chemistry sparks and these two have quite the story. I thoroughly enjoyed Noah and Willa as a couple and how they found their new story. Enjoy the hockey season in Maple Falls and catch a glimpse of some previous characters (it’s ok if you haven’t read the other books yet, you won’t be lost, but you will be missing out on some great stories).
I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via NetGalley and all opinions expressed are solely my own, freely given.

Penalties and Proposals is book 7 in the Love on Thin Ice series by Anne Kemp.
This is a great addition to a great romance series.
Ive enjoyed this entire series from the very beginning.
An entertaining and sweet story that kept me turning the pages.
I thought it was a cute romance which made you fall in love with its characters immediatly. I felt I could be friends with these characters, they were both so relatable.

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

ARC Review:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Hitting rock bottom during a professional photo shoot was the catalyst hockey star Noah Beaumont needed to clean up his act. Unfortunately, the photographer Willa wound up as collateral damage. She was blamed by Beaumont’s team and black listed from the profession for a period of time. What will happen when the two of them are forced to reunite in the small town of Maple Falls?

Anne Kemp’s Penalties and Proposals is the seventh book in The Love on Thin Ice Series. This is a multi-author, interconnected series. While all the books take place in Maple Falls and center around the Ice Breakers charity hockey team, they are intended as standalone novels and can be read in any order.

Noah and Willa are in the running for my favorite Ice Breakers couple! I loved witnessing their relationship go from enemies to lovers. None of this would be possible without the outstanding character development Kemp employed. She rounded out both Noah and Willa in such a way that you can’t help but fall in love with separately and together.

I loved my time with Penalties and Proposals. I highly recommend reading this book if you enjoy small town, second chance, sport romances that feature forced proximity and enemies to lovers tropes.

Special thanks to Netgalley, Red Bird Publishing, and Anne Kemp for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Willa's first meeting with Noah was awful. He knew it, but hopes he can convince her that he's a changed man, a much better man. Their romance is sweet. I wish we had access to the pictures Willa takes, as well as the pictures of Noah and Willa in the photo booth. Honestly, I expected those pictures to have an important part in their story...above and beyond their being taken, that is.

I received an ARC of PENALTIES AND PROPOSALS. I was not paid for my review.

If you're looking for enemies to lovers, second chance, forced proximity, hockey romance, small town, closed door, then this is the perfect book. It is the seventh book of 'Love on the thin ice' series and what a wonderful wrap it was. I devoured this book in one sitting. A huge thanks to author Anne Kemp along with NetGalley and the publishers for sending me an advanced readers copy of this book.

This book hit home! Hockey player and a photographer--my dream! Haha!

I loved the story of changing a life for the better and when those you have hurt forgive you and give you another chance!

Loved the characters!!

Love me a good hockey romance. The author did their research for this book and it was appreciated. Btwn the sticks, personalities, puck bunnies, etc. she nailed the characters in the books and made the story realistic.

Sweet, small town, enemies to lovers, hockey romance.

Willa is a sports photographer who has been assigned to cover the charity game for the Ice Breakers in Maple Falls. Anytime Willa is given an assignment for hockey she makes sure to look at the player list. She had a horrible photo shoot with Noah Beaumont that sent her career into a spiral. She has worked hard to get her career back on track and does not want to work with him every again. When she gets a call from her boss telling her that she needs to do a one on one with a player she knows she cannot say no if she wants the promotion, she is working so hard to get. The only problem....her subject is none other than Noah Beaumont.

Noah Beaumont is a recovering alcoholic with a lot of regrets. His biggest being that of how he treated Willa. Now he finally has the chance to apologize but anytime he is around her he turns into a child and says the wrong things. It only gets worse when he finds out what his PR team did to save his career and destroy hers.

I absolutely loved these two. Noah was the biggest cinnamon roll. The main characters had great banter, and it was nice to see some of the characters from previous books. The author did a great job covering the hard issues and keeping the story light. This is a closed-door romance.

Overall good easy read. If you are looking for something short and sweet this is the book for you!

Thank you to Netgalley and Redbird publishing for this title. This is my honest review.