This book is literally one of my favorite books of 2025. I would even say one of my favorite books of ALL TIME!
I love the way Peyton Corinne writes with such emotion and rawness that allows you to related to both characters.

If you’re looking for a light-hearted, laugh-out-loud, feel-good time that hockey romances are known for, this book is NOT for you. If you’re prepared to curl up with a box of Kleenex, feel free to proceed. Unloved DESTROYED me. I can’t even count how many times I had to rub my chest to ease the ache in my heart. This book spoke to so many people. If you’ve experienced the loss of a parent, it speaks to you. If you’ve lost the love of your life, it speaks to you. Dated a narcissist? Got you covered. Struggled with lack of self-worth, endured conditional love, or experienced verbal and emotional abuse? This book sees you. Unloved targets that vulnerable part in all of us that just wants to feel safe, seen, supported, and acknowledged.

All Rosalie wants is to make friends and fit in - something life seems determined to make difficult at every turn. Far from home and incredibly homesick, Ro tries her best, even going so far as to attend a party in an effort to befriend her standoffish, grumpy roommate, Sadie. Determined to become whoever she wants to be, she quickly realizes how impossible that feels when, minutes after arriving, her roommate ditches her, leaving her alone yet again. That is until the most gorgeous man she’s ever seen catches her eye from across the room. Even more terrifying? He approaches her. A smile, a kiss, and a seemingly impossible connection later, Ro feels like her luck is finally turning around - until Freddy vanishes.

Four years later, still crushing on the hockey star and now in an on-again, off-again relationship with her boyfriend of two years, Tyler, Ro finds herself in a situation she never imagined: she’s Matthew Frederick’s newest tutor. Convinced she can keep things professional despite how her body reacts every time he’s in the room, Ro quickly realizes she’s no match for the force that is Freddy. Lines blur, and despite her best efforts, a friendship begins to form as she learns more about the infamous man on campus with one heck of a reputation.

Matthew “Freddy” Frederick has long accepted his reputation as the good-time guy - or the campus “slut,” depending on who you ask. Struggling with dyslexia, dyscalculia, and ADHD, school has never come easy to him, but hockey? That’s where he shines. Unfortunately, to stay on the team, he has to pass his classes - a task that has him burning through tutors like water. When he learns he’s been passed off to yet another tutor, he dreads the inevitable failure. That is, until he discovers it’s the same gorgeous woman he met at a party the night before.

The problem? She has no recollection of their night together - her confessions, their connection, and the words she uttered that turned his entire life upside down. Freddy, however, can’t forget. He longs to relive that night, but instead, he settles for teasing her, enjoying the way he can provoke a rise out of her. Determined to tear down the professional wall she’s built, brick by brick, Freddy begins to form a connection with the one person who truly sees him, gets him, and understands him. Ro may be the first person to make him feel less alone - and if he treads carefully, maybe even a little loved.

I’ll warn you - while I thoroughly enjoyed Unloved, I felt like I’m missed something since I haven’t read Unsteady, the first book in the series. If it weren’t for the fact that this is an ARC due before the release date, I’d pause to read Unsteady before continuing. While Peyton tries her best to fill in missing pieces, the two books are deeply intertwined. I plan to go back, and I suspect there will be plenty of “AHA!” moments when I do. The only reason this book works on its own is because both you and Freddy feel like a third wheel, painfully aware that you’re missing something everyone else knows. The whispers, the side glances - it’s frustrating as a reader (again, if you haven’t read the first book), but this shared confusion connects you to Freddy because you empathize with his struggles.

Personally, I’m a fan of light-hearted contemporary romances - more chuckles than tears. For that reason, Unloved felt very heavy for me. While there are occasional light moments, most of it feels like aerial yoga with your heartstrings. Truth be told, it had me emotionally drained before I was even a quarter of the way through! Ro and Freddy are the embodiment of our worst fears. You just want to reach through the pages, take them by the hand, and pull them to safety. Hold them. Reassure them. Protect them.

Even with the emotional toll, there was so much to love about this book. What I loved most, though, is how Peyton makes the hockey players human. In most hockey romances, the players are gods living the high life. Here, every single one of them has their own struggles and demons. These vulnerabilities make them people we can care about - people we want to see succeed and achieve the happily-ever-afters they deserve.

As Peyton said in her acknowledgments, this book is about love and grief, and she shows, over and over, how deeply the two are intertwined. The harder we love, the more we grieve. But those same memories, those cherished moments, are also what carry us through.

To answer the unasked questions: Was this book too heavy for me? Yes. Did it gut me from the inside out? Absolutely. Will I go back and read book one? Already bought it. This book will make you feel - hurt, tear up, and fume. It pokes at your memory and heart, reviving long-buried emotions. It’s a reminder of how far you’ve come and a celebration of the strength it takes to keep going. For those still in the midst of their struggles, it might serve as a motivator to take that first step toward freedom, healing, or perspective. No matter where you are in life, this book will whisper something sacred to you by the time you read the last line.

This was just not for me. I found myself really cringing at certain parts and couldn't get into it. I thought the writing was amateur and could have used some more editing.

Unloved is the second book in the Undone series and follows Ro Shariff, a tutor assigned to Matt Frederric, left winger for the Waterfell Wolves hockey team, who struggles with ADHD, dyslexia and dyscalculia. As the two get to know each other while studying, they develop an easy friendship that turns into the perfect love story for two hearts that just want to be seen.

Now I’ve been waiting for this book since finishing the indie version of Unsteady. The MOMENT Freddy graced the page, I knew there was more to him than the playboy persona he shows the world and that I was doomed. Between losing his mother at 18, having a narcissistic father, the countless teachers that failed him and women that only see him as a good time, having any semblance of self-worth crumbled as each person stole another piece of this sweet, soft boy. I wanted to reach inside this book, hug him and never let go. I wanted to harm anyone that said or did horrible, unspeakable things to him. This man just wanted to be loved and too many took advantage of that—except Ro. She saw exactly who Matt Frederric is. She gave him choices when no one else ever asked. She offered him solutions no one else ever took the time to search for. She gave him a safe place to land and someone he could trust, allowing him to truly be the man he was always meant to be.

While Ro was everything Freddy needed, she too was looking for the type of love that she finds in her romance books. The relationship with her on-again off-again boyfriend is nothing like she expected. Ro is made to feel embarrassed and ashamed about the things she enjoys and the ways she expresses herself. She is a people pleaser and pushes aside her needs to help others, which is something I relate to on every level. The loyalty and selflessness that is such a huge part of who Ro is, gets taken for granted by so many. Freddy is one of the few people she can rely on to always be there. He gives her the space to feel without judgement, to fully enjoy the things that make her happy and a comforting pair of arms to let go of her pain and fears no matter how big or small. Freddy shows her that the kind of love stories she reads about really do exist.

The character growth in this book of both Ro and Freddy is written so heartbreakingly beautiful. Slowly these two shed the layers and masks they hide behind. We see just how emotionally intelligent Freddy is with his actions and words, depending on who needs what in any situation. The brilliant creative mind of Ro to help Freddy understand better while studying. The gentle touch and careful consideration for each other’s hearts that fosters a friendship and builds a love so pure and tender. Their backgrounds, the realistic motivations behind the choices they make lends to how much care and depth Peyton uses to develop her characters. They are crafted so masterfully that each and every character feels so real and raw and relatable.

Aside from all the heavy deep emotions woven throughout Unloved, there were just as many cute, fluffy, heart-melting moments written within these pages. Not only between Ro and Freddy—who had me giggling and kicking my feet with the patient vulnerability given to each other—but between Freddy, Rhys and Bennett and between Ro, Sadie, Oliver and Liam. Having the mostly the same timeline as Unsteady allowed us to see events from two more POVs, as well as scenes that Rhys and Sadie weren’t apart of. There were glimpses and possible hints for certain characters and future books. And when I tell you this is the slowest slow burn with so much yearning and pining, that I was wanting to shake Freddy and Ro just a little and smush their faces together. That being said, the way their story unfolds was nothing short of perfect and exactly the type of relationship these sweet babies needed.

To wrap this up, is this book a sports/hockey romance? Yes. Is it a story about two soft souls, one broken and the other losing herself? Yes. Is it filled that butterflies in your stomach feeling, first date nervousness and giddy excitement of new love? Yes. But it is also intertwined with the all encompassing emotions and oh so subtle reminders that come with grief. The feeling of peace when you have found someone that truly sees everything that you are and that sometimes acceptance and unconditional love doesn’t always come from the people it should but can be found where we least expect it.

I adored this with my whole heart. So sweet and so much care was put into these characters I couldn’t get enough!

𝒊 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 🎀

unloved 🤍 arc review

oh I just loved these two pathological people pleasers. ro is a girl who just wants to be seen. struggling through a toxic relationship and missing her family, she begins tutoring matty and they develop the sweetest friendship. he shows her her worth. matt, on the other hand, is fighting his own demons. an abusive father, his failing grades, a questionable reputation... meeting ro might be just be the perfect thing to help him realize he's deserving of love.

this book was a rollercoaster of a journey, but i loved how different it was compared to unsteady - ro and matt's relationship was the definition of slow burn, and i ate up every second of it. i fell in love with both of them individually, but they complimented each other in the best possible way. i was crying and swooning and giggling over their love. it was such a healing book, watching to people who are a little broken realize they are deserving of being loved, cared for, and seen. it was very fun seeing the behind the scenes from unsteady. I loved getting to know the side characters more in this one, and can't wait to see what peyton corrine writes next.

🎀 tutor × hockey player
🏒 friends to lovers
🎀 slow burn
🏒 soft lover boy
🎀 hopeless romantic reader girl
🏒 pathological people pleasers
🎀 all the taylor swift lore

This was fantastic but I’m not surprised at all! Ro and Freddy were magic together and I loved watching them fall in love. I will read anything Peyton writes!!

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this Advanced Reader Copy. This story was so beautiful - two different people experiencing feelings of not being loved and how they respond differently. Our leading lady works so hard to make herself be the version that she believes others want of her in an attempt to be deemed lovable. Our main man leans into his playboy persona to distract anyone from seeing his real feelings and needs within. You combine a hotshot hockey player for the college team and his quiet and scholarly tutor, and you get an unlikely friendship that allows each of them to tear down the walls they’ve built up and discover what really being loved can feel like. I did not expect myself to cry as much as I did??? This book was so raw and real. I think everyone can find a piece of themselves in Ro and Freddy.

This was the sequel to Peyton Corinne’s first novel, Unsteady. While I usually have no problem in romance series reading out of order, I felt like I was missing some pieces because I hadn’t read the first one yet… There were some parts of the story and a few characters that seemed like the reader should already know or understand, and I felt a little lost at times. It did not deter me from loving this book, but it maybe would have ended up being a five star for me if I had the full picture? So we’ll call that reader error. Start with Unsteady (which now I am absolutely going to bump up the priority on my TBR), and then dive right into Unloved after.

Peyton is a master of writing raw and relatable romance. Unloved is a slow burn friends to lovers romance in which we read them build their relationship brick by brick. I felt their love so deeply, fuelled by my want to protect them both from their insecurities. These two will leave a mark on my heart forever.

I read Unsteady on it's Indie release, so it's been a while, but I had NO idea that I should have expected Matty to be such a broken boy. And I mean, he was broken. Until Ro. Ro saved him in the best way. She made him believe in himself, made him think he was worthy of more than being known as the college slut. These two broken souls were like a soothing balm to each others problems, and I was rooting for them to nail each other down right from that damn swimming pool scene.

This book follows the timeline of Unsteady, so you get glimpses of the other side of Rhys and Sadie's relationship which I loved. I'm sure it takes a lot of brain power for an author to run parallel with a book of such magnitude, but Peyton did it incredibly well. It was such a joy to dive back into their world and bring back lots of memories of when I first discovered Peyton.

The found family vibes are getting stronger, and I fear that when we come to the end of the Undone series I am going to be a big blobby mess. Bennett and Paloma already have so much potential to turn me inside out, but if we get a Toren book like I think we're going to, I am going to fall apart. The layering and the breadcrumbing that Peyton is crafting? Wow.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Net Galley ARC Review:

I am sooo grateful I got an advanced copy of this book. I cried tears of sadness and joy more times than I can count. When I read a romance, I judge it almost entirely on how much it makes me feel, and man did this book make me feel things.

Matt and Ro grew so much as individuals and together. All I wanted was them both to be loved and cared for and to know they had people around them who were there for them.

If you are looking for a book that explores some heavy and emotional things in a very delicate and beautiful way, I can’t recommend this enough. This is so much more than just a college hockey romance.

If you want a tender, slow burn, heartwarming romance, add this to the top of your TBR!

my heaaartttt !!

Peyton Corinne wrote such a beautiful story. You feel like these characters are real because the feelings they’re going through are authentic things that humans experience. Grief, anxiety, fear of not being wanted, even having insecurities about whether or not you’re good in bed — those are all real.

Ro and Matty were endgame since the night they met. They healed each other and understood one another 😭 the way they continued to make each other feel SEEN!!! These two are a couple I will truly always think about.

This book is everything and more 🥹

“I think you’d be really easy to love”.

This is my first book my Peyton even though I had Unsteady in my tbr since its indie release but after reading this book which is on a parallel timeline to unsteady I want to run and pick it up next!!

This book poetically encapsulates the title into one of the strongest emotions that both the characters felt in the book in their own way and how they found it easy to love each other without any struggle or effort. This book is for everyone who feels they are either unlovable or too much for their partner/friends/family because it takes you to a journey of self-love and being okay with receiving love that is unconditional!!

Freddy aka Matt is a misunderstood characters who finds his home in the rumours spread around about him because that's safer than the struggles he go through. All he wants to do is pass so that he can stay eligible to play but his interaction with his past TA's hasn't been great. Tyler who is also Ro's on & off boyfriend passes him to her. Tyler & his friends don't have don't have faith in Matt & Ro but oh god the way they prove all of them wrong.

Ro had a doormat personality in the starting of the book because of the way Tyler was treating her but I am glad she had a boyfriend upgrade with Matt!!! I adored everything they did for each other which might not have seemed big but it matter and that is where you can see actual love between the couple!!

I also liked the ADHD/Dyslexia/Dyscalculia representation and some sensitive topics making the story more deep!! I didn't like Tinsey & Tyler which shows how well they were written.

This book shows one of the purest form of love and that is being seen my your partner and I just fell in love with Peyton's writing style with this book!!

Wow. Just wow. I’m not sure what more to say. This book was everything I want in a romance book, and more. Ro and Freddy’s relationship was so believable and tangible and it truly made you feel all the feels. I kicked my feet, laughed, and cried. I’m a huge sucker for a friends to lovers romance, and the two of them truly grew into their love for each other. The fact that they both had to overcome their insecurities and past demons that were brought on by outside forces was so heartbreakingly beautiful. I really loved this book. And look forward to reading more from this universe. ❤️

What happens when two insecure people with past relationship traumas meet? A RECIPE FOR A BOATLOAD OF HAPPY TEARS 🤍

I personally love the friends-to-lovers trope, even though I know a lot of people don't. However, I feel like this one is different because it isn't CHILDHOOD friends-to-lovers and they both enter into this psuedo-friendship only because of outside conflicts. The mutual attraction is there from the very beginning, and remains there. I did find myself getting super attached to Ro and Freddy/Matty as individuals and together. They were well developed and felt so real.

My biggest gripe with the book, is the pacing. I wish we didn't have to spend sooooo much time on them being apart. In other words, it was a little too much of a slow burn for my taste.

(p.s. not stating this as a pro or con, but if you are looking for something super spicy....look away)

wow, i love and adore this one so so much. ro and freddy!!!!! obsessed with them. this one really put me through all the emotions. hurt, anger, happiness. i really liked that this one was a slow burn because i truly think it’s how their relationship evolved so beautifully. ro becomes freddy’s tutor because he needs to pass for hockey but currently has a 2.0 GPA. freddy and ro develop a friendship with them being there for each other for all their heartaches and i loved being able to follow their journey 💚

Dual POV, Spicy, Hockey Romance, Broken Boy, Friends to Lovers, Toxic Ex, Tutor x Student, Slow Burn, Learning Disability Rep, Found Family

Full of emotional depth, longing, grief, and healing Peyton Corinne gives readers a friends to lovers romance that will make even skeptics of the trope fall in love with Matty and Ro. The way they both challenge the other to be better versions of themselves and stand up for the other when they need the support is the ultimate swoon.

This novel is set during the same time as Unsteady allowing readers to get the perspective of other characters from events you'll recognize if you've read that book. The hospital scene...ugh hurts from every POV.

Not quite sure I'll finish this before the release date but I can already tell this will be a five star read!! In love with Freddy and Ro

Matt “Freddy” Fredderic can always be counted on for a good time, at a party, on the ice, in the bedroom and everywhere in between. He is a star wingman on his college hockey team, and already is signed to the Dallas NHL team for when he graduates. But his graduation is at risk, he is failing a few classes, and his dyslexia, dyscalculia, and ADHD is to blame. He gets a new tutor who will hopefully help him get to graduation.

Rosaline "Ro" Shariff has been a longtime lover of romance novels and a hopeless romantic. She is Matt's new tutor and committed to helping his succeed and pass his class. She is stuck in an emotional abusive relationship with her on/off again boyfriend Tyler. Matt was her first kiss before her freshman year and they spent an amazing night together but he doesn't remember it, while she has never stopped thinking about it.

They strike up a friendship, where they support, and encourage each other. They are able to see beneath the fronts they both put up and help each other gain confidence.

This book felt so so so healing. The love, tenderness and understanding between the two characters was so lovely and heart warming. The build up from tutor and student, to friends, to lovers was so beautiful. They were so patient with each other, their chemistry was so tangible and electric. The author did such a wonderful job with having the characters face real issues, but have light moments. The exploration of both characters supporting the other through healing while treating each other so delicately. This book was a knock out.

This was a fun read I enjoyed this more then the first! Peyton really making me addicted to hockey romances!!!!!!!

4.5⭐️

I have been so excited to get Ro and Freddy’s story since they were introduced in Unsteady and it was honestly incredible! Ro and Freddy are one of the sweetest book couples ever. The way they were able to help each other heal from their own traumas and insecurities was beautiful. I love the Undone series and I cannot wait to get the next book in the series. If you enjoy a slow burn friends-to-lovers with lots of tension, then you need to add this book to your TBR!

What to expect:
💚 College Romance
💚 Hockey Player MMC
💚 Tutor x Student
💚 Friends-to-Lovers
💚 Slow Burn
💚 Learning Disability Rep.

Thank you to Peyton Corinne, Atria Books and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.