Mabel escapes from an abusive relationship and is starting over. She is outgoing and can easily socialize with others. Ben is a hockey player, on the same team with Mabel's brother, Marek. He has trouble with public speaking and keeps to himself. When a special window of opportunity presents itself to Ben, Mabel helps him with his awkwardness and to be more confident in himself.

The "brother's best friend" trope is not one I often read, but I have been leaning towards reading books with this trope in it.

The male main character (mmc) is different than most of the mmc of the romance books I have read. Where these characters are cocky and extroverted, Ben is socially awkward and an introvert. And I loved that about this character! It was nice to read a book with a mmc that is the opposite of most of the male characters I have read.

I do not know if a trigger warning was mentioned and I did not see it, or if there isn't one, but I wish there was a trigger warning for "child loss", that happens in the last 60 percent of the book.

I would not classify this as erotica, as there is not that much smut or erotic scenes.

I love a hockey romance, so I was excited to check out this one about the New Jersey Storm. Ben and Mabel went to high school together, and she's always had a crush on him. And after her recent relationship ends, she finds herself living with Ben and her brother, Marek....and she still has the crush.

I really enjoyed that the book touched on some difficult topics, such as abuse. Everyone knows someone who has encountered abuse, and I think it is important to show fictional portrayals of people healing and living happily ever after. I hope a future book will feature Mabel's brother Marek.

Crossing the Line is the latest hockey romance from Kelly Jamiesin. I came to know this author's work through her bestselling Chicago Aces series. And like those books this story did not disappoint.

Mabel leaves her psychologically abusive boyfriend and moves to New Jersey staying with her hockey star brother Marek and his best friend Ben. Mabel had a crush on Ben as a teenager but Ben who is shy, quiet and serious could never understand how outgoing Mabel could have feelings for him. As Mabel helps Ben move outside his comfort zone as he prepares to become team captain, their friendship turns to more.
I really liked the two main characters. It was great to have a male main character who was shy and a little awkward. And Mabel was relatable as a woman whose confidence was hurt by a man who dimmed her light. Ben and Mabel were a cute couple. This is a cite easy sports read. I hope some of the other team members also get stories. Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy. This is my honest review.

Trigger warning: psychological abuse, infant death (side characters off page)

I did not love this book. Which is sad because who key books are usually my number 1 pick.

I think for me it was when the MMC called his private parts his eggplant and i couldn’t get past that.

The story line was perfect. It’s exactly what I love in a story. However, the book was written without a flow. It felt like I was reading one sentence and then another. For me, that is distracting, because I want to get lost in a book. The dialogue was what one would expect—there were no surprises.

Crossing the Line was a lot of fun to read. Ben is Mabel's brother's best friend/teammate. They all grew up together and Mabel's crush on Ben is legendary. She has grown up now and has so moved on from Ben...or so she thinks. Mabel's crush might not have been a secret, but Ben's crush on Mabel was. Her moving in with her brother and Ben makes him uneasy. Being in close proximity brings up a lot of old feelings and forces them to interact with each other.

I loved the set up with this book. Mable and Ben were adorable. The forced proximity combined with older brother's best friend was fun. Add in the whole introvert and extrovert personalities and things got even more entertaining. I couldn't get enough of this couple and their interactions. The built a sweet connection that had me smiling the entire time I was reading. I'm really hoping this is a start to a new series because I would love to get stories for the side characters.

ARC Review: Thank you Kelly and Netgallery for allowing me to pre read this book.
I absolutely loved this book. It had me hooked at hockey romance, and brothers best friend. 🤤
This was a beautifully written love story, and the spicy scenes were well written. It was not ALoT of smut so I wouldn’t necessarily class this as erotica, but it was an amazing love story. I would recommend this book to people forsure! Well done. Great read! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

An ice hockey, brothers best friend romance that may also fall into the second chance trope.

Over all I did enjoy this and it was an easy read. There were however a good amount of places where I actually cringed or pulled a face. The use of modern 'slang' really wasn't for me. Neither was the use of "yay!" "eek!" or "hahaha". Also a mistake like Starbucks serving a McMuffin was very distracting. Some of the dialogue seemed so awkward and unnatural and not because of the awkwardness of the characters.

The spice was OK and the tension leading up to the characters getting together was good.
There should definitely be a trigger warning for infant death because what the actual hell was that? Seemed really unnecessary.

Over all an ok book that's easy to read if you ignore the cringey language in places.

Crossing the line by Kelly Jamieson is perfect for a spicy hockey romance reader.

Ben
✅ hockey player/captain to be
✅ introvert
✅ trauma with past love

Mabel
✅ librarian
✅ extrovert
✅ hava a crush with her brother’s best friend
✅ toxic relationship with her ex

✅ forced proximity
✅ ice hockey romance
✅ childhood crush
✅ trust issues (both characters)
✅ high sexual tension (full of teasing scenes) 🔥🔥🔥🔥
✅ spicy scenes : explicit and intense ( fav: long and extended scenes) 🔥🔥🔥🔥

I’ll definitely need to read the next story by Kelly Jamieson and perhaps it will be Carson’s story.

First I want to thank NetGalley and Kelly Jamieson for an E-arc of this book! I enjoyed this book, even though brother's best friends isn't fully my type of trope, it was still a good cute read.

Mabel dumbs her ex and hides in her brothers apartment where his best friend is also staying until his own home is finished. Oh it happens they are also pro hockey players! My love for hockey has allowed me to burn through this book and find out how sweet it was! While she is living with them till she can find her own new place and job, and old crush she had on her brother's best friend starts to reignite when she helps coach him. From there he also starts falling for her and soon a relationship begins, but it is far from perfect as past acquaintances come into play.

Overall this book was good and a quick read. Again thank you for the arc for this book!

3.5 stars
Spice level: 2

Three and a half stars.

When Mabel's college professor boyfriend gives he an ultimatum, support her BFF at a difficult time or go with him to some stuffy faculty dinner she finally gets the gumption to leave him. The trouble is it also means leaving her job as a librarian (which she loves), and moving in with her brother Smitty. Unbeknownst to Mabel Smitty has offered his spare room to his best friend and ice hockey team mate Ben while he is waiting for his own apartment to become free.

Mabel had a major crush on Ben when they were kids and she is embarrassed to admit being in close proximity to him is reawakening those feelings. She doesn't want to tell her family about how she allowed herself to be gas-lit and put down by her ex, so they just think she's being silly and immature, her mother is even encouraging her to apologise and take him back!

Ben is one of the players in contention for captain next year, but as a natural introvert he hates speaking to the press, can't do small talk, and doesn't feel comfortable speaking up in the locker room. As his complete opposite Mabel offers to coach him and we all know what happens with close proximity ...

I saw this book on various emails and blogs and was desperately checking NetGalley, so imagine my surprise when the publisher offered me a copy - I jumped at the chance.

Ben was a nice change from the usual brash, confident hockey player we often see in sports romances and I enjoyed reading this.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

This is a seemingly sweet, brothers best friend sports romance, with forced proximity and a dash of second chance in there too.

The characters were likeable, with their own challenges, it was good to see their growth and progression.

I found some of the subject matter difficult to read, I wasn’t overly keen on the choice of charity, especially when you’re hit with the subject of child loss at 70%. I didn’t pay attention to the trigger warnings and so it came as a shock and almost felt like an unnecessary situation for Ben to deal with, it was an extreme that felt a little out of place.

I couldn’t put this book down! It was so good! I laughed, I cried, I relayed to the characters and cared about them after only a few chapters! Can’t wait to read more from this author!

Mabel's relationship ends so she moves in with her professional hockey playing brother, the only issue is his friend and teammate is also crashing with him for a few months. When Ben is told he needs to up his public image if he wants to becoming team captain, he approaches Mabel to help him gain confidence and perfect his small talk.

This was my first time reading this authors work. I found it easy to read with enjoyable moments. For the hockey romance fans, this is what you expect it to be. If at the time I'm in a hockey romance mood, I'll read more of her works.

i really enjoyed this book, it was a great read. fast paced. who doesn't love a brothers best friend / teammate hockey romance with close proximity , it really had me hooked from beginning to end , it had emotions to the book that as a reader you could relate , and also covered topics really well. this book had humour ,drama and romance it did have me laughing out loud , you really did fall in love and with bens teammates and Mabel's friends with their humour but also go through the feels with them. I would highly recommend this book because you will definitely fall in love with Ben and Mabel's as you follow through their personal journeys of growth.

This book was so fun and wholesome! I loved all the players and how they were all a family!! Ben and Mabel are such a good couple I love how they communicate with each other!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this book!!

I LOVED this book! It was a bit slow in the beginning but then boom I was hooked!! I finished it in one sitting! My first by this author but will not be my last!!

Mabel is loveable and quirky without being cartoonish. Ben seems sweet and shy while being a badass hockey player. I enjoyed their story and their sex scenes were hot.

Thanks to NetGalley & Kelly Jamieson for the ARC.

Crossing the Line is a brother's best friend pro hockey romance, so pretty much what everyone likes to read right?! Haha.

I really loved that we have a MMC hockey player that's actually not a wh0re for once. Ben is shy, quiet and absolutely lovable. He puts himself out there and takes risks even tho he is scared shitless.

Mabel is the complete opposite, she's loud, colourful and eccentric. But opposite attracts right?! After being belittled and abused by her ex-boyfriend she finds herself finding confort in her high school crush who happens to be living with her brother.

There is a part in the book that's very sad and I recommend reading the trigger warnings before in case one applies to your situation. Overall it is a really good read and I enjoyed the book a lot.

This is the first book by Kelly Jamieson that I have read but it will definitely not be the last. I loved reading this book about Mabel, the outgoing librarian and Ben the shy hockey-player. I especially liked that Ben was such a sweet guy, a bit socially awkward but so caring and not at all the typical hockey alpha male. Mabel was a very relatable character too and I felt for her especially as she was trying to find herself again after being in a negative relationship.
The storyline was believable and has lots of my favorite tropes:
- brother's best friend
- childhood crush
- forced proximity
and lots of heat as well. I really liked this book and read it in one day.