I love the opposites attract trope and that Ben was the quiet one while Mabel was the outgoing one. Their relationship was perfect for them. Mabel helps Ben in social situations while Ben gives Mabel her confidence back after her ex boyfriend belittled her and chipped away at her confidence. I loved their romance and enjoyed how it all came together.

I enjoyed this opposites attract, best friend's sister/brother's best friend romance novel with added forbidden love, close/forced proximity tropes.
The plot is well written, emotional and has some heartwrenching and heartwarming moments, spicy love scenes and very likable main and side characters. There are a couple of scenes that teared me up.
I loved the chemistry between Mabel and Ben and how their relationship and their understanding and support for each other developed throughout the story despite their different character traits. Their insecurities and vulnerabilities were palpable and I really sympathised with Ben who is a sweet cinnamon roll hero.

After ending her toxic relationship with her narcissistic boyfriend, Mabel leaves her old life behind and moves in with her twin brother Marek in New Jersey to find herself again and start a new life. There, however, she meets Ben, her brother's friend and Hockey teammate, whom she had a crush on as a teenager and who always avoided her.
Ben is a hockey pro and is staying with Marek until his own flat in the condo is ready. He hates crowds and being the centre of attention, he rather prefers to be alone, observe or read a book. Ben isn’t happy about the fact that the lively and chaotic Mabel is moving in with them, as her behavior always made him feel uncomfortable. But Ben soon realises that Mabel is not well. When Ben is offered the position of team captain next season on the condition that he becomes the team's ambassador for a charitable children's aid organisation, it feels like a disaster for the introverted Ben, who doesn't know how and what to speak in public but he would love to become the new captain. So he asks the extrovert Mabel to coach him. Mabel, who previously thought Ben was unapproachable and boring, reluctantly accepts and soon realises that Ben is just extremely shy and that she has misjudged him years ago. They slowly grow closer, but as the sister of his team-mate, she is off-limits for Ben and is still suffers from the consequences of her last relationship…

Overall, a touching and heart-warming story about two endearing personalities who are both afraid of falling in love again and getting hurt all over again for different reasons, which I am happy to recommend!

I received a free ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and left voluntarily.

Do I know anything about hockey? No! Doesn’t matter, Crossing the Line is a story to love even when a person has zero background knowledge.

The beginning hooks immediately. Mabel (yikes on that name) has the guts to stand up for herself against her jerk boyfriend. Three cheers for Mabel! She knows herself and isn’t going to change. That doesn’t mean she can’t be vulnerable, as we see.

Ben is not her opposite, he has confidence too. But he is more tentative in public situations.

The story- lighthearted fun, deep emotion, and dramatic situations. It really runs the full gamut. In real life, we know people act differently in these situations, so perhaps that’s why the author wrote them, to let us see how these two characters respond.

Read this. Not at the beach… read this when you’re in a quiet place and can appreciate the full range of the story.

Omg. There’s a scene where they sit in a pub next to some Aussie tourists and the way they talk is fucking hilarious. And also kinda spot on 🤨

I loved Ben. He was cute and introverted but also kinda raunchy. Like he doesn’t talk at all but put him in bed with a hot lady and you couldn’t get him to shut up.

CN for death of a baby, not one of the MCs, and shitty abusive ex boyfriends.

Thanks to #netgallery, the author and publisher for a copy of this book.

Genre: Romance MF
Format: Digital
POV: Dual
Tropes: brothers best friend/teammate, roommates, forced proximity, shitty ex boyfriends, introvert/extrovert, extrovert lessons, secret hookups, hockey, random Australian characters spotted, let’s get maggot.
Spice: 🌶️🌶️ / 5
Age suggestion: 18+

Firmly in my Hockey era after reading Crossing the Line by Kelly Jamieson (@kellyjamiesonauthor) A spicy, Brother’s Best Friend Hockey romance perfect for fans of Icebreaker and Collide. Mabel and Ben end up living together after she leaves her awful partner and moves in with her brother and his temporary roommate. Ben struggles with being out there and speaking in public, whereas Mabel has no problem in that department. Agreeing to help him improve his confidence brings the two of them closer and there's no denying their chemistry. I really enjoyed this one, the way Mabel helped Ben to become a more confident person, the way Ben protected Mabel and let her feel loved again - just perfect!

Thank you to Boldwood Books @theboldbookclub for the Netgalley copy of this one 🏒

• Synopsis •
Rule #1 Do not cross the line with best friend's sister

Ben
On the ice I'm formidable, relentless and I lead by example. Now my coach wants me to step up as Captain - and lead the team off the ice too. But this is my worst nightmare; I'd rather play hockey naked than do any kind of public speaking! To make matters worse, my best friend's sister has shown up out of the blue to live with us temporarily. We have a history.. it's awkward, she's starting to invade my fantasies and I can't seem to escape her. But maybe she could be the answer to my problems..

Mabel
Moving in with my brother was not part of my life plan, but I have no choice at the moment. I need to get away and start my life over. I just wish I didn't have to share the condo with Ben. I thought I'd buried my teenage crush, but seeing him all the time has me fascinated with him all over again! But now he's asking for my help to be more outgoing and confident, and basically fake it until he makes it. Sure I can help, but that would mean a lot of time alone. I need to stay strong and resist the obvious temptation..

I loved Ben and Mabel - she is quirky and extroverted, but took a hit to her confidence after breaking up with a narcissistic boyfriend; he is skilled and confident on the ice, but shy and introverted off-ice. Forced into proximity due to both staying at her brother's condo, their relationship evolves from high school crush to friendship and eventually steamy affair as they give in to their attraction to each other. Love the cameraderie and quirkiness of the the teammates too. Another hockey romance by Kelly Jamieson that doesn't disappoint!

I loved Ben and Mabel - she is quirky and extroverted, but took a hit to her confidence after breaking up with a narcissistic boyfriend; he is skilled and confident on the ice, but shy and introverted off-ice. Forced into proximity due to both staying at her brother's condo, their relationship evolves from high school crush to friendship and eventually steamy affair as they give in to their attraction to each other. Love the cameraderie and quirkiness of the the teammates too. Another hockey romance by Kelly Jamieson that doesn't disappoint!

I loved Ben and Mabel - she is quirky and extroverted, but took a hit to her confidence after breaking up with a narcissistic boyfriend; he is skilled and confident on the ice, but shy and introverted off-ice. Forced into proximity due to both staying at her brother's condo, their relationship evolves from high school crush to friendship and eventually steamy affair as they give in to their attraction to each other. Love the cameraderie and quirkiness of the the teammates too. Another hockey romance by Kelly Jamieson that doesn't disappoint!

Hockey Romances are my catnip so when I heard about this one I had get a spot of the Blog Tour.

I felt so sorry for Mabel, we’ve all been in those kind of relationships that are toxic but you can’t quite see it at the time.

Now she’s free she quits her job and moves to a new city and stays with her brother until she gets back on her feet and gets more confident but what she’s not expecting is to live with her brothers best friend too.

The sexual tension was off the chart in this story, it was the slowest of slow burns but for a very good reason and it just made the plot even better.

How Mabel and Ben both evolved over the course of the book was beautiful to read, I’d highly recommend this book to other romance readers.

I love this take on a hockey romance. Usually the guy is so confident and obviously alpha. Despite the fact that he’s still a hot pro hockey player, Ben is shy and not used to being the center of attention. Mabel is his perfect match as an outgoing, outrageous, woman. Though she’s coming out of an emotionally strained relationship, that doesn’t stop the sparks from flying between the two.
I love how this all played out. 5 stars!!!

Spicy, male female, 3rd person dual point of view, contemporary hockey romance. The characters were fun and I love a brother's best friend trope. The writing/storytelling didn't hook me though. And there was a death that seemed really unnecessary. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

CROSSING THE LINE is the newest brother’s best friend, forced proximity hockey romance by Kelly Jamieson. See above for book blurb. This is the author’s first book under a new publisher, but it bears all the hallmarks of her large collection of hockey romances. There is amazing chemistry, steamy open door scenes, an engrossing storyline, and a happily ever after that warms the heart. In this tale, Ben, an introvert, was being pressured to step up into a leadership role on his professional hockey team and in the community. When exuberant, free spirited Mabel came to stay with her brother, Marek, Ben recognized the opportunity to utilize Mabel as an extrovert coach. Mabel had a crush on Ben when they were younger and it wasn’t long until the forced proximity of sharing a two bedroom apartment with Marek and Ben brought all the old feelings back in line. However, Mabel had just left a toxic relationship with a man who had seemed so good in the beginning that she wasn’t sure she could trust her own judgement. I loved reading as Ben learned to come out his shell and Mabel found her spark again. The two were so good for each other and their story was a perfect love story. I recommend this book for readers of contemporary sports romance who enjoy best friend’s sister/brother’s best friend, childhood crush, forced proximity, forbidden hockey romance novels. This book is available in all formats and can be accessed in ebook format in kindleunlimited.

I would like to thank Rachel’s Random Resources, Boldwood Books, and Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This was a charming, believable story with just the right level of spice. Mabel and Ben meet up again when she leaves a toxic relationship and moves in with her brother Marek while he also has Ben (high school teammate) temporarily rooming with him. Mabel is such a sparkly, outgoing, colorful character that it isn't a surprise when Ben responds to her and things heat up. It was really fascinating to watch how they fit their somewhat "opposing" characters together. Mabel agrees to help Ben learn to be more confident and grow into a leadership role with his team, while Ben turns out to be a great listener and helps her overcome her lack of confidence and leftover breakup issues. The way Ms. Jamieson writes about their emotional journey I felt like I was inside their minds watching the new brain connections being made (in a good way!). I'm also a fan of a helpful found family; in this case Ben's New Jersey Storm teammates and Mabel's friends. All of us should be so lucky. One more thing that I appreciated was the creative (as in seldom used but fit so well) names Ms. Jamieson chooses: Mabel, Marek, and Bellamy sound so right, and Julian is the perfect name for the ex-boyfriend. Things like that just boost my enjoyment of a well written story. I am looking forward to more novels in this universe.
I was given an ARC by Netgalley and volunteered to provide a review.

A face-paced hockey romance - with hot and steamy spicy.

It felt a little off for me -- there is a lot of character development but some of the development/scenes felt extraneous to the plot of the story.

This sports romance was a fun read. It's set in the world of hockey and although not a sport I know much about, was still a story I enjoyed.

I liked the relationship building up between Ben and Mabel, and I think lots of other romance readers will have a good time reading this one.

Ben may be a star on the ice but off the ice he is more comfortable at home than in public which is making it difficult for him to be viewed as the right choice to be team captain. He needs to revamp his image, and he knows that Mabel would be the perfect choice to help as their personalities couldn’t be more different.

Mabel is friendly and has never met a stranger. After the way her last relationship ended Mabel needs to distance herself, so she finds herself temporarily staying with her brother. That is challenging enough but Ben, her brother’s teammate and friend, is also staying there and it is becoming more difficult to hide her feelings for him.

I enjoyed the evolution of both these characters as with Mabel’s help Ben become more confident off the ice while with Ben’s help Mabel was able to reclaim the woman she used to be. This is a touching romance with a great cast of secondary characters.

I don’t think I’ve ever related to a main character in a book like I related to Ben. I felt that the author really nailed and highlighted the struggles introverts can face on a day to day. I liked the use of the brothers best friend and opposites attract troupes.

Favorite quotes

“Strangers are friends you haven’t met yet.” He barks out a laugh, startling me. “Jesus.” “I didn’t make that up. William Butler Yeats said that.” “I don’t care who said it, they obviously never met an introvert.”

In a world made for extroverts, I’ve spent most of my life thinking there is something wrong with me.

1. The story from chapter 1 just showed that Mabel deserved more. 2. Brother's best friend is my favorite trope 3. The forced proximity between these two. 4. I wish there was another cover to this book and maybe that would've drew me in a bit faster. This is my first read from this author, lacked some plot and emotions between the characters.

Ben and Mabel’s story was sweet, sexy, and steamy and a great second chance, brother's best friend, hockey romance. Looking forward to reading the next one in the series.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Boldwood Books for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The writing was a little awkward at times, but I did like that the hero was introverted.