Elle is blindsided when her hockey star boyfriend dumps her right before the playoffs. Feeling vengeful, Elle decides to pretend to date her exes rival, Preston Lawrence.
Preston is grumpy, and thick headed who is in danger of losing his contract with his team. When he meets Elle, he decides that maybe fake dating her could help his image and in turn, save his contract.
Revenge Puck is your classic fake dating, grumpy/sunshine. I throughly enjoyed it! I recommend this to whoever loves these tropes mixed with hockey!
#NetGalley #RevengePuck

Elle is a hairdresser in North Carolina and she is also a huge hockey fan. Preston is a star hockey player with a reputation for anger management issues. Elle’s boyfriend breaks up with her and tells her the one man she cannot date is Preston. She decides to ask Preston to fake date her to tick off her ex. He hates her ex so he is more than happy to help her out. Can a fun little game turn into a happily ever after?
Elle is a pretty straightforward character. She loves being a hairdresser and she loves hockey and she loves her friends. The way she convinces Preston to go along with her pretend dating thing is silly and I rolled my eyes but it was goofy and cute and fit the story so I got over the silliness of it. She doesn’t have a lot of personal growth during the story. Instead she helps Preston work through some big issues. Speaking of issues, Preston has a big secret! I am not going to say what it is but it sets up the next story in the series. Yes, it’s that big! By the end of the book, I believed that Preston had started to let go of his anger and frustration and he saw a chance at real happiness with Elle. There are some issues I want explored in the next book. Some ugly things are said and done in this book and I feel like that author needs to loop back around and resolve the issues or all of the change and growth in this story won’t be lasting
This is a hockey story set primarily in North Carolina. Both of the characters love their careers. I enjoyed the writing, characters and interpersonal interactions in this book. I will read more from this author in the future.

My first foray into hockey romance books and I am only disappointed it took me this long!
I loved this story and found Hart's writing to be effortlessly easy to read.

I was reading another hockey book for a local book club of mine ( The Boy's of Winter) so decided to read this in tandem for what I hoped to be a more light hearted pallette cleanser, as the other book is a memoir and I don't normally gravitate towards nonfiction.
This was your pretty standard lighthearted ice hockey romance, but I felt as though the relationship progressed waaaay to fast even for a generic romance novel. Another major issue I had was the four seperate times slashing someone's neck is referenced in a supposedly humorous way... I was not a fan, especially considering I grew up in Hibbing.

If instalove and tone deaf "jokes" about premeditated murder and sport related violence is your thing you may enjoy this book.

Thanks #netgalley for giving me advanced access to this read but it's a no from me, unfortunately.

Okay, so Revenge Puck is exactly what you think it is—a messy, drama-filled hockey romance with fake dating, petty revenge, and all the tension that comes with it. The plots in these books are always kinda the same, and yeah, totally predictable, but I still eat them up every time.

Elle’s plan to get back at her ex by fake-dating his biggest rival? Love that level of pettiness. The banter was fun, the chemistry was there, and the hockey setting added a nice touch without being overwhelming. It’s also dual POV, which I’m usually not the biggest fan of, but I actually didn’t mind it here. Both characters had strong voices, so it worked.

Overall, it was a fun read! Not life-changing or anything, but entertaining enough to keep me hooked. If you like your sports romances with a bit of angst and drama (but nothing too heavy), this one’s worth checking out.

Big thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the chance to read an advance copy!

2/5

The writing and the plot of the book wasn't bad. but the relationship developed way to quickly to be realistic. In addition, I just did not like the personality of either of the main leads, and the chemistry between them seemed more through forced proximity rather than fake dating. I also feel like the hockey romance is difficult to successfully pull off, and this one felt too drama-infused to feel like an actual sporty romance.

I was originally very interested in this book but it turned out to not be my cup of tea, which is okay.

The book opens with Ellie Townsend being dumped by her hockey boyfriend of five months. He believes he needs to focus on the upcoming championship and his archrival Preston. While Ellie is talking with her friend she decides to try to fake date Christan who is the archrival. The book has moments of fun and seriousness, you also find out why Christain goes after Preston so much. An excellent story with excellent characters.

Christian did Elle Dirty and she definitely didnt deserve it at all so I was completely on side when Elle decided to use Preston to get her revenge.
I wasnt a huge fan of how easily we brushed over Prestons anger but other than that I loved this book.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m currently in my hockey romance era, and when combined with fake-dating / revenge plot, I was intrigued. Unfortunately, the relationship didn’t progress past surface level and lacked depth, relying mainly on the physical aspects to propel the relationship forward.

Additionally, the timeline felt too short and I think the book would’ve benefited from being across a whole season instead of the playoffs. That would’ve allowed for more character development and emotional intimacy.

Overall I wasn’t a huge fan of the FMC or MMC but it was a quick, dramatic, hockey romance that was still fun to read. I’m looking forward to Christian and Maya’s book, which I think will have much more depth and growth.

After being dumped by her hockey-player boyfriend, Elle seeks revenge by taking a photo with his biggest rival, Preston. When Preston escalates things by kissing her in front of the press, their fake dating scheme takes off. As Preston plays his best game ever, he convinces Elle to keep up the act—but soon, real feelings develop. Now, Elle must figure out if Preston truly cares for her or if it’s still about getting back at her ex.

This is a fun, fast-paced hockey romance with humor, chemistry, and a bit of drama. While the fake dating setup starts off immature, the story improves as their relationship deepens. Some of Preston’s behavior toward Elle and other women is frustrating, but overall, this is an enjoyable, light read—perfect for when you want something quick and entertaining.

This book promised a fair bit but I don’t think it delivered.

The premise is ok. Love triangle to some extent. The FMC Elle is wanting to make her ex Christian jealous so meets and kisses his arch rival Preston and then sort of fake dates him.

There were a couple of things that didn’t work -
* Elle didn’t really do much to help herself with her love interest/s. In fact she was a bit of a door mat. I feel bad for judging her as I feel we often do that while MMC’s get away with a lot more. But also. Worse aril she was a shifty friend to Audrey, her business partner.
* Preston - some of his dialogue was cringey AF. Plus near the end of the book he does something significant without consulting the person who is primarily affected. He oversteps the boundaries and I just couldn’t get past it. Nope, he’d be on my shit list forever.
* the storyline didn’t reach and great heights.
* despite lots of detail about things Elle and Christian did, there was a fade to black with Elle and Preston which was so not in keeping with what the rest of the book’s intimate scenes were like. Though the chemistry was a bit iffy between them IMO.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for giving me access to this early reading copy

As someone who reads a lot of sports contemporary romance, I was excited to pick up a new to me author. While reading I was not a fan of how the FMC , Elle thought and spoke about herself. Though some is understandable as the book starts off with her being dumped by Christian and then finding out they were not exclusive. It is understandable to feel bad and have doubts but I feel like she never started feeling any better about herself. After she was dating Preston he was very jealous and yelled at her several times. I didn’t like how he treated her either. Once we finally get some backstory into the Preston vs Christian rivalry, I did become very interested in the Maya, Preston’s younger sister and Christian plot line.

Revenge Puck follows the FMC who i screwed over by the hockey player she was seeing, and when he reveals he hates another rival player. she decides to get some revenge and team up with him. The MMC is grumpy and usually avoids all people, but was happy to team up with her to mentally mess with her ex and his enemy. Through their partnership and fake dating, they end up falling for each other.
This book was very easy to read and had some of my favourite tropes

I really enjoyed this book. It helped me out of a reading slump. I loved the tension between Preston and Elle. It was perfect. The spicy was spicing and I loved the over all lighthearted feel to this book!

I am obsessed with romance hockey stories and this one did not disappoint! A comfortable level of spice, banter and love is all I need for a good read. This is my first read of LA Hart and will not be the last!

This turned out to be a very fun and quick read, way more than I thought it would be. Just enough hockey to make it a sports romance without it being bogged down. The intimate scenes were well thought out and executed, even if I was a little confused how it was both open and closed door at the same time (once you read it, you'll get what I'm saying). There were several moments where I could have throttled each and every one of the characters, but I think that is just more of a testament to my good time. I love a little angry outburst with my plot development. Also, loved how the plot of the next book was so easily woven into this story. However, it's going to take a lot of explaining and redeeming for me to fully be on board with Christian. I suppose that's what the author was going for though and they succeeded. Despite me seeing Christian as an irredeemable douche canoe, I immediately went to find out when book 2 releases. It's all I can think about currently. A win's a win.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC and opportunity to review.

DNF 26%

From the description I really wanted to like this book but I just couldn't get into it. For me the plot and characters felt flat and never gripped me.

Also just a personal pet peeve of mine but if you write about hockey you need to know about hockey. No way Preston and Christian have played twice while being in the league 5 years. (And other inconsistencies)

So good!
This book is perfect for a light-hearted, well-written, easy to follow read. I loved the characters as well, there is nothing worse than a main character who is unlikable or unrelatable. The “twist” was a little predictable but sometimes predictable is exactly what a reader needs - in this case, it delivered. I will absolutely read any books to follow in this series AND by this author!

Revenge Puck by L.A Hart

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.5/5

This was a cute, little hockey romance. It’s perfect for when you don’t want to read anything heavy and just want a quick, fun read. I’m a firm believer that not every book has to be a masterpiece to be enjoyable. This one was enjoyable, and I had fun reading it, which is all that matters.

Our story starts with Elle, after she’s just been dumped by her hockey-player boyfriend. She seeks out his rival, Preston, and convinces him to fake date her to get under her ex’s skin and mess with his game right before the big championship.

I will say, yes it was a little childish in the beginning. These are full-grown adults acting very immaturely, but as the story went on, it got much better. I’ve gotten a smidge burnt out on the fake dating trope here recently, but I liked this one. There were also some nice side-plots happening that will have me reading the sequel when it comes out.

My complaint is with the mmc honestly. I was not a huge fan of how he treated the women in his life, fmc included. Without giving anything away, he did a lot of blaming, was super aggro, and played fast and loose with their autonomy and ability to make decisions for themselves. Yes, he rectified it in the end and learned his lesson, but even in trying to fix it, he still somehow managed to take away his sister’s autonomy. It was really annoying.

All in all, this would be a great book to use as a palette cleanser after a super heavy read or high fantasy. It doesn’t require a lot of brain power and is easy to get into and read.

Thank you to L.A. Hart, NetGalley, and Editor’s Choice Publishing for the ARC! All opinion stated are my own.

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Oh my lawd it’s been a while since i read a hockey romance and this one had me feeling like a giddy teenager. I loved this so much !!