I absolutely love a hockey romance!! This grumpy meets sunshine was so emotional! I loved the way both characters had family issues that they were trying to deal with!

Colby is your typical tall dark and grumpy hockey player whereas Carissa is a social media manager taking her first steps into the adult world.

This book was so fast pace! There was a little enemies to lovers but they weren’t enemies for that long! The tropes are enemies to lovers, grumpy x sunshine and work place romance. You can’t go wrong with this hockey romance.

Such a spicy hockey romance! The book had an interesting beginning and I enjoy the enemies to lovers trope. I love seeing the softer side of both of the characters slowly be revealed during the book. I also enjoy the Dual POV, so you can see both sides of the story.

The side characters are funny and many are supportive to the main characters. They added more humor to the story and I like the camaraderie of the teammates.

My little drawback is I just don’t understand how the main FMC filming social media content in the bar with the team is a good idea or how she doesn’t worry about fraternization with the main male character till much later.

Overall, this book is a wonderful read and would recommend! Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the digital copy of this book for review.

Hello spice! I received this ARC from NetGalley and Victory Editing in exchange for my review. To begin, hockey romcoms are my weakness. I will never turn down reading one. I grew up at the local minor league rink with season tickets and will always be a life time hockey fan. Carissa and Colby’s relationship was predictable, although I enjoyed coming along for the ride. I felt their heartbreak and their emotions through out their relationship and I enjoyed how each character had something relatable about them. They both came from different backgrounds, but they worked well together. I really wanted to meet Colby’s mom and dad though. I wish they came to a game, a charity event, or some type of holiday. Colby spoke about his mom and I feel like she was a little character. I will say the ending fell flat though. It actually said “The end”, which seemed very odd for some reason. Overall though, I enjoyed this book as a quick read and would recommend it if you are looking for a spicy hockey book!

🏒Off Your Game🏒

⭐⭐.75
🌶️🌶️🌶️

Thank you to netgalley, page and vine, Susan Renee and Victory Editing Co-op for the review copy!

Okay...the MMC, Colby Nelson, was just not it. He ruined the book for me. From the first page, this bloke was obsessed with Lucky Charms (I get it's a trauma response) but to abuse and act like a dick towards a woman who bought the last box and then continue to be a dick to her for most of the start of the story wasn't necessary. Not sure why it was written in that way. He was also extremely angry for most of the book and verbally abused his friends over stupid shit just grinded my gears the whole way through. For his age which I think is 30? He was so immature and childish.

The FMC was okay, but a total door mat.

Unfortunately this book could have had some potential but failed to hit the mark.

We first meet Colby when he’s in desperate need of a box of Lucky Charms and tries to buy the last box from a woman at the grocery store, in the middle of the night. Not used to being told no, the hockey captain loses his cool on the woman not knowing that she’d be showing up the next day as his team’s new marketing rep.

Carissa didn’t expect to see the man who was rude to her over a box of cereal ever again but she comes face to face with him the next day at the new job she just started. When his teammates start to clue her in that Lucky Charms are a little more than a treat for him, Carissa is determined to win the grumpy hockey captain over.

Tropes
* Enemies to lovers
* Grumpy x sunshine
* Hockey Captain x Marketing Rep
* Workplace Romance

I’m going to be honest, this wasn’t a favorite. The writing is subpar at best. The plot had potential but the “we hate each other” to “we can’t stand to be apart” aspect of the relationship developed way too fast - there was no real transition period where the feelings built up. I also wasn’t a big fan of the ending…I hate when the MMC blindly believes the FMC did something completely out of character, doesn’t listen to reason and then does the bare minimum when groveling.

Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for this ARC in exchange for a honest review.

First off, the meet-cute between Colby and Carissa? I was living for it! It was genuinely hilarious and gave off all the right "OMG, I hate you, but you're kinda hot" vibes. I was totally invested in their potential from that grocery store standoff over a box of cereal, a literal box of cereal! Like, come on, that's gold! It set the stage for some seriously fun tension.

The romance itself? Their chemistry was definitely there. Colby and Carissa had sparks flying whenever they were in the same room and Susan did a great job at writing some steamy scenes. They were fire, I'm not gonna lie. The whole "hate-to-love" thing was working, and I was rooting for them to get together.

However, there were some major things that really took me out of the story and ultimately landed it at a solid 3-star rating for me. Honestly, some of the stuff in this book just didn't sit right with me.

I'm all for a little bit of harmless fun, but the way this book constantly brought up "puck bunnies" was just...ugh. It felt so outdated and just straight up disrespectful to women. Like, there was some mention of girls throwing themselves at hockey players, and it just got super old and made me cringe so hard. It created this whole vibe of women just being objects, and honestly, in this day and age, I expect better.

For a book that tries to be a fun, flirty romance, that whole aspect felt so unnecessary and honestly, kinda icky. Like, couldn't we just focus on Colby and Carissa's connection and the hockey drama without having to constantly demean women?

Overall…I enjoyed it but not the best book ever, It had potential but I unfortunately I didn’t enjoy it that much.

Thank you to Netgalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for giving me an arc for this book!!!

This was a nice read. I enjoyed the characters and the hockey theme, although I know next to nothing about the sport. The love story between Carissa and Colby was sweet and nicely spicey. I will read more words by this author.

I am a sucker a hockey romance, but this one fell short. It wasn’t bad, I just the characters were just flat and it was uneventful, which doesn’t make it stand out in the genre. Colby was favorite due to his secret teddy bear side. Overall, it was cute and heartwarming though.
I need to thank NetGalley and Susan Renee for the early read of this book.

Colby & Carissa
This was an enjoyable read. I always love a good hockey romance.
I enjoyed the banter and definitely laughed out loud a few times and the spice was great.
All was going well reading this until it hit the third act breakup, it really frustrated me as Colby wouldn't even let Carissa speak.
I did feel like Carissa was a bit of a pushover at certain times.
I do wish there had been more about both Colby & Carissas background and the situation with the parents. I do feel alot more could've been brought into the story with this.
I felt for Colby during this read as what he went through was heartbreaking but again could've went into more detail.
Overall it was a good read.
Thank you to the author and Netgalley for the chance to read this ARC.

Sports romance
Forbidden romance
Workplace

Good character chemistry
Heartwarming and funny.

Colby is a hot hockey player. Carissa is starting her new job as the social media manger for Colby’s team the Chicago Redtails.

Their “meet cute” moment is kind of funny. Takes a bit for them to get over it and warm up to each other.

Over all this is a cute hockey romance.

I loved this book!
Colby is the Captain of the Chicago Red Tails and struggling over the loss of his brother 20 years ago.
Carissa is hired as the new marketing rep and just trying to pay back the debt her parents caused her.
After an argument over lucky charms cereal, they can't deny the chemistry between them.
I think the author did a great job building Colby's character. We get to see the trauma he endured as a child losing his older brother who he idolized. It gives us a nice glimpse into why he's so closed off and afraid to care for anyone. And of course it had some of my favorite tropes!
Hockey romance
Enemies to lovers
Found Family
Definitely a book to be added to your tbr!

Honestly going into this book I didn’t think I would like it as much as I do!! The emotional aspects made me cry and the romance of it all made me want to kick my feet! There is no one better than Colby now in my head! And the enemies to lovers trope for some people is played out but not for me , the instant hate he felt towards her for not surrendering a box of lucky charms , but the sole significance of the lucky charms in this book overall was the saddest but most realistic detail of grief!! Loved !

This was my first hockey romance read. Though I do consider this a reasonable read, I felt like it lacked depth to the main characters and had a weird ending. Parts of this book were funny and cute, while other parts just felt cringey. It is a very easy to read book and I appreciate the way the author wrote it. I really wanted to learn more about the characters past, so I could get to know them better. The setting fit the story, which I liked! it was cute, spicy, romantic and humorous at times.

This book is about a female main character and a male main character. The male character is a hockey player named Colby, who plays for the Chicago Red Tails. The female character, whose name is Carissa, is a marketing representative for the same hockey team that Colby plays in. Before she became the representative, she met Colby by accident at a store and they had a debacle over some cereal. She did not know he was a hockey player and he was in disbelief that she didn’t recognize him.

As the story begins to unravel, they find things in common and form a bond, which later turns into something more serious. However, could this serious bond that they have ruin him? Do they end up together or being swept away from one another? Overall, I rate this a three out of five stars and do think it is a good read. This book contains explicit sexual content and an enemies to lovers trope.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Susan Renee, and Page & Vine publishing for this updated copy in exchange for my honest review of this digital book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I think this was a fine example of the hockey romance genre, but nothing exceptional. Some parts were… questionable to me but overall it was enjoyable!

Great book already read this when it was first published. Enemies to lovers with workplace and hockey i literally couldn’t not put this down and read it in one sitting!

I love hockey romance books! This one didn’t disappoint. This is my first time reading a book by Susan Renee and it definitely won’t be my last.

Colby and Carissa’s story was so good! I love that Carissa is a little spitfire who can hang with the guys and keep up. She is a hard worker and an independent woman. She is smart and kind. Colby comes across as an a hole but is really a protective caring guy.

Their banter and tension in this book was perfect! My mouth hug open at some of the 🌶️🌶️ scenes! Haha I really enjoyed this book and ate it up!