Enjoy hockey romance and love a brother's best friend trope? If so, you'll probably enjoy reading Pucked Together by Anne Martin!
I received a free ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Book Info
Title: Pucked Together
Author: Anne Martin
Publication Date: January 18, 2024
Category: Contemporary Sports Romance; Hockey Romance
Relationship: Best friend’s little sister (brother’s best friend) Ryker/Isabella (Izzy)
POV: Told from the POV of both the male and female main characters
Series or Stand-Alone: This is a stand-alone book that is part of a series set in the same universe for Heatwave Hockey.
Length: Medium (234 pages)
Ending: Ends with a happily ever after
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Open or Closed Door: Open door
Spice Level: 3 out of 5 peppers - There are a few detailed spicy scenes that feature dirty talk and very mild kink.
The book is more plot-driven with some smut sprinkled in.
Book Boyfriend Material: Ryker is the kind of book boyfriend that starts out grumpy, frustrating, and full of banter.
Over time he realizes he’s wanted the FMC from the beginning and sets about making her his for real, complete with dirty talk.
By the end he may still be grumpy with everyone else, but he definitely has cinnamon roll vibes and will give Izzy just about anything she wants.
Readability: Easy to read with minimal grammatical issues.
Themes: Brother’s best friend/Best friend’s little sister. Roommates/Close proximity. A touch of grumpy/sunshine and short-lived enemies to lovers with fake dating thrown in. Virgin FMC.
Possible Triggers: Note that all triggers may not be listed here and could potentially spoil parts of the book. I always suggest visiting the author’s site for more information if triggers are a concern for you.
Click/tap here to view triggers.
Cheating (not between main characters); death of parents; loved ones abusing drugs; medical issues (asthma and amnesia); freak accident (emergency plane landing with injuries).
Available On: Amazon including Kindle Unlimited.
Please note that the availability options listed were applicable at the time this review was written but may change over time.
Synopsis From Author
“My brother’s best friend will do anything to win.
Even if it means pretending to date me–his sworn enemy.
But claiming my v-card wasn’t part of the plan.
He’s Goalie-zilla of the Houston Heatwave and the man I can’t stand.
Number 33. Ryker-freakin-Balinger.
The only things we have in common are the temporary roof we share.
And the arena where we both work.
Dealing with this muscular, tatted-up grump is the last thing I need.
But he needs good press.
And I want revenge on the team’s newest arrival.
So this relationship is all for show.
Or so I thought.
On the ice, he’s defending the goalposts.
At home, he’s coaching me on more than just trick plays.But this game plan doesn’t just have our jobs on the line anymore.
Because the smokeshow in the next room is now my baby daddy…
Pucked Together is a spicy forced proximity, fake dating, pro hockey romance. It’s the first book in the Houston Heatwave series and can be enjoyed as a standalone. There’s heated banter, unexpected twists, and a happily ever after for our enemies turned lovers.”
My Review
Pucked Together is the first novel by Anne Martin that I’ve read and I look forward to reading more of her work.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a sports fan by any means but I really enjoy sports romance, hockey especially, so that was already a plus for me for this book.
I liked that there is a decent balance of real life issues and hockey games, though the drama was borderline too much in the last third or so of the book.
In the end I enjoyed reading Pucked Together and appreciated the happily ever after.
I’d recommend it to anyone that enjoys hockey romance without a lot of angst and prefers books with more of a focus on plot than spice while still featuring spicy scenes.
Pros
- Mild angst that doesn’t drag out forever
- No real breakup between MC’s
- Likable main and supporting characters
- Extra brownie points for featuring a pet (dog)
Cons
- Nothing overly unique about the story if you’re looking for something different
- Drama kind of feels over the top
While I enjoy a good angst-filled romance now and then, I honestly prefer ones with low angst and no overly dramatic breakups so I really enjoyed those aspects in Pucked Together.
There’s certainly a lot of crappy stuff going on but there is a lot of family and friend support instead of abandonment or ignoring.
And speaking of those family and friends, all of the main and supporting characters are pretty likable.
Our MMC is a bit moody at first but he goes on to be serious about what he wants and doesn’t back down.
The FMC is sassy while not being the most self-confident.
But she’s pretty young and inexperienced all things considered and doesn’t let self-doubt get in her way of reaching her goals.
I also enjoyed the supporting characters. They’re entertaining and supportive to the MC’s and are featured regularly.
They aren’t focused on so much that it draws out the book unnecessarily, but just enough that I look forward to hopefully reading about some of them in future books.
I even got a bit of a happy feel good vibes from this book which I certainly appreciate in a lighter read like this.
A bonus for me is that there was a dog included in the book and is featured realistically throughout.
A pet peeve (how punny) of mine in books is when there is a pet featured but only a couple of times and is otherwise forgotten. So I very much appreciated that this wasn’t the case in Pucked Together.
My main issue is that there’s so much drama, in the last half of the book especially, that it almost feels like you’re reading a soap opera.
I personally read books to help escape reality for a bit so extra and unrealistic drama doesn’t bother me much.
However, in this book it did near too much over the top for me.
Without trying to spoil too much, we’re talking major accident, memory issues, family drama, and surprise/unexpected happenings all at the same time in the last 40% of the book.
But it was at least all tied up in a satisfying happily ever after bow by the end.
As I mentioned above there’s nothing overly unique about this book but that’s not always a bad thing unless you’re looking specifically for a book different from your average romance book.
For me, it’s one of those books I’ll read once and enjoyed my time while doing so.
I’d recommend Pucked Together to others and I look forward to reading more in the Heatwave Hockey series as they come out.
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