4.5 Daniel The Garden Gnome ⭐️
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

Friends to lovers isn't typically a trope that I would generally reach for 1st, or 3rd, or maybe even 5th. It is pretty low on my trope totem pole, but trust Stephanie Archer to take something that I wouldn't necessarily have picked up first and make it one of the best hockey romances that I have read to date.

𝙎𝙮𝙣𝙤𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙨:
Darcy has just broken up with her boyfriend of eight years and moved to Vancouver, where she starts rooming with her best friend, Hayden Owens—who also happens to be her ex's best friend. Hayden is also one of the star defencemen on the Vancouver Storm hockey team. Darcy and Hayden's friendship began when they bonded over a fantasy romance novel, and they instantly became best friends. One day, Darcy asks Hayden for help. She’s never really experienced the dating scene and hasn’t had the typical experiences with men that most women have. She asks Hayden, being a player himself, to be her wingman and teach her how to flirt, how to go on dates, and how to attract a man. Hayden, being the sweetheart that he is, agrees to help, even though underneath, it's killing him. Helping Darcy hook up with other men is his worst nightmare. While he won’t admit it, Darcy is his dream girl. As much as she sees him as a playboy, he’s been in love with her since she walked into that English class at university.

𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨:
Darcy was smart and cute, and incredibly geeky and nerdy in the best way when she started talking about statistical models and theory. She was also super shy, especially about sex. She is also incredibly insecure due to how her ex minimised her personality and diminished her opinions. But she wants to change, she is determined to find herself and be unique and not let anyone put her down because they might not like it. Darcy, while being shy, is also pretty forward with Hayden. I like the fact that she would ask him what she wanted and wasn't scared to try new things with him. She's the main pusher of taking steps in their relationship because Hayden doesn't want to push her or scare her away.

Hayden is JUST PERFECTION! He almost pushed Rory off the top of the podium. He is completely besotted with Darcy, and I loved how jealous he would get when she interacted with other men or found herself in certain situations. I gushed at nearly every single scene because of how sweet, romantic, careful, and considerate he is. Darcy is his best friend, and all he wants is for her to be happy. He wants her to shine like the diamond he knows she is. It was adorable how much he lifted her up, celebrated her, and helped her grow in confidence. He encouraged her to rediscover herself, regain her confidence, and find passion in her work. It’s like he knew exactly what she needed, exactly when she needed it. He is basically a gooey sticky cinnamon roll and I wanted to sink my TEETH INTO HIM!

I loved that Rory gave Hazel lingerie in The Fake Out... but Hayden just PUT HIM TO SHAME and took it up a notch with his gifts... Hayden gave her so much more and he spoiled her so much. He is literally the type of man that girls dream about finding and I loved their relationship BECAUSE IT WAS SO CUTE! These two characters bring out the best in each other. They finish each other's sentences, they have a myriad of inside jokes, they play pranks on each other and they just have fun together. They support each other, they are each other's biggest cheerleader and they are just adorable together. Their banter, their teasing and their interactions and dynamics WERE JUST SO GOOOD! On top of that, the sizzling chemistry and spark they share is once in a lifetime! Also Hayden's dirty talk made me blush and I adored that this fun-loving guy could be slightly more dominating in bed while also being an excellent listener and patient teacher. OH SO PATIENT!

Stephanie Archer’s author bio includes the line, "she writes laugh-out-loud, spicy romance," and I couldn’t agree more with that statement. This is one of the books in a LONG TIME where I giggled and squealed almost constantly. AND THAT ONE BAR SCENE..... I legitimately threw my Kindle to the other side of the bed, covered my face with my hands and laughed out loud—while also dying of secondhand embarrassment. (iykyk)

My only concern is that I think the ending fell a little bit apart because it was too long. It took a long time for Darcy to realize Hayden was not going to flake on her. Given how close their friendship was, she was like the only one who couldn't see how much he loved her and how much he was doing everything to show her that he really was relationship material. She was just blind to everything that he did for the longest time and I wanted her to see it sooner. I also wanted a little bit more conflict and drama between her ex and Hayden, given that they were also best friends. That kind of plotline I think could have been taken a little bit more deeper and it could have been used as a lot bigger of a plot.

𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▶ Dual POV
▶ Friends to Lovers
▶ Hockey Romance
▶ Roommates to Lovers
▶ Reformed Playboy who is actually a Cinnamon Roll
▶ Forced Proximity
▶ Jealous MMC

𝙈𝙞𝙘𝙧𝙤 𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▷ Use Me
▷ Good Girl
▷ Look At Me
▷ Hockey Jersey Heat
▷ Chin Lift
▷ Dressing/Undressing Help (Taking off her Shoes)
▷ Mine

I loved this! I think that Stephanie Archer has such skill of making rom-coms brilliant and excellent. She writes the biggest green flag men that are so supportive, adorable and just utterly in love. AND YOU CAN FEEL that love bleeding off the pages.

Thank you to Stephanie Archer for the gifted copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own

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I GOT THE ARC...
AND since it's my birthday.... I am taking it as a birthday present!