I honestly love reading about sports romances, I’m so fascinated by the different sports and mixing in the passionate romance, and by far if there’s a book about hockey romance… SIGN ME UP! This book caught my attention when I heard that it revolved around a playboy, captain of a hockey team, and a sassy and fierce female lead who wasn’t easy for the taking. 

Not even reaching 100 pages, and I was already loving the characters, the funny banter, and the overall vibe of the book which was lighthearted and fun. Carter Beckett was someone who easily got anyone and everything he wanted, but at first glance of seeing Olivia, he couldn’t deny the immediate attraction towards her. If that wasn’t enough, just talking to Olivia and getting turned down by her made Carter see that Olivia was unlike any women he had ever met. Olivia on the other hand was determined not to fall prey to Carter’s flirty pick up lines or Casanova ways. Carter liked one night stands and not being tied down to a relationship, whereas Olivia believed in all or nothing, so you could see the two had very different ideas when it came to relationships. 

One of my favorite things about this story was seeing how determined Carter was to win Olivia’s affections/ her attention. Carter was absolutely shameless in trying to get Olivia to smile, have her look his way, the man straight up dedicated his goal for her at his hockey game, and was banging up against the glass wall shouting her name to get her attention while everyone in the stadium saw. Carter was a unique character in that while he was a total player, he showed off his goofy, playful side when he was around his friends like Emmett (best friend & teammate) and unabashedly adorable trying to make small talk with Olivia in order to get to know more about her. Also the romantic and thoughtful things Carter did for Olivia?Umm can I date Carter?? I also loved how animated Carter got whenever someone mentioned Disney movies, it was so endearing (Count me in for a Disney movie marathon Carter!) Carter was the perfect combination of sexy and suave with sweet and hilarious. 

I found Olivia to be very relatable and honestly a lot of how she was and what she believed in really resonated with me. I’m also someone who also believes in either fully committing to a relationship or nothing at all, or just in general giving my 100 percent in anything like Olivia. Olivia was the kind of character that I felt a kinship with, and it’s rare that I find a character that I agree with a lot of what they think about. So I really loved Olivia and her sassy attitude. Not to mention Olivia made me laugh at how she could easily peg Carter’s ego down a few notches haha. 

Olivia’s fear of trying to trust Carter and fearful of ending up heartbroken by Carter was valid. In addition, Carter’s fears of becoming vulnerable with Olivia were valid as well, but he’s immediate response to jump right into a relationship without taking full consideration of Olivia’s feelings wasn’t the way to go, it made him realize that you couldn’t just jump into the deep end without thinking things over. I was really glad to see Olivia and Carter openly communicate their thoughts and fears with each other. Once everything was on the table, I felt like Olivia and Carter’s relationship grew stronger and it allowed for them to fully let go and enjoy all the fun, romantic, heartfelt moments between them. 

The romance between Olivia and Carter was infectious, sweet, and downright spicy! I absolutely loved seeing Olivia and Carter open themselves up to each other especially since in a way they were entering “uncharted waters” so to speak in terms of starting a relationship. Before meeting Olivia, Carter was content living his life as a single bachelor and one night stands, but after spending time with Olivia he became a love sick puppy who wanted her whole attention and keep her all to himself. Carter may have been smooth and suave, but the moments where he squealed over blueberry muffins or yelled out loud at a bar, “I HAVE A GIRLFRIEND!” made me laugh and showed that Carter was equal parts a complete goofball and a man manly I wanted all for MYSELF!

As I kept reading, I suddenly wished I could be at a hockey game and hanging out with Olivia and Cara or seeing all the hilarious antics that Emmett and Carter would most likely get into. I truly felt like I escaped into this book and it had everything I could want from the funny banter, heartfelt moments between Carter and Olivia, the loyalty of friendship, the romance and spice of it all phew, this story had me smiling and gasping (mainly from the banter/ Carter & Olivia’s bedroom adventures lol). This story captured my heart and I’m definitely reading this story again! Now categorized as part of my comfort reads/ books I hold dearly. Highly recommend!