Ciara Harney

I picked this up on a whim but got pleasantly surprised and sucked into the story. The beginning for sure was an interesting way to start the book but pulled me in nonetheless. I loved Edie and I loved John (honestly I LOVED Anders, the most).

I really enjoyed the progression of their relationship. And Edie's inner monologue exploring anxiety, panic attacks, night terrors, and PTSD symptoms felt really well presented from the perspective of a teenager trying to deal after everything that happened to her and John.

Normally I would get bored with books of similar boy meet girl, girl like boy, boy wants to be friends until - f e e l i n g s. The way the author wrote this though was very compelling to me even with the pop culture references (a very small peeve of mine).

I liked that our main character is presented as a thicker girl and actually stayed that way throughout the book. I hate when I read a book about a plus sized woman/girl and it feels like her size changes throughout the book without the author meaning to. Here we had none of that, and yes she does get mean remarks and insults regarding her weight but she owns it.

I do kinda wish that this was dual POV but that's just me being spoiled and wanting to know what john was thinking a lot of the time. Like I could see what he was doing and guess how he felt but, uhhh what I wouldn't give to find what he felt the whole time.

People might have things to critique this about but I honestly can't find any fault in the book at all. I have this warm fuzzy feeling just thinking about it (ok maybe the ending was a little concise and short for me but still...). I have to give it 5 stars just cause I am real happy about just everything that happened.

3.5 stars

I picked this book up with no expectations really since I haven't read that many books in the sports rom genre. I will say that I did enjoy this book mostly for the ridiculousness of the FMC and the MMC for his consistency in asking for consent. There were some things that rubbed me the wrong way but it didn't deter me from finishing the book.

What rubbed me the wrong way at times and may deter others:

- The FMC's constant ridicule and shaming of hockey team fans, most specifically female fans. They were referred to as “puck bunnies” and the FMC's favorite term: “hockey hookers”. This made every female other than the FMC, her friend, and the team's family members into essentially attention seeking whores, sluts, and any other creative insult she could think of.

- Her constant yes and no with the MMC. What I mean: she says one thing but does another and regrets it. But does it again and then when it should be shown that she knows who he is (the MMC) as a person he makes a mistake (pretty big one, I'll admit) but she acts like “I was right the whole time”. Which means, she was just waiting for him to mess up.

- She (FMC) was pretty obnoxious to an extent and immature. Especially surrounding the MMC's “MC” or appendage. Though to me, her utter ridiculousness as a character did make me laugh because I never expected a character like her. Considering how the author wrote her, I would say they both have pretty strange imaginations and perhaps no filters.

So, it's not the best book that I have ever read but it was pretty good for an easy read though it lasted longer than I expected. A lot of the portrayals of people or concepts were OTT. But nonetheless, I mostly liked it for the side characters and the MMC. So I will definitely continue the series just to see their stories.

BTW I am not an expert critique or anything. I honestly find most things people hate to be funny and/or enjoyable, even if it's stupid (to them or just in general). Just letting anyone who reads this know.

Finally got around to finishing this book after I read it halfway and forgot about it months ago.

I really enjoyed the relationship between our main characters or at least the development with relation to a short period of time and everything that comes to light about them. I did also like the explanation on the origins of supernatural creatures as different species of demons representing sins. Though this book isn't very long, I did like the initial view into the world we got. And yes, this book does end with a cliffhanger but I honestly didn't mind it as it offered the whole “wait, what? Wow”. I will definitely be reading the next book to find out what's going on.

3.5 ⭐'s rounded down

I was excited to read this since I enjoy Tessa Bailey's writing style and fun romance. Although, I had fun with the book and some of the characters, this is definitely not that good. It's the kind of not good that is entertaining though.

Was this the best that she has written? No. Was this instalovey as all heck? Yes. Did I still like it? Yes.

The speed with which everything happened was – whew – REALLY fast. Like a couple days to two weeks at most. Despite all of that, I did like the dynamic between Elise, Tobias, Banks, and Gabe. It would've been nice to have it fleshed out BUT the point of this book is to have a short fun time with something close to fate without the supernatural world or attributes.

If you want a quick read with nice banter between overly horny people and a small exploration into relationship dynamics that might make you laugh out loud, I think you should give it a try.

***Also that epilogue was better than most trad published epilogues in my humble opinion. Certainly helps that it was in the POV of my fav character.