Passion or Penalty

D.C. Eagles Hockey #0.5

by Leah Brunner

Ever sent your brother’s best friend a video expressing your undying love for him? While hopped up on pain meds?
No? Just me then?
Once I knew this girl who sent a video of herself to her brother's best friend… while she was hopped up on pain meds. And he didn’t reciprocate her feelings. Sounds like a hilarious story, right? WRONG. This really happened… to ME, Melanie Taylor. That was five years ago, so I’m over it—over him. At least, I thought I was… until West got traded to the D.C. Eagles and moved to the same city as me! Oh yeah, did I forget to mention my brother’s best friend is Weston Kershaw? An incredibly talented and famous professional hockey player? Of course, I set out to avoid him completely, but end up going to one of his games—against my will, I might add. When I have to face him again all of those stupid butterflies in my stomach return full force. Except this time, the attraction doesn’t feel so one-sided.

(This is a closed-door, dual POV romcom with mild language and innuendo. Trigger childhood trauma/anxiety.)

Genres: Romance, Sports Romance, Audiobook, Hockey, Sports, Hockey Romance, Contemporary

135 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2022

About the author

Leah Brunner is an Amazon top 25 best selling author who writes romance filled with explosive chemistry and relatable, flawed characters. She loves writing character driven stories that will tug at your heart strings and also make you smile.

When she's not writing, she can be found spoiling her Maine Coon cats, or watching The Office with her kids.

Although she's a Midwestern girl at heart, Leah is a proud Air Force spouse and has moved all over the United States with her husband and three children.

You can find Leah on Instagram @leah.brunner.writes

Or join her Facebook reader group: Leah's Lit Lovers

Reviews

[Oceana Reads Co. · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 hour audiobook just for funsies.
No language and only kissing.
Pacing was great at the beginning but then after they got together it was like bam engaged and the end.

[Elizabeth]

DNF at 52%.

This book is annoying the crap out of me.

1. They've been childhood friends. Yes, he's her brother's best friend, but all three of them acknowledge that she hung out with them and they enjoyed her as a friend, too.

2. She tells him she loves him when she's 18 and she's high off of surgery meds.

3. He apparently loves her too... but he decides that she can't handle his life (she's afraid of ice and he's a hockey player) so he let's her know "he doesn't feel the same".

4. And then... he pretty much ghosts her for 5 years+ while he dates around, etc.

5. They meet up again and we get other woman drama RIGHT AWAY! Cause he's dated a lot of women "who smelled artificial" and were high maintenance models and other BS. When the OW challenges him to "prove" the hero is dating his childhood friend, he immediately kisses her (rolls eyes). Let's take a sideline here to say how stupid it is for someone to say, "prove it". But also, how he thinks about "all the other women I've dated never compare to this one..." and yet, he dated A LOT! While supposedly in love with the heroine. And when she asks, "why did you kiss me?", he doesn't immediately answer, "I've always had a thing for you." No... he repeats that stupid BS about "proving they're dating".

6. When his teammate sexualizes and objectifies women... the hero responds cause of the heroine being the one discussed... but you don't get a sense that he generally speaks up.

I prefer a story with a lot more inner work on the relationship and on the main characters. This one uses stupid trite external drama as a way to drive the story.

If these people were friends and have been in love... where is the chemistry and spark of enjoyment between the two of them... other than "she/he is so pretty/handsome"? It's just so shallow. And I'm over the 50% mark on this book... so I've given it enough time.

Sigh... I just came off of the best romance so it's going to take another good one for me to read a book all the way through.

[paula ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 ⭐

I would have liked to give it a higher rating but honestly, since it's a short story, I can't give it more. Also, some scenes made me cringe a little so 🥴

I will still continue the series as I find it quick and easy to read.

[Rhonda 🌒🌕🌘 🐈‍⬛ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 🌟
3/5 ❤️‍🩹
5/5 🥰
1/5 🌶️
0/5 🔎
3/5 😰😱
3/5 🎭😂
2/5 🎭😭
0/5 👻
0/5 🔬
2/5 🔫
0/5 🏥
4/5 ✍🏼
0/5 🥱

⚠️⛔️TRIGGERS:⛔️⚠️

Panic Attacks
PTSD
Mental Illness
Alcohol Use

🗯️💬BOOK BLURB:💬🗯️

Once I knew this girl who sent a video of herself to her brother's best friend… while she was hopped up on pain meds. And he didn’t reciprocate her feelings.

Sounds like a hilarious story, right? WRONG. This really happened… to ME, Melanie Taylor.

That was five years ago, so I’m over it—over him. At least, I thought I was… until West got traded to the D.C. Eagles and moved to the same city as me!

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention my brother’s best friend is Weston Kershaw? An incredibly talented and famous professional hockey player?

Of course, I set out to avoid him completely, but end up going to one of his games—against my will, I might add. When I have to face him again all of those stupid butterflies in my stomach return full force.

Except this time, the attraction doesn’t feel so one-sided.

🌎📖OVERALL REVIEWS📖🌎
Courtesy of Storygraph

COMMUNITY REVIEWS
SUMMARY OF 649 REVIEWS

Moods
lighthearted 90%
funny 45%
hopeful 28%
emotional 24%
relaxing 17%
reflective 3%
inspiring 2%
adventurous 1%
Pace
fast 78%
medium 18%
slow 3%
Plot- or character-driven?
Character: 71% | Plot: 15% | A mix: 11% | N/A: 1%
Strong character development?
No: 48% | Yes: 35% | It's complicated: 11% | N/A: 4%
Loveable characters?
Yes: 79% | It's complicated: 11% | No: 5% | N/A: 4%
Diverse cast of characters?
No: 83% | Yes: 8% | N/A: 4% | It's complicated: 3%
Flaws of characters a main focus?
Yes: 54% | No: 31% | It's complicated: 10% | N/A: 2%
Average rating
3.2 ⭐️

🤔🧐🤯MY THOUGHTS:🤯🧐🤔

This was a very sweet, wholesome little romance. West and Melanie are absolutely adorable together! #wesanie This series so far has been fabulous! I don’t know why but I’m really enjoying these hockey rom coms. I think I need to move north to a state/town with a hockey team. Js!

This was a very quick read with the tropes friends to lovers and best friends little sister.

RATING KEY:

🌟 Stars - based on the overall plot and theme or idea of the book
❤️‍🩹 Emotions - based on how emotional I got while reading
🥰 Romance - based on how well I got invested in the love story aspect
🌶️ Spice - based on how the sex scenes were portrayed and written as well as the number of sex scenes
🔎 Mystery - based on how well it kept me guessing who, how and why
😰 Scared🫣/Anxious😱 - based on how scared or anxious the book made me while reading
🎭 Comedy😂/Tragedy😭
-based on if I laughed or if there was a tragic event and how it affected me. I will mark the Masks with either a C or T to indicate Comedy or Tragedy
👻 Spooky😵‍💫/Creepy🧟‍♀️ -based on if this had any occult or paranormal themes and if those elements creeped me out or gave me anxiety!
🔬 Sci-Fi -based on the Science Fiction in the book as well as the Dystopian elements.
🔫 Action/Thriller -based on if I thought this was more of a spy action type of thriller.
🏥 Medical Content -based on the amount and the accuracy of any medical content or if the book is supposed to be a medical style thriller.
✍🏼 Writing Style -based on if I enjoyed the writing style or not and how the author portrayed the world, characters, concept, plot etc.
🥱 Boredom -based on if I was bored if it held my interest or if I’d rather be doing something else 😴
🙅🏻‍♀️ DNF -based on if the book is just stupid, boring, childish, overly ridiculous etc.

[Alysha (For The Love of Christian Fiction) · Rating 4 out of 5]

STOP THE TRAIN! I’m. In. LOOOOVVVVEEE!!!

A brother’s best friend, friend to more, HOCKEY romance?! Yep I’m here for aallll of it!

I’m so stinkin’ excited for the rest of the series this prequels! It’s going to be amazing!

The hockey team! 👏🏻
Melanie’s roommate! 👏🏻
THE CHEMISTRY BETWEEN MEL & WEST! 👏🏻

It was soooo cute!!

And the anxiety rep was well done in my opinion! It shows up in different ways for everyone, and everyone has a different way to cope.

LOVED!
4/5 stars

[Lindsay (pawsomereads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5⭐️
This was a cute and quick read but I can’t say that the writing was very good. It was pretty bland and did a lot more telling than showing. I liked the second chance romance/brother’s best friend tropes even though it was pretty light on the romance elements overall. This was a fine novella but it didn’t pull me in enough to want to check out the full novels in this series.

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a free (through the newsletter) and fast read this was pretty good. Melanie and West had me curious after being introduced to them in Desire and Defense and I was right in thinking their story would be interesting.

Overall, glad I went back and gave this one a read.

[Lex B · Rating 4 out of 5]

vibe: 🏒☕️🗂️👩🏻‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏼
spice: 0/5
rating: 4/5

Brothers best friend, short and sweet. As an anxious girlie I like the representation. Also the epilogue 🥺

[Manee Contreras · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this clean novella. Sports romance has a special place in my heart and this one is so fun. That first chapter was a gem💎😂.

I love West🏒, he was such an adorable dork🥰. West and Mel's relationship was cute haha they used their time apart to mature. I loved how they met up again, it was fun watching them come together. How he supported her to overcome her fears and didn't let her give up was sweet⛸️.

I loved the gestures, the journal! And of course, the communication!!! Not only how he spoke with her directly about their situation, but also with his best friend. It felt so good and refreshing 💙. West and Harrison's friendship was amazing, they were so fun to watch.

Also, being able to see Madden and Oddette again was amazing. Those two are faves 💞.

I loved this story, the pace was really good but I wanted more of them!! I couldn't get enough!

🍁
*This story was free as part of The Sweet and Swoony Romance project in Prolific Works. Visit Leah's profile to get the link*📖

[Joseph Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah, yes. Hockey players. Famously emotionally mature men. Progressive minded too.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

*It hasn't been very long since I read this novella, however, this time I ended up listening to the audio book when I was dealing with some trouble sleeping. I needed a story that I knew I loved, with low angst, and that it would be ok if I drifted off listening to it because I knew how the storyline progressed. This was just what I needed. I did eventually drift off after quite a while of listening, I was able to find my spot the next day and enjoyed listening to the rest of the romance between Mel and West again and loved it just as much as the first time.*

I absolutely loved this novella! I began reading this series out of order by listening to book two, Flirtation or Faceoff, last year and loving it. Now, I plan to catch up on the previous books, beginning with this prequel to the DC Eagles Hockey series.

I loved that this story brought two people back together who had once been best friends (along with Mel's brother). The way things went wrong for them was both funny and cringy as well as sad. These two young hearts wanted to be together even as teens, yet I think it made their story even sweeter when it actually came to be and helped them both realize how much they meant to each other. I loved when they saw each other for the first time! So fun!

I simply loved this story from start to finish and especially liked how clear West was about his feelings for Mel both now and in the past. He was truthful and swoony, without being pushy. I liked the way he cherished her for who she was, quirks and all, and understood the things she struggled with emotionally.

It was great to dive back into these characters and see them right from the beginning. And it was also fun to realize that there is a tie in to another series, with characters who Mel works for. I'm looking forward to reading all of this author's back list books.

[Paige]

DNF at 19%

Insipid.

The beginning where the heroine was 18 read more like she was 14; the main section where she’s 23 feels closer to 18. Her “trauma induced anxiety” was, from my perspective, presented as “quirky ocd” (alphabetizing her pens by color, for example). The side characters of her boss and his wife are squicking me out for some reason. And the hero is basically a piece of paper.

11.18.23

[Rose | Adventurous Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novella and getting to see characters from Leah’s previous books again.

Content: kissing

Tropes: best friend’s sister, childhood friends to more

5 Stars

[rachel, x · Rating 1 out of 5]

i couldn't handle the cringe


➸ Trigger warnings for alcohol consumption, anxiety and panic attacks (on-page), and being trapped under ice and nearly drowning as a child mentioned.

▷ Representation: Melanie (mc) has anxiety.

Blog • Trigger Warning Database • StoryGraph

[Pressndrip · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was short and straightforward. However, there was no spark between the characters, no build-up or chemistry. The novel was overall extremely fast-paced, which was one of the factors that made me feel a disconnect.

[Cait | GoodeyReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a great novella!!

Perfectly paced. Super sweet. Felt all of the anxiety rep.

Now I just need more sports romances from Brunner 😍👏🏻

[Modern Miss Granger · Rating 5 out of 5]

-4.5 Stars-

I loved this novella, it was so swoony.

Here's what I loved:
- hunky hockey player
- second chance vibes
- childhood friends to lovers
- anxiety rep
- brother's best friend
- swoony kisses

It was just a great novella and I cannot wait to read a full length hockey romance from Leah Brunner.

Steam: kissing
TW: none

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so sweet!! I really needed to read a book that left me calm, happy, and sitting with a goofy little grin on my face for a while after it was done. This was exactly that. It also reminded me of something I used to do for my husband that I want to do again. It’s good to be reminded of the early days and things you used to do. I think I’ll be getting journals and writing letters to loved ones in them next year. Ya know, something to do in all of my free time. Lol This was a lovely library find. I will be looking for more in the future.

[girlwithhearteyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

This closed door hockey romance novella was ridiculously cute!

Older brother’s best friend trope, a whole lot of mutual pining, and flirty vibes (the narrators did this very well on the audiobook - I was trying to stop myself from grinning while listening… in public).

It started with a majorly embarrassing moment for the FMC (she sent the MMC a video declaring her love for him, while hopped up on pain meds) but I found that kind of charming rather than cringey (ymmv).

I will definitely be checking out other books by Leah Brunner.

[Sharese Stribling · Rating 2 out of 5]

There’s cringe that’s cute and there’s cringe that’s yuck. And this was definitely yuck.
1.5/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Cristina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Trama simplista, sin ningún punto de conflicto, ni desarrollo.
Poco original contada sin gracia.
Pérdida de tiempo.

[Aideen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know it’s a prequel and we know the outcome but this could’ve been wayyyy slower and much cuter

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate to judge a book based on audio, but the female narrator sounded geriatric and it was really hard to believe anything… and what was up with all the essential oils???

[Ashley G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and sweet. I definitely want to read Desire or Defense now by the same author.

There was no spicy scenes if that's what your into.

He is her brother's best friend. She has an ice related trauma and since he is an ice hockey player years ago when she professed her love for him he lied about his feelings for her for fear thar her trauma would make their relationship impossible for him.

When he finally sees her again 5 years later he's not holding back anymore.

The relationship wasn't really too developed as this was only a 4 hour audio book.

[Em · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was so meh I forgot to put that I finished it

[Gabrielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you know me you know that I LOVE a good hockey romance. This book had SO much potential but unfortunately did not satisfy me in any way. The story lacked a bit of meat and the spice was non existent. I have no regrets reading it since I’m still very much behind my reading goal but I wouldn’t waste my time. 🫠 If you’re looking for a good hockey romance I would highly recommend Consider me 🏒 ❤️‍🔥❄️🥵

[September Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first of the sweet and swoony novella’s I’ve had a chance to read. It’s about a girl named Melanie who has recently turned 18. she ends up having an emergency surgery after the surgery she’s a pit loopy in pain meds and sends a video to her long time crush and brother’s best friend Weston. Sadly he doesn’t reciprocate those feelings. Five years later and they are both in the same city. He’s now a famous hockey player. And Melanie plans to avoid him at all cost but will she be able to especially when she ends up having to attend one of his games not by choice? This story was such a sweet romance you get both sides of the story. And West is a sweetie who is willing to fight those he loves. There is a some childhood trauma in the story but it’s not overwhelming it did not stress me out but I loved how the character learns to deal and cope with her trauma. I heard there is going to be more books and I am very excited. I will be watching out for them. Oh, P.S. sign up for her newsletter and get a free bonus chapter. Also this novella was free through the sweet and swoony Facebook page. So go check out all their free stories.

[Marilee · Rating 4 out of 5]

K, I am really hoping this means that Leah Brunner is going to write sports romances because this novella was super cute!

If you enjoy brother's best friend and second chance tropes combined with some awkward and embarrassing moments, then you should definitely pick this one up!

[Katie Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did I listen to this 4 hour audiobook while I worked today? Yes. Time flew.
Should I be embarrassed? Maybe.
But am I obligated to put this on my Goodreads? Yes. I give the people what they want.

My biggest concern with this book was the amount of times essential oils were referenced.