Being a “puck bunny” isn’t a term I enjoy, but it’s what they call me. And I’m okay with that, as long as my nights with hockey players provide me with a taste of true love, something I’m not sure I’ll ever find. Where I grew up, there was no happily ever after. But I’ve got a body that lets me play pretend every once in a while.
My first night with Barrett transformed me. He cracked the strong facade I worked so hard to build. It was blissful and heartbreaking. I planned on never seeing him again until our one-night changed my life. But when I tried to contact him, when I needed him most, he was callous and cruel. He made it clear he never wanted to hear from me again.
Barrett
She was it. Then she snuck out and never left her number. Every bar, every game, everywhere I went I looked for her. It was as if she was the missing piece I didn’t even know I’d been looking for. She was empathetic, funny, and smart—and nobody has been able to live up to my Raleigh or make me feel the way she did. I vow that if we ever cross paths again, I’m not letting her out of my sight.
Five years later that day finally comes. After a spontaneous meet and greet with a new Minnesota Lakes sponsor and there she is, more beautiful than ever. And this time, she has a four-year-old son.
This 18+ spicy hockey romance features a plus-size FMC, dirty talk, praise, angst, secret/surprise love child, single mom, enemies-to-lovers, koalas with chlamydia, and of course, a happily ever after.
Pregnancy, childbirth complications, post-partum depression, bullying, slut-shaming, sexual harassment, and explicit sex scenes.
Sloane St. James began writing in 2022, it combines two of her favorite things, books and getting plowed. She enjoys writing strong, witty females and the dirty-talking men that love them--with a little suspense tossed in wherever she can. As an avid hockey fan, her Lakes Hockey series was a natural place to start and debuted in March 2023.
When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and, of course, reading romance.
He loved her so much, but he still slept with ow. She slept with om too, even though her friend said she'd been celibate too long, she says she was with others, but she hated him because of the rejection she got from the wannabe other woman and ???? But still, I like my main characters to only be with each other. She was a puck bunny to start with. And when she saw a pregnant lady with her husband she was like oh I slept with him years ago or something like that just gross. This just didn't work for me. The sex scenes were not romantic just pornographic. Dirty talking smutness is not for me. I am officially too old for these types of stories. I am not sure I thought it was a romance really. I mean he was obsessed but love? I didn't get it. But this is just me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This is my favorite book so far. The first 10% had me really worried because I didn’t know this was secret baby and I loathe that trope. I was on the verge of DNF.. I know!!! Thankfully this author resolves things quickly so I got over it fast and then came the dating, quality time, wine n dining and groveling on BOTH parts. My rating should tell you enough. I hate secret baby and it still gets a 4 star because the rest was SO GOOD.
Anyway they have a one night stand, she ditches him in the morning without exchanging numbers and couple weeks go by she ends up pregnant. She tries to contact him but gets his social media manager (unbeknownst to her) who tells her to stay away from him. Little does she knows that he’s been searching high and low for her. Then 5 whole years go by…
This was so fucking good!! I absolutely loved watching how much he was ready to devote all of his time getting to know his son and be a dad but also following his gut and perusing the mother of his child after searching for her for years. God they were so HOT together, that scene In front of the mirror lives RENT FREE.
This books is probably the best written in the series so far and the story with the most authentic connection I felt. I’m enjoying seeing how this author is improving with each book. I had real heart & kewchie butterflies so I call that a win!
I can’t wait to get to the next book especially if it’s for who I think it is OMG.
Should have guessed this would not be my cup of tea, but I wanted to try 😩 I am choosing to ignore that this book is part of this series - I love books 1 and 2.
I fully skimmed the 2nd half I did not enjoy the story The rating hurts me more than you, trust me 🥲 ---------- I never thought I'd be looking forward to a book where the female main character is a self-proclaimed “puck bunny”.
What is Sloane putting in these books?!?! I truly can’t get enough of this series. I don’t typically love the accidental pregnancy trope… but wow she really outdid herself with this one.
This is book 3 in the Lakes Hockey Series following Barrett & Raleigh who meet at the bar one night & end up hooking up. Weeks later, Raleigh finds out she’s pregnant & telling Barrett seems to be more difficult than she imagined. Fast Forward five years & Barrett is stunned to see Raleigh again after one of his hockey games. She was always the one that got away. Imagine the shock he felt to see her again but with a child who he realizes very quickly looks just like him…
Barrett? Good lord that man has a mouth on him 🥵 The man can do no wrong in my eyes. He was perfect & the way he handled their situation was amazing. I loved how he always hyped Raleigh up & made her feel more confident & beautiful when she needed it most. I really admire Raleigh for how she stepped up to the plate & did the single mom thing & completely owned it! I’m so glad these two found their way back to each other & created the perfect little family 🥹
I never want this series to end. Like EVER. Each book has the perfect plot to spice ratio! Thank you Sloane for sending me an ARC & allowing me to review early. I can’t wait to see what else is to come!
Tropes: - Sports Romance - Age Gap - One Night Stand - Accidental Pregnancy/Secret Baby - Second Chance - Curvy FMC
This one missed for me on so many levels. I just can’t get on board with instalove, the miscommunication was unbelievable (like who only tries Instagram?) and there was a major plot hole with the DMs. I still don’t understand how it could have been only her mother when clearly Julia answered the phone and responded on the original IG messages on the official account? Did we just forget that?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Tropes: - Age Gap - Sports Romance🏒 - Secret Baby - He Falls First - Second Chance - Primal and Breeding
✨ARC REVIEW✨
First, I wanted to thank Sloane for this ARC, I am so grateful to have the opportunity to read this book and I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE. I love this series & so happy I came across Sloane St. James. She is a new auto read/buy author for me. I fell in love with her writing in Before We Came & been hooked since.
In The Game is the third book in the Lakes Hockey series following Barrett & Raleigh. We met Barrett in the first two books and when I found out his book was next, I WAS SO EXCITED. Barrett is the star right winger of the Lakes hockey team. Raleigh was a hockey player at one point and now a model & puck bunny. After one night with Barrett, everything changes.
I normally don’t enjoy the accidental pregnancy trope but LET ME TELL YOU… Sloane KILLED this trope. She kept me wanting more and more. I had a hard time putting this down. After that first night, Barrett is a man obsessed, but he can’t find Raleigh anywhere. 5 years later, they run into each other again, and from that point on, he will never let her (and his son) go again.
The relationship & chemistry between Barrett and his son is EVERYTHING. I fell in love with him. This whole series so far is a 5 star for me. I will always recommend this series! If you have not read this series yet, PLEASE DO. You won’t be disappointed. I am so happy I came across Sloane St. James writing.
Wow, Sloane St. James absolutely nailed this book! It’s so freaking good. I loved Barrett and Raleigh’s story, it completely hooked me from page one. This hockey romance has it all, primal/breeding, secret baby, he falls first, dirty talking MMC, single mom and second chance. If you’re looking for an amazing hockey book this is it!!
— vibezz 🐻 age gap [33/38H 22/27h] 🐨 accidental pregnancy 🐻 ons where it all went wrong 🐨 he falls first and harder 🐻 second chance
mini blurb — ✍🏻 In Raleigh's what was missing was love and affection, she looked for those feeling any way she could, and tried to not get attached to faces and people for fear of disappointment. That until all that could go wrong one night turned out to be one of the best and worst moment of her life, where she gained the love of her life and experienced the loss that broke her heart. Five years later can she allow her heart to hope for some happiness?
//
I knew I'd love this book I KNEW IT
With all honesty I was little skeptical with the premise but that evaporated quickly within 2 chapters into this book.
I fell in love with them, I fell in love with everything in this book, the story was amazing, angsty and full of happy moments 🥹 Barrett made me cry with all his cute moments with Arthur, his acts of service and let me tell you this man can grovel like a champ 💚 once his mind was set he stopped at nothing until he had what he wanted. Raleigh, girl, I cannot find a flaw in anything she did. She was a force of nature, amazing mom, intelligent woman, witty, gorgeous, brilliant, if I keep going I'm gonna quote lady gaga here bc she deserve nothing if not more.
read, this book. I still have heart eyes as I'm writing this review 🥹🩷
self note: read a spoiler review where it said that the H loved the h but slept with OW. same goes for the h. she slept with OM but her friend said that she's been celibate a long time. idk wtf that's supposed to mean then lolz. also the h is a homewrecker (there's a scene where she sees a married man and remembers that she slept with him. this is thought/said without remorse). not for me.
3.75/5 just felt really surface level for some reason. STILL finished it and enjoyed it, I just wish there were deeper conversations. He almost made it too easy for her with being SO open and ready (which was AMAZING) but idk… I needed a bit more growing tension between them
in the game is book 3 in the series (can be read as a stand-alone) and follows raleigh & barrett after a one night stand and an insane connection. and maybe an accidental baby. but raleigh has no way of reaching the hotshot hockey player.
this book was a ride. barrett falls first and sooooo hard. the groveling? the acts of service? the trip to hawaii???? I was swooning the whole time. raleigh is a bad ass single working mom and I loved her son (and his obsession with koalas).
I kinda wish there was a bit more going on in the third act. I felt like there was a little something missing for me to hit 5 stars. But I really did have a fun time reading this!
thank you sm to Sloane for an arc! this book comes out next week on 10/16!!
read if you like ✨ hockey romance ✨ secret baby ✨ age gap ✨ curvy fmc ✨ primal play ✨ he falls first and so hard
This was my first Sloane St James book and I absolutely loved it! This is a ONS/secret baby/second chance story that will warm you down to your toes, while leaving you hot in your seat, lol. Great storyline, wonderful characters, and solid "reasons" for the secret part. Loved our cinnamon roll hero who has been pining for this girl and was all in at first and second glance. Loved how possessive and growly he was, all while being sweet and considerate. Our FMC is one strong lady, but she does have emotional trauma to get past before she can move toward the HEA he wants to give her. FLOVED that there was no third act break up! Highly recommend and I can't wait to delve into more of Ms St James books!
4.75⭐️ | 4.5🌶 I DEVOURED THIS! oh my soul, this was perfect!. the connection, the spice, the pining, the "it's always been you," i was here for every single second. the nicknames! I'm screaming. barrett's agent, julia and darlene irritated me though. beyond. but I loved everything about this book. Arthur was just the sweetest, most curious kid. I wanted to hug Heather. I need similar book recs immediately.
Some Primal play Secret baby Age gap 11 years (22 & 33) One night stand Actual good plot & Spice Breeding K!nk Second Chance "MINE"
You know it's a damn good book when you're like, "I feel like it's a 5-star book, and you're like 1/3 of a book". Listen, I know most or a few of us are not fans of the secret baby trope. Totally understand, I am neither really here or there for it, but this OH MY GOD! I had so many emotions throughout this book OH EM GEE!!!
BEAR! I love him. HE IS BIG I can climb him like a tree 6"7 GURRRRRL?!!! stop. Ok I lost the plot of the review. Anyways. She is always looking for a good time with hockey players to feel the euphoria ("you do you girl, good for you"!!!), then Raleigh meets the one and only Barett! After that night and being called "bunny" it scared the hell out her she YEETED and DELETED herself out of there. You know what happens next.
I totally loved this book, guys. Our big heart has a big heart and big redacted* I adored this book. Despite the miscommunication (which I am not a fan of, but I know we all hate it), I could get past it because the mountains of obstacles and emotions that these characters have been through are all worth it. IN THE END, they get their HEA! That is all I care about, tbh, and that's my honest review. I loved it! I am excited to read the last book. I love this series!!!
I regret reading this because I really liked the other WAGS and I know they’ve already had their own books bc this was like book 4 from a stand alone series and now I have to go back in time to get their stories 😭
Either way it was really good. But very much instalove and secret baby, which I know are touchy tropes for some people.
I did not round up to a 5 because of the ending of the book. I did not like the resolution to the main conflict. I don’t want to give too much details as it will be a huge spoiler, but it should’ve just stuck with the original story.
I also wish Barrett’s mom was more involved towards the end of their story, it was like we got that one emotional part with her and then that was it.
Man this book made me emotional being a mom. So good. Barrett is so sweet and I really loved Raleigh. Their story is insane and I’m so glad it ended happily
From missing the first 5 years of his son’s life to taking on everything without hesitation. God. I LOVE him and his filthy mouth. ‘Runaway Raleigh’.
“This is mine.” Warmth sweeps over me when he smiles, but when he gives me those words, it’s like I can’t breathe. “Yours?” My voice is shaky. I swallow and shut my eyes. “Yeah, you taste exactly—” His tongue flattens against me and he licks again. “Like mine.”
นอกจากนั้นมันยังเป็นเล่มที่รู้สึกถึงความรักของตัวละครมากๆ โดยเฉพาะฝั่งพระเอก เป็นพระเอกที่แสนดี ดีเลิศเกินมนุษย์มนา อภิชาตผัวตัวพ่อ คนเขียนแสดงความรักความใส่ใจของพระเอกผ่าน gesture มากมายตลอดทั้งเรื่อง มีทั้งความใส่ใจเล็กๆ อย่างรู้ว่าลูกชอบโคอาล่า��็ไปศึกษาหาความรู้เรื่องโคอาล่าไว้มาคุยกับลูก ไปจนถึง gesture ยิ่งใหญ่แบบ เป็นพระเอกที่สุดจะ considerate ซึ่งการเห็นนางเอกลำบากลำบนมานานแล้วได้มาเจอพระเอกดีๆ อย่างนี้มันก็ทำให้พลอยยินดีไปกับนางเอกแหละ คือเป็นพระเอกนางเอกแบบ I know you can take care of yourself but now let me take care of you อ้ะ อ่านแล้วมันอุ๋งอิ๋งในใจ น้อง Arthur ลูกพระเอกนางเอกก็สุดจะน่ารักน่าเอ็นดู
i cannot find it in me to care how this story ends because frankly, it's the most predictable thing ever. the smut is so cringey along with the nickname "Bear" for the mmc, and his possessive side makes me super uncomfortable. i gotta give it to raleigh though – good for her to have her mans and kid, but this is no bueno for me.
Raleigh has always embraced being a "Puck Bunny", the guys are bigger man wh0re's anyway! Raleigh's first night with hot Hockey player Barret changed everything, and they never got each others contact information, causing a case of terrible miscommunication that leaves Raleigh trying to find her sweet Bear, only to be met with a callous and cruel man on the other side of the Instagram handle. Barrett has been looking for Raleigh everywhere, every bar, every event, social media, you name it, he's tried it and pined for her. Fast forward 5 years, and a chance encounter brings them together again, only Raleigh isn't alone.
"But as soon as I slid inside you, it was like a switch flipped in my brain. Like, that was it. My vision was perfectly clear, and you were all I wanted. My heart was at peace. My soul was on fire. Life seemed brighter and more optimistic. It felt like we were... I don't know, like we had already known each other, and I knew it would always feel like that when we were together. I knew you were someone important I didn't want to let go of."
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
OK real talk, this was my favorite of the series! Raleigh and Barret have a hot one night stand that leaves Raleigh pregnant and no way to contact Barrett. She messages is Instagram, tries the hockey arena, everything short of showing up to a game with her pregnant belly on display. But when Barret finally does message her back from his "private" Instagram account, telling her to stop contacting him or there will be legal repercussions, horrific name calling, Raleigh decides she doesn't need this ass in her life and delivers and raises their son alone for 5 years. When Barrett sees her again, he is so happy, he's been looking for her all along, and he recognizes Aurthur as his son almost immediately. Normally I get annoyed by the miscommunication trope, but I feel as if this one didn't count as there were outside forces sabotaging them. I adored all the references to "Bear", I just found it to be such a sexy nickname for this big bear of a man that will do anything to be in his son's life, even if that means never revealing that he is the father. And as usual, all the men on this hockey team are exceptional dirty talkers!
These books just become more and more addicting each one I read in the series. I absolutely adored this second chance, secret baby romance book, in the Lakes Hockey interconnected standalone series by Sloane St James. Barrett Conway could be my baby daddy any day.
It was spicy, filled with Sloane's signature banter and full of emotional scenes. I flew through this book and cannot wait to read the next one.
I was lucky enough to be given an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. And honestly I loved this whole series so much! But THIS was hands down my favorite book of the series! The story drug me in and I just couldn’t put it down! This book can be read as a stand alone or in the series and I would suggest reading the first two for sure! The smutt was smutty and that’s all I’m gonna say about that! I swear I love a lost love troupe! The rage I felt was real and the swooning I did was also real 😂 Each book in this series I’m like nope 👎 don’t forgive him girl! And then 2 chapters later, I’m right back in head first fighting for their love story to workout! To Bear and Ral, I hope you “happily ever after” 😘 I can’t wait for the next book in this series!
When I saw “surprise baby” trope, I honestly wasn’t too excited but I’ve loved the rest of the series so thought I’d give it a crack. I was very pleasantly surprised!
It was a rollercoaster of emotions. Super funny, very real at times, spicy and the ending was cute as hell.
UPDATED REVIEW FOR ALC: BLESS MY AIRPODS, Aiden Snow & Kasha Kensington are DELICIOUS as Barrett & Raleigh! This one is of my favorite duos for audio, & they absolutely deliver!! The emotions, the angst, the chemistry, ugh it's done so well! I already was obsessed with this book & characters, but BLESS! This audio has taken my obsession to the next level & I just love it even more!
HOLY BABY DADDY BARRETT🥵🔥
I have been anxiously waiting for Barrett & Raleigh’s book since their hookup & Barrett’s desire to find her was mentioned in book 1!! I love for a book to take me on a rollercoaster ride of emotions so I can feel them ALL & this one did not disappoint! I felt all them along with Barrett & Raleigh🥺
Barrett & Raleigh are the epitome of the miscommunication & second chance tropes! From their one night together that was a mutual instant connection & wanting of more, to then years apart with Barrett pining for Raleigh & Raleigh angry with him. A chance encounter brings them back together for a journey of healing, reconnection, love, & family! I mean, Barrett nicknames their son MINI BEAR 🐻 for crying out loud! I’m having a serious case of “baby rabies” & swooning over here!🥹
Raleigh is also super relatable as a woman who has gone through so many body changes since having children. Her learning to love her body for what it’s done & accomplished was a beautiful message!! Own it mamas!!👏🏼
I’m a sucker a dad, & Barrett is top tier. TOP MF’in TIER!! His stepping in & wanting to do all the things, his protectiveness of them, ugh it was just so good! His possessiveness was also HOT! Barrett sir is SPICY🔥🔥🔥🔥 he & Raleigh’s chemistry is INSANE from the beginning!
PS: THE TWIST?! MY JAW WAS ON THE FLOOR!!🤯🤬
If you’re still reading this, cheers to you! I’m obviously obsessing over here 😮💨❤️
i'm only keeping this rating at a four stars because of barrett (and arthur). honestly, their relationship was so sweet, and barrett was so amazing as a father, and i felt so much for him when he found out he had a son
raleigh annoyed the piss out of me for most of the book. her pain was understandable in the beginning but when she found out the truth, but still kept distance between barrett and arthur, saying she didn't trust him not hurt arthur (or her), i was like, girl fucking please. you can't blame the man for rejecting and abandoning y'all when one, it wasn't him who sent the nasty messages, and two, he didn't know you were pregnant
and don't even get me started on the twist at the end. like things were good, but drama for the sake of drama is so fucking aggravating. at least it wasn't dragged out, i guess...