Climbing The Mountain

by Sam Parker

My MA used to say 'when life throws a wrench at you, and you just gotta learn to dodge it.'
Ive been called NHLs hearthrob Oliver 'The Mountain' Boone since my rookie days.
Retirement is on the horizon and its time to think of my future after hockey.

Enter my new friend Tabitha. She’s smart, beautiful, has a firecracker personality.
She’s perfect.
I know what you're thinking and no.
We’re just friends.
After someone breaks into her house I do what any good friend would and have her stay with me..
We’re just friends after all...right? I can’t think about how attractive she is or the way her mismatched eyes can make me bend over backwards.
It isn’t long before the headlines go from my upcoming retirement to my love life.
Paparazzi and crazy fans were one thing to worry about. But now an old rival has come back and this time he’s taking the fight off the ice when he threatens to hurt those close to me.
Things between Tabitha and I finally start to heat up… and ok…. Maybe we aren’t just friends after all..
but remember that wrench I mentioned? The whole toolbox of them just got thrown our way.

Genres: Hockey

530 pages, Paperback, ebook

First published June 7, 2024

Reviews

[Natalie Eblin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only finished it because I bought a physical copy. Spelling errors throughout. Character development wasn’t there. Plot lines seemed to just come out of nowhere and wasn’t cohesive. Too many tropes just thrown in.

[Rachel P]

Received an ARC and was excited to give this a read because it's not one of my main genres. There were a few grammatical quirks, but they didn't stop this from being a cozy read you can enjoy in one day. The characters were likeable and had fun banter.

If you like a spicy sports story, consider giving this one a go. It's a little slow burn, but it pays off.

There are some trigger warnings, so of course pay attention to those, but I think the author handled them well and nothing is too extreme or gratuitous.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was not what I was expecting, in the best way! I've read a lot of hockey romance but this one had a twist to it that kept me hooked.

There were a few grammatical hiccups but this didn't keep me from enjoying the story and loving
The characters. The main characters had personalities that drew you in, but the supporting characters kept me coming back.

There were a few scenes I wish would have been a little more developed; they are just so good I wanted more of them.

Definitely check out the warning list before reading. The author touches on several difficult topics.

[Holly Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

God Damn

Reading the fucking book, that is all.

[Bishops books 📚 · Rating 1 out of 5]

The back of this book stated that it is a spicy friends to lovers romance. I’ll start off by asking, where?
They started off as strangers.
The FMC and her friends go to a hockey game where none of them are sat together, she gets into a fight with a drunk jerk next to her and catches the attention of the MMC who, big shocker, is in the penalty box for fighting.
A few days later he ends up at the bar she works at and eventually gets her number.
She’s at home and freshly out of the shower when she realizes someone is in her house she tries to call 911 and the call fails so she accidentally calls him and he rushes over to her house.
How did he have her address when he had just met her and never been there? Hmm. 🤔
He has her stay at his place after the break in and next thing you know she lives with him.
This is after a SECOND BREAK IN where her roommate is attacked.
This book was also heavily against God.
During their first time she says, “oh God” and he says “There is no God here just me.” 🤮
There are multiple instances where they both talk like this saying things like, “praying to the sky daddy I don’t believe in.” Once again, 🤢🤮🤮
The FMC gets threatened, punched, kicked, choked unconscious, and by the end of the book she is 5mo pregnant and has a crazy man from her past holding a knife to her belly asking her how her partner will feel about coming home to her freshly f*cked and cut open.
Oh and the guy who is threatening to do this is her abusive ex foster brother who BRANDED her p*ssy and inner thigh when she was 17 years old with the word MINE.
So again I ask, Where is this a spicy friends to lovers romance??
Dark romance, maybe. MORBID, absolutely.
In closing, the book is FILLED with grammatical errors and the acknowledgement at the end of the book starts off as the Author thanking her friends because without them the book would not be grammatically correct. 🧐🤨

[Felicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up. While I enjoyed the overall story, I had a hard time getting through it. The story itself was interesting but it wasn't developed enough and there were a lot of continuity errors. There were issues with the spelling of names for example, when giving someone a unique spelling of the name Joch, make sure it is spelled that way throughout or the running joke of "hello Joch with a C" doesn't work. This also happens with Marissa becoming Melissa. There are also issues grammatically because of sentence structure and sentences being too choppy. There is an instance where two full sentences are repeated from page 5 and I think page 52, "forgiveness is bullshit. Not everyone deserves to be forgiven." Using these two sentences twice in a short span seems sloppy. I think that with an editor and revisiting this story again, there is a good story underneath but the grammar was a lot for me and the characters as well as the overall story weren't developed enough.

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[PaperbackMagic · Rating 3 out of 5]

NHL heartthrob Oliver "The Mountain" Boone faces retirement and a new future. Enter Tabitha, his smart and fiery new friend. When her house is broken into, Oliver offers her a place to stay after she insists that they're just friends. But as headlines shift from his retirement to his love life and an old rival threatens those close to him, Oliver realizes their bond runs deeper. As sparks fly, Oliver and Tabitha must navigate paparazzi, fans, and escalating threats, proving they’re more than just friends amidst the chaos.

I loved Tabitha and Oliver as characters. And their friendship turned romance was so cute.

But what I didn't expect was for this book to be so dark. So, definitely keep that in mind (and check the trigger warnings below!).

Other than that, the spice was there, the story moved forward nicely, and we had a cute HEA at the end.

Tropes:
-hockey romance
-who did this to you
-touch her and die
-surprise pregnancy

Trigger warnings:
-past trauma/abuse
-physical assault
-mental abuse
-stalking

[Chasity7474📚❤️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!! Tabitha has that moment we all dream of when the hot hockey player is in the penalty box and they make eye contact. She has unforgettable mismatched eyes and Boone was entranced. When they run into each other again we get the cute banter and the sweet flirting that makes you smile. They have some time to decide how they want to proceed and the tension is chef’s kiss. We have the best friend group and they are fantastic with their commentary. You also get the alpha male “wear my jersey” moments along with on ice hockey chatter that had me laughing out loud. “Cubs your mom really should have done us all a favor and swallowed you!” Still laughing at that one! What’s different about this book is the side stories. There is suspense and things from the past come back around and makes for such an interesting read. The last couple chapters had me on the edge of my seat. There is a happy ending and a sweet epilogue.

[Dani Renae · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am typically not into spicy books, but I absolutely loved Climbing The Mountain! Tabitha and Boone are so adorable and I didn't want their story to end. So many of the characters are loveable, and the overall story was perfect. There were a few errors throughout the book, but truthfully I was able to look past them very easily because the plot was great! I would also like to add that I appreciate the trigger warnings listed at the beginning of the book.

Thank you so much to the author for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Payton Sheffield · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it! I’m so happy I saw this on a random tik tok because this book was amazing. I loved getting to read the natural progression of Oliver (Boone) and Tabitha’s relationship as it grew to having a deeper connection. Also the bromance between the boys on the team made me feel like it was an adult version of Elle Kennedy’s Off Campus series and that is what I always want my male characters to have with their friends! I’m excited to see what books are next and who ends up with who!

[Alicia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was terrible. So glad I read it on KU and didn’t pay for it. There were spelling and grammatical errors throughout the entire book. The formatting was TERRIBLE. The plot seemed all over the place and there was absolutely zero character development.
If you asked me the tropes of this book, I wouldn’t be able to give them to you.
10/10 DO NOT recommend and wish I was able to get back the time I spent reading this.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m obsessed with this book. I loved the story line and all the characters. I was definitely rooting for the main characters from the beginning. The twists and turns made you stay on your toes. You knew things were coming but not how they were going to happen. Love a good story and can’t wait for the next story with these characters!!

[Kayla Maree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun read!
I was lucky enough to be an Alpha reader and watch the story come to life! It was worth the ride!
If you are wanting a book that hooks you and has you wanting more this is the one!

[Samantha Massic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this hockey romance! I loved watching their relationship develop, suspenseful moments throughout the book and spicy scenes!

[Angie Ready · Rating 5 out of 5]

Legit read this book in 2 days! I couldn’t put it down… i loved Tabitha and Boones story.. i loved all of the characters and just couldn’t put this book down. I can’t wait to read Joch’s story!!!!!

[Heather Mylek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read on KU. Enjoyed book! It kept me engaged and enjoyed the plot! Really got into Tabitha and boones characters! It had some grammar errors but overall was a good book! I recommend reading

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was so hard to get through. There were so many grammatical errors, words with spaces in the middle of them constantly, one person's dialogue just bleeds into the next making it some times hard to follow who was saying what, miss spelling of character names (let's not even start with the ridiculous way of spelling Joch's name), and continuity errors. There is a subplot of the MMC's brother having cancer that you never get a resolution on. 75% through the book all of sudden, the FMC states that the name she has been going by the WHOLE book isn't actually her name, but then it is never talked about again. This book had the potential to be good. Unfortunately, the author tried to put WAY too much into a less then 300 page book. I was doing this book as a buddy read with my sister, which is the only reason I finished it. I thought about DNFing it MULTIPLE times. Unfortunately I would not recommend this book.