The Puck Chase

Fairfield U #3

by G.N. Wright

Hockey is my life. It’s my only goal, my only escape, and everything was going according to plan. All I had to do was focus on the game, keep my head down, then get drafted into the NHL.

Starting my senior year at FU everything was as perfect as always, but sometimes just because you play on the same team, doesn’t mean you can play nice. And it turns out I enjoy taunting a certain teammate just as much as I enjoy being on the ice.

Daemon Forbes loathes me, but I love nothing more than fanning the flames of that hatred into an inferno.

Yet lately it seems that fire is burning even hotter than ever, and what I thought was a fun little game, is turning into something else entirely. It doesn’t matter that he hates me, it doesn’t even matter that we are teammates. No, it seems we were doomed the night we met and he found me occupied in his bedroom.

I know he has a dark past, and I know my sights should be on the ice and the life I want, but burning with him feels better than anything else.

But what do I do when the shadows that surround him threaten to consume me whole?

Genres: M M Romance, Hockey, Enemies To Lovers, Sports Romance, Sports, Romance, Hockey Romance

445 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 10, 2025

About the author

G.N. Wright is an indie author of dark and contemporary romance with feisty females and all the alpha males.

When not writing she can be found reading, listening to music or spending time with her family.

Keep up with G.N. Wright…

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/GN-Wright-10...

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https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMemLutTw/

Reviews

[megan ◡̈]

HAPPY PUB DAY TO MY FAVORITE BOYS EVER

OH ARCHER DAEMON MY LOVES 😭

its absoutely insane to me how these books just get better and better as the series progresses!!! i have been side eyeing these two from the beginning just needing them to be a thing and the actuality of them is EVERYTHING 😭

this was an infinite star read for me, i have been thinking about them non stop since i finished and will be immediately diving into an audiobook version of them as soon as i possibly can. i DEVOURED this book while also chastising myself to take it slow and dont rush through their story. i foam at the mouth for archer daemon.

there are so many levels to just how good this book is, we have the obvious found family that can be seen coming together through all three stories and we were finally able to fold sweet daemon into everyones love filled craziness. theres the unlikely friendship between daemon and arch’s little sister, arch’s family bringing him in so easily, we have daemon and josh’s BEAUTIFUL bestieship that broke my heart and mended it back together (in a good way). every beautiful thing in this book circles back to making sure one broken hearted & spirited boy knew just how much everyone loves and cares for him 😭💜

these sweet guys have been three long years in the making and i am so so excited for everyone else to have them in their hands finally!!

love them or else i will find you 🤺🤺

if you need me ill be day dreaming of a life where these two are real & they want a third BYE 🤪

PLEASE take care of yourself and check the CW/TW of this book as there are a TON of heavy topics in here.
~~~~~~~~
UPDATE ITS IN MY KINDLE DO I CRY NOW OR LATER IDK LITERALLY GOT THE ZOOMIES RN GNAWING AT THE GATES OF MY ENCLOSURE IM SO EXCITED AHHHHHHHH
~~~~~~~~
i need this book like i need oxygen

[SaintDelicate _Edits]

I’m trying to be understanding to the fact that this book is part 3 of a series with MF couple pairings that I don’t want to check out since I only came here for the pairing. So this is not a complaint to the author BUT ugh, it is SO exhausting reading about all these many MF couples. Being told of their backgrounds & everything in between. I’ve never appreciated Rina Kent more than I do now, god of fury was book5 & didn’t exhaust us with lengthened details of MF pairings. So much respect for RK, I can’t imagine it was easy, including everyone but not exhausting strict MM readers with backstories and drama and giggles and candy and everything. I’m so tempted to to DNF this but I don’t want to because I actually like number 47 and the golden retriever.

Ok I’m done with the book and here’s what happened.

One MC1 walked in on MC2 during a hookup and joined after explicit consent from both MC2 and the girl. Ok cool. Then we got to see MC2 actually hookup with these two best friends that were heavily featured in the first few chapters but somehow disappeared after they tried to sabotage another MF relationship that was also heavily featured in this book? Then we got to see all these many and I mean many many couples fall in love, and break up and make up or crush on each other and date? Ok what for? Then we got to see the other MC’s sister almost get graped? Why, there’s already so much going on with the plot for this specific book!!!

The entire time I was reading this after 44% it truly felt like I was getting a long winded pitch to read the other books. The author did not care about Archer or Daemon. It was all about their friends and their friend’s relationship. There was so much I wanted to know about Daemon, like what his relationship and feelings really were about his dad and Jasper. Instead, Daemon was too invested in his friend’s sex lives to think about these big problems we were told he had. Like the touching thing? I’m sorry, I know I was told about that but I’m afraid I don’t believe it. I’m not convinced. Not after it his revulsion to that was shown once? And hurriedly over so we could talk more about their friends and friends GF’s.

This book had SO much potential but I certainly do not recommend it to anyone used to reading mm or somebody that exclusively reads mmromance. This book is not for us, it was all MF pretty much with a sprinkle of Archer and Daemon here and there. So disappointing.

[Dani]

Re-read - 4.5

Well, I'm finally reading this whole series in order, and I can safely say that I still loved Daemon and Archer the second time around, maybe even more after seeing them in the other two books.

I loved how Archer is so protective of Daemon and determined to make him happy. I loved how relentless Archer was in his pursuit of Daemon. I loved the vulnerability between them and the push and pull. I just loved their whole relationship! Their obsession with each other was really fun to read.

The only reason this isn't a solid 5 now that I love the characters even more is the amount of repetition in this book. So much of books one and two is recapped here from a different POV, but it did feel like a lot of pages were taken up with stuff I'd already read, and honestly I just wanted more of Daemon and Archer and for the focus to be entirely on them.

I loved Archer's family and how they immediately loved Daemon. I loved Aurora and her friendship with Daemon. I can't wait to read Aurora's book now too - I originally suspected the RH/poly thing, and I'm glad to see that's the case.

I also completely skipped the random chapter from Jasper's POV this time around and I felt like the story read better without it. I haven't read the biker series and I don't have any intention of going back to it (I mean it this time, unless it somehow ties in more strongly to The Fast Miles series 😂😂)

Definitely looking forward to Alexander's book now though, and the MFMM for Aurora and her guys, but I'm already rolling my eyes at 600 pages!!! Give me 600 pages of Archer and Daemon and I would eat that up, but 600 pages of jealousy and I'm guessing a lot of MF sex scenes... sigh....

***Original Review***

Exactly the kind of OTT dramatics that I love, but there were a few things that really bugged me, so I can't give this thoroughly entertaining and pretty crazy book a higher rating.

If you're expecting there to be any actual hockey content in this book, you will be sorely disappointed. The closest we get is love interests wearing players jerseys, the players themselves in the changing room, and a handful of very short scenes where they're on the ice but not actually playing!

I didn't see the point of the random chapter where the POV switches to the MC's brother.... It felt jarring and unnecessary to include it, especially when the next chapter delivers the news to the MC anyway. It felt weird and took me out of the story.

Other than that, this was the exact kind of chaos that I thrive on in my reading. Archer and Daemon were hilarious to me most of the time, but I truly did enjoy them together. I also really liked the side character's and that we got a good amount of even more insanity with their stories blended in with this one - the rest of the books are MF and that's not really my cup of tea, but I did like seeing the glimpses of other relationships developing, even though at times it felt like there was absolutely no way that any of these events could actually be happening.

I am super curious about Archer's sister, stepbrother and their two friends...it felt strongly hinted at that Everest feels more than brotherly love towards Aurora, and is extremely possessive over her, yet his two friends also act that way towards her too. I'm interested to know if they'll end up in an RH story.

[Holly A]

90% straight couple drama, 10% the actual main couple

[Chelsey]

If there was an option for infinity stars, this book would easily deserve it. I was not prepared for the emotional side of Daemon and everything he went through, Archer really brought the lightness that he needed 🥹

I love these two so much and I know this story is going to stick with me for a long time.

[kaye taz]

6 ⭐️
spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
format: ebook

no. fucking. words.

the way this author has me wanting to go read the other books of this series—mf books mind you—and then reread this one is fucking insane. i’m not going to do that. probably. no way. maybe. we’ll see.

I LOVE THEM. in a really weird way, this gave god of fury with hockey. but NOT tempting venom. tempting venom wishes it could be this book.

does this make sense? this doesn’t make sense. i’m mad i didn’t highlight more but i was absolutely losing my mind for all 445 pages. i will make a priority of highlighting when i definitely reread this (probably without reading the mf books. hopefully. we’ll see).

[Hossein Dgr]

So, i wish i could give this a 3.5/5 cause 3 is too low, so fuck it; 4 starts it is. (Edit: ig i lied, after stewing a bit more, 3 is too much wish i could give it a 2.5)

This whole review is unedited and I'm not a native speaker, expect mistakes, misplaced words or missing words (even excess words) and unusual phrases.



The story on its own is good. Not a big plot or big climax or anything, just an enjoyable couple being a couple.


Compared to authors other MM book (which started as MMM), this one is a huge improvement. The other one was one of the worst reads of 2024 for me. The writing is better, the characters are written better, the pacing is more consistent and best of all, the couple at least has decent chemistry.

But there were things that made me lower my rating to 3.5, gonna tell you all about them.

1. The book heavily includes MF couples from previous books, with full details. I usually don't mind this but here, it is overwhelming. They are present in almost every scene and author is trying to sell us their relationship to check their books as well. I'm a strict MM and MMF reader, and honestly i didn't appreciate that. They were taking way too much attention from the main couple.

The book is literally this long cause the MF pairings are so damn present.


2. The dynamics were really one note. They were made to be vers, their whole emotional dynamic and chemistry screams versatile, and this is coming from someone who prefers strict dynamics in the bedroom. The author had so many opportunities tomake it happen, yet she stuck with daemon being the top and archer being the bottom.

It's not even believable to write a bi awakening, only for them to take the bottom role... strictly, like believe me, dick is amazing and all but damn, not even topping once? The closest we came to daemon's ass was in an one liner after he told archer about his dad, then they had sex (coming from a bi man, the same as both of our MMCs). Archer casually rimmed him for the length of a sentence. That scene should've been daemon's first timr bottoming, fully vulnerable after trusting archer to take care of him.


The dynamics could've been explored further, should've been explored further, but author for some reason didn't do that. This also happened in her other MM book and it also irked me there as well.


3. The whole ending with daemon's dad and jasper was really sudden, out of nowhere and underdeveloped. The ending was rushed. It took me less than 5 minutes to read about jaspser sneaking into the prison, killing the dad, then coming out unscathed. Like what?


4. I hate it when they make me defend characters that I'm not fond of. But jasper deserved to be heard, and archer kept interrupting. Look, i love that he's protective, but time and place. There's a reason he is trying to reach D that desperately after he literally told him their father was up for parole and hearing. It made me like archer less.


5. I was absolutely unamused with the whole harem teasing for aurora and her band of twinks.
I couldn't care less about straight people in my books. And the author kept giving me MF like "come on, here's more hetero romance for you, just try it,".. NO! Leave me the fuck alone. And i absolutely know the book is gonna be MFMM with no MM, and even if it has MM, it's gonna be all about making aurora horny. Big pass. Big big pass.


Other than that when they were alone on their and not humping each other, it was a good romance. Could've been better, like a lot better.

[goesbyaf ୨୧⋆ ˚｡⋆]

GUYS IM FREEE

After reading the puck secret and falling in-love with Archer as a side character and wanting his story NOW. I immediately checked this book and lucky me it was released earlier this month. unlike me it wasn't as good as I expected.

Okay so we have Archer, who has this golden retriever energy, he is such a cutie patootie who jokes around with everyone, with a loving family and basically never takes anything seriously, and craves connection.

Than we have Daemon, he had a super rough childhood dealing with abuse and loss, till this day he gets nightmares and has this really rough exterior where basically he isn't close with anyone, not even in the hockey team ( oh yeah did i mention this is a hockey romance as well XD ) anywho he isn't close with anyone expect for Josh.

Okay so this book lacked alot of things for me, firstly what I really liked was seeing Alexander abit more, this guy was put in the middle of all the relationships and he is so nonchalant I cant wait for his book, and also im glad they didn't change Archers personality in the 3rd book. I also lovedd the texts between them, im such a sucker for texts in books. oh and the ending with Daemon broke my heart, i just wanted to hug him.

okay so what did I not like ?

we didn't get enough of them. so i understand this is the 3rd book in a series, and maybe knowing about the first 2 books might give me a better experience, I read the first book, and reading this one, I basically I got such a detailed overview on what happened in the first book. the first 60% of the book, i went through the timeline of the relationship of the first 2 couples, like ??? im reading about Daemon and Archer, I don't need to know in detail what the previous couples ate, drank, had sex, broke up, or got together.

the amount of times they mentioned that Archer was chasing him for 3 years, yet in my opinion we never got a clear timeline, so when they mentioned three years i was like whatt ??? okay that itself is fine but the amount of times they mentioned that he was chasing him for 3 years was ridiculous, like I get it. it was a long time. get over it. u got him in the end.

No chemistry. This might just be me, but I just couldn't feel the connection. Mostly from Daemons side, he was too cold even towards Archer, like atleast have a soft side for him in private but anyways overall i felt no chemistry.

lastly, is on top of them having barley any scenes together because they had to rehash the previous couples timeline and relationship drama, most of their scenes were spicy scenes, now don't get me wrong, i knew that getting into the book especially after reading the first book it had alot of spicy scenes, but like... these were repetitive. and lowkey cringy ( not all but a few ), but repetitive.

[☆]

The straightest MM book I’ve ever read. :0

[Olivia✨ (bookingitwitholivia)]

I don’t think I’m ever going to get over this book. The moment I found out Archer and Daemon were getting their own book, I was instantly sat!🧎🏽‍♀️Just think tortured hero, literal hate to love, grumpy x sunshine and lotsssssss of tension.

Archer was the epitome of a sunshine, golden retriever mmc desperate for attention to fill his void of loneliness meanwhile Daemon was the brooding mmc filled with a dark past, who hides behind the walls he builds to protect himself.

Archer and Daemon were complete contrasting characters who so easily complimented each other’s weaknesses with their own strengths.

I was eating up every single one of their interactions whether that was the insults thrown back and forth, text messages between them or just the all round tension.

My heart broke finding out Daemon’s past and how those demons haunted his every waking moment while also haunting him through nightmares. Archer was so persistent in breaking down Daemon’s walls no matter how hard he tried not to let anyone in, showing him how it feels to be loved and having people who care about him. Underneath the hard exterior that Daemon puts up, he was really a softy yearning to be truly loved by someone. Archer allowed Daemon to feel comfortable enough to be vulnerable in front of him.

Let’s be real here, Archer was never going to give up on his pursuit of Daemon.

I’d be lying if I said this book didn’t make me cry😭. I think the part that got me so emotional was how beautiful the relationship was between Archer and Daemon, and how much Archer was willing to help Daemon heal from his past. I loved seeing the change in both their characters.

Aside from the dark topics of this story, the spice between Archer and Daemon was through the roof!!! Mixed with the hate-fuelled tension and the “i hate you but I can’t keep my eyes off of you” vibe it was so good🔥 When they finally gave into each other, I think I audibly screamed out of excitement. The perfect overall slowburn with tension you could literally cut with a knife.

Archer’s family were a complete contrast to Daemon’s, being your stereotypical rich, loving family that you could imagine. Archer had everything from a loving family, to a beautiful, big house he can call home. Things that Daemon couldn’t relate to. I love how Archer’s family so easily accepted Daemon as their own, even willing to help him with the situation involving his dad. Daemon even bonded with Archer’s younger sister, Aurora, over art, giving her tips on how to improve and even finding some sort of peace for himself in the innocence of that friendship.

As usual, like in all the books that are in this series, I couldn’t get enough of the friendships/frenemies within the hockey team (and the girls). So many of the interactions had me laughing. We even got to see everyone come together to support each other, and when everyone found out about Archer and Daemon, nobody was judging them.

Overall, I absolutely adored this book and couldn’t recommend it enough!

[ya.]

Не знаю як кому, але мені книга сподобалась але високої оцінки поставити не вийде
Хлопці виявились дуже цікавими, мене трохи бісило те що вони весь час ходили на вечірки і 🔞 не тільки головні герої, а і другорядні персонажі і про них теж було багато згадок
По ідеї книги треба читати по порядку, але я так хотіла саме про хлопців прочитати що упустила цей момент, але не скажу що я багато втратила, зараз в мене є бажання почитати 2 інші книги
Мені сподобалось як пише авторка, але чесно кажучи щось в неї уява храмала🤷🏿‍♀️
Арчер мені сподобався, він класний, особливо дуже сміялась з моменту коли він казав «як він може уникати мене, як я такий прекрасний і чарівний»😹😹 і справді як його можна уникати
Деймон дуже травмований, тому уникав Арчера до останнього, але мене вже якщо чесно це бісило, це дуже довго

«намагатися ігнорувати «Арчера Грея» — це все одно, що намагатися ігнорувати довбану ядерну бомбу. Це буквально неможливо. Цей хлопець — загроза, яка прагне вивести мене з себе на кожному кроці, і, чесно кажучи, я не знаю, як решта команди витримує його.»
Ще мені дуже сподобалась родина Арчера, особливо його сестра, вони дуже схожі один з одним, там в кінці була погана згадка про неї, і як же мені було її шкода, дуже б хотіла почитати про неї але вона ще не вийшла, і не знаю чи вийде взагалі

[Kirsten | Bookish.kir]

This is the third book in the Fairfield flyers series, but can be read as a standalone.

THIS BOOK WAS EVERYTHING I WANTED IT TO BE AND SO MUCH MORE. I DIDN’T WANT IT TO END!

The Puck Chase has some of my favorite things, enemies to lovers, hockey, tortured hero, grumpy/sunshine and of course the spice🥵 I mean how could I not be obsessed!? It’s emotional, it’s raw, it’s ughhhh just so good!

The dynamic between Daemon’s grumpy guarded personality clashing with Archer’s carefree sunshiney personality was CHEF’S KISS. And each of their character development was spot on. I swear every interaction had me either smirking and giggling to myself, kicking my feet or having to take a moment to fan myself cause wow.

I am already looking forward to when I can do an audio reread of the entire series!

[mm_smut_reader]

Wasted potential.

Why include so many stories about people who are not the main characters? They have their own books for a reason, why repeat them all over again?
I'm an avid reader of MF couples but if I'm searching for a MM book, it doesn't please me finding MF couples all through the book fu*king like rabbits all the time. I wanted to see more of Daemon and Archer but what I got was a loooong book with voyeuristic shit and strange smut between friends. Not my cup of tea.

What made me give such a high rating was Daemon's character. I'm weak in my knees when I read about a tormented soul with a traumatic past

[lakshmi]

“I thought you didn’t want me?”
“And I thought you already realized I am a liar”


well that was fun ;) friend groups who bully but also do anything for each other is my favorite new genre 💗

[Ruth♡]

Pero que hott 🔥

La primera vez que Daemon y Archer se vieron fue en una situación muy placentera pero eso no ayudo a que los siguientes tres años su enemistad acabará, de hecho fue creciendo hasta que explotó, ambos son muy diferentes y piensan que no encajan bien pero al contrario se complementan de la mejor forma, todo ese odio que se tenían podría ser atracción 🌚

Me salte los dos primeros de esta serie, cosa que casi nunca hago, me gusta seguir el orden pero este era el que más me interesaba y la verdad los dos primeros libros ocurren a la par de este, solo que está historia de tardó más en cocer así que vemos cómo las primeras parejas se van formando mientras está va paso a paso, fue muy buenaaa de verdad estos dos se complementan un montón, después de que dejan toda esa enemistad y se empiezan a conocer es muy lindo, en especial con Daemon que tiene muchos problemas del pasado tiene la confianza de contarle todo a Archer y que los dos puedan superar y apoyarse en esos momentos difíciles.

Se los recomiendo bastante, mis únicos peros fue que de hockey solo tiene el nombre 🤣 lit nos dicen que están entrenando pero nunca vemos un partido o una práctica bien, tampoco el compañerismo que hay por jugar juntos, vengo leyendo varios libros de deportes y lo que más me gusta es que pongan eso y aquí si quede ❓ la autora pudo cortar escenas de sexo para incluir las otras

Igual estuvo bueno, si se los recomiendo.

[melissa]

3.25⭐️
“Out? I don’t want fucking out, Daemon, I want in, I’m falling so fucking hard for you and I have no idea if you’ll catch me, so please will you just let me.”

How do you fumble a plot and characters that had everything to make this book so much better than it was? It should be a crime to waste the potential this book had.

“Finally remember I exist?”
“Trust me, Gray, I never fucking forget”

The pacing? What the hell was that? Their story didn’t properly start until halfway through the book. Up until then, they were basically SIDE CHARACTERS in their OWN book are you kidding me?! Madeline and Nova drama added nothing to DaemonArcher story and was clearly just there to stretch the book, why give them so much focus when they already had their own book? And on top of that, the interactions between Daemon and Archer became repetitive.

“these lips spill such wicked lies” 21%

“that mouth kissed me until I couldn’t fucking breathe, and yet still it spills such pretty little lies” 37%

“such a skilled and eager mouth, and still it spills such wicked lies” 44%

“this mouth might tell me lies” 46%

“can you still taste my cum when you spill such pretty lies?” 48%

It was getting to a point... I love Archer but if i was Daemon i would've smacked the shit out of him if he said that quote ONE more time.

“It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you. I promise, Daemon, I will never hurt you.”

That said, the second half is what saved this book because it was giving 2 stars. I liked them together, it hurt to read about everything Daemon went through. That boy must be protected at all costs, and Gray was perfect for him.

“You’re the exception.”
“To what, touching you?”
“To everything.”

[Jane aka Coughy019 (Safety info included)]

Tropes: hurt/comfort, enemies to lovers, grumpy/sunshine
Feels: 3/5
Steam*: 3.5/5
Kinks: voyeurism, exhibitionism, threesomes and foursomes (before they get together), sex in risky places, snowballing, cum as lube
Angst: medium
HEA: yes
Pairing: MM
Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: past child abuse of MMC, murder of sibling by abusive parent, permanent scars, panic attacks, PTSD, drug use, recovering addict
Cheating between MCs: No
Any cheating: No
Other person drama: lots of sex with others (sometimes on page, graphic, or in front of the other MMC) before the mmcs get together. The MMCs meet when Daemon walks in on Archer getting a bj in his room at a party, and Archer invites him to join in and they share the girl. 3 years pass where Archer takes joy in antagonizing Daemon. Archer is very much a f-boy, then eventually he gets with Daemon at 22%. They aren't with others after then. Archer randomly kisses a friend of his to try to see if he's attracted to guys in general, he feels nothing. There's some voyeurism after they get together, where one or both of them watches other people have sex.

3.75 stars

Archer and Daemon met when they were first years at college at a party. Archer was getting a bj in a room, and it turned out to be Daemon's room. Daemon hey man and Archer invited him to share the girl, and they did. They are teammates on the hockey team, so they have to interact a lot after. Daemon is grumpy and closed off and wants to forget what happened, but Archer riles him up and taunts him every chance he gets. We flashed forward 3 years and Archer is an epic fuckboy still tormenting Daemon. After a while more of bickering back and forth between them, they have a hate fueled hookup and they keep going back to each other for more. They talk and like each other and open up to each other. And their hookups turn into boyfriend zone.

Daemon is dealing with a lot of trauma. After his mother died when he was young, he was raised by his father who abused them. His older brother Jasper left as soon as he was 18, and Daemon became the target of the father's violence, suffering very intense permanently scarring abuse. When Daemon was around he could protect his little brother Ryan, but one day, Daemon was hooking up and he came home to his father murdering Ryan. The dad went to jail, but Daemon is an absolute mess, pushing people away, unable to stand touch, having horrible nightmares and panic attacks and PTSD. And now the father is trying to get himself up for parole and Daemon's losing his s***. Archer comes from a wealthy family, a happy family even though his parents are divorced, and Daemon is afraid being with him will dampen Archer's light.

Things I liked:
- I loved that Archer was a little s***. There's just something that appeals to me about a character aggravating the s*** out of their love interest. A lot of his antics were hilarious to me.

- I enjoyed how possessive and obsessed with each other they were. The spice between them was good.

- I applaud the condom use. Too often romances don't use them

- There was a lot of depth to the plot. (But I did feel like there were a lot of loose ends that did not get wrapped up, and there was way too much side character drama)

- I'm basing my ranking based on the relationship between Daemon and Archer only. I thought that their relationship was good, but I was ticked off by a lot of the side character references.


Things I didn't like:
- It's his last year in college, he wants to go pro, yet Archer slacked off during the summer with his workouts? That doesn't smell of commitment to me.

- I'm not a person who DNF's, but during the first 30% of this book, almost every time they mentioned a character they called the person by the first and last name. I know this is very petty, but I was getting tempted to throw this book. Luckily, they slowed down with those references after that.

- I'm probably biased about this, because I've never read this author before and I have no attachment to her other books. But I feel like this author made too many references to her characters from other books. Maybe I would have enjoyed it if I had affection for those characters? Also, there were so many details about the relationship journeys of the side characters, I felt like we were reading four romance novels in one, which I wasn't interested in doing, and if I was a reader of the past books, I feel like I would have been bored at the repetition of seeing the entire relationship of a past book play out over the pages. It's too much time spent on those characters, and it seems a little bit like a love fest on those characters or an ad for those books when I want to be focusing on the main couple for this book.

- I wasn't a huge fan of all the sex with others, especially when it was on page. It's too bad that it took them 3 years to get together after their first interest in each other during the threesome. It kind of takes some of the air from the balloon of their interest in each other.

- I wish we had seen an epilogue that was after college. Because I wanted to see whether either of them get to the NHL, and how believable their HEA would be


Some notable moments:

Having this conversation with a stranger you just met is hilarious. "Archer - Is it gay to cum in another guy's cum and then watch as he licks it up? The message is read almost instantly, and I’m thankful to see the typing bubbles appear just as quick. I know I had a good feeling about him, and that I could count on him in my time of need. Nova - What the fuck? Nova - Were you dropped as a child? Nova - We just met Nova - What the fuck is wrong with you?"

I love a good moment of platonic affection. "Shaking my head in confusion, I turn off my light, heading back towards my bed until I reach the side that isn’t occupied by a six foot blond asshole, and gently sit down. My eyes never leave him, watching him like a hawk to ensure I don’t disturb him, which is fucking ironic since all he does is disturb me every chance he gets. Yet for some reason, seeing him lying peacefully against my sheets, spreads a warmth through my chest like never before."

This scene was great, I loved how willing to help Alexander was, and how Archer absolutely lost his s*** on Alexander when he saw the picture. "“Archer Gray infuriates me more than anyone I have ever met, going out of his fucking way to get under my skin, any chance he gets. So, I’m here to steal something so I can try and piss him off the same way he does me.” My words are gritted through my teeth, and by the time I am done, Reign is smiling wider than I have ever seen him. “Well, all right then,” he purrs, before shoving me roughly, until I am sprawled on my back on Archer’s bed, watching in disbelief, as he jumps on it beside me and holds up his phone. “Smile pretty for me, love,” he winks, before snapping multiple pictures of us, him posing differently for each of them."



*FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink.

**Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers.

[Courtney | romancereadswithcourt]

Another top read of the year and we’re in JANUARY. What a start to 2025 🤭

eARC review
5 ⭐️ 3.5 🌶️

AHHHHHHHHH!!!! Screaming bc being back in this world? There’s nothing better. 😍

These two were ABSOLUTELY ELECTRIC! I literally felt it off page - that’s how good it was.

MM x enemies to lovers always hits, but Gabby adding her style to it? FLAWLESS.

I’m a sucker for a broken boy who gets showered in love by a golden retriever and that is them to a T 🥹

Thank you so so much for letting me be one of the lucky ones to read early!!!

Tropes:
MM
college hockey
Forced proximity
Enemies to lovers
Broken MMC
Grumpy x sunshine

[Zainab]

the things booktok can make you do. did i ever hear about this series? no. have i read any other book of this series? nope. did i download the third book just after reading the tropes on an edit? well, duhh.

ok so this one was a wild ride. the angst was SO good. Archer and Daemon were the epitome of black cat x golden retriever energy and i laughed and cried, kicked my feet and giggled with them. Ahhh, i just love me a broken boy being chased by a sunshine and then falling so hard for him. omg the emotions, the FEEEELSSSS this whole book gave me😫

[Tatyana]

3.7 ⭐️It was meh… I enjoyed bits and pieces. But damn this book had to many fucking side stories, like it was completely unnecessary.

[Lobenda☆on a year-long hiatus☆]

this book was a delight. archer(I love you, you are so charming) and his family were lovely and warm. my favorite scene has to be the café moment where aurora meets daemon for the first time, it was so f awkward and hilarious.

the book is unnecessarily long, though. i’m here for the main characters, not a pile of secondary characters I couldn’t care less about. it’s fun and all, but when the focus shifts to them for too long, it gets aggravating. without that excess, this book could have easily worked as a 300 page read.
after the 70% mark, it turned into a complete fuck fest. it felt like filler added just to drag the story out longer.

reading about daemon’s past was painful. the author was so descriptive it genuinely affected me emotionally. every daemon needs an archer.


“𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗗𝗮𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻,”
“𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝘁𝗼𝗼,”


“𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿,” 𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗻𝘀. “𝗚𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽.”“𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, 𝗯𝗼𝘆𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱.”“𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, 𝗯𝗮𝗯𝘆.”


"𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗽𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘁,”

[Jo Bennesch]

El romance es súper lindo, pero casi la mitad del libro es una repetición de esceas de los dos anteriores con diferente POV y eso para mi es muy ladri.
Hubiese preferido mas de ellos juntos y menos recap de dos libros que ya leí.

[Haily Volk]

5/5⭐️
3/5🌶️

OMG. My soulmate Mads said it perfectly. RAW, NEXT QUESTION.

No but really this book was incredible. I don’t think I will ever recover from the feelings I got from reading this book. I am such a GONER for Daemon, you have no idea. I mean if you follow me, you know how much I love me a broken MMC and Daemon is damaged. I just want to take him in. Gabby KILLED it and I will never shut up about this series.

Ever since I read the bonus scene at the end of The Puck Decoy, I have been WAITING for this book and it did not disappoint. The way Archer was truly the light to Daemon’s darkness. He was not giving up on him, it didn’t matter how many times that Daemon pushed him away. Archer wasn’t giving up. I was sooo emotional while reading this. I probably cried multiple times. They are the definition of the perfect couple, and I will stand by that. Their banter, their chemistry, the found family, the depth, just everything about this was perfection.

BUT.. the truth or dare scenes? OMG. UNWELL. All the spicy truth or dare scenes in all of Gabby’s books is EVERYTHING. The way she blesses us with one in every book. It has been SWEATING every time. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. They will forever live in my mind rent free.

Thank you soo much G.N. Wright for the ARC!

Tropes:
🖤MM Romance
🖤Rivals to Lovers
🖤Hockey Romance
🖤Spicy Truth or Dare
🖤Grumpy x Sunshine
🖤Tortured, Damaged MMC

[Elle]

2.5⭐️

The way the author treated female characters felt very misogynistic as if they where just there for sex even the female characters that weren’t just used for sex felt kind of like caricatures of women, I could cope with it because the female characters weren’t the main characters but even then it was difficult and if I was to read one of the authors other books with a female main character I don’t think I’d be able to deal with the amount of misogyny.

the writing wasn’t great and felt abit choppy in places but nothing too bad. It also did not need to be anywhere near as long as it was, the first half is pretty much the same thing over and over again. It also felt like there was no consistency the author would have the character act one way and then if it didn’t work with the plot just completely change it later it got very annoying and made it so the characters personalities and relationships where all over the place. The author also had things happen and then never mention them again like archers friendship with hallie, they where stated as being friends but then he just treats her like his boyfriends bestfriends wife and their friendship isn’t really mentioned again

The relationship between the main character could have been good but the progression of their relationship just wasn’t very well written they fuck a few time and then are like completely obsessed with each other yet they barely know each other and have spent no time together except to fuck or piss each other off nothing that warrants them to care about each other so much. Overall they where cute but with one of the characters having so much trauma I feel like there needed to be more communication with each other in the beginning to explain why he was willing to trust the other guy

There was a sex scene every five pages it got very boring and repetitive like cool they fuck good for them, could they maybe also just spend time together with their dicks away ? Also the dirty talk was cringe as fuck and didn’t really fit their overall dynamic

Overall it was an okay book it was kinda entertaining in places and I didn’t completely hate it but there where some very big flaws in particularly the misogyny and the lack of consistency in the writing

[Becky Smut]

this couple is one of the only couples I've ever read who deserves to have Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls as their intro song. they were perfect. I love them so much.

imo GN Wright never disappoints on the smut and this book was no different. couple that with a BEAUTIFUL love story?? of course I'm gonna give it 5 stars.

[Emily Johnston (Booked.Up.With.Emily)]

OMG OMG OMG. I truly did not think I could love anyone more than Nova Darkmore, but Daemon Forbes is making me rethink that.

Please check TW if you have any triggers.

🖤MM romance
🖤Hockey romance
🖤College romance
🖤Grumpy x sunshine
🖤Hate to love
🖤Hurt x comfort
🖤Tortured, damaged MMC

Daemon and Archer met when Daemon walked into his room while Archer was mid-hookup. And after joining said hookup, Daemon has made it a point to ignore Archer for the last three years. And Archer has made it his mission to get Daemon to give him some attention.

But why? Archer is the straightest playboy the FU campus has ever seen. But he can’t get Daemon out of his mind. Someone may not be as straight as they think they are.

Daemon has an extremely troubled past. He has been hurt by people who were supposed to love him and endured things that no one should endure. And he has closed himself off to anything good. But Archer goes along and like a leech, doesn’t let go.

These two characters could not be more opposite, but that’s what made them so special. They gave each other comfort and love that only they could give. They are the epitome of soulmates and I just feel in love with their love story.

Both characters are written with so much depth and character development that I fell like they were real life people.

I absolutely LOVED this story and can’t wait to see what comes next.

[Maegan]

Rip my heart to pieces and then put it back together. I knew this book was going to be 10/10 👏 Not one person can convince me otherwise. 

MM
Black cat/Golden retriever
Trauma
Possessive + Protective MCs
Found Family
Banter/Angst
Rivals to Lovers
🌶🌶🌶🌶

[Kiandra 🦋]

Ugh I LOVE THEM SO MUCH, but I fear I could’ve done without all of the watching scenes. The first one okay… anything after was pushing it. Also, like other reviews mentioned there’s just too much about other couples in this book.

[Nonfictionally Yours]

This was so wholesome 🥹

[ellora]

4⭐️

UUUGGHHH nothing hits the way broken boy and golden retriever hits this was so GOOD 😫🫠