Grumpy Puck

by Misha Bell

Calliope

Thanks to my needy pet rat, I’m banned from working at all Florida theme parks. So what’s a person to do? Get a job as a mascot for a local hockey team, of course.

I didn’t expect to get pushed into a pool on my first day by the grouchiest, hottest player on the team. Nor could I have imagined that we’d get locked into an evacuated building together and share an angry kiss that would get caught on video. Or that said video would go viral, sending ticket sales for our games through the roof.

Now Michael Medvedev and I have to fake date for the sake of the team.

Too bad he hates the whole world, me included.



Michael

The one time I decide to indulge my idiotic teammates and pull a prank on our mascot, I end up pissing off a brand-new employee on her first day—and with my luck, she turns out to be the quirkiest, sexiest woman I’ve ever met.

I hate so much about Florida—the humidity, the sunshine, the grass, the ocean—so it comes as a shock when I find something in this awful state that I do not hate, and her name is Calliope.

Pretending to date her is going to drive me insane, and that’s before we’re forced to share a hotel room… with just one bed.

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

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 12, 2024

About the author

I love writing humor (often the inappropriate kind), happy endings (both kinds), and characters quirky enough to be called oddballs (because... balls). If you love your romance heavy on the comedy and feel-good vibes, visit mishabell.com and sign up for my newsletter.

Reviews

[Mindy Lou's Book Review · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quirky and fun read. I love the crazy humor from this author. You just never know what you’re going to get. In Grumpy Puck, there’s a heroine who loves and advocates for rats, and a hero who has a passion for birds. You can’t get more quirky than that. But then you get to the heart of the characters. The hero was an orphan and now as an adult, he’s using his gift to start a program to help other orphans. The heroine is looking for love just as much as the hero. She’s used to being dumped by guys when they meet her very large circus family. This story is all about acceptance and loving people for who they are.

[Carvanz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can “bearly” stand it! This book was so much fun with plenty of laugh out loud moments. With a quirky heroine who has a pet rat and a grumpy hero that finds her endearing despite him hating the world, this set me up to fall in love within the first few pages. I did so with complete glee.





This author has won me over by creating fun stories that are filled with wild antics, animals that could win supporting characters in the movies, and friends and family that add to all the shenanigans. And I love every hilarious moment. Add in the I-can’t-help-falling-in-love moments as well as the steam that accompanies some of those moments and each one of them hit the top of my favorite rom-com list.

Dual POV
Safe no ow/om drama
Triggers no apparent triggers
Steam 4 /5; explicit; condoms used

[Laura Reads Too Much · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Misha's quirky and over-the-top books and I think this is my favourite of them all!

Calliope comes from a family of clowns and has a pack of pet rats and has taken on a job of the mascot for a hockey team - Michaels team. Michael who is one of the most grumpiest, rude and possessive dudes about!

It's funny, it's silly, over the top, it's full of puns and steam and of course plenty of giggles!

Thoroughly enjoyed it






*I voluntarily received an arc and this is my honest review. 4.5 stars

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Adults sounding like 12 year old immature kids.. this just didn’t do it for me

[Karine · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF 15%

Huh. NO.

[Cassie Hilton-parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael is a star hockey player. Calliope is a fill in mascot who has pet rats. What could they possibly have in common? Most people avoid Calliope due to her pet rats, they have caused her to lose jobs. Michael has his own issues. But when these two collide....romance blooms.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Rebecca Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Main Characters: Michael Medvedev a professional hockey player from Russia; Calliope Klaunbut (pronounced KlownButt) recently hired as the mascot Bearman and owns a Circus. She always goes
around with a rat named Wolfgang on her shoulder.
Calliope's 1st day on the job did not go so well, she was looking for the meeting, asked for directions and ended up in front of the pool. While standing there pondering what to do next, she suddently gets shoved right into the pool.
Then while she was getting dried off Michael comes running in and says "Grab your stuff ad lets go now!" She said, "I'm not done yet." "If you don't want to be locked in all night we have to run." he said. They took off running and just as they got to the door they hear CLANG the door locked. He turned around and she reached up and kissed him, so he grabbed her and kissed her back. Then lights started going off and he heard people, he turned back and the door was open, filled with people and reporters taking pictures.
The next morning Calliope got a call from her sister asking what was going on and why didn't she let the family know about her new boyfriend. Calliope had no idea what she was talking about and told her so. She said look at the newspaper Honey and who is Boo Boo? Michael also received a similar call. The HR department called them both in to an emergency meeting. They wanted to know what was going on between them, Calliope thought she was going to be fired. They both denied a relationship and were asked to have one even a fake one as the sales of tickets had skyrocketed with the photo. Both said NO at first but with enough financial incentive both agreed.
Calliope's apartment was broken into and them the locker room was trashed and her bearman costume was shredded. It was thought that she had a stalker and Michael was furious. He demanded that Calliope move into his home until he was caught so she would be safe.
After some time they decided to make the fake arrangement real and she was going to introduce him to her family. Every guy she had introduced to her family had dumped her afterward so this was a crucial matter for her. Things seemed to be going great until Michael received a phone call and said he had to leave due to an emergency with no other explanation.
Calliope received a call from New York asking her to bring her rat family to their theater and set up her show for a ridiculous amount of money. She thought Michael was just like the rest of the guys so she agreed. She went to the house to get her things and as she was leaving Michael showed up. He asked "where are you going?" She said,"to New York, I have been offered a job with my rat show. I can't pass this up." Michael said," I don't want you to go." She said."I have wanted this for a long time and I never thought it would happen. You said this was only temporary and I won't have to worry about the stalker in New York." Michael said."We got the stalker, that was what the phone call was about and he had kidnapped Ted the other Bearman whose place you took."
Calliope went to New York and her rat show was a phenomonal success. The longer she was there the worse she felt. Michael was a beast on the ice for a few weeks then announced he was retiring. They were both miserable and wishing there separation had not happened or at least had been on better terms
Who gives in? Or do they? You want to know read the book. Then you can read about all the details leading up to the parts I mentioned. Believe me, there a lot of details I left out on purpose.
I received this book from Booksprout and I volunteered this review.

[olivia ྀི · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nobody acts like this. The whole book was bizarre. Every time a character did something, I was just sitting there like…why would you even do that?

This was sitting at 2 stars for me, but then there was a scene where Michael is exercising with his literal cock and balls out, legs in the air, and I got the ick so bad I had to stop reading and immediately message my friend about it.

The writing itself was fine, I guess. It’s supposed to be a rom-com, and while it’s painfully obvious where the jokes are meant to be, i didn’t actually laugh. To be fair, humor is subjective, and this clearly wasn’t written with someone like me in mind, which is fine. Maybe it’ll work for you.

My main issue is how immature and…unreal these characters are. Like, Michael’s whole personality is being grumpy, emotionally unavailable, and terrified of love because of his abandonment issues, yet within an hour of meeting Calliope, he’s all, “she’s off-limits.” What? Why does he care so much? Why is he so possessive and protective in chapter one? It stops the potential of any actual strong character development happening.

Calliope — She has no personality outside of her rats. The rats having weird internal monologues was driving me insane, btw. She says rats have bad PR (which, fine, it’s true), but somehow, literally everyone she meets—including the entire hockey team and their staff—is cool with the rats. Also, her family is written as this over-the-top circus troupe, which I know was the entire point, but it was so cartoony it just made my eyes roll. It reiterated the fact that these characters do not feel like real people.

Michael — Grumpy birdwatching man who hates love because his family abandoned him. That’s it. That’s literally his character. Oh, he has a secret charity to help orphans in hockey, so he’s actually a secret softie.

There were so many bizarre choices in this book. Like, Michael’s secret project being his charity (why was that even a secret?), the random stalker subplot, and the completely unnecessary fake dating. Nothing these characters did felt believable, and since they had zero chemistry or relationship development, I just didn’t care about any of it or what happened to them.

[Vania Nunes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael was the star of the Florida Bears hockey team, and his biggest characteristic as a person was his grumpiness. He had no patience with anyone, not even his teammates.
However, when the team gets a new person to work on the mascot costume, he inexplicably feels attracted to her (which doesn't improve his mood).

Calliope didn't have many job options.
As a defender of the mice, she didn't have a choice of where to work, so when the job came up to be the hockey team's mascot, even wearing a heavy bear costume, she accepted.
On her first day, a prank made her be alone - and practically naked - with the grumpiest player she had ever met.
To make matters worse, a misunderstanding - in which the media reported that she was Michael's new girlfriend - forced the two to fake their relationship. All for the sake of ticket sales.
Without quite understanding why he felt this attraction for that crazy rat woman, Michael takes it upon himself to protect her from a violent stalker.

And while they pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend and attend events together, Michael and Calliope discover things they have in common... and that hearts can beat faster when you least expect it.
5 stars

[Patty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grumpy Puck: A Hockey Romantic Comedy
By: Misha Bell
Narrated by: Erin Mallon, Ryan West

It's almost the weekend and you need something light and funny! Here it is! Go grab this new release by Misha Bell and you will just feel good! Grumpy hockey player, Michael has issues. He carries a lot with a huge chip on his shoulder, and when it came to the mascot, he had no patience. The mascot is on his nerves, and now after his public sparring, has to fake date her for the ratings. But Calliope, while beautiful, is way too quirky. She has a rat on her shoulder! She has goals for her little circus! But even at odds, these two have chemistry. Is that enough to bring the grumpy to the sunshine? This is one of those books that found me smiling, giggling at times, rooting for love and enjoying a couple as they find out what is truly important. It's a fantastic listen.

Bringing out the humor is the narration of Erin Mallon and Ryan West. No one can do quirky and land a line like Erin Mallon. She is perfectly cast as Calliope. West could not have brought the grumpy out better as Michael. Together they know how to entertain and bring out all the fun Misha Bell intended.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The dynamic duo are back with a witty, laugh out loud storyline that will have you wanting to take the day off to savor this book. Calliope is a woman from a large family who is enthralled by her pet rats. She has not had the best of luck when it comes to her boyfriends and that has left her with some baggage. However, she is on the precipice of a new job that will set her world on fire. Michael is a star hockey player, but it has not come without its challenges. Growing up as an orphan, left him with some abandonment issues and a fierce protection streak. When Calliope and Michael first meet, oil and water would be an understatement, but a devised plan has them in close proximity to each other and that is where the fun begins along with some unexpected turns of events. I don’t know what I like more about the stories these authors come up with…is it the characters or the animals that steal the show? Regardless, this is one fast paced read filled with humor, sass and some adorable little rats that you want to add to your shelf.

[MsMoxy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I jumped into Grumpy Puck excited for some fun light hearted banter and the heavy smexy scenes. Calliope and Michael are drawn to one another through a serious of hilariously unfortunate events but these two can’t seem to take their hands off each other in any given moment. Michael is the hockey team’s number one prick and Calliope is just looking for a clean slate from her eccentric circus family as the hockey team’s new mascot! When Calliope takes over the mascot gig from the former employee she has no idea that she would become the target of Michael’s affection. Or is that aggression? Not even Michael knows if he wants to throttle this new mascot bear or embrace her but once his threatened that if anyone messed with Calliope, they’d be messing with Michael’s fist.
I loved this fun sassy romcom! The bear jokes had me LOL and the chemistry was on point!
I loved this read!

[Noreen Hussain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great rom com from Misha Bell.
Loved Calliope and Michael.
Michael is a grumpy hockey player Callioppe is the opposite.
Enjoyed their romance from their first meet cute to their happily ever after.
They both don't like each other,but the attraction is instant.The banter between them was great.
They both end up in a fake relationship for the team.
Their feelings turn real along the way.Callioppe's pets were the stars of the show.
There are lots of laughs along the way,emotions,team banter,family,friendships and a happily ever after.
Cannot wait for Misha's next book.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

This latest offering from Misha Bell is as over the top, or perhaps more so, than others. Their characters are unlikely and the situations they find themselves in completely unrealistic, but, somehow they work. Michael is the grumpy hockey player with a chip on his shoulder and Calliope is the rat obsessed hockey mascot. Their interactions are angry, ridiculous, but endearing. This is an entertaining, short read, heavy on laughs and slapstick, with a side of steam.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Anna]

I love Misha Bell and as expected, this book is another success. Calliope and Michael are unlikely couple, on the paper they are worlds apart, but you know what they say about the opposite… it does attract. They come from different backgrounds and start with some misconceptions about each other, yet in the end they may be not so different in their values and dreams. I don’t want to spoil the plot here, but don’t hesitate, just dive in. As always a lot of laugh out loud moments, plenty of banter and in overall truly entertaining read. You can’t go wrong with Misha Bell.

[Vicki Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grumpy Punk is a delightful romantic comedy between Calliope, a quirky and unconventional new hire as the hockey team's mascot, Wolfgang, her weird pet rat, and Michael, the grumpy but hot hockey player on the team. Their hilarious romance has laugh-out-loud situations, fun twists, steamy chemistry, a crazy but lovable family, amazing characters, and a unique but endearing romance between two people who needed one another. I highly recommend this well written and delightful romantic comedy.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

3-3.5 stars!
This was a cute, quick read with some crazy shenanigans! Even with the initial lust and being thrust together, Michael and Calliope get to know each other over time! I liked the build up to them spending time together and learning more about each other’s lives! Those scenes ended up being some of my favorite parts!!

I honestly wanted more of Calliope’s family! I would love a book about them!!! The sister was hilarious!

Thank you to the author and publisher for a copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review!!!

[D K · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Standout Romcom that is Fun, Light, Unique and simply Brilliant!!! ❤️❤️❤️
I really don’t know how Misha Bell does it, but I was completely captivated and mesmerized by this story. Michael, aka, MR. GRUMPY and hockey player extraordinaire and his “counterpart” Calliope, the team’s new mascot and her pet rat Wolfgang, give the term “opposites attract” a whole new meaning. Their combative banter, their crazy attraction for one another and their past’s experiences make for a fascinating, funny and ultimately brilliant romcom, that will have you devouring this book in one take! If you are into unique stories, quirky characters, ridiculous situations that are extremely funny and unordinary pets, then you will definitely FALL IN LOVE with this book. Highly Recommended 💥💥💥

[Zelda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Misha Bell’s fantastically quirky characters and Michael & Calliope are new favourites. Who couldn’t love a grumpy bear of a hockey player paired with a rat loving hockey mascot? This story delivers two individuals with dreams beyond their current jobs, love of family, and love of each other and just a bit of intrigue. The monologues of the rats alone makes this deserving of a listen in audio.

[Maria Passia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Calliope's first day at her new job starts with a prank and ends with her being trapped with the grumpiest and most attractive man she's ever met. Michael is rude, overbearing and simply irresistible, and having to fake date him is pure, delicious torture. Michael can't handle the team's new mascot or his feelings for her! She's unconventional, intoxicating and the only person that stands up to him. How is a guy to resist? Grumpy Puck is a hilarious and marvelous romance!

[Laura Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

meet cute, quirky, funny

Micheal is the meany from Pucking Billionaire. He’s grumpy , violent, but with secrets. Calliope comes from a multigenerational circus family. Ok and she trains rats. Now you see the quirky. I recommend the audiobook because you won’t have to worry how to pronounce the Russian words. If you’ve read any Misha Bell books you’ll get the quirky Russian connections and cultural sections. It’s a quick fun read.

[Michele79 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love me a good fake dating plot and this exceeded my expectations. You have your grumpy hockey player with a heart of gold. The eccentric, rat trainer, mascot who gives as good as she gets. You add these two together in a fake dating scheme, the love/hate lines start blurring. It was a definite 5 stars.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have enjoyed every Misha Bell book I have read thus far. They've all been lighthearted and fun to read. Grumpy Puck is no exception.

Calliope and Michael are complete opposites. Calliope coming from a huge circus family with a horde of trained rats, while Michael is an orphan from Russia who was recruited to play hockey at a very young age. The attraction between the two is immediate.

And when a picture of them sharing a hot kiss hits, their employers come up with a scheme to benefit the hockey team by them posing as a couple. The only problem with this is that it starts to feel real.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love these lighter books they give a laugh and are filled with sexual tension. Through in an eccentric family and you have the recipe for a great read. Michael is an angry beast and Calliope a rat tamer, what could possibly go wrong. Loved it.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Didi · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first delightful read by the author and I am hooked! What happens when a grumpy hockey dude falls for a rat loving team Mascot? Pure chaos and pure love. I enjoyed all the shenanigans but also the depth of finding that someone who loves and accepts you no matter what.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Stephanie S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the chemistry between Calliope and Michael. They both do some self-sabotaging in the relationship and after some self-reflection realize they have insecurities that are holding them back. There’s plenty going on in the background too, so go read it!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Lori Sang · Rating 4 out of 5]

While reading this book, I’m either laughing out loud or smiling to myself. It’s hilarious! The heroine, Calliope has a quirky personality and her family was even more crazy. And her pet rats were the best! Michael on the other hand, was serious and grumpy but he gets points for adoring Calliope as she is.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the books by this author, each and every one gets me giggling, in a child like humourous way. It's not everyone's taste in humour, but if you don't take it seriously, it cheers me up.
This was a fantastic, fun feeling good book with a light, easy to read storyline.
It's part of a series but can easily be read as a standalone.

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I haven't written a review in quite a while, but honestly, I was shocked with the quality of the reviews on this book. While the writing style was fine, it was the characters them selves that I just couldn't finish reading about, and I tried! They were both incredibly immature, and the lack of conversation between them was mind-numbing.

[Jocelyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Hockey Romantic Comedy is fun and entertaining. I liked Calliope and Michael's story. They are perfect together. Some scenes are hilarious! The story has some interesting twists. This is a great grumpy/sunshine romantic comedy. Erin Mallon and Ryan West did an excellent job bringing this story to life. They are perfect as Calliope and Michael. I enjoyed it.