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Playmaker
Lila Hamilton is thrilled to be joining the Pittsburgh Bearcats, the League’s latest expansion team. She’s rehabbed from her knee injury and ready for a fresh start in a new city.
But did Pittsburgh have to sign Sabrina McAvoy?
Lila’s played with and against Sabrina before. She’s hot and she’s exactly Lila’s type, but she’s also hockey royalty—her father was a generational talent, and her brother is a star in the men’s league. Players, coaches, and sports commentators fawn all over her because of her family name, and Sabrina shamelessly exploits that.
Lila doesn’t care how attractive she is—no, thanks.
But there’s more to Sabrina’s story than Lila realizes.
Sabrina knows what people say. That her journey to professional hockey was an easy one thanks to her dad. That she left her ex-husband and reverted back to her maiden name so she could leverage her family’s dynasty to sign with a team. That she’s nothing more than a nepo baby on skates.
But she knows the truth, and this is her chance to prove she deserves to play at this level on her own merits. Prove it to the haters. Prove it to her father.
And absolutely prove it to Lila Hamilton.
But did Pittsburgh have to sign Sabrina McAvoy?
Lila’s played with and against Sabrina before. She’s hot and she’s exactly Lila’s type, but she’s also hockey royalty—her father was a generational talent, and her brother is a star in the men’s league. Players, coaches, and sports commentators fawn all over her because of her family name, and Sabrina shamelessly exploits that.
Lila doesn’t care how attractive she is—no, thanks.
But there’s more to Sabrina’s story than Lila realizes.
Sabrina knows what people say. That her journey to professional hockey was an easy one thanks to her dad. That she left her ex-husband and reverted back to her maiden name so she could leverage her family’s dynasty to sign with a team. That she’s nothing more than a nepo baby on skates.
But she knows the truth, and this is her chance to prove she deserves to play at this level on her own merits. Prove it to the haters. Prove it to her father.
And absolutely prove it to Lila Hamilton.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 25, 2024
178 people are currently reading
334 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
September 21, 2024
What a GORGEOUS story.
I loved this book to freaking bits: it's soft and lovely and romantic, but also tough and angsty and so damn addictive. Sabrina and Lila as leads stole my whole damn soul.
I've read several of Lauren Gallagher's books, under her many pen names, and all of them have been an absolute blast to read. I love her writing style so much, and I love how she always manages to balance out the romance with character development and plot elements; and her hockey romances are no exception. When I discovered she was going to write a sapphic hockey romance, I was so damn excited; a sapphic enemies-to-lovers hockey romance? My brain went feral. OF COURSE, I had to get an ARC of this book; of freaking course, DUH.
I loved this book to bits: I managed to devour it in two short sessions, and I literally could not stop reading. I fell in love with both Sabrina and Lila since the very beginning, and I adored seeing their relationship develop. Both of them are strong-headed and both of them, especially Lila, make a lot of assumptions at the start. Seeing that initial dislike (tinged with a good amount of "I despise you but goddamn, you're so hot" reluctant attraction) morph into understanding (APOLIGIES WERE OFFERED! FORGIVENESS WAS EARNED <3) and friendship, and finally into love, was priceless.
I adored their relationship to bits, and I loved that, despite the rocky start and dislike between them, they managed to build such a strong and mature bond between them. Also, their chemistry was ABSOLUTELY scorching, and the steamy scenes, when they finally came along, delivered so hard. Whew.
There were a couple of niggles: mainly, the hockey portion of the book could get a bit too much, and some of it went over my head (I blame my Italian football*-is-our-god-no-other-sports-exist brain) (*football aka soccer *grr), and I kinda wished there had been a bit more of a resolution but yeah, they were fairly minor niggles.
I loved the rest of the book so much! I loved all the side characters, and I'm very curious to see if some of them will get their own story one day.
I loved Sabrina so much, and I loved Lila so much too: I can't honestly say which one was my favourite, but if I had to choose, Lila stole my heart. I love flawed characters the best, and seeing Lila own up to her mistakes, change her mind, MATURE as a well-developed character, was a dream. Also, she was freaking hot; sue me, SUE ME.
I also freaking adored the ending. The last chapter was one of the most satisfying epilogues I've ever read (also one of the sweetest; I nearly cried, I LOVE THOSE GIRLS SO MUCH), and I loved the way Sabrina's relationship with her father was handled.
Anyway, I loved this book and I thoroughly recommend it.
TWs/CWs: sexism, homophobia, emotional abuse, gaslighting and manipulation, injury.
Many thanks to the author for the ARC. This is my honest review
I loved this book to freaking bits: it's soft and lovely and romantic, but also tough and angsty and so damn addictive. Sabrina and Lila as leads stole my whole damn soul.
I've read several of Lauren Gallagher's books, under her many pen names, and all of them have been an absolute blast to read. I love her writing style so much, and I love how she always manages to balance out the romance with character development and plot elements; and her hockey romances are no exception. When I discovered she was going to write a sapphic hockey romance, I was so damn excited; a sapphic enemies-to-lovers hockey romance? My brain went feral. OF COURSE, I had to get an ARC of this book; of freaking course, DUH.
I loved this book to bits: I managed to devour it in two short sessions, and I literally could not stop reading. I fell in love with both Sabrina and Lila since the very beginning, and I adored seeing their relationship develop. Both of them are strong-headed and both of them, especially Lila, make a lot of assumptions at the start. Seeing that initial dislike (tinged with a good amount of "I despise you but goddamn, you're so hot" reluctant attraction) morph into understanding (APOLIGIES WERE OFFERED! FORGIVENESS WAS EARNED <3) and friendship, and finally into love, was priceless.
I adored their relationship to bits, and I loved that, despite the rocky start and dislike between them, they managed to build such a strong and mature bond between them. Also, their chemistry was ABSOLUTELY scorching, and the steamy scenes, when they finally came along, delivered so hard. Whew.
There were a couple of niggles: mainly, the hockey portion of the book could get a bit too much, and some of it went over my head (I blame my Italian football*-is-our-god-no-other-sports-exist brain) (*football aka soccer *grr), and I kinda wished there had been a bit more of a resolution but yeah, they were fairly minor niggles.
I loved the rest of the book so much! I loved all the side characters, and I'm very curious to see if some of them will get their own story one day.
I loved Sabrina so much, and I loved Lila so much too: I can't honestly say which one was my favourite, but if I had to choose, Lila stole my heart. I love flawed characters the best, and seeing Lila own up to her mistakes, change her mind, MATURE as a well-developed character, was a dream. Also, she was freaking hot; sue me, SUE ME.
I also freaking adored the ending. The last chapter was one of the most satisfying epilogues I've ever read (also one of the sweetest; I nearly cried, I LOVE THOSE GIRLS SO MUCH), and I loved the way Sabrina's relationship with her father was handled.
Anyway, I loved this book and I thoroughly recommend it.
TWs/CWs: sexism, homophobia, emotional abuse, gaslighting and manipulation, injury.
Many thanks to the author for the ARC. This is my honest review
February 23, 2025
2.5
This was fine. Just fine.
Here's the thing- when I read a romance, I want to be involved in the characters (crazy, I know)-but I did not care about Lila or Sabrina at all. The story was too focused on trivial shit outside of their relationship (a relationship that was basically put on 3x speed to make up for that fact that their was too much 'plot').
Looking at sports romances and the general make-up at plot progression we know that we have to have enough time to focus on 1). the romance 2). the team/sport 3). internal conflict- that is the general formula for a sports romance. We move too quickly from hate to love (if you can even call it hate-more like a stupid ass animosity that had no real payoff outside of a basic fight scene that amounted to catty remarks and a make-up scene within the week). There were too many conversations surrounding how hard it was for Sabrina to be able to get into hockey (a sore spot for Lila because it seemed like Sabrina had had everything handed to her because of who her father is). That whole plot was kind of ridiculous, but I am willing to overlook it because I am kind and have a high threshold for corny plots.
That being said, once they 'make-up' they immediately speed-ran their relationship and jumped into bed and a romantic relationship (this happened after Sabrina made a comment about how she might have forgiven Lila too quickly).
Another pain point for me is that this story is about Sabrina, we get plotlines that follow Lila but for the most part this is about Sabrina and how it was difficult for her to become a hockey player because of her father (another plotline we'll get into later). We hardly get to see any instances of Lila struggling outside of her injury, but that plays such a small role in the story it is a miracle it was created as a plot point at all. If the author only wanted to write about one characters struggle from an emotional and more focused lens she should not have made this a dual POV romance-it would have worked just as well if it had just been from Sabrina's POV, because when we did get Lila's perspective a lot of it was focused on Sabrina "Sabrina is so strong for overcoming this obstacle" or "Sabrina is so smart, and funny, and she is the best player on the team blah blah blah." There was no reason to give Lila her own chapters because they were mostly about Sabrina anyway-which is funny, because that is part of the reason that Lila didn't like her initially, it was because everything was about her and how she was such a great player, a legacy... yada yada and whatever.
This book also had too many real-world issues.
I read romance for the escapism.
I read a sapphic romance so I didn't have to read about men.
A major focus on this plot had to due with men. And it was exhausting.
A big conversation is about how hard it was to start a women's league and about how men don't respect women playing hockey (Sabrina's father being one of the big figureheads for this). I have no real problem with this except that is was too heavy handed and, quite honestly, overrode all of the romance and character development-the big payoff for her fathers sexism was so miniscule in the grand theme of things it was kind of a waste to put it into the plot.
There was nothing truly special about this- I read and finished it because it didn't offend me like other romances have, but this wasn't good.
I feel like the author was trying to say too much. You are writing this sapphic romance for women, you don't need to hammer home the highlights of sexism-because we know. Somehow, you are literally making sexism pretentious by constantly ragging on it.
I don't know-this was fine, I don't think I would pick up another book by this author unless she did some serious revising and adjusted the format of her story. The romance was kind of dry and boring (not to mention unbelievable,) but I do think that it is possible for this author to write a really good sapphic romance-I think she has a nice writing style and there is potential for her future romances to be a hit.
This was fine. Just fine.
Here's the thing- when I read a romance, I want to be involved in the characters (crazy, I know)-but I did not care about Lila or Sabrina at all. The story was too focused on trivial shit outside of their relationship (a relationship that was basically put on 3x speed to make up for that fact that their was too much 'plot').
Looking at sports romances and the general make-up at plot progression we know that we have to have enough time to focus on 1). the romance 2). the team/sport 3). internal conflict- that is the general formula for a sports romance. We move too quickly from hate to love (if you can even call it hate-more like a stupid ass animosity that had no real payoff outside of a basic fight scene that amounted to catty remarks and a make-up scene within the week). There were too many conversations surrounding how hard it was for Sabrina to be able to get into hockey (a sore spot for Lila because it seemed like Sabrina had had everything handed to her because of who her father is). That whole plot was kind of ridiculous, but I am willing to overlook it because I am kind and have a high threshold for corny plots.
That being said, once they 'make-up' they immediately speed-ran their relationship and jumped into bed and a romantic relationship (this happened after Sabrina made a comment about how she might have forgiven Lila too quickly).
Another pain point for me is that this story is about Sabrina, we get plotlines that follow Lila but for the most part this is about Sabrina and how it was difficult for her to become a hockey player because of her father (another plotline we'll get into later). We hardly get to see any instances of Lila struggling outside of her injury, but that plays such a small role in the story it is a miracle it was created as a plot point at all. If the author only wanted to write about one characters struggle from an emotional and more focused lens she should not have made this a dual POV romance-it would have worked just as well if it had just been from Sabrina's POV, because when we did get Lila's perspective a lot of it was focused on Sabrina "Sabrina is so strong for overcoming this obstacle" or "Sabrina is so smart, and funny, and she is the best player on the team blah blah blah." There was no reason to give Lila her own chapters because they were mostly about Sabrina anyway-which is funny, because that is part of the reason that Lila didn't like her initially, it was because everything was about her and how she was such a great player, a legacy... yada yada and whatever.
This book also had too many real-world issues.
I read romance for the escapism.
I read a sapphic romance so I didn't have to read about men.
A major focus on this plot had to due with men. And it was exhausting.
A big conversation is about how hard it was to start a women's league and about how men don't respect women playing hockey (Sabrina's father being one of the big figureheads for this). I have no real problem with this except that is was too heavy handed and, quite honestly, overrode all of the romance and character development-the big payoff for her fathers sexism was so miniscule in the grand theme of things it was kind of a waste to put it into the plot.
There was nothing truly special about this- I read and finished it because it didn't offend me like other romances have, but this wasn't good.
I feel like the author was trying to say too much. You are writing this sapphic romance for women, you don't need to hammer home the highlights of sexism-because we know. Somehow, you are literally making sexism pretentious by constantly ragging on it.
I don't know-this was fine, I don't think I would pick up another book by this author unless she did some serious revising and adjusted the format of her story. The romance was kind of dry and boring (not to mention unbelievable,) but I do think that it is possible for this author to write a really good sapphic romance-I think she has a nice writing style and there is potential for her future romances to be a hit.
November 17, 2024
2.5-3 stars. Playmaker was kind of okay, written well, but the plot was thin and quite boring. I couldn't feel the main characters' emotions on page except those negative ones in the beginning. There was a lot of back and forth and repetiton of same discussions and thought processes in the first 1/3 of the book. The second half of the book had a lot of hockey and I really didn't think it gave any extra to the romance. There were predictable aspects, too. The McAvoy family drama had a lot of attention and I didn't feel it was worth it.
The book is a bit over 300 pages. For the first time I think about a full length novel that it would have worked better as a 150-page novella.
I've read so many better (sports) romances with rivals to lover trope. For example Hoops and Heartstrings by Eliza Lentzski (set around pro basketball) has similar starting point and rivals/enemies to lovers plot and it's many times better in every way.
I've read 300+ sapphic romances. Playmaker ranks low in my books. Maybe if you are new to sapphic romance, Playmaker could serve as a starting point to the genre. It was okay but nothing special.
The book is a bit over 300 pages. For the first time I think about a full length novel that it would have worked better as a 150-page novella.
I've read so many better (sports) romances with rivals to lover trope. For example Hoops and Heartstrings by Eliza Lentzski (set around pro basketball) has similar starting point and rivals/enemies to lovers plot and it's many times better in every way.
I've read 300+ sapphic romances. Playmaker ranks low in my books. Maybe if you are new to sapphic romance, Playmaker could serve as a starting point to the genre. It was okay but nothing special.
November 12, 2024
This book was just *okay*.
I liked the characters, though we really didn’t get to learn all that much about them and I did enjoy the rivals to lovers trope and the soft growth into romance but I found myself wanting to skip past a LOT of stuff because my biggest issue with this book was the amount of exposition. There was just so much repetitive plot and so much internal character monologue that at one point I was considering flipping past entire sections of text because it was basically the same thought rewritten multiple times. I enjoyed the hockey aspect and thought that was really well done but I do think once the two leads got together, there wasn’t enough romance. I appreciate that there was no third act break up as there so often is in these novels but all in all, it was an easy read but not a great one.
I liked the characters, though we really didn’t get to learn all that much about them and I did enjoy the rivals to lovers trope and the soft growth into romance but I found myself wanting to skip past a LOT of stuff because my biggest issue with this book was the amount of exposition. There was just so much repetitive plot and so much internal character monologue that at one point I was considering flipping past entire sections of text because it was basically the same thought rewritten multiple times. I enjoyed the hockey aspect and thought that was really well done but I do think once the two leads got together, there wasn’t enough romance. I appreciate that there was no third act break up as there so often is in these novels but all in all, it was an easy read but not a great one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 25, 2025
i wanted to like this more than i did but it was like halfway through the author remembered she was meant to be writing a romance book and started to develop it. they don't kiss until two-thirds of the way through and there was no real relationship development afterwards. i think this book fell into the trap of not knowing how to include the sport its about and balance it with the romance it's meant to be telling. i liked the two main characters fine. just wish there was more romance. i liked how the women's league was much bigger than the real one and is doing really well (like not being owened by a single guy). There was also a detail that in the nhl in this world has out players including a couple which is nice to pretend is possible.
i think my biggest criticism is that sabrina's father was a little cartoonishly evil. i can believe most of the things he did but at one point he bought out an entire section at one of sabrina's games to make it look like those seats hadn't sold.
i hope more pwhl romances come out since that is a micro genre i'd love to see more.
i think my biggest criticism is that sabrina's father was a little cartoonishly evil. i can believe most of the things he did but at one point he bought out an entire section at one of sabrina's games to make it look like those seats hadn't sold.
i hope more pwhl romances come out since that is a micro genre i'd love to see more.
May 6, 2025
Sport interessiert mich in der Regel gar nicht - außer er wird von Frauen praktiziert. Und wenn er dann noch lesbischen Frauen praktiziert bin, bin ich so gut wie an Board. Und auch, wenn ich viele der Regeln nicht verstanden habe und sehr verwirrend fand, war das bei der tollen Handlung nur nebensächlich. Die beiden Protagonistinnen Lila und Sabrina haben ganze Arbeit geleistet, die Leser*innen in die ihre Welt zu ziehen und ihre Liebesgeschichte, die klassisch dem Enemy to Lovers-Konzept nachgeht, glaubwürdig rüberzubringen. Ich zumindest hatte viel Spaß beim Lesen und hab die Liebesgeschichte und den Werdegang der beiden mit Genuss verfolgt. Der gute, flüssige Schreibstil hat da definitiv seinen zu beigetragen. Ich bin auf jeden Fall gespannt auf weitere WLW-Romane von Lauren Gallagher.
November 9, 2024
I really enjoy sports romances, especially when the author seems to have an in depth knowledge of the sport and are able to bring it to life well. Even when I'm not very familiar with the sport, like hockey. The characters were a lot of fun. I'm glad there didn't seem to be a whole lot of stereotyping about the players aside from the plethora of queer players. But it's a queer romance, it's to be expected, and I'm not really sure how many queer players are in women's hockey anyway.
Sabrina and Lila are great. They start off pretty rocky because Lila kind of has a chip on her shoulder about privileged players. Once they are able to move past that, thankfully, Lila eats crow and they end up becoming friends with crushes on each other. When they finally realize the attraction is mutual they go from zero to sixty in no time flat. They are really great about supporting each other and being empathetic too. Lots of great chemistry. There are several spicy scenes, that are kind of mediocre. I've read a lot better, but also worse. I was a little offput by the discussion about Sabrina's past with men. It felt weird for them to have that conversation, especially when they did. It also felt weird for her to talk about enjoying being intimate with her ex-husband, the jerk. Manipulative, emotionally abusive jerks aren't exactly known for being caring lovers after all. And most lesbians I know that have been with men didn't find the intimacy to be very worthwhile, let alone good. And the scene really dragged it out and repeated the sentiment several times and it was just too much.
There is no third act breakup. Their relationship is pretty solid and communication and support are great between them. The drama comes from the hockey season and Sabrina's relationship with her dad.
Sabrina and Lila are great. They start off pretty rocky because Lila kind of has a chip on her shoulder about privileged players. Once they are able to move past that, thankfully, Lila eats crow and they end up becoming friends with crushes on each other. When they finally realize the attraction is mutual they go from zero to sixty in no time flat. They are really great about supporting each other and being empathetic too. Lots of great chemistry. There are several spicy scenes, that are kind of mediocre. I've read a lot better, but also worse. I was a little offput by the discussion about Sabrina's past with men. It felt weird for them to have that conversation, especially when they did. It also felt weird for her to talk about enjoying being intimate with her ex-husband, the jerk. Manipulative, emotionally abusive jerks aren't exactly known for being caring lovers after all. And most lesbians I know that have been with men didn't find the intimacy to be very worthwhile, let alone good. And the scene really dragged it out and repeated the sentiment several times and it was just too much.
There is no third act breakup. Their relationship is pretty solid and communication and support are great between them. The drama comes from the hockey season and Sabrina's relationship with her dad.
September 8, 2024
PLAYMAKER by Lauren Gallagher (LA Witt) is an excellently written f/f hockey romance set in a world with a women’s professional hockey league. Lila Hamilton is thankful to be joining the Philadelphia Bearcats, an expansion team. If only Sabrina McAvoy weren’t also on this team…. It’s well known that Sabrina’s the daughter of a potential Hall of Famer Doran McAvoy and her brother Mark is an NHL player, and it’s obvious she’s riding on their coattails…right?
Lauren Gallagher uses alternating first person to let readers into the heads of Lila and Sabrina, and as they get to know each other better, they are able to put the antagonism behind them. And then the real question becomes whether they will realize and act on their very mutual attraction before everyone else on the planet recognizes it.
Ms Gallagher does a fantastic job balancing the on ice action with the off-ice developments, and Playmaker is a real pageturner. I enjoyed every word.
Lauren Gallagher uses alternating first person to let readers into the heads of Lila and Sabrina, and as they get to know each other better, they are able to put the antagonism behind them. And then the real question becomes whether they will realize and act on their very mutual attraction before everyone else on the planet recognizes it.
Ms Gallagher does a fantastic job balancing the on ice action with the off-ice developments, and Playmaker is a real pageturner. I enjoyed every word.
September 7, 2024
Lila is very happy to be joining the Bearcats, her knee is better now & she's got a fresh start in a completely new city.
Sabrina, who is also on the same team, is someone who Lila would normally be interested in, except for the fact that she comes from an impressive hockey family. That might be okay, but she also seemingly flaunts this fact, from Lila’s perspective, anyway.
However, there’s more to Sabrina than first impressions might say. She’s had to overcome things no one knows about, in addition to having not much help from family at all - despite appearances (her father is something else, my goodness!).
Then Sabrina & Lila end up having a connection that’s more than just superficial, really. It's something that's just impossible for them to ignore...
I received this free ARC through an email promotion, and this is my honest review.
Sabrina, who is also on the same team, is someone who Lila would normally be interested in, except for the fact that she comes from an impressive hockey family. That might be okay, but she also seemingly flaunts this fact, from Lila’s perspective, anyway.
However, there’s more to Sabrina than first impressions might say. She’s had to overcome things no one knows about, in addition to having not much help from family at all - despite appearances (her father is something else, my goodness!).
Then Sabrina & Lila end up having a connection that’s more than just superficial, really. It's something that's just impossible for them to ignore...
I received this free ARC through an email promotion, and this is my honest review.
October 26, 2024
I know as little about women's professional hockey as I do about men's, but two things I do know is that Witt (here writing as Gallagher) knows her hockey and that she always tells a damned good story. All of the sparks that fly between Lila and Sabrina, from their initial adversarial encounters to the later sexy ones, absolutely pulled me into the story. One of the funny things about sapphic romance is that women tend to actually communicate with each other, so the adversarial bit is fun while it lasts but doesn't drag on overly long. The realistic elements of the external plot are unfortunately laced with the misogyny I'd expect from such a male-dominated sport, but I adored the resolution that helped Sabrina heal and find her own happily ever after on more than just the romance front.
Disclaimer: I received a digital review copy of this book from the author.
Disclaimer: I received a digital review copy of this book from the author.
October 6, 2024
While I've read lots of L.A. Witt books, I haven't read as many under her Lauren Gallagher pen name, so was curious to see how I'd enjoy one of her other writing styles. In Playmaker, she builds a solid women's pro-hockey league world, full of strong, feisty, competitive women who love their sport despite the struggles they've faced to make it as far as they have. Within this context, we get to know Lila and Sabrina, both new to the Pittsburgh team, and longtime rivals since their days in youth hockey. This is an enemies to lovers slow-burn, mostly "closed door" romance, with mild heat, a lot of detail, and some good plot twists that made for a good read.
November 18, 2024
While this book wasn’t the most robust or overall fulfilling plot wise, it was a fun read with a lot of redeeming factors. The characters are decently complex, and the book does a good job of dealing with important topics like family trauma.
As for Lila specifically, I do think you have to be a little bit of a hater yourself to really understand her or like her. While the feeling of “I hate her just because she has things I want” doesn’t resonate with everyone, it does resonate with some, and I didn’t find her overwhelmingly annoying for her issues with Sabrina at the beginning of the book.
As for Lila specifically, I do think you have to be a little bit of a hater yourself to really understand her or like her. While the feeling of “I hate her just because she has things I want” doesn’t resonate with everyone, it does resonate with some, and I didn’t find her overwhelmingly annoying for her issues with Sabrina at the beginning of the book.
December 5, 2024
Being my first sapphic read, I found this to be rather meh.
I wanted to be immersed in the story, feel something for one of the characters – be it empathy, sympathy, or something else – but I found the dual PoV left me not caring about Lila or Sabrina at all.
It was a fast-forward read that literally skimmed over their relationship, and focused too much on external goings on, which were often very repetitive. The story moved very fast between internal conflict and years of animosity, that led to a kiss and make-up scene that happened within a week of the characters confronting each other, making the story extremely hard to relate to and very difficult to believe. In real life it would have taken longer for that much animosity to give way to feelings of sympathy and turn into love.
I wanted to be immersed in the story, feel something for one of the characters – be it empathy, sympathy, or something else – but I found the dual PoV left me not caring about Lila or Sabrina at all.
It was a fast-forward read that literally skimmed over their relationship, and focused too much on external goings on, which were often very repetitive. The story moved very fast between internal conflict and years of animosity, that led to a kiss and make-up scene that happened within a week of the characters confronting each other, making the story extremely hard to relate to and very difficult to believe. In real life it would have taken longer for that much animosity to give way to feelings of sympathy and turn into love.
December 12, 2024
so good!
After a slew of really terrible hockey romances, this one was a refreshing change of pace! I really appreciated the emphasis on hockey and the author’s knowledge of the sport. The only thing that got me was the writing style. The internal monologues of the main characters were a bit much, and there was WAY too much asking and answering a question in their heads. For example: “Am I writing too many rhetorical questions in my book? Yes I am. Am I going to stop? Apparently not!”
But really that wasn’t anything major. Grammar, punctuation, and terminology choices were on point. I enjoyed the characters. Everything was great!
Overall 4.5/5
After a slew of really terrible hockey romances, this one was a refreshing change of pace! I really appreciated the emphasis on hockey and the author’s knowledge of the sport. The only thing that got me was the writing style. The internal monologues of the main characters were a bit much, and there was WAY too much asking and answering a question in their heads. For example: “Am I writing too many rhetorical questions in my book? Yes I am. Am I going to stop? Apparently not!”
But really that wasn’t anything major. Grammar, punctuation, and terminology choices were on point. I enjoyed the characters. Everything was great!
Overall 4.5/5
March 21, 2025
It was an Ok read. The plot is really repetitive and could definitely use some editing to cut at least half of the time Sabrina talks about her father and her ex husband. I feel like both characters lacked depth, especially Lila. Her whole storyline was her knee injury. She was a foil to Sabrina's character, only there to ask her how she feels so Sabrina can go on again with the same repetitive stories. Also I think there is too much time spent talking about the league, players with no stand in the story, games description, etc, while not enough about the main character and how their relationship evolves.
NB: english is my second language sorry for my mistakes
NB: english is my second language sorry for my mistakes
September 25, 2024
Lila makes the classic mistake of judging a book by its cover and hates Sabrina on principle. Sabrina just wants a chance to play hockey without being under a man’s thumb. This story was very enjoyable and timely with the popularity of women’s hockey last year. I wouldn’t mind a little more spice but the two have great chemistry and I’m looking forward to more!
November 16, 2024
Enjoyed reading Sabrina and Lilas story. Set against the backdrop of professional hockey, which I didn't know too much about. It touched on the subject of inequality in sports and the struggle of women's sports in general. Well paced read. It's always good when the vilan in a story get his comeuppance.
November 22, 2024
Cute romance, although the writing was a bit repetitive at times. The hockey game parts were surprisingly exciting, considering I don't (fully) know all the rules of hockey and the terminology.
I enjoyed the family dynamics of both characters and their respective family members, and how things played out in that regard.
I enjoyed the family dynamics of both characters and their respective family members, and how things played out in that regard.
December 1, 2024
Good story
I liked it. I don’t know that much about women’s hockey so it was so much fun to read it. Misogyny in sport unfortunatly is always present in professional sports which is kind of sad. I really liked the way this book was written. Everything developed in it’s own pace and the end was wonderfull. It is quite emotional story. Very pleasent sport romance!
I liked it. I don’t know that much about women’s hockey so it was so much fun to read it. Misogyny in sport unfortunatly is always present in professional sports which is kind of sad. I really liked the way this book was written. Everything developed in it’s own pace and the end was wonderfull. It is quite emotional story. Very pleasent sport romance!
December 9, 2024
Did I know anything about hockey going into this? Absolutely not. Did I suddenly start having an interest? Yes I did. This book was soooo good, so well put together that I want more. I loved the characters. I loved the drama. I loved the resolve and I loved the ending. Not gonna lie, I need myself a Lila or Sabrina in my life. 😮💨🫣
October 27, 2024
This wasn’t too bad but combined with questionable character choices and reading this after Hoops & Heartstrings (a definitely better sapphic sport teammates romance) this falls right into its OK territory. Main gripe was why Logan was so salty against someone she didn’t even know. There was no vested interest in her angst which just made her POV weak. She does eventually realize she’s being a douche canoe but only after the other MC explains her life story. Pro life tip: nobody owes you any explanation about their life. You are not the main character. (Yes, I get the irony). Because of that, I never quite warmed to the character and it made me feel distant for the whole tale.
May 18, 2025
i so badly wanted to like this. but the beginning felt so weird and very woman hater esque. i was so disappointed in the mc for so much. but as soon as they got over the beginning resentment it jumped straight into mutual interest. really poor pacing.
dnf
June 1, 2025DNF at 22%. I had high hopes for a sapphic rivals-to-lovers hockey romance, but I have to give up. The characters have some promise, but they are soooooo whiny / bitchy. I can't get over it.
Oh well! Hopefully there's another sapphic hockey romance out there for me.
Oh well! Hopefully there's another sapphic hockey romance out there for me.
December 16, 2025
dnf 28% because this book is incapable of handling its nepo baby narrative correctly. it's obsessed with making everyone apologise to the nepo baby mc for thinking she's privileged and being bitter over it. you can't actually hold a grudge against it because her dad is sexist
November 30, 2024
AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!! This book was so cute and heartwarming❤️ the romance is amazing, the story was fun to read and the couple is so sweet🥰I love a good sports romance🏒
December 19, 2024
Romance wasn’t the main plot but it was still cute
January 2, 2025
🏒🧒👸🚫🏆☺️
January 4, 2025
Since Gallagher/Witt nearly always works for me, it's no surprise that I liked this one, too.
January 11, 2025
LESBIAN HOCKEY BOOK 🙂↕️🙂↕️🙂↕️🙂↕️🙂↕️🙂↕️
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