Forbidden Puckboy

Puckboys #7

by Eden Finley, Saxon James, Iggy Toma (Narrator)

Easton

You know what’s the worst feeling in the world? Being in love with someone since you were twelve years old, knowing they only see you as a little brother type.

Not even becoming an NHL star has made him realize I’m all grown up now.

All of that changes when I ask my brother’s best friend to ref a charity match and we spend an entire week in each other’s pocket.

Being close to him is torture, but for the first time since my adolescent crush started, I begin to feel hope. I swear Knox looks at me the same way I look at him. Or so I think. When I throw myself at him and get utterly rejected, I never want to see him again.

Yet, shaking him is impossible, because he and Connor are always around, and my older brother is suffocatingly protective. Every time I look at Knox, I’m reminded of how he turned me down.

Can’t I just die of embarrassment in peace?

Knox

The Kiki brothers are legendary in the NHL world. Thick as thieves, unstoppable on the ice, and the kind of family nothing can come between. Or so I thought.

For the last ten years, I’ve successfully hidden my feelings for the middle Kiki brother. Easton is snarky, determined, and the prettiest guy I’ve met. Ever since we stumbled across each other on a gay dating app and shared our secrets, I’ve felt a connection to him that I haven’t had with anything else.

But Connor is my best friend and when it comes to his little brothers, “protective” doesn’t cover it. I’m determined to take my feelings for Easton to the grave, but after a week in close proximity to him, my willpower is ready to break.

All it takes is one charity hockey match, a drunken night out, and a forbidden kiss for me to know that Easton Kikishkin is it for me.

And unless I want to lose Connor, Easton will never be mine.

Genres: M M Romance, Sports, Romance, Hockey, Sports Romance, Audiobook, Friends To Lovers

Audible Audio

First published September 19, 2024

About the author

Eden Finley is an Amazon bestselling author who writes steamy contemporary romances that are mostly full of snark and light-hearted fluff.

She lives to create an escape from real life for herself and her readers.

She's also an Australian girl and apologises for her Australianisms that sometimes don't make sense to anyone else.

Reviews

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ll never understand the title of this book, because the relationship I have with an M&M McFlurry from McDonald’s at 10pm on a random ass Thursday when I’m supposed to be on a diet felt more forbidden than the relationship in this book.

Besties brother is reeeeeeally not forbidden in my eyes.
And when the big reveal happens and bestie barely even cares except that he felt sad his bestie and bro didn’t talk to him about it…. Oh, well I’m so glad we built this tension over ✨nothing✨


Some alternate names I consider Biblically accurate alternatives:

- Acceptable puckboy
- The Referees puckboy
- Whatever puckboy
- A puckboy
- Besties brother puckboy
- Boringly puckboy
- Puckboy, book 7
- Good enough puckboy
- Worst ever 3rd act break up in history puckboy

[martina (the life of a chaotic reader) · Rating 1 out of 5]

both mcs have three (3) things going on for the whole book: their jobs, they like each other, one wants to smother his brother and the other only knows how to run from his problems.

that’s it.
no, really. that’s it. nothing else going on.

i was excited for the next book but tell me what’s exciting about a grown ass man wanting to make someone else’s life a living hell because he was bullied in high school.
how an utter idiot like that can be a billionaire is beyond me.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel felt entirely like page filler -
A whole lot of Sadenverse name dropping
Dragged out big brother drama
Lots of repetitive inner thoughts
Third act break up
Lots of debate about long distance relationships
Unsatisfying HFN/HEA

Lastly, I’d consider it a real stretch to call this a ‘forbidden’ romance.

[Noi (in & out) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know why I keep reading these -_-
It's been a while since I fully liked any of them and yet...

It was fine, I think I feel like they are not amazing, and repetitive at this point. How can every single dude in this sport universe be LGBT+? And yes I know that is the concept, but why can't we have one about a sister who is bi or something? I'm asking for too much of this, I think.

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes I stayed up til 3am to finish this, I just had to know what happened!!! 😂 Who needs sleep?!

I loved the tension between Easton and basically everyone except the Collective!

His strained relationship with his brother, Connor, felt so realistic - the bickering and fighting and passive aggressive behaviour - I loved how you could feel East's frustration and his desire to be seen as his own person.

The youngest brother Lachie had me laughing and he just feels like trouble - as soon as he comes out I can definitely see him replacing Ezra and Oskar as the number one chaos gremlin of the group!

Knox was an interesting character but he really had me wanting to shout at him to stop being an idiot 😂😂 He was very quick to walk away from things he wanted because he feared failure, and I think his worrisome nature came across well. You could definitely feel the struggle he was facing effectively being caught between being Connor's lifelong bestie, who he refers to as his extra brother, and his feelings for Easton.

Loved the charity hockey game with all of the Collective, but honestly I could read an entire book that goes into way more detail for it because it was over before I knew it. I always want more Asher content too - I swear I say this in every review, but he's one of my favourite characters ever so I'm not sorry!

I'm also so excited for the pairing in the next book now that I know who it's going to be... I can't even fathom how that's going to work but I am so here for it because I never want this series to end.

*****
I received an ARC of this book from Saxon James and Eden Finley, and this is my honest review

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the first half of the book. Loved reading about the charity match and all the members of the collective. Loved the pining between the characters and I really liked their first kiss. I actually read the first half in just one sitting and thought it was really good.

But then the second half was not really interesting to me. Not a lot going on plot wise. Chapter after chapter of the characters repeatedly having the same internal thoughts and ruminating over their problems repeatedly. I felt like I was rereading the same internal thought over again. The relationship lacked depth. Would have been nice to maybe have a few flash backs to show when they developed their feelings for each other instead of another chapter of Knox stressing over his job. The HEA felt kind of weak too. I was a bit bummed by the second half.

But finding out who book 8 will be about is pretty exciting. Just hope that book has more plot & depth than this one. 🤞🏻

[Nadia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel like these authors are so tired, this book had NO DEPTH

It was the fluffiest story with mediocre sex scenes,,,

I feel this series started off sooo hot with angst, now it’s just putting out books to put out books

[⊹ ⁺ ₊ ✧ she's book obsessed ✧ ₊ ⁺ ⊹ · Rating 4 out of 5]

⊹ ⁺ ₊ ✧ Forbidden Puckboy ┊ 4 stars ✧ ₊ ⁺ ⊹

∘₊✧ ── "I want to keep you. / I want to be kept." ── ✧₊∘

☆₊⋆ → thoughts┊I adored the first half of the book, like yes please give me all the secret pining, but the second half was a bit boring. Overall they were so sweet together🤍

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄☆⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

✧⋄⋆ pre-release notes ⋆⋄✧
⤷ 12/06/24 ┊GIVE IT TO ME🤭🫴🏼

౨ৎ happy reading ౨ৎ

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

My face when reading a Puckboys book: 😊😊😊😊

THE PREMISE: brother’s best friend and the messy real life love of trying to make a relationship work.

TROPES & VIBES:
- Ref x ice hockey player
- MM romcom
- Brother’s best friend
- “I’ve loved you since I was 12”

3.5⭐️ 2🌶️

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

This series needs to end. There, I've said it. PLEASE JUST STOP. I've loved the Queer Collective boys since the beginning, but it's time to let them go. Send them somewhere nice where they can play hockey and party their days away in peace never having to be bothered again by subpar, boring plots 😌

Nothing about this worked for me. Not a single thing. I should have trusted my gut (and other reviews) and simply not read it. I couldn't even finish it. I ended up DNFing around 40% after I found my mind wandering while listening to the audio. I stopped, took my headphones out, and never looked back. I simply do not care. If I was smart, I would have stopped listening the moment Alexander Cendese's rendition of Ezra's voice hit my ears 🫠 I know Ezra has an accent, I get it, so maybe it's just me but no thanks. However, it might be for you if you enjoy other hits such as nails on a chalkboard, a spoon in a garbage disposal, a blender chopping ice, or Tor Thom narrating Game Changer by Rachel Reid 💀💀💀

Apparently, there's another book already planned, but I won't be reading it. I shouldn't have read this one. I'm going to do my best to wipe it from my memory and pretend the series went out on a high note with Bromantic Puckboy, the true shining star of the series. If anyone reading this happens to have an extra MIB neuralyzer laying about, please send it my way.

[Emily G · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm super sad this didn't hit as much as I thought it would.

Firstly, brothers best friend and Ref x Player is always going to intrigue me!

I do wish we had gotten some flashbacks so their relationship felt more genuine,

I was not a fan of how Knox treated Easton for the majority of this book, and I wasn't convinced they were past their issues by the end of the book. It felt very one sided from Eastons POV.

I really hope Saxon and Eden do a Novella for the charity match as the collective content was lacking in this one.

------------
Getting an arc of this 1 week after finishing book 6 is amazing - everything’s coming up millhouse

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m obsessed with this series, and this is my new favorite Puckboy book. Brother’s best friend is always a great trope, but the pining from Easton and Knox trying not to act on his forbidden feelings, created so much tension it was jumping off the page. Not only was the book amazing, we finally get to see the entire queer collective group all playing together. This book was a lot of fun and I now that we know which Kiki brother is getting his story next I can’t wait for the next one!

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book just fine, it was entertaining. Definitely not my favorite from the series but I’d still recommend it.
Excited for the next one!

[Aricka Decker · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I always had this feeling, this sense that he wanted me too, but I’d put it down to wishing he was looking at me like I was a snack. I mean, I am a snack; I just didn’t know if he saw me that way"

Okay so I put off reading the newest book in the Puckboys series because I hadnt seen very good reviews on it, and this series is totally hit or miss for me. But I am pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed Easton Kiki and Knox's book. I am going to say the whole Im in love with my best friends sibling/im in love with my brothers best friend taboo thing never really made sense to me and I am glad that its not THAT big of a deal in this book. I think this is a more tame sexual romance of the Puckboys series and that isnt a bad thing because I think the romance they do have is pretty sweet, and they were working through a lot to try to be together so that made sense. I really enjoyed all the characters and I thought it was a pretty carefree funny book like the rest of the series. I am here to see Eden Finley and Saxon James make every brother group all homosexual. I feel like every time there is a family full of men in their books, all of them are gay and I see this happening to the Kiki brothers as well, like the Dalton brothers, and the Grant brothers. Anyways like always the Puckboys series are the brain off, just vibes, fun times, not much drama, usually no tears, and lots of laughs and unseriousness, and hot sex and I cant knock the series for delivering that. But unlike some of the books that Ive rated lower, I enjoyed these characters which is a big plus.

[gracie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is definitely one of my favorites in the series. I loved them!!!


~~~~~~~~
pre-read

I say that Eden and Saxon are dragging out this series, that their dialogue is cheesy too and yet I'm seated for every release 😭😭 they're never letting me go I fear. Anyway, this is brother's best friend trope so I'm excited to read it icl

[dil · Rating 1 out of 5]

Trash money grab, saxon n eden please stop writing atleast together even though even individually all you guys can do is recycle your old hits and ruin them☹️☹️
The kiki brothers are a cheap version of the dalton brothers just that easton is an ungrateful asshole, connor a traumatized overbearing older brother and lachie being useless
Knox has no personality (easton doesnt either)
Also i just want to say easton is an insufferable asshole who is 23 turning 24, not able to communicate, ungrateful as fuck towards connor and his parents n then wonders why when he actually communicates instead of HITTING your brother or calling him names
It actually works ? N when his little personality less boyfriend calls him out on that he gets all sulky and upset acting like he is the sole victim of what? His brother did all the sacrifices n while its mentioned 55099 times that he did that i have yet to see Easton actually LIKING his brother or respecting him for it. I need white authors to stop writing siblings dynamics because apparently the second you are in the same field its bound to create HATRED ? Or it’s normalized to shit on your siblings and obviously prefer your lover like ugh its just nasty this pissed me off so bad i need easton dead
Parker is literally mentally challenged who buys a team bc someone called you douche in high school
There is never great pacing or plotting
DROP YOUR PENS !

[Jane aka Coughy019 (Safety info included) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tropes: Brothers best friend, ref/player
Feels: 3/5
Steam*: 3/5
Kinks: n/a
Angst: low
HEA: yes
Pairing: MM
Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: low angst pining, third act breakup

3.25 Stars.

Knox is a ref in the PWHL (women's hockey), it pays really poorly so he is working another job as a server as well. He's bi and if I read the ages right he's 25. He's best friends with Connor and lives with him. Easton lives next door. Connor and his brother Easton are NHL players on the same team. Their family is full of hockey players, there's three brothers and they are all in the NHL. Easton is the middle brother at 23 years old, and Connor is a very overprotective interfering older brother. Easton wants his freedom from under Connor's shadow / influence. Easton is gay and has had a crush on Knox since he was 12, it's a really deep crush because they know each other very well and are friends.

The Queer Collective finally has enough queer members to have a hockey game between queer players. They arrange a charity hockey game and Easton reaches out to Knox to ask him to be one of the refs. Their interactions there reveal that Easton's feelings aren't one sided but they don't think they should start anything, particularly Knox. Connor's interference comes to light and Easton reaches his last straw with him, and that triggers things changing between Connor and Easton. Connor also gives Knox permission to date Easton if he's interested, not that he has to give permission, but they have a talk about it. Knox and Easton start dating but are keeping it casual because their lives are kind of at crossroads with both of their careers. Then Knox gets an offer to work in the AHL and NHL that would make their relationship more long distance and a lot more difficult, causing complications in their relationship. They have to decide if they're okay with what their future relationship could look like.

I have been really excited for a ref/player book from these authors. I had hoped that the ref would be an NHL ref and that there would have been more of a forbidden aspect, more of a secret relationship, higher angst. And I had hoped that there would be more interactions with the Collective, and that the ref would have been a fly on the wall for so many moments in the series and it would just be like lifting a curtain and realizing that a certain person had been there the whole time, and it would be hilarious because the ref would know so much! I think there was so much potential for a ref story and I'm just a bit disappointed by what we got.

Putting aside the fact that this wasn't really the ref story that I wanted, I did just judge the book for what it was. Even then, I was disappointed with the relationship between Easton and Knox. Their dynamic to me was ugly. They were too casual about each other for so long, it felt like they didn't care enough about each other. Supposedly they felt intensely about each other for years but neither of them cared enough to do anything about it when it would be at cost to other relationships and priorities and things going on in their life. When they first got together, they're only together because Connor gave an okay to it, but they still aren't treating this relationship as something special or worth being a priority.

The age gap thing was weird to me personally. I was shocked when it was revealed that they're only 2 years apart in age. That's nothing, definitely not some huge taboo forbidden thing. The way they handled the age gap kind of cut the sexual tension and significance of their relationship off at the knees. If they really had feelings for each other, two years isn't enough to make it make sense for them not to try to be together. They were both sleeping around a lot over the years and at one point Knox says that he's not got a jealous or possessive bone in his body. To me, if you have feelings for someone and they're right in your face as your next door neighbor, an integral part of your social circle, you're going to have problems seeing them with other people and you're going to have problems hooking up with other people yourself. Were the authors trying too hard to make this book low angst by having the characters not care? They were a little too chill! And I think that just kills some of the romance, and the lack of sexual jealousy was just another example of them just not caring enough.

I wish we had more of the Collective. We got a lot of them during the charity game and then there was absolutely no interaction with the collective from 33% until the epilogue. It was too long to go without any of those people! Those relationships add a depth to the puckboy stories, so the book was worse off for their absence.

What were the positives? There was good plot to the story. It's nice that there was some complexity to it and that everything wasn't magically resolved. I loved all the collective appearances that we got in the first 33% of the book. It was nice that Easton and Knox had a solid friendship between them. I'm really intrigued by the Connor/Patrick relationship. I hope that really delivers an intense story. I need a hit of animosity and reluctant sexual tension!


Some notable moments: (I have to say, it's not a good sign for Knox and Easton that almost all of my favorite moments are Ezra and not them)

“I asked Gabe, who’s a firefighter, if it would be an issue, and he said no, I should go for it.” Ezra says this as if he’s so proud of checking on all the details. Aleks, who plays for Seattle and is Gabe’s partner, says, “Yeah, he was fucking with you. It’s his favorite pastime, watching the chaos that comes with hanging out with the kind of upstanding citizens us pro hockey players are.”"

"“Ezra, for the last time, you can’t say that every time you’re slammed into the boards.” He blinks at me angelically. “Say what?” “I’m not repeating it.” “I’ll repeat it,” Lachie offers helpfully" ...... "Everyone starts behaving themselves again, playing clean, fixed on that next goal, and I get a peaceful minute or two until Connor flattens Ezra into the boards right beside me. “Harder, Daddy,” Ezra taunts, and I facepalm."

"“Little Kiki,” Ezra calls, throwing his arm around East. “We made something for the birthday boy.” “We?” “Me and Anton. It was a family crafting day.”"


*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.

[⋆｡°✮ Lucy InTheSky ✮°｡⋆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was so damn underwhelming. 1.75⭐ - for Connor I'll bump it up, because he was actually good.

But this was almost 300 pages of literally nothing new. Same thing, all over again. Same scenes, same sex, same dirty talk, same conflicts, basically nothing happened.
The Kiki brothers were supposed to be fire, but only one guy was and this wasn't his book.

🔵 Best friend's younger brother
🟣 Teenage crush, pining
🟡 Gay/bisexual
🟢 Both in their 20s
🔵 Love story completely unconvincing
🟠 Break up, long distance relationship
🌶️ Some sex, boring; t/b

I don't think I'll even waste time here. Easton and Knox weren't worthy of a book. They got together after years of pining and miscommunication and when they actually started hooking up it wasn't really all that and they ended it pretty soon because of the job offer Knox got. It wasn't a special kind of love, it was very mediocre and mundane, the chemistry wasn't really there, the sex wasn't hot, nothing worked, so I really didn't need to read 300 pages of it.

"This is chemistry. And it’s a relief to know that we have it as I kiss him deeper and start to move."

"I’ve gotta say, the sex is amazing— he’s everything I’d fantasized about and more in that department— but outside of that, he’s still Knox, Connor’s best friend, and I think he still sees me as Easton, little brother to his best friend. In bed, we’re a couple. Outside of it, we’re… still the same people we always were."

All I kept thinking was



I'm thinking this series has milked all there was to milk out of this hockey universe and we're pretty much done. I don't think anything new can be added to the series.

It almost always feels like (with 2 exceptions) the POV wasn't written from the main character's perspective but from a fan's perspective who sees something that isn't there.

It's not realistic and it's almost like all the guys here were stripped of their manhood, there are constantly phrases and ideas inserted to make them look less threatening and if I read about "toxic masculinity" one more time in this series, I'm gonna lose it.

The series needs a fresh start, new ideas, something powerful and completely out of the box, because these ideas are not working anymore.

To think we're getting the bully trope next and Connor was actually a character I liked - I'm almost afraid to even read the book if it's going to be as bad as most of them are.

Most of the side characters were crappy in the last two installments, so even my favourite couples like Ezra and Anton and Aleks and Gabe aren't shining anymore.

[Ellie ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25⭐️

Forbidden Puckboy is quite angsty and I loved every bit of it. East and Knox go through a lot of challenges to reach their happy ending, but they handle everything very well. I wished for more moments of them together in the book, but at the same time, it makes sense that we don’t get many because it’s the main struggle in their relationship.

Knox has to make some tough decisions between his friendship with Connor, his relationship with Easton and his job, and I think he handles it all really well. Easton can be a bit selfish at times, but that’s not too surprising since athletes are known to be self-centered (he could have tried to support Knox better in my opinion.)

It was another great read in the Queer Collective series and I’m really excited to read Connor and Parker’s story (I mean, I hope they’re gonna get a book, otherwise I will riot!) If Forbidden Puckboy had a lot of angst, this one promises to be even more intense, like fireworks on steroids!

[ɪ ʀᴇᴄᴇɪᴠᴇᴅ ᴀɴ ᴀʀᴄ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜɪꜱ ɪꜱ ᴍʏ ʜᴏɴᴇꜱᴛ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ]

[Hello sweetie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can MMC’s be middle Kiki and his brother’s BF maybe? Not sure but I would guess one of them is middle Kiki. Anyway can’t wait to read this colab, as always :)

update after reading

well i had high hopes for this one :( but i didn't like knox at all. he didn't deserve east's love and affection. and why east loves him is a big question mark. conor is pushed to be the all the reasons they cant be together and this was soo not okey. definetly the worst book in the series. didn't like it much :/

[Cadiva · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was not what I was expecting.

Not to say that meant it wasn't a great book, but for a lot of it I found myself wondering just what the Hell Easton saw in Knox!

It's also one of the least steamy, in terms of on page encounters but with one of the highest references to all the sexy times they were having, which was also a little disappointing.

East refers frequently to wanting to feel Knox inside him but we never get that scene, only read that they've fucked loads off page, which I found a little odd to be honest.

Other than that, it has all you'd expect from a brother's best friend, player and referee, forbidden style romance. In fact, the best elements of this book's narrative are the bits between Knox and Connor, and then Easton and Connor when it comes to the tension and the fratching that occurs in close families.

There's a fair amount of guest appearances from all The Collective, which I very much appreciated, it's great to see Ollie and Caleb showing up alongside Foster Grant, as well as the later guys, and there's a really lovely scene between the later and East in which they talk about the difficulties of having a long distance relationship.

Overall, I think Knox did eventually redeem himself, his character very much followed a path of least resistance and giving up when things got tough, so I don't think it was unusual for him to behave the way he does, even if I found it immensely frustrating.

I'd also have maybe liked a couple of flashbacks, so we could have seen younger East having his major crushing start on Knox, same with the time that Knox realised his best friend's little brother had grown up and was an attractive young man.

There's also only a very small age gap between them, I think it's about two years, so they're both still in their early/mid 20s and feel like they've got a bit of maturing to do before they're grown up enough for me to completely buy into their HEA.

It's definitely left as a very strong HFN and I hope we'll get more glimpses into their relationship in the next book (which I won't spoil but I'm very much looking forward to as it's likely to be an enemies to lovers coupled with a bi awakening theme).

I still love this series though and this one is still a good story, it just wasn't as great as the others have been for me.

#ARC kindly received from the authors via Foreword PR, I am voluntarily leaving a review

[Monikat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a little frustrated at this book and I can say that I did not enjoy it. The whole dynamic felt off and I just could not really get into it.

These are some thoughts while reading. There may be minor spoilers.:

"Connor is my rock, my support -I live in his House rent-free. I'm not going to throw away my best friend for a drunken hookup..."
That right there sums up what a leech Knox is. That was early times in the story but he started out pretty low in my eyes. That and his lack of commitment to any thing (except leeching off Connor. He chooses living easy to being with the man he's been into for yeeears. It feels like he's made useless excuses for a long time not to be open with Easton.

He comes off as sluggish and undecided while Easton has been up front and brave. It doesn't feel like Knox deserves Easton. Like he's his own personal saboteur.

I could never understand the 'I'm breaking up with you so I won't get hurt' trope, it just doesn't work that way in real life. You just dive in and try your best. The preconceived notion that you will fail and get hurt is not logical but that's probably my life experience talking.

*It's frustrating that they hadn't even thought that they could live together 😐 🙄🧐

*And then on summer break he can't wait to get away from Easton? Wow this book just keeps getting better and better, not. 🤨

*Side note, I just wanted to say that if the next book is Parker and Connor's I can't wait for it. That's a great setup right there.😉

[Ana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somehow this series lost its shine. It was still an ok read because I liked the pining and built up but there were a lot of things which left me feeling 'whatever'.
Connor's reaction to finding out the 'truth' was super anticlimactic and the whole plot surrounding the new couple in the next book, was stretching it a lot. Ok totally unbelievable and silly.

[Gaby · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was bad and boring. The whole forbidden aspect was quite pathetic if I’m being honest. It gets solved easily and in the most anticlimactic way, only to have them break up for no reason whatsoever.
I really hope Connor’s book is better.

[Stacey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay it’s not actually a forbidden romance in any way, because brothers bestie isn’t exactly boning your priest and the drama of that was over in the first 40% but it’s still Puckboys fun. The Puckboys formula works when you throw in cameos of all the beloved past characters, the banter as always was top notch between the collective. The MC’s were tolerable, the real world conversations of “can this actually work?” were welcomed (maybe a little repetitive, but welcomed nonetheless) but I also couldn’t figure out why they loved each other, it went from pining, to a kiss, to “we have to make this work, because I can’t live without you”, and okay maybe this wasn’t my favourite in the series, but I still love the queer collective. At this stage, I would just welcome collective shorts, as the full lengths are starting to feel like they’ve been written using the collective as a crutch to glamour over the fact the characters have no story to tell.

[Miki_reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

RTC

[Brittany (happy.ending.always) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could not put this down!!!! The ref and the hockey player, yessssss please!!! Also brother’s best friend, again yesssss please!!! Infinity Stars!!!! ♾️⭐️

The way I devour these puck boys is no joke. These books are sooooo amazing! The group of giys are soooo fun and have each others back! To start the book off with a charity even with all the puck boys and some of the cu hockry guys, aka the “queer collective” was my favorite!!! Add in a Kiki brother, which hello, new obsession and you’ve got an amazing story!

Easton is sweet but conflicted! His entire life he has lived in his brothers shadow. Heck even his crush since he was twelve is on his older brothers best friend, Knox! He can’t seem to escape his crush or his brother. But despite that he really just wants to try with Knox, see where it goes, see if this crush can turn into something so much more!!!

Knox is a referee! To me thus is such an awesome concept!!! Knox has wanted to be a referee so badly. He doubts himself a lot, but his best friend Connor (the oldest Kiki brother) is always cheering him on! When Knox finds himself looking out for Easton, sparks fly. He isn’t sure what to do. Should he go for it or will it ruin his relationship with his best friend!!!

This book is as amazing!!! I mean it I couldn’t put it down, nor could I read it faster, I didn’t want to miss anything but the plot line of will they or won’t they, had me on the edge of my seat the entire book! This book is hot and soooo swoony! ♾️⭐️

Tropes:
🏒Hockey Player MMC
⏱️Referee MMC
🖤Brother’s Best Friend
❤️Right Person, Wrong Time
🏒Schedule Conflicts
🔥Loved You Since I Was 12 😍
⭐️MM Romance

Favorite Quote:
“Now, get your feet off the f*cking table, dude. I eat there.” “Sorry, Daddy.”

[Mir · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure why I keep trying to read these two authors. I think it’s because they’ve written some MM greatest hits, and I’ve absolutely adored some of their older work.

Now? Not so much. I honestly just think this book was bad. The first little bit was just role call for all the prior characters, giving each of them time to say “here!” or “present!” Then things picked up a little! And with the word “casual” plummeted right back down again, and stayed there.

Most of the book is internal thoughts about how MC one wants to make long distance work, and how MC two doesn’t want to do long distance. There’s no romance. There’s no love. There’s no pining! The sex scenes were so boring! They never even spent time together! Knox did not deserve Easton I’m sorry. He gave up way too soon and way too easily.

What the fuck was that epilogue? “I’m not saying the only reason East’s and my relationship works is because we never see each other, but I’m beginning to think this might be the case.” What?! Excuse me?! I THOUGHT THIS WAS A ROMANCE WHAT IS HAPPENING.

[Lb [worlds longest slump] · Rating 3 out of 5]

I LOVE the Puckboys series but this was a miss for me.

What happened here?!

There was unfortunately very little/no substance to this book or this relationship. By the end Easton and Knox hardly saw each other, were annoyed by the other when they did see each other a lot (“we’re a couple who have to miss each other” 🚩🚩🚩) and continuously nutted within one minute when they hooked up.

Besides the fact they had known each other for years, there was ZERO relationship building, which is just wild? They both prioritise their careers and the resolution to that was that they would… continue to do so? And the smut was truly the worst/most sub par (where was the connection?! Where was the chemistry?) in the entire series.

Truly a let down and that is sooooo sad because I look forward to every one of these books.

[Chloe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forbidden Puckboy by Eden Finley and Saxon James

❤ NHL Hockey Player x Referee
❤ Brother’s Best Friend
❤ Forbidden Relationship
❤️ Mutual Pining
❤ Collective-Palooza

I'd been eagerly awaiting Easton and Knox's story since we were teased with it in Bromantic Puckboy, however unfortunately the book didn't live up to my expectations.

While the premise of the book sounded good, I spent most of the time going back and forth between liking the characters and then really disliking them. There was so much miscommunication it made my head hurt and Connor (Easton's brother) was such a big part of the story that it almost felt like there were three MCs instead of two.

Whilst I enjoyed the pining and longing that we got, it felt like we missed a lot of the build up of the MCs feelings and were just told that the feelings were there instead. The connection between Easton and Knox just didn't feel real to me and I really felt like I was missing the romance in this book.

That being said I really enjoyed all of the cameos from the CU, Puckboys and Fake Boyfriend Universe! I loved seeing so many of my favourite characters again and wish we had even more of that in this book.

Though this wasn't my favourite book of the series, I know a lot of other people have enjoyed it so I would still recommend giving it a go if you like the previous books in the series, the cameos alone make it worth it.

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐.5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Humour: 🤭🤭🤭
Intimacy: 🫂🫂🫂.5
Angst: 🥺🥺🥺

First person dual pov 👀

CW: violence, mentions of homophobia.