The Spice Play

Pucking Daddies

by Mia Mara

I let an irresistibly hot stranger pleasure me with my purple toy—and then he ghosted me.
So, imagine my shame when I find out he’s my new boss.
And I’m moving into his guest house… as his son’s nanny!

Okay, just because Atlanta Fire's star hot center knows how to handle his stick doesn't mean I'm going to let him out of the penalty box.

Sebastian Blue is a walking mistake in a hockey jersey.
Sinful smirk? You bet.
Dedicated single dad? Of course.
Relationship phobic? Just my luck.

But he's eager to become my knight in shining skates…

When I need a fake date for my ex's wedding (the same ex who told me I'm bad in bed), Seb is only too pleased to "prove the SOB wrong”—by teaching me just how good spice can be.

I'm trying not to lose my mind every time he kisses me like I’m his next big score, turning every steamy lesson into something that feels dangerously real.

And for a gal who can't have kids of her own, this family is starting to feel like my home team.

So the question is, when the final buzzer sounds, will I still just be another move in his spice play—or something more?

The Spice Play is a steamy single dad and the nanny, enemies to lovers, pro hockey romance. It's the first book in the Pucking Daddies series and can be enjoyed as a standalone. HEA guaranteed!

Genres: Hockey, Sports, Sports Romance, Romance, Hockey Romance, Forced Proximity, Contemporary

354 pages, Paperback

Published December 16, 2024

Reviews

[Brooke B · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to enjoy this book, but it’s just so poorly written from the hockey standpoint that I spent most of the time reading it shaking my head... It’s one of those times when you can tell the author just jumped on the bandwagon of hockey romances being popular without actually knowing the sport. The way gameplay is explained would be more like basketball- one line of starters that play the whole game. It’s laughable. Or she lived with the MMC and saw him off to his games, but the first time she saw him in a suit was at a wedding 3/4 of the way through the book? And my favourite… it’s repeatedly referred to in gameplay as “quarters”.. hockey games have 3 periods, not 4 quarters.. one time it was even referred to as halves of the game, but never periods. The author also seems rather confused as to what type of gear hockey players wear… nothing she describes is even close to right. So if you an actual hockey fan this book will drive you absolutely insane. It’s just so poorly done

There’s so much angst and just an unreasonable amount of miscommunication between Sebastian and Nelly.. I’m a very quick reader and this took be over a week to finish because I had to really force myself to sit down and pick it up. Spice was ok.. nothing to get excited about but it was there.

I took a chance off the synopsis and prior reviews but honestly, not for me at all.

[Pam Zais · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 80%. Just couldn’t do it anymore- the characters were so shallow and the FMC was annoyingly immature. Girl needed to grow up and maybe get some therapy.

[Maggie Elliott · Rating 2 out of 5]

The spice was perfect. The FMC needed to get herself together. I felt like after the first few chapters it was nothing but a breakup book. Too much back and forth. I couldn’t finish the book.

[jess.manora · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of typos, no communication and the ending made me cringe so bad. 🥲

[Jeanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. The Nitwit Nelly just pissed me off. Could she be more of an idiot if she tried? And what’s with giving the kid the third degree about his dad. And seriously if my employer didn’t want his kid in a death trap car and gave you a different car to drive to ensure his safety, why would you argue with him for taking his child’s safety seriously! And then the whole I quit, ooh no I don’t, but then again I’m gonna. Even though I’ve made a pinky promise to a 5 year old with abandonment issues already. Get over yourself girl. So I really tried to finish. Got to 78% and just couldn’t do it anymore! She had just decided to quit again

[Karri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like the author wrote a rough draft, didn’t bother to read it, then published it. The MFC was so immature and refused to communicate. Her constantly bouncing between being with the MMC and not being with him and putting his son in the middle made me mad, as did the Bryan character. There’s no way that someone would constantly act that way and still have a job, I don’t care how well you play.

[Tracy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Somehow a book made me root for the MMC to leave the FMC and find someone better.

Nelly acts younger than the child she nannied. What kind of nanny interrogates a CHILD about their dad but then you want me to believe she didn't google this famous hockey player? Gtfo.

Seb is the reason I'm even giving this 1 star.

[KayCee Mundhenke · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hockey fraud artist for real like come on….not to mention how horribly immature the FMC was 🙄

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Get it here:
Amazon US * Amazon UK

[Camille 🪩 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can’t believe I just dnf’d a hockey romance.
POV c’était tous les deux des gros Miskina jsuis choqué comment ils étaient con carrément

[Miranda Hohn · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a relief to be done.

This had so much promise in the beginning, but you soon find out the MCs have the emotional and intellectual maturity of preteens. The MMC was one of the biggest A-holes I’ve ever read, yet the FMC is falling in love with him? And he’s falling for her too? I’m not falling for that.
It gets to a point where he literally reaches out to his sister and asks “what should I do?” And she says “literally tell her how you feel, it’s that simple” and his response is “I can’t see myself doing that, so I guess I’ll never figure it out”. Are you FREAKING KIDDING????? I was sooooo close to DNFing. Instead, he acts like an ass, she threatens to quit, he manipulates her not to leave by kissing her in front of his son, then he makes the most ramdom public declarations of love ever? They didn’t even define the relationship.
As for the writing. The pace in the beginning of the book was great. Nothing felt dragged on, there wasn’t a lot of inner monologue that made you zone out, but I’m not sure what happened at the 90% mark. I think the author got tired of this story too because the last chapter had so many different scenes in them, then would just to a different scene sometimes months, years, or just hours later. They were the most random scenes too.

[Lori Kays · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 really! I would read this author again. There was nothing earth shattering in this, it was pretty simple plot without a lot of character development, but for what it was, it was decently done. The writing wasn't cringe worthy, The MC's, for the most part weren't awful to read, the spice was decent and didn't take forever for them to get to it. There wasn't a true 3rd act break-up, though there was a mid book freak out. His angry outburst was a major WTF moment that I felt like deserved everything she did and more. I agree with her, that level of disrespect could not be tolerated. While their miscommunications were frustrating to read, unlike other books where the miscommunication is ridiculously absurd, the miscommunication in this was so realistic, it was almost laughable if you've dealt with it yourself. As a female reading the book, you know INSTANTLY what he said or did wrong, meanwhile he's completely clueless and trying some other method that we know isn't what she's looking for. "I thought I was showing her I respected her space" 😂😂🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️ Bro, no, she needed you to chase her and reassure her, DUH! So I appreciated that just for how well it depicted the true miscommunication that happens between men and women. I will say though that the last freak out she had was pretty hard to relate to and had me a little pissed off. I get she was cheated on so she's extra sensitive as she should be, but she didn't even let him have a chance to explain and his story and reasoning were completely legitimate. Once she left, she should have been damn sure before coming back that she had all her kinks worked out because honestly she was almost as bad as the ex-wife with the coming and leaving. When her boss is like "Again?! Already?!" when she said she wanted re-assigned for the second time, I felt that. I'm glad she didn't go all the way through with it and he salvaged it before it got to that point, even though I felt that it shouldn't have been on him to have to make a grand gesture, it should have been on her. Also that grand gesture was MAJOR cringe! Not only was it ridiculously sappy, it was EMBARRASSINGLY personal for thousands of other people to hear. It wasn't a proposal or something like that, it was literally just him telling her his feelings...during an apparent playoff game (this "hockey" romance was very.... creative on the hockey aspect) I was a little disappointed that Sebastian wasn't put off by her behavior or little more firm in his boundaries for Matty's sake. To me, it seemed unrealistic that he'd be so quick to keep trying to get her back when she fled because it was his exact trigger and fear. I also wish that the ex would have made some sort of appearance, just so we got to see some of that conflict. On the flip side, what happened at her ex's wedding was so satisfying! It's the dream scenario we all have of getting revenge on our cheating ex by living well or what that really means, living better! I would have loved it if the ex had tried to get with her on the wedding day and she shot him down, just because we all know he didn't think she was really bad in bed, he was just a narcissist that was using negging to ruin her self esteem and control her. However, that didn't affect my rating or enjoyment of the book at all because it's just a personal preference that I would have enjoyed. Not the best hockey romance I've read, but far from the worst.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars!

I loved this story! From the moment they met, Nelly and Seb had sparks flying. Unfortunately, their ex's did a number on them, so they have some issues. Matty is Seb's son and he's adorable.

This is a funny, sexy, heartwarming, heartbreaking and entertaining.

Can they figure out how to make this nanny and single father relationship work? Or will they keep their relationship strictly professional?

Hockey romance, yes please!.

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

[Krista Garcia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've NEVER disliked an FMC more than Nelly. POOR Sebastian. Yes did he fumble a few times, sure but Nelly was incredibly unforgiving and unwilling to let the man make a mistake when she had made tons!!! The thing about this is that they both had their own unfortunate history with ex's but for her to not sit in her feelings long enough to try and even hear out Sebastian ONCE annoyed tf outta me meanwhile he was constantly trying to fix things. And yes she had a lot of emotional damage from her ex but girl u didnt even like him!!! Like how can that man who u didnt like have so much power over u! Versus a man who does have those feelings for u and u treat him how u should have treated ur ex! And my biggest problem with this book was how unprofessional she was as a nanny. Like girl ur allowed to quit if the job is not working for u but u keep breaking this lil kids heart & the dads. Stop being so wishy washy & stop talking to ur friend talk to ur man! Ugh. Not a very satisfying read it irritated me too much!

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

The hockey isn’t hockey-ing here.

[Donna Schatz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story but…

The story is good although I can’t get past the hockey inaccuracies. NHL players make A LOT LOT of money. None of them are playing because ‘they have to’. Additionally, there is glass above the boards around the rink. No player is going to reach across the board into the seats. Finally, no player is benched for over half the game. Each shift is rarely more than a minute long, with most shifts being 35-45 seconds at a time. There are three to four lines of players that are continually being switched throughout the game. If the MMC was being ‘benched’ for half the game, he would have been a healthy scratch and not even dress for the game. After so many hockey-related pieces of information being incorrect, I just could not continue. 😕

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 ⭐️
2.5/5 🌶️

I wanted to like this more than I did. Honestly, I don’t know anything about hockey. Don’t care if this is accurate or not. I enjoyed this book at first, but then it started to devolve into a bit of a mess. Personally, I don’t enjoy when miscommunication is the main form of conflict in a romance book. That and the MCs needing therapy. Great spice though. Not especially kinky, but a good amount of spicy scenes. HOT too.

[Anet · Rating 2 out of 5]

“I love you, Nell, not just for what you’ve done for me, for Matty, but for who you are. For the way you fight me on what’s best for him, the way you care, the way you make everything… better, just by being there..."

This was nothing but a breakup book from start to finish. Not to mention, as a hockey fan myself, how poorly it was written from the hockey perspective. From the gear description to the author referring to the game parts as "quarters," hockey games have three periods, and that's it. If you're a hockey fan, this book will drive you crazy.

Nelly needs to get her shit together because she has some serious trust issues. And don't get me on the NON existing communication between both main characters. Nothing. Nada. Zero. Below zero, to be honest. Not to mention that she was putting Sebastian's son right in the middle of them, which drove me, again, crazy. Nelly was just crying for half of the book about her previous relationship, closing herself off and running away. Not gonna lie, this had me rooting for Sebastian to pack his things and go find someone else, because he got himself another child.

Clearly, this author just slid on the wave of hockey theme being popular, but never actually did any research on actual hockey. Sorry not sorry.

[Artine Bucco · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only give two stars to books I truly dislike, so this lands at three, not bad, just not great. I didn’t hate it, but the pacing really threw me off. The entire last third felt more like an extended epilogue than part of the main story, and the constant misunderstandings got frustrating. Every time it seemed like things were finally resolved, another mix-up popped up out of nowhere.

I didn’t have huge expectations based on the title and cover, but I still think this could’ve been stronger with tighter editing and a smoother plot. The characters had good chemistry, and I did enjoy them overall — those were the main highlights for me. There are definitely worse versions of this kind of story out there, but also plenty that do it better. I’m sure others might enjoy it more than I did.

[Payton · Rating 4 out of 5]

i’ll take it

if you can get past the title, it wasn’t bad. i’m not mad at it. very typical stereotypical plot but obviously enjoyable beacuse to be fair when am i ever mad about a sprinkle of smut.

[Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

mid

[LolShan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute found family romance.
I found that Nelly was a lot more relatable with her worries etc and it did hit different to see these in writing.
the wedding scenes were golden!

[Addison🪲🪷 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, cheesy, kinda what you’d expect! Ending was rushed imo

I really wish authors would stop making covers like this so I can read my silly little books in peace 😂

[JP · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ehhh both of the main characters were insufferable.

[Brooke Rason · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one of the most frustrating books I’ve ever read. Miscommunication trope x100000000. I can appreciate a low plot high smut book as much as the next person, but this was just bad lol

[Mads R · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyed the first half of this book, it was kinda goofy but fine. Then the miscommunications kept popping up and she kept having past relationship issues causing problems and it was a little annoying. But the end? Him publicly announcing how ridiculous their relationship has been and all their issues in front of thousands of people to profess his love, then 15 mins later him asking her to marry him and her accepting like she wasn’t planning on leaving just that morning. Straight up whiplash wtf was that?

[SPR · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars - Good premise but the female main character felt like high school drama. The leaving/ not leaving and not having any conversations to get a better understanding - that was a bit annoying. Really liked the main male character Seb.

[Madison Murphy · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 ⭐️
DNF @ 50%. I had to force myself to read this far but in the end I just couldn’t handle reading anymore miscommunication/childishness between the two MC’s. This was not for me.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

An okay read.

I think what bothered me the most is the improper use of hockey language.

There are not quarters or halves in hockey. There are periods. There are not subs in hockey. There are four lines. NHL players make a decent amount of money and don’t work random side jobs because they need the income. (Rookies sometimes too but that’s different). NHL players were suits to every game. Not jeans and a tshirt.

How many times can you quit your job to your boss and still keep it?

The book talks about his billionaire dad but doesn’t mention parents beyond that.

[Kaley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too much misunderstanding but honestly it was kinda sweet.

The fisting did throw me off tho so one star off for that