Corazón agridulce

Lies, Hearts & Truths #2

by H. Hunting

En un mundo de secretos, ¿se puede confiar en el corazón?

Maverick Waters tiene todo lo que un joven podría una gran familia, un futuro prometedor como jugador de hockey y unos amigos increíbles.

Antes de empezar su último año de universidad, Maverick conoce a Clover, una chica irresistible con la que tiene una aventura. No es más que un ligue de verano, así que ¿qué podría salir mal?

La vida de Maverick marcha sobre ruedas hasta que se cruza con Clover en el campus. Aun así, es una universidad grande, está seguro de que podrá evitarla. Pero no puedes evitar a alguien que está en tu misma clase. Y, sobre todo, no puedes evitar a tu nueva profesora.

 

Una novela emotiva y llena de pasión de H. Hunting, autora best seller del New York Times

Genres: Sports Romance, Romance, Sports, Hockey, College, Contemporary Romance, New Adult

408 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2022

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Little LIes is one of my favorite books I've read this year, so I've been dying to read Maverick's book. I listened to the audiobook and highly recommend reading that way! Maverick is a hockey player who instantly clicks with this woman he meets over the summer. They have a one night stand and go their separate ways. On the first day of the new semester, though, he realizes that she's his new professor for his creative writing class. The two start running into each other more around campus and Maverick learns her ex husband won't leave her alone. I was OBSESSED with the chemistry between Maverick and Clover, even though they had that age difference. They were just so perfect for each other and I wanted them to find a way to make it work! Their stolen moments together were everything. And I loved Maverick's family and how they came into play! His mom and dad were hilarious and I loved seeing Kody and Lavender! This was an absolute five star read! Pick it up now!

[CristiinaReads୨ৎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The series that continues and one that I am most excited for... Cannot wait to see who swoons for Maverick...



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[monica ✨ romantasyreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bitter Sweet Heart is slow burn college hockey romance with forbidden love, a cocky mmc and wallflower type fmc. A few weeks before school starts, Maverick is out at his family’s lake house when Clover floats up to their dock. She fell asleep on her paddle board and he woke her up and invited her to a beach party that night. They have a crazy ONS and then part ways without exchanging numbers. As the semester starts, Maverick’s creative writing class gets taken over by none other than Clover. They dance around each other all semester, but once it’s over they realized they had way more obstacles than just being professor/student relationship.

After reading Little Lies (book 1, which is about Maverick’s sister and best friend), I should have expected emotional depth but for some reason I went in just expecting some angst and forbidden love. Maverick, who seems to have it all together, in fact, does not. He’s suffering trauma from the night of his sister’s kidnapping. Clover is running away from an abusive ex. And the two of them are exactly what each other needs. This is a slow burn even though it starts off with a one night stand. There’s a lot of longing and flirting, but nothing happens with them until the end of the semester.

I think what’s keeping it from being rating any higher was the pacing. Not a whole lot happens during the semester they’re in class together and the ending felt a little slow and drawn out. I really enjoyed to mental health rep and healthy communication the two of them had though.

Read if you like
✨ college sports/hockey romances
✨ age gap (she’s 29 he’s 21)
✨ forbidden love
✨ professor x student
✨ romance starting with a ONS
✨ slow burn

[Black Ink Riot · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think I need to hit pause on reading any new Helena Hunting books, because she was once one of my favorite authors, and now all her books feel overhyped, then underdeliver and end up being steeped in disappointment.

Here’s why --> the avalanche of repetitiveness suffocates anything new and charming in all her latest books, especially in this one.

Repetition of Plotlines, Inner Monologues, and Dialogue:
The majority of what I read was just a rehashing of various scenes and themes from Little Lies. Every inner monologue mentions it some way or another. Maverick tells us the many stories about Lavender, his past, his relationship to Kody, Kody's OCD and social anxiety, and then he goes through it again in depth with Clover. And then Clover rehashes it with her friend. There is no space for the present and it’s so tiring to read about the same thing again and again and again and again.

How many times do we have to read about the funhouse scene??? How many times do we have to read about Kody and Lav hooking up? How many times do we have to read about BJ falling asleep? How many times do we have to read about Violet’s penis costumes for Alex that were mentioned at least once in every book and short story???

--> The characters are never written to evolve and have new experiences. They just stagnate in the past, especially in their traumas, and the only levity is the rehashing of tired jokes or qUiRky behaviors.



On that note - Repetition of Quirkiness is overwhelming in so many ways:
All her character names falling within a few themes is too cutesy, and upon reading this to find that the FMC’s name is CLOVER SWEET, I couldn’t help the eye-roll that almost made me DNF right there and then. Just take a look at how she beats these dead horses throughout all her books:

** Nature Names: Violet Waters, Lily, Sunshine, Poppy, Lavender, and now Clover

** Chess Names: Rook, Bishop, King(ston), Queenie

** Food Obsessions: Cupcakes (Inked Armor, Kiss My Cupcake), Jolly Ranchers and Lucky Charm Marshmallows (Little Lies), Gummy Bears (Pucked Off), Weird AF toppings on pizza (A Favor for a Favor), and so many more.

**Every Series is Intertwined:
Inked Armor --> Pucked characters get tattoos there.
Pucked characters --> Go to the cupcake shop and axe throwing bar in Kiss My Cupcake.
All In characters --> hire the services of the Spark house sisters.
and on and on and on.

--> Again, the repetition just kills any intrigue and makes the characters feel so contrived, one-dimensional, and her narrative worlds too suffocatingly small.


Now for this book in particular, here’s what ultimately made me DNF:

- Maverick and Clover had ZERO CHEMISTRY, no connection, and were both written to be immature – especially Clover. She was unable and unwillingly to communicate, to treat Maverick with respect, and I could not understand why Maverick was even attracted to her beyond the physical. Beyond that, she felt more like his therapist than a love interest, and it was creepy AF at times.

- Clover: I barely understood her as a character because there was nothing really shown about her to indicate she was a multi-faceted human being. She felt like a blank coloring page that wasn’t colored in. And I have no fucking clue how she supposedly got a PhD at 26 and was a professor at 29, when a masters and PhD in English would have taken her well into her 30’s. I felt like she was aged down to ensure the age gap wasn’t too big to repel readers, but made no sense in terms of her character.

- Also - it really bothered me how HH wrote Kody in both this book and Little Lies - where he was talked about and shown ONLY by the symptoms of his OCD and anxiety, without him having a distinct personality, humor, thoughts or feelings to flesh him out as a real human being. It was such a disservice to not only his character, but to the representation of people who have OCD and anxiety in real life.

Ughhh I just realized that I could go on for paragraphs more about why this book didn’t work, but I’m just going to leave it here because it’s really not worth the effort.




---------- Pre-release thoughts on the cover ----------

Maverick has dark brown hair in the other books.

I don’t understand why authors choose cover models that don’t reflect how they described their characters. And they seem to just recycle the same “hot” model of the moment from that one Insta famous photographer that they all buy stock photos from.

It’s misleading and doesn’t make sense. There are so many models out there to choose from AND photoshop exists. Designers photoshop tattoos on. Why not change the hair color etc.

It feels like a marketing ploy to attract more eyeballs because the model is recognizable and that’s just sad

[MELISSA *Mel Reader* · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars!
(ARC provided by Social Butterfly PR)



Maverick Waters has a wonderful close family and a great group of friends, but as the son of hockey legend Alex Waters he’s under a lot of pressure to follow in his famous father’s footsteps and live up to his legacy. Mav is about to start his senior year of college, and needs to stay focused on his future in the NHL. Once school starts back all his energy will go into training on the ice and preparing for his career in professional hockey. He soon won’t have time for anything but classes and hockey, so one end of the summer fling is just what he needs. He spends an unforgettable night with a stunning woman he meets on the lake. He doesn’t think their paths will ever cross again, but then he runs into her on campus. He doesn’t get attached or do relationships, but everything gets complicated when he walks into class and his one night stand is also his professor.

Clover Sweet has landed a one year teaching position at a prestigious school in Chicago. It’s an incredible opportunity and she’s super excited, that is until she realizes one of her students is also her summer hookup. She just needs to try to avoid him and get through the year. They both have plans in place and need to maintain boundaries, but that’s easier said than done when you share an intense connection that’s impossible to ignore. As lines get crossed and real feelings get involved, will they risk it all for love?



Bitter Sweet Heart by Helena Hunting writing as H. Hunting is the second book in the Lies, Hearts & Truths series. It’s a student/professor, age gap, forbidden romance full of emotion, passion, humor, sizzling chemistry and delicious tension. I adored Mav and his beautiful heart. He’s super swoony! This is an amazing story that will hit you in all the feels! I love this series and can’t wait for more!!! <333



***NOW AVAILABLE***
https://amzn.to/3cDHv3V

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

After reading the first book in this series, I was so curious about Maverick Waters. I liked that we not only got his romance with Clover, but got to see him deal with a lot of the trauma he had from childhood as well as deciding what to do with his future in hockey. There was a lot going on with Clover's ex and this one definitely had some angst but I enjoyed it. New adult/sports romance/reverse age gap/student (college)- teacher (professor).

[Elle ♡ [semi-hiatus] · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

I'm on a mission to get some of my 'rtc's from this year actually written out so starting with the most recently read...

I guess my main issue with this book is how different it was from my expectations. We've got a younger H (Maverick) / older h (Clover) scenario and on top of that Clover is Maverick’s college professor so I was expecting it to be a bit taboo and it was not at all. It was all so very polite, sweet and perfect so I think I just went into it expecting something too different than what I got. They also spend the whole book acting like what they're doing is super taboo, damaging or forbidden and because they're both such goody two shoes and didn't do anything while he was technically her student it's not an issue, but they're acting like it is because "it's bad optics" for her temporary job that has no impact on her actual career 🧐 And by the end of the book they’re really justifying it more that it’s mysogny that’s keeping them hush hush because double standards for women and the gossip, and I get it, but I still feel like they blew the consequences out of proportion.

And liiiiisten I'm not saying consent isn't sexy and in real life I'm all about being PC, but the first sex scene in this book came across more like a sex ed skit that might be played on VCR in a high school classroom aka very stale and robotic. Later Clover claims all the checking in was very sexy so to each their own, for me personally I did not find it sexy lol it just took me out of the scene. The first check in I was like alright cool, the second I was like alright cool, the third I was like alright? I think we're good? and then the fourth etc etc I was like...yes, consent, that's great, but this isn't an informational PSA this is a fictional romance novel where the heroine is 9 years older than the kid that's checking in every step of the process. I wanted her to be like "wow, love that, thank you, but I promise I'll let you know if you do something I don't like.” (She finally does say something like halfway through the book, but there’s a lot of question asking before then lol). And again I feel like an asshole for complaining about this, but I don't need my fiction to be so perfect? Like I love a sweet romance, but I also read some darker ones with shit I would never condone in real life so I'm not really looking for a step by step guide on how to display perfect consent in the bedroom. Am I making any sense?
I swear to god I like nice guys, goofy guys, sweet guys, etc but something about his actions was just sooo overly solicitous that it felt like too much and annoyed me lol.

Following that vein, in general I felt like the characters were too cookie cutter, safe, and not very interesting and then their connection/chemistry was lacking so I was just bored. Maverick, a college senior, hockey player, planning on going to the pros next year said words like" freaking". I also found his intense solicitousness and need to respect her wishes coupled with blatant out of the blue flirting and come ons while they were still in the forbidden student/teacher situation contradictory and confusing. Then Clover started calling Maverick an "old soul” 🤮 fucking ew lol just as creepy when used on younger guys as younger girls…good to know.

”He’s an old soul…He’s wise beyond his years.”

“I know my being a student is a sticking point for you, but I’m so fucking old inside, Clover. No one my age gets what this is like, how the things I’ve been through have changed me. But I feel like maybe you do.”

"I'm so fucking old inside" ??? wtf
Big 🤢 energy, also ‘I’m not like other girls’ energy and ‘no one understands me’ energy. Nothing about Maverick said mature or 'old soul' to me, honestly... He's pretty damn immature, insecure and ruled by his emotions.
And then there’s Clover who had a tendency to overreact and blow Mavericks actions way out of proportion. I also found her stubborn and annoying 😌 my fave combo. Also this is probably just me being dumb, but I don't feel like the demise of her marriage was explained well enough or why she even married him so quick in the first place. It came up a lot, but it was always skimmed over and very generalized, I wanted some emotion attached to it, a deeper account of something he did, why she fell for him other than that he was "charismatic" idk anything. It's not that I want flashbacks (please no) or to harp on it, but since it was such a big part of the plot I felt like I needed better background on their relationship… Running away and hiding for a year before filing for divorce is pretty extreme so I would’ve liked to be more clear about why exactly that was necessary. And then after all those extreme actions she’s still way too accommodating to her ex, as is her family. Like it’s really fucking easy to say no, ask him to leave, not invite him in for holiday dinners or call the cops if someone is harassing you like you HID from this man for a year and now you’re letting him into your home whenever he shows up? Why?

Besides all that this book was kind of a big downer lol. Most of the book it seems like Maverick kind of sucks at hockey and maybe doesn't enjoy it/want to go pro, but at the same time he’s definitely going pro, but then maybe not, but then he ignores that and acts like he definitely is. I get it he had some shit to work through, but again I think this was expectations vs reality for me. I was expecting a sports romance with a forbidden taboo teacher/student relationship and not even the sports part of it was delivering.

Lastly, I felt like this book was a bit too long at 450 pages...maybe I mostly felt that way because I wanted it to be over, but I definitely think some of this could’ve been edited down. I wasn’t expecting to dislike this book so much because I enjoyed book one in this series a lot when I read it. I’m honestly not even really sure how I ended up reading this series because I only read book one of Pucked and didn’t like it that much haha, but I was hopefully the spin-off under a pen name would be different enough that I’d like it. I think that my journey with this series is probably over though.

[Catherine Cowles]

Addicting, emotional, and with the angst you love, you won't want to miss Maverick. Helena Hunting expertly weaves a story with uniquely broken characters you never want to let go of. The heart, the raw authenticity, the original lens, this has become my favorite series of the year and I'm begging for more!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely everything I didn’t know I needed. I was reminded time and again why I love these characters and this world.

Detailed review to come, but it’s a must read.

[Alexandraa XX · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this sweet romantic love story. It’s slow burn but definitely worth it! I had so much fun reading this😍😍😍


The story starts with the hero is enjoying his summer time with his friends in the lake. In the afternoon while his friends goes somewhere, the hero suddenly saw a little boat floating in the lake that is almost to the dock where he is. And he found a woman who is actually sleeping in the little boat and he tries to wakes her up… The woman is the heroine herself… When he did, both of them went into the water because the woman was so shocked that the hero wake her up. And when they went up to the dock and talked about it, they introduced themselves and talked about how to meet later in a party… Of course the hero immediately have dirty thoughts about the woman because of how beautiful she is… when they meet a party, they talked again and later have sex like four times lol. Five weeks later, they meet up again in the university and the heroine turns out to be the professor…

“She’s familiar in a way that’s hard to explain. I’ve spent a handful of weeks sitting in a classroom listening to her insightful commentary about the craft of creative writing. And I’ve slept with her. It’s a strange position for both of us.”



The story starts with a really slow burn tho so don’t forget that. Why? Because the hero is going through some stuff with his hockey because he is a hockey player and also he was busy with his exams. The heroine was busy with her teaching as well and also an ex husband. And the heroine want to make sure the hero was not her student anymore when they actually going to have s3x again… Even though it’s a slow burn, it’s actually pretty sweet and romantic for me…. At first couple started to meet up places by accident (well i called it faith) and also meet up at her classes that he attended, there was a little situation that made the hero always likes to check up on her asking if she’s okay, and he tries to talk to her about his studies and start to share his anxiety with the heroine… AT FIRST when they started to get close, the hero suggest the heroine to have a relationship with him but not a serious one and not a long term one. In secret too… But even though he said not a serious one and she agrees, slowly but surely both of them build their connection and strong chemistry… Both of them are very loyal to each other… The hero is the one who really pursued her and make the first moves… And since he meet the heroine again, he went to one and two parties here and there but never had sex with anyone else ever….




‼️‼️‼️SAFE ROMANTIC HOT LOVE STORY.

‼️‼️‼️TRIGGER: Anxiety attack, nightmares that happens couple of times, violence, kidnapping, childhood trauma and depression.

‼️‼️‼️NO CHEATING

‼️‼️‼️NO SEPARATION (when they officially together)

‼️‼️‼️THE HEROINE IS 29 years old and the hero is 21 years old.

‼️‼️‼️THE HERO is possessive (but not too possessive and not over the top) very protective alpa male.

The hero used to be a manwhor3 in the past. He have s3x one time with someone else when he separated from the heroine because they only had one night stand so it’s understandable. He also said he did it because he want to get over the heroine but obviously that didn’t work because he keeps thinking about the heroine… When they meet up again after five weeks later, he never have s3x with someone else ever….

The hero’s personality is so selfless and very caring person. He is close to his family and his siblings, the way he treats the heroine even before dating her officially is so very sweet and loving. I love the way he always making sure the heroine is okay and fine and treated her so good… The way he touches the heroine romantically is so very sweet🥺🥺🥺🥺 So when the hero starts to be close to the heroine and have a secret relationship with her knowing she still a professor at the university, the hero always like every night went to the heroine place and sleep with her and never goes to parties or go out having fun with his friends… He only wants to go to be with the heroine… idk but that so hot lol.


‼️‼️‼️The heroine is a very sweet and smart woman. It doesn’t say much about her personality but it really looks like she’s smart and great woman…

‼️‼️‼️NOT MANY JEALOUS SCENES FROM THE HERO AND HEROINE.

‼️‼️‼️IT HAS EX HUSBAND SHOWS UP COUPLE OF TIMES BUT NOT TOO ANNOYING AND NOT TOO MUCH… NO EX GIRLFRIEND OR EX FVCK BUDDY OR A GIRL SHOWS UP FROM THE HERO SIDE….

‼️‼️‼️NO VIRGINS.

‼️‼️‼️VERY HOT SMUT SCENES…. So hot!!!!!!

‼️‼️‼️DUAL POV

‼️‼️‼️DRAMA WITH OM BUT NOT TOO ANNOYING AND NOT TOO MUCH…. OTHER DRAMA IS ABOUT THEMSELVES AND THE HERO’S PAST TRAUMA….

‼️‼️‼️THE HERO IS OBSESSED WITH THE HEROINE… SOOO MUCH…

“You feel permanent. Like you’re inside my heart and my soul, and I want to keep that. This is the most grounded I’ve ever felt in my life. I know that’s twenty-five-ish percent shorter than yours, but that doesn’t negate this feeling. I’m in love with you. And I know the odds don’t seem stacked in our favor, but I still want this. You. Us. I don’t want to put an end date on you and me.”


‼️‼️‼️THE CHEMISTRY BETWEEN THEM IS STRONG AND SO FREAKIN ROMANTIC. I LOVE THAT I GET TO SEE THE HEROINE AND HERO SPEND THEIR ROMANTIC TIME TOGETHER AND ALWAYS TALKS ABOUT MOTIVATING EACH OTHER TO BECOME A BETTER PERSON 🥺🥺💛💛💛

“We eat a late dinner, and I study for my exams—my grades are a lot better this semester, thanks to all the time I spend with Clover—while she grades papers. We might spend a lot of our time together naked, but we spend just as much time talking. We make meals, hang out, watch TV, read, play Scrabble, and I teach Clover how to make origami cranes. I’ve made so many this year that I’ve filled an entire tote bin. It’s the first time I’ve ever felt like I’m in a real relationship.”


‼️‼️‼️HAPPY ENDING.

ENGAGED😍😍😍😍











👉🏽👉🏽Thank you so much for reading my review❤️❤️ For you who loves my review and follow it, THANK YOU SO MUCH. I did not get paid or be told to do a review on a book. I’m here just to write review about a book so i can remember it. Its my honest opinion😚 I didn’t know at first people will find me and follow me and trust me to be honest, I was surprised myself to look at the notifications from people who reach out to me😆 So everything i write down here on a review is based on my personal opinion and based on my true writing. I DID NOT COPY SOMEONE’S REVIEW OR WRITING SKILL because at first when i was using this app for one year i didn’t know how to scroll down on a book and see the reviews from others😂😅🤣 I know, silly me but hey I finally learned my lesson 😛😛😛 Thats why when people assume i copy someone’s review i was like what? Because at first i didn’t know how to use this app properly and i didn’t know how to open someone’s review because for a year i never follow someone or add friends or someone😂😂😂🤣 (I’m laughing so hard) 🤪 AND I NEVER COPY SOMEONE’S REVIEW EVER. IF I WRITE SOMETHING WRONG OR DOESN’T MAKE SENSE PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND BE NICE OKAY. 👈🏽👈🏽👈🏽✋🏽✋🏽 IF YOU'RE BEING MEAN AND NEGATIVE ALREADY WITH A WARNING AND NOT BEING WISE TO ME, I WILL NOT ENTIRELY READ YOUR COMMENT AND REMOVE YOU EASILY AND FAST. I DO NOT TOLERATE NEGATIVE COMMENT SO KNOW YOUR PLACE, THANK YOU SO MUCH.

I’m writing my disclaimer again here cause many negative people still don't get it or still be stupid enough not to understand my POV when I already write it so many times before. So here I am writing it again to you beautifuls human being😁😁 WHEN YOU READ MY LONG OR SHORT REVIEW, YOU WOULD KNOW THAT WHAT I LIKE ABOUT A STORY AND CHARACTERS RIGHT... IF YOU DON'T KNOW THEN HERE IT IS: I LIKE A BOOK WITH VERY POSSESSIVE PROTECTIVE ALPHA MALE, NO CHEATING, AND PLEASE NO MANWHOR3, NO MANY PUSHING AWAY, NO DOORMAT HEROINES, NO MANY OW DRAMA, NO S3X SCENE WITH SOMEONE ELSE. AND SAFE ALL THE WAY AND A HAPPY ENDING. Something that I don't like it very much if the hero or heroine have a crazy fvcked up personality and likes. Example: killing someone and let the heroine watch it all and push the heroine to lick all the blood of his victim and made her have to eat the meat of humans. and fvcks many woman in front of the heroine while telling her he loves her. I DON'T LIKE THAT TYPE OF SH*T AT ALL. That's just who I am, that's what I like and I don't like on a book. Maybe you love that, but I don't. We humans are different, we think very differently from one another. You have your likes and I have mine, you have your opinions and I have mine of my own. You think it's stupid of me to love such a book or to not love a book or to hate it whatever lol, I think it's bad you think that way cause I respect people's opinions cause I know for a fact we have our differences. YOU AND ME ARE DIFFERENT FOR PETE'S SAKE. I even have my own friends or people I follow here that shows how much they don't like the book I like, I never even give them a long comment or short Comment. Cause I respect their opinions. I don't like to give people I hard time here cause life itself is already hard enough. I do respect your opinion if you say my review is bad or whatever negative things about it, but in the end of the day I will not changed my mind about what book I dislike and how my thoughts about it. You can't tell me what to do. You can give me advice but it's me who decided to know what's right for me, this is my life and not yours. Read that again. Don’t assume things about me that is not even real, just don’t. cause when you do you’re more small minded for sure. You're thinking why I'm telling you all of this when you already know? Is because you still hating on my opinions and don't understand my POV and don't respect my POV. You think i like writing this disclaimer when obviously you're an adult already? no i personally think this is unnecessary... but because there are people out there who still don't get it *rolling my eyes*. Hopefully they or the people who read this disclaimer can use a beautiful thing called a brain:) AND WHEN YOU READ MY REVIEW, READ IT VERY CLEARLY TO SEE IF I FINISHED THE BOOK OR NOT. KNOW THE DIFFERENCE. AND YES ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE. BUT IF YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M WRITING, THEN IT MEANS YOU UNDERSTAND IT ENOUGH. I DO NOT TOLERATE BULLYING, NEGATIVE COMMENTS AND MEAN WORDS. PLEASE USE A WISE WORDS SO WE DON'T ATTACK EACH OTHER. SIMPLY, I DON’T LIKE TO HAVE AN ARGUMENT WITH STRANGERS LIKE YOU CAUSE I HAVE BETTER THINGS TO DO😚 BUT IF YOU STILL WANT TO BE AMBER HEARD KARENS THAT DON'T UNDERSTAND MY DISCLAIMER AFTER I JUST WRITE IT DOWN, THEN GO ENJOY YOUR DAY AND GO AWAY. IT'S VERY EASY FOR A HUMAN COULD DO YA KNOW. IF YOU STILL HERE HATING ME OR ANNOYED WITH ME, THAT'S YOUR PROBLEM. NOT ME PROBLEM. HASHTAGS BURN😂😂 DON'T TAKE THINGS TOO PERSONALLY ON ONLINE CAUSE WE ALL A STRANGERS, WE NEVER EVER MEET. WE'RE ADULTS HERE SO LETS BE WISER. LAST, I BLOCK NEGATIVE PEOPLE! SO GET WELL SOON TO THE HATERS. HOPEFULLY YOUR HEART AND MIND WILL BE MORE POSITIVE 🙏🙏🙏 AND THIS DISCLAIMER MAY SEEMS LIKE TOO HARSH ON YOU BUT HEY I DON'T LIKE TO SUGAR COATED THINGS. I LIKE TO SAY TO THE POINT WITH MY UNDERSTANDING AND MY OWN THOUGHTS, CAUSE THAT'S HOW HUMANS ARE. WE ARE DIFFERENT REMEMBER👍 HAVE A GREAT DAY EVERYONE!!

[Syndi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah... Maverick. He is kind of hot. Bitter Sweet Heart is sweet without the bitter. I think Miss Hunting putting her hero in the center of the story instead of her heroine. Although Clover's background serves as a platform for Maverick' character into the spotlight.

Maverick is not disappoint. He is very sweet and gentle. His no filter mouth is cute and funny. I like him very much. It is good to see some of other characters in this book.

Overall a very good book.

4 stars

[Debra Anastasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

IT'S AMAZING! So much love, so much funny and some heartbreak tossed in.

[✰ Bianca ✰ BJ's Book Blog ✰ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clover + Maverick

We're back in the world of the Pucked and All In series.
College in Chicago. Most of the second generation kids/cousins/besties go there.

Maverick is about to start his final year and then he's off to the the NHL.
Time for some last one-night summer fling ... with a hot lady from the lake.

Clover is finally back in Chicago after filing for divorce from her psycho not-yet-completely-ex husband. He won't stop messaging her to want to get back together - never in a million years - thank you very much!
She's all excited for her new single life and the new job at the university.

And of course her one night dream guy is sitting in her class this year!
As if her life wasn't compicated enough!

What will happen with Clover + Maverick?
Will we get a HEA?
READ THE BOOK TO FIND OUT!

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Adorable!

If you're book-weird like I am ... I suggest you read LITTLE LIES first - there's a lot of Maverick in there and there's a lot of the other people in here!

This was your typical sexy college student-prof romance. But it was so much more too!

We get those adorable and fun college moments, but also those slightly hearbreaking moments when they talk about the past in Maverick's family and what they all went through and all the guilt everybody still feels.
And then we get the sexy age-gappy moments with the professor and her hot hockey guy. Of course we don't do anything illegal - they wait until the semester is over!
But there's also Clover's horrible ex - who is not giving up easily!
And poor Maverick is not sure about his future.
Lots of problems to overcome for our darlings - but we'll get there - hopefully....

I just loved reading this book. This whole world of people is just amazing - I want so many more stories!

Tiny thing that bothered me ... a lottle - and it feels a bit un-feminist of me to say it - but the way Mav always asks for permission for every tiny little thing is so unsexy to me. He asks if he can touch her arm. If he can walk past her to go to her bathroom to get the first aid kit. Is it okay if I kiss you on your cheek? Jeez. I get that he's a huuge guy and a traumatized person might get scared, but that's not really the case here and it was just way too much for me. The sexy scenes were soo unsexy at times! But maybe that's just me - maybe that's the new sexy now in these modern times? But ... Nope.
Also... why didn't his parents sent Mav to therapy back when everything happened? That would've saved everyone so much angst and guilt and whatnot.
And the relationship with Clover's bestie? There's not much friendship happening. They're doing therapy talk 99% of the time. I wanted them to do a bit more girly friends things. It was a bit weird.
And then the guy on the cover? So not Maverick. He looks like a little boy at an all-boys rich people school. Ew.

But pfft - I still loved reading this so much!

BITTER SWEET HEART was a beautiful + emotional + sexy reverse age-gap student/prof Love Story! I just loved it! Run to your nearest amazon for your own Mav - he'll be sold out in no time - and this one is MINE!


💜 💜

[RateTheRomance · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oof. I feel like a prude, but these two exchange about 4 sentences before having a sex-marathon and I just felt zero chemistry between them.

DNF

[Crystal (Crystalreads2) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I missed when the author was starting the next generation. I must have been living under a rock. So I went straight to Maverick’s book. No worries, I will read Lavender and Kody’s Book.

The reason I went straight to Maverick’s A. The female protagonist, Clover, is older, only by eight years. B. Clover is his professor.

Maverick is an old soul, selfless and unbelievably responsible for his age. He puts everyone's needs before his own. Clover is restarting her life and taking a temporary professor position.

What started as a one-night stand turned into something so beautiful. Seriously I loved these two characters' growth and how they learned from each other. Maverick sure does live up to his name. Let’s face it I was hoping he didn’t have a filter like the women in his family. He had a few moments, but nothing like Violet. She takes the cake. I missed her.

I have missed this Hickey family and look forward to the future books.

[Christie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly just 2 stars….. I usually LOVE Helena hunting and all of the Pucked & All In books plus Little Lies were 5 star reads for me, but this one just didn’t do it for me….
I didn’t feel any chemistry at all between Maverick and Clover at all, the dialogue between them felt really stilted and not natural, and honestly the book just felt really really long…. There wasn’t really any build up of the emotion between them or even the physical chemistry, We were suddenly just supposed to believe it was there… it was never really explained what they liked about each other, other than Clover feeling sorry for his childhood trauma and MAV likes older women ….

It was missing all of the humour and easy chemistry of the other books, even the scenes with Alex and Violet just felt heavy… maybe that’s what she’s going for with the alternate pen name? I don’t know…
Also while I understand wanting to showcase how important mavericks respect for women, consent, need to protect etc were, at times it just felt really heavy handed and just not natural for even the most respectful 21 year old man…. The dialogue between River and Maverick was particularly unconvincing…

I almost DNF but forced myself to finish because I loved the broader series so much….

Anyway, I’m sure I’ll be in the minority since her books are so loved but I just found this one so disappointing after waiting so long for it! I do love her work so I’m hoping this is a one off…..

[Alba and Her Secrets..♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 '1000 cranes equal a single wish' Stars!
ARC provided via Social Butterfly PR in exchange for an honest review.


After reading Lavender Waters’ story back in 2020, I was more than ready to go back to this world that Helena Hunting started years ago with her Pucked series. After several other interconnected books, Hunting now has created a series that is a crossover of all these worlds we love so much. This time she comes back (after Little Lies) with Maverick Waters’ journey and it sure is just as emotional and intense as Lavender and Kodiak’s was.

Bitter Sweet Heart is the second installment in H. Hunting’s Lies, Hearts & Truths’ series and, as I said, it’s the love story between Maverick Waters and Clover Sweet. Maverick must focus on his hockey career but it’s not as easy after having a steamy hookup with Clover during the summer. What makes it even more interesting, it’s when these two discover they are now teacher and student for the remaining semester. A forbidden connection sparks and it’s very tough to ignore when their chemistry burns so intensely. Also, there are other obstacles between them and a brokenness in both characters that makes their relationship even more difficult.

“I didn’t want to see past tomorrow.” He presses his lips to mine. “And I didn’t want to break someone’s heart, or my own.”
“Has that changed?” I ask softly.
“I’m here, aren’t I?”

If you are familiar with Helena’s writing, you know she is known for her light and steamy romcoms. After Little Lies, she comes back with her still quirky and funny characters but a very emotional and raw love story as well. Both Maverick and Clover, leaving their passionate night aside and very intense chemistry, are still dealing with their pasts (which happen to still affect their present) and it’s not easy to heal and not feel guilt over what happened in their families and relationships. Bitter Sweet Heart is heartbreaking at times but still has all those aspects we love about Hunting’s light and emotional romances. Also, it’s all about this beautiful relationship and all the humorous and lovely moments with family and friends.

“I’ve never felt this connected to anyone before. It feels like you live not only in my heart, but in my soul as well.”

Therefore, I am rating Bitter Sweet Heart with 4 STARS because it’s a very powerful continuation of this series and I am so happy Maverick finally found his goal and true happiness together with Clover. It wasn’t an easy road for either of them, but their connection was stronger than any of the obstacles on the way. Also, it was pretty great to still have moments with the rest of the characters in the other books and I seriously hope this is not the last one in this series!

[Sharon Thérèse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet again, Hunting delivers a character-driven novel with all the smiles and emotional hooks. But before anything, the cover has to be mentioned. Isn't it stunning? And the title for Maverick Waters and Clover Sweet's rollercoaster of a tale couldn't have been more perfect.

I was smitten with Maverick Waters a while back, and after finishing Little Lies, the first standalone in the Lies, Hearts & Truths series, I couldn't wait for Hunting to tell his story. So, it's time to see if there's not only a woman who'd be able to bring him to his knees but also find out how he's coping with past and present issues.

Maverick and Clover's first encounter had me grinning from ear to ear. But let’s fast forward a bit—surprise! They find themselves in an awkward situation which needs addressing. Although Maverick gave me the impression of being flirtatious and lighthearted, there’s much more to him than meets the eye. Family and friends have always banked on him, and it won’t take long before Clover realises he has a beautiful soul.

That said, I wholly understood Clover’s reasons for trying to keep Maverick at arms-length. However, in even the most heart-wrenching scenes, the author's tender touch is there, and it wouldn’t be Hunting without her humour, which often softens real-feel angsty moments.

Unfortunately, Maverick carries a heavy weight on his shoulders. Ooh, my poor heart! I learnt why he felt as he did only after Hunting ups the pace of this fast-moving forbidden romance. Not forgetting the family dynamics, a couple of heart-to-hearts throw light on a poignant memory. But what Maverick truly wants whilst trying to live up to his father’s expectations is complicated since letting his loved ones down isn’t in his book either.

Unfailingly observant about the goings-on around him, Maverick’s cousin made me sit up and listen to what he had to say. Yeap, I’d go to the moon and back for BJ any day! How could I not finish this review without touching on the flowing banter, character development and steaminess? Wit, snappy comebacks and not-so-subtle advice arose at just the right time. Meeting up with the gang I’d learnt to love was a delight, and last but not least—the sizzling chemistry. My oh my! Has Hunting built heat into her latest offering, or what?

Enthralling, impassioned and awe-inspiringly moving, Bitter Sweet Heart is romance at its finest. Bravo, Hunting!

[⭐Toonasa⭐ •Romance Book Lovers' Haven• · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 “You’re more than a craving; you’re a need” Stars ⭐
A Heart-pounding, Sexy Forbidden College Romance with trauma, love, laughs, emotions, & swoons.
Two old souls learning to forgive–& fight for–themselves, while finding their places in the world & falling in love at the *wink* right time!
I love Mav & Clo 🥰. And I stan verbal diarrhea (which Mav inherited, lol)!

This story was well-worth the almost 2yr wait, I'm loving this angsty, tear jerker series from Helena so much! It's been fantastic to see our gang from Pucked & All In series as parents. This book showed life's imperfections & value of forgiveness.

Maverick Waters [Parents: Alex & Violet (Pucked)] is 21 & in final year of college. He's selfless, caring, humorous, sensible & loves origami! But Mav also battles daily with guilt, trauma & pressure 😭. What does HE want to do? Hockey or...?

Clover Sweet is 29 & got an exciting job as a temporary professor in Chicago college. She's loyal, fierce, understanding, awesome. Her bestie Sophia (counselor) gives great advice! Clo also has a manipulative ex who doesn't want to be an ex. Asshole.

Clo+Mav had a meet-cute in the summer. Their parents' cabins are near. Cue hot sparks & sexy one-night-stand (Mav my dirty gentleman 🥵)!
But then Mav walks into his creative writing class & finds Clo as his professor for the semester. Cue unexpected complications & embarrassment 🤭.

"...the whole I-slept-with-my-professor thing has been a bit of a mindfuck." ~Mav

In these 6 months, Mav+Clo grow close, toe the line, but never cross it *Me proud*.
~Cue The gym sauna incident 🤣, Mav being a hot-mess & a savior *swoon*, flirt, self-defense class, heartfelt talks, dipshit ex drama.

"This isn’t me trying to push him away. I’m trying to protect us both." ~Clover

But when Mav's no longer Clo's student? Oh...the anticipation *biting nails*, & *yes! cheer* when they finally gave in! 🔥🔥

They're secret? temporary? (Reasons!)... Mav's future is NHL, right? BUT...They fit. In last months of college, they sneak, date, had sexy fun, fall in love, had family holidays & hockey games. Don't they deserve a future together? 🥺
And her ex's a thorn in our sides 😤.

"Maverick is....altruistic, caring, a champion for strong, independent women who can take care of themselves, and like me, a little broken by the things we’ve been through. I see our parallels, the way he’s been changed by what his sister went through, and the ways I’ve been changed by marrying someone who wanted to keep me inside a box." ~Clover
I really wanna hug the heck out of these two 🥺.

Of course, all notice Mav acting different (as Mav shares a full house 😆). And secrets? “They” can't stay hidden for long. I was so stressed here, But Mav+Clo's talk put me at ease. #RelationshipGoals

Mav's convos with Alex, Vi (& his siblings) were funny & some so heart-touching! Vi's such a momma bear, but I (& Clo) knew it was due to her love for Mav.
~Alex+Vi, I wish you hadn't skirted talking about the past & put Mav in therapy😔. Lav's kidnapping incident hurt y'all so much. But, I guess no one's perfect & that's ok.

I adore Mav & Clo's solid relationship, I love how they slowly move on from the past hurt. How she listens & helps Mav figure out what HE wants to do in life after graduation.

But I knew her piece-of-shit ex wasn't gonna let Mav+Clo live happily easily, damnit that finale! Omfg, I was so nervous. But *whew* it worked out well.

Gosh, I love Mav's friends/family. They're an absolute unit. It was lovely seeing Clo being a part of it. The last chapter & epilogue are so amazing, cute!

"I might have been the hand that pulled him up from the darkness, but Maverick is the light. And I get to watch him shine every day." ~Clover

This book's timeline runs together with Kody+Lav's book, loved seeing them from Mav's POV! His bestie & sis falling in love 🤭. River & BJ were a delight here, hope they get their books soon. River is mighty cozy with Josiah, hehe 🥰.

** #arcHonestReview #AllViewsAreMyOwn **
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[Bookgasms Book Blog · Rating 5 out of 5]

H. Hunting is becoming one of my favorite authors. Bitter Sweet Heart was passionate, sexy, compelling and so addicting! I loved Maverick and Clover. Their relationship was so sexy and the taboo factor was just the icing on an already delicious cake!

I loved that Hunting showcased Maverick and Clover's connection despite the personal baggage they both carried. This story was very poignant and emotional. I loved how sweet Maverick was to Clover and how he handled her with care. She was so important to him and it was so evident in their interactions. I can't count how many times I swooned!

I also loved how Maverick was with his family. He was such a devoted son and brother to Violet. I am OBSESSED with him!! All in all this was an amazing addition to the series! 5 stars! ~Ratula ❤️

[Lisa (Two Bookish Brits) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my MAV *swoons*

I am…I’m in complete awe of this book. This beauty has been one of my most anticipated reads of 2022 and it didn’t let me down, I knew from the moment Mav’s book was announced it was something I needed to read. Ever since we got to know a little about Maverick in Lavender’s book I’ve been intrigued for his story. I had no idea just how incredible it was going to be. H. Hunting most definitely brought her A game with this book.

Maverick Waters, what a guy. I did NOT expect what was brought with this story. He’s an old soul with a massive heart. He’s a protector and helps anyone and everyone in any way that he can but behind his facade is a guy who’s a little broken.

Clover is an absolute ray of sunshine. I adored her character in many ways. She’s strong and caring considering what she’s put through throughout the book. The sheer strength of this woman is beautiful to see.

These two together, their connection it was astounding. They chemistry was scorching and this author truly delivered a book that’s captivating and well, extremely hot haha.

I don’t want to give any of the story away because it’s the kind of book you need to go into blind and experience at the time of reading BUT I will say it’s one of the best from this author and you will enjoy it!

Oh and I have to add (because I love this family so damn much) seeing the Waters family is a hoot! I absolutely LOVE their no filter attitude, the verbal diarrhoea its incredibly amusing and I’m so glad that their family dynamics were put into this book and I also want to add that I NEED BJ’s book because that guy truly has me wondering wth is going on in his head.

H. Hunting delivered yet another amazing read. Bitter Sweet Heart is a student/professor, age gap sports romance. It’s fun and sexy with a dash of heartache. A 5 star read and one of the best for 2022!

[Nadine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like its predecessor, Bitter Sweet Heart focuses a lot on the characters’ mental health. Past traumas clearly affect the characters’ present day motivations and actions.

I was hesitant about reading Bitter Sweet Heart because I’m usually not a big fan of age gap romances, but I had faith Hunting wouldn’t let me down. Spoiler alert: she didn’t! Hunting’s characters and treatment of mental health are truly something special and what set this series apart from her others.

Maverick is an old soul and acts differently compared to his peers. As mentioned previously, the trauma he and his family suffered in the past permeates almost every aspect of his present life as seen through his anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder. I especially liked the subtlety of Maverick’s anxiety and PTSD. Mental health issues are not always obvious, so seeing a more subtle portrayal was refreshing.

While Bitter Sweet Heart is a romance, Clover takes a backseat to Maverick as he processes his trauma, wants, and needs. Their relationship is fire hot, but also stable affording him the stability he needs to work through the biggest decisions of his life.

Overall, Bitter Sweet Heart is a fire hot age gap romance that offers more than just a forbidden tryst. Instead, Bitter Sweet Heart focuses on Maverick’s mental health through his past trauma and future decisions.


*** I received an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Pavlina Read more sleep less blog · Rating 4 out of 5]

 

  

[Jessica Alcazar · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 closer to 3 than 2 stars

I’ve been struggling for a while now on how I should phrase my reading experience of Bitter Sweet Heart and I’m kinda tired of trying to figure out how to tell you I didn’t not like this story the way Helena chose to tell it, but GAH, the potential for so much more was lingering on the outside of this story at every turn!

There are a whole lot of different plot-points and circumstances in the storyline that I could pick apart and let you know how they let me down, but it can all be summed up with one sentence. This story doesn’t even come near the greatness that was Little Lies and it greatly disappointed me. Is that fair? I don’t know, but it is what it is. So I’ve been struggling on everything from reviewing to rating to promoting but I’m addicted to these kids so I will devour their stories as they come and hopefully next time I’ll be more enthusiastic when I’m reading! :)

[Insomnolent Reader °ㅠ_ㅠ° · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring. There's no sizzles. Bye.

[Manda King · Rating 2 out of 5]

I always hate when people say this, but I really think I read a different book than everyone else here. Considering it’s early and most of these are ARC reads, perhaps I did. I genuinely cannot figure out where all the amazing ratings are coming from, but this book was a huge swing and a miss.

Just at its core, these characters are extremely boring. In warning, if you are wanting to pick up this book because you liked Maverick in the first novel of this series, just go ahead and put it back down because that character doesn’t exist anymore.

I do want to add a disclaimer that I love Helena Hunting and she’s written some of my fave books; it’s never taken me longer than 2 days to devour one of her novels. that said — this one was a struggle to even finish.

*Spoilers from here on out!*

Maverick: Every part of his personality that was interesting and fun and exciting in Lavender’s book is totally gone. His only personality trait is (suddenly?) feeling the trauma of Lavender’s kidnapping and respecting women. That’s all he does this entire book — reflect on that event as a child, and respect women. More on this later.

Clover: I don’t even know what to say about her. She didn’t really have any presence at all. For the most part, I didn’t like or dislike her, I more so just… forgot she was there. Other than just being uptight in odd situations, like Maverick, she was completely one-dimensional. Meaning, she has a crazy/abusive ex-husband, and she’s a responsible temporary professor. That’s about it for her characterization. And coming from an author who’s written some super personality-infused characters in the past, Clover was a huge letdown as a lead.

I can’t think of a better way to demonstrate how quickly this book turned sour without just going through it so if you’re interested, bear with me. Here you go:

Let’s start with the beginning: Maverick and Clover (yes, “Clover Sweet” to be exact) meet and hookup one night in the summer. This did not bother me at all, as I’ve always loved the ‘initial-hookup-have-to-work-through-feelings-later’ trope, so the lack of initial chemistry didn’t really bother me; I assumed, like other books with this trope, it would come later. (spoiler: I was wrong) He leaves in the morning while she’s asleep and they don’t plan to meet again. Flash forward 5 weeks, she’s suddenly a professor, and not just any professor — Maverick’s! Woah!

And immediately after they see each other in her class, we flash forward again… 6 weeks later.

I’m sorry, what? They… found out they were teacher and student now and.. did they talk? Did they just ignore it and each other? Is this supposed to sell me on the fact that these two are going to fall in love later? Where was all the angst and back-and-forth of ‘hey I like this person but what do I do now this relationship would be totally in appropriate’? You know, the entire POINT of having the student-teacher trope in the first place. (Whether you like the trope or not, you know the forbidden attraction part is whole reason to use it) What all happened between these two in 6 WEEKS??

Turns out nothing important — since it isn’t until the flash forward that *now* they suddenly start randomly running into each other all over the place outside of school.

I guess the story really starts when they accidentally run into each other — naked, of course — in the women’s sauna at the school gym. For some reason, they both decide that even though the gym is now closed, and both were politely asked to leave, they’re gonna go for a nice steam at the same time. Except, wait! Maverick’s a boy! What’s he doing in the women’s sauna?!? Simple answer actually, he found a universal gym key on the floor at some point and uses it for the girls side when no one is there because it “smells better.” Of course, when they run into each other, Clover immediately accuses Mav of stalking her, he explains/apologizes and leaves, she threatens to turn him in and get him expelled, he says he won’t fight her if she does (because he respects women, I don’t know if I mentioned, but he does and would hate to make her feel uncomfortable).

This whole chunk of the story is dumb, but what gets me most of all is there’s no humor. They both take it super seriously, which isn’t a bad thing per se, but is entirely not like a Helena Hunting book. None of the situations that could’ve been funny or charming if written a little differently were necessary — and I can’t understand the point of adding them when they don’t add to the plot/characters/their relationship/or add humor.

And now, even if there had been chemistry before — which there wasn’t, since, again, neither of these characters have really any desire to be together, and presumably didn’t during those 6 weeks we jumped over either — it’s definitely gone now! Nothing obliterates the attraction of a hero than making the heroine think he’s a pervert who — what? Peeps in the girls locker room and uses their sauna? Honestly we’re not really sure what Clover thinks because she doesn’t really make it clear. Why would this be included at all?? It wasn’t even angsty or dramatic — it was just weird. By far the most bizarre thing to include in this book.

I thought reading through that would be rough, but let me tell you — it gets worse.

When I say this is contrived, I mean it is contrived in the most basic way possible. For example, how do we get these two characters to interact together, while still being responsible adults who are not going to act on their attraction? (An attraction that still, neither of them have mentioned/expressed wanting to act on even internally besides Mav getting a “hard-on” during her lectures..?) As a bonus, she’s his professor and gave him a bad grade and almost got him expelled and oh yeah is 30 to his 21, so why don’t we also try to fix the power imbalance too while we’re at it! Let’s see what can we do….. I got it! Have Clover get attacked right as Maverick is running by on a jog so he can swoop in and save her! yes. perfect.

Then we jump to him trying to get her to take a self-defense class that, of course, he teaches. (because he respects women) Which was the most boring scene ever, and clearly another blatant attempt at correcting the power balance by *literally* turning him into the teacher. Clover is worried about too much contact with a student but decides to go anyways to empower herself — but for whatever reason, doesn’t even look into another teacher? Just considers either taking his class or not taking self-defense at all as her only options…?

Now, in case I forgot to mention this — Maverick respects women. One of the most annoying things in this book is how hard it is HAMMERED it into your head that Maverick respects women. It’s literally dropped in almost every conversation they have for the first 200 pages. And as a woman, I feel like I should point out that guys who need to drop that so freaking often are not good guys. They are overcompensating and it is genuinely suspicious.

But of course, Maverick’s sister went missing for a few hours when he was a kid. We know all about it from Lavender’s book, but here we find out that he still carries a lot of guilt and thinking about the kidnapping/aftermath is still traumatizing for him. Understandable, but it ends up feeling like he’s used this trauma to get a woman who’s expressed she wants him to keep his distance, to go out with him — instead of a horrifying event he lived through as a child and hasn’t properly dealt with.

He immediately invites Clover out to talk about it after their *one* self-defense lesson. Clover resists and he begs/guilts her into going — and then their whole conversation reads like a poorly done therapy session. At this point I’m wondering why Mav wasn’t paired with Sophia, Clover’s bff, since she’s the school guidance counselor and she’d probably make more sense — as by the end of the book, their relationship still reads like one constant therapy session. Instead they have a stilted conversation steeped in uber-professional dialogue — which is pretty much a trend that continues throughout the whole book.

The story continues and there’s some more contrived run-ins. The 6 week time jump made it pretty clear that we were gonna skip out on the only interesting part of the student-teacher trope, and they weren’t going to be together until she wasn’t his teacher. Of course, it takes 200 pages for them to verbally affirm this, but they immediately jump into bed as soon as she submits his final grade. It is at this point you have to wonder what the point of making the love interest a teacher was? It is absolutely unnecessary, since there’s no attraction let alone relationship until she isn’t his teacher anymore. Why go the student-teacher route if it’s just a way to take up 200+ pages of the book with filler? Why did she need to be his teacher at all?? They don’t even become close during these pages; they just run into each other randomly (or maybe not randomly, since Mav’s always jogging by her house and for some reason or another she’s always outside), Maverick saves Clover somehow and talks about his traumatic past, and then they reaffirm it would be wrong to be together. You just sit there through it thinking are you two even friends?

In any case, things start to pick up a little once she’s not his professor because they start sneaking around. You might ask why. Since Clover is only a visiting professor and her contract ends at the end of the semester and Maverick also graduates come the end of the semester, why do they act like this is some taboo thing no one can know about? Like sure, maybe don’t broadcast it until you’re both totally done at that university, but they could tell their friends and/or family at least. Especially since they both moped their way through the holidays and their families noticed.

(Speaking of the holiday’s though, Clover’s ex randomly shows up at HER parents house for Christmas dinner and he refuses to leave so she just… stays? Picture this, your abuser shows up at your family’s house, your family refuses to kick him out and after you try and he refuses, you decide awww why not just have a miserable Christmas dinner. Like girl — LEAVE.)

Anyways, this leads to another imbalance in their relationship: Clover’s bff Sophia has known about her and Mav the whole time, and they frequently discuss her worries about their relationship. However, Maverick is very much not allowed to tell his best friend, his parents, or anyone since Clover wants to keep it secret. Don’t blame her for that, but it was a complete double standard that she could have a confidant and she left him completely isolated and unable to confide in anyone about HIS concerns. Which he often wished he could.

This book really insists that Clover has more to lose if their relationship is found out — and this simply isn’t true. She’s a VISITING PROFESSOR. She’s done at the close of the spring term. The same term Mav graduates in. If they’re caught, maybe she loses her position, but it doesn’t matter because she doesn’t want to be a professor and plans to leave after her contract ends anyway. MAVERICK HAS A 4 YEAR DEGREE HE ‘S JUST ABOUT TO FINISH — NOT TO MENTION HIS ENTIRE HOCKEY CAREER ON THE LINE. And the fact that he kept saying “I know you have more to lose here” and Clover was just like “well yes” was the most subtly manipulative thing I’ve read in a while. Mostly because I don’t think the author realized how incorrect this was.

Honestly, Maverick is entirely a doormat for her before they even start their relationship and he never really grows a spine. Everything is catered to her, like his feelings are never a priority and do not matter at all unless he’s feeling down about his childhood and needs to talk about it. It makes it hard to root for Clover’s character when she just comes off so unintentionally selfish — even though the book does try to make you feel bad for her by giving her a crazy ex who of course attacks her in the climax.

But before this, there’s a point where even Clover wonders if she’s just like her manipulative ex — and I thought finally! She’s getting it! But then her bff Sophia rushes to reassure her she is definitely not. Ugh so close. It’s actually kind of funny, because she describes him as “a manipulating control freak who intentionally removed all [her] support systems,” and all you can really think is “uhhh you mean like what Clover is currently doing to Maverick?”

While I’m on Sophia, let’s talk about how she is a completely useless character; she does not exist outside of Clover’s house (which she happens to live next to, naturally). The number of times Clover was freaking out so she called her over, “filled her in” on something that had happened with Mav, her ex, anything, just so Sophia could respond with some bland therapeutic answers that Clover had already thought of herself was ridiculous. What was the point of including her character at all? She’s a prime example of that one-dimensional “main character’s best friend” who exists only to be main character’s best friend.

Eventually, Maverick’s parents find out — and I thought this part was done great. I like that they didn’t just hop on the “oh our 21 year old son is dating his 30 year old professor but he’s happy so it’s cool” train. Even the most supportive of parents would be concerned and need a bit to wrap their heads around that.

I was more than ready to be done by the end, but I’m proud of myself for sticking it out. We do get an epilogue where they get engaged that would’ve probably been sweet if I liked these two characters together at all — but nevertheless, it finally ended.

I remember when this book synopsis dropped, Hunting said she knew she was “taking a risk in writing an older-woman-younger-guy” story. I honestly just feel sad that the character of Maverick got shafted and became a total bore, attached to this other total bore of a character. It was really punched up that Clover grounded him and made him better — but it made no sense because he was always a calm and grounded character in THIS book; you’d only know he was once fun and exciting and kind of reckless if you’d read Lavender’s book where he had a personality.

All in all, this book just did not have the plot for 400+ pages, especially when none of it was spent on actually building a relationship between two characters. I’m staying hopeful that the next book in this series will be better, but if you enjoyed this one good for you!

[Christi (christireadsalot) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Little Lies, the first book in this series and had to immediately jump into Bitter Sweet Heart after! This is a contemporary romance with a college hockey playing hero and a forbidden romance with his professor!

Maverick is a character we already met in the first book in the series, his sister Lavender is the heroine of Little Lies and their parents are the couple in Pucked (also from this author). Maverick has lived in the shadow of his father’s hockey success and career and definitely feels pressured to figure out if he’s going to go pro as well. One day he ends up finding a beautiful woman asleep out on the lake, they end up sharing the day and then a hot night together. Later Maverick realizes his one night hookup is actually his new college professor, Clover.

This has age gap (she’s 29, he’s 21) and a forbidden aspect since she’s a professor at the school and he’s a student. Like the first book in the series, there is mental health/anxiety/therapy rep in this. Maverick feels responsible (has repressed trauma) over his sister being kidnapped as a child for a day at the carnival. He struggles with that throughout the book. Clover has external things going on in her life, she has a toxic, manipulative, abusive ex who won’t let her go.

I didn’t love this one quite as much as I did Little Lies, which is because of the couple…this couple didn’t work for me as well as the couple in LL. But this is still a super solid book and series and I’m so glad I finally got to them! The audiobooks are especially amazing!

[Auntee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just awesome....hard to put down...Maverick is swoon-worthy...one of the best books of the year!

[Cookie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bitter Sweet Heart is the second book in the Lies, Hearts & Truths standalone series. Maverick Waters wants to focus on finishing his last year of college. After he graduates, he has prospects to get called up to a professional hockey team and he doesn't need any distractions from his goal. When he hooks up with Clover in the summer before his Senior year begins, he doesn't think he'll ever see her again. Both Maverick and Clover are shocked when they run into each other in one of his classes. She's the professor and he is her student - and as much as they clearly want each other, they know that they must keep their relationship professional.

I knew I was going to love this book from the first few chapters. An age gap romance with an older woman and a younger man??? SAY NO MORE!!! It is my favorite trope and the added forbidden romance element to this story made it even more salacious than I could have hoped for. Maverick and Clover were meant to be - they had a funny meet-cute and that first hook up was very HOT!!! I loved all of the tension-filled moments they had while they were trying to stay away from each other. It left me thrumming with anticipation!

As steamy as this book is, it has a very sweet love story. Maverick was a true gentleman, constantly checking in with Clover, making sure she was ok with everything they were doing and making sure she felt safe. As someone who constantly had to care for his sister growing up, his caring and thoughtful nature was genuine. Maverick was wiser than his years and I kept forgetting that he was only twenty-one years old when their story started. He had the weight of the world on his shoulders yet he seemed to handle it with grace.

Maverick had a lot of emotional struggles to work through in this book. There were unresolved traumas that were still affecting him and Clover was someone he was comfortable confiding in. I am glad that she was able to guide him to professional resources eventually so that he could begin working through his issues.

I finished this book in one sitting on a five hour flight and I am so glad that I was able to read this book uninterrupted. Hunting did an amazing job of giving depth to the characters and to the story. I was so engrossed in their story that I felt fully immersed in their world. This book gave me everything I needed emotionally - it was angsty, steamy, sad, and sweet with some fun moments with the old Pucked gang. This is going to my one of my favorite books of the year!

Steam level: 🔥🔥🔥½
⚠️: anxiety, sexual harassment, partner emotional abuse & gaslighting, assault, mention of abduction & panic attacks

I received a complimentary ARC from the author.

[Readaholic Book Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maverick has a seemingly perfect life. His father is a hockey legend, he's on his way to becoming an NHL player himself - what could he possibly be worried about. As summer comes to an end, Maverick happens to have one last hot summer fling. He never expects to see his summer fling again.

Clover has been having a hard time. Separating from her husband hasn't been easy and she's always found some solace at the lake. So when she happens to have a one night stand, she doesn't think anything of it. Never expecting to see Maverick again, Clover is floored when Maverick just so happens to be a student in her class. Will these two fight their attraction to one another or try to make a relationship work between them.

This age gap romance was full of angst and sweetness. While Maverick may come across as someone who has his crap together, past trauma left a lasting impression on him and he's been fighting these demons for a long time. And while I understood Clover's hesitations with starting a relationship with Maverick, she saw through Maverick's facade and always there for him when he needed her the most. I don't always have the easiest time with an age gap romance, but these two worked together in Bitter Sweet Heart.

I love the world that Helena has created starting with the Pucked series. These characters hold such a special place in my heart and I love revisiting with them. I seriously can't wait for the next book in this series!

Although technically a standalone, I would definitely read Little Lies before starting Bitter Sweet Heart. Lavender's (Maverick's sister) journey is essential to this story.

CW: anxiety, ptsd, harassment/gaslighting

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author.