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Vancouver Wolves Hockey #1
Puck Me Secretly: Vancouver Wolves Hockey Romance Series, Book 1
I've never been in love. I've never had an orgasm, but I've faked plenty. I want to experience love. Real, passionate love. I don't want to die.
It's funny what blurts out of your mouth when the plane you're on is going down, and I didn't hold back with my seat mate when my plane decided to crash. My hysterical confessions didn't faze the muscular stranger that sat beside me. In fact, he promised if we survived, he'd give me my first orgasm.
We survived. I came. And then he left without telling me who he was.
On the first day of my job, I stood in front of the Vancouver Wolves hockey team and called out a number. #33. Imagine my shock when he skated forward.
Max is an incredible hockey player, whose wild, out-of-control antics have almost derailed his career. So many secrets shroud his past and continue to threaten his future. Now he's my secret. And that secret could ruin everything.
Contains mature themes.
It's funny what blurts out of your mouth when the plane you're on is going down, and I didn't hold back with my seat mate when my plane decided to crash. My hysterical confessions didn't faze the muscular stranger that sat beside me. In fact, he promised if we survived, he'd give me my first orgasm.
We survived. I came. And then he left without telling me who he was.
On the first day of my job, I stood in front of the Vancouver Wolves hockey team and called out a number. #33. Imagine my shock when he skated forward.
Max is an incredible hockey player, whose wild, out-of-control antics have almost derailed his career. So many secrets shroud his past and continue to threaten his future. Now he's my secret. And that secret could ruin everything.
Contains mature themes.
Audible Audio
First published October 23, 2018
About the author
Odette Stone
20 books3,670 followersJoin Odette's VIP mailing list for exclusive material ➜ https://geni.us/OdettesVIP
Join Odette’s FB group to connect➜https://geni.us/HotAlphas
Website ➜ https://www.odettestone.com
Instagram➜ https://www.instagram.com/odette.stone/
Odette has ranked in the top #50 of all Amazon Authors, with a Top #20 bestseller. This KDP All-star author loves to write contemporary, new adult and sports romance books.
She resides in beautiful Vancouver, Canada and she lives for coffee, walks on the beach (no, really), a good book and TV dramas. She is a proud dog mom to a beautiful fur baby puppy named, Mica. She has been described as introverted, funny, and an excellent listener. She's so good at keeping secrets, her friends call her "the vault." She hates being the centre of attention but she'll push you to take the stage.
Odette writes real, honest and intense romance novels. If you like hot, intelligent Alpha males, you've come to the right place! Her writing goal is to keep her readers up late at night, because they keep saying, "Just one more chapter, I'm just going to read one more chapter."
Join Odette’s FB group to connect➜https://geni.us/HotAlphas
Website ➜ https://www.odettestone.com
Instagram➜ https://www.instagram.com/odette.stone/
Odette has ranked in the top #50 of all Amazon Authors, with a Top #20 bestseller. This KDP All-star author loves to write contemporary, new adult and sports romance books.
She resides in beautiful Vancouver, Canada and she lives for coffee, walks on the beach (no, really), a good book and TV dramas. She is a proud dog mom to a beautiful fur baby puppy named, Mica. She has been described as introverted, funny, and an excellent listener. She's so good at keeping secrets, her friends call her "the vault." She hates being the centre of attention but she'll push you to take the stage.
Odette writes real, honest and intense romance novels. If you like hot, intelligent Alpha males, you've come to the right place! Her writing goal is to keep her readers up late at night, because they keep saying, "Just one more chapter, I'm just going to read one more chapter."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 4,514 reviews
October 8, 2026
lmaoooo y’all ok so this book was not good, but it was so chaotic and funny as fuck. so i don’t entirely regret reading it.
and before i get started don’t even come for me with the “why tf did you even pick up this book in the first place? isn’t the cover and title an obvious red flag?” listen…we all have our moments of weakness. i just needed to read something to turn off my brain that’s all. did i end it wanting to rip my hair out and light a cigarette next to my dads open oxygen tank? yes but that’s a lesson learned…anyways…
it starts off with home girl and boy surviving a plane crash together to her becoming his boss. they secretly date but then shit hits the fan and suddenly it the swat team shows up. cops are involved. some girl named lolita shows up. it was a mess yall but in a good way…hear me out…
at points i wanted to slap the shit out of each character. i’m talking backhand slapping all of these fucking bimbos. these bitches were annoying as fuck. i got so much secondhand embarrassment from the main character that made me appreciate that she’s a fictional character because i swear on my life i’d beat her ass if i ever saw her in public.
there were so many out of pocket scenes and chaotic shit that happened in the last 15 chapters that had me hollering. at one point homegirl is held hostage, the swat team shows up, and somehow everything ends with a big bright bow. and now she wants to get off the pill. like ok bitch he ain’t that great but live laugh love i guess.
it was cheap but at the same time entertaining. like don’t go into this book expecting anything good really. it ain’t no literary masterpiece but i’ll admit i was laughing my ass off. a book hasn’t made me activate my fight or flight in a hot minute but i’m glad this one did. i’ve never been in a mood this big to drop kick fictional characters. i don’t necessarily recommend this book but it was a good laugh that’s all
and before i get started don’t even come for me with the “why tf did you even pick up this book in the first place? isn’t the cover and title an obvious red flag?” listen…we all have our moments of weakness. i just needed to read something to turn off my brain that’s all. did i end it wanting to rip my hair out and light a cigarette next to my dads open oxygen tank? yes but that’s a lesson learned…anyways…
it starts off with home girl and boy surviving a plane crash together to her becoming his boss. they secretly date but then shit hits the fan and suddenly it the swat team shows up. cops are involved. some girl named lolita shows up. it was a mess yall but in a good way…hear me out…
at points i wanted to slap the shit out of each character. i’m talking backhand slapping all of these fucking bimbos. these bitches were annoying as fuck. i got so much secondhand embarrassment from the main character that made me appreciate that she’s a fictional character because i swear on my life i’d beat her ass if i ever saw her in public.
there were so many out of pocket scenes and chaotic shit that happened in the last 15 chapters that had me hollering. at one point homegirl is held hostage, the swat team shows up, and somehow everything ends with a big bright bow. and now she wants to get off the pill. like ok bitch he ain’t that great but live laugh love i guess.
it was cheap but at the same time entertaining. like don’t go into this book expecting anything good really. it ain’t no literary masterpiece but i’ll admit i was laughing my ass off. a book hasn’t made me activate my fight or flight in a hot minute but i’m glad this one did. i’ve never been in a mood this big to drop kick fictional characters. i don’t necessarily recommend this book but it was a good laugh that’s all
July 9, 2020
***2 STARS***
This was a DNF for me.
Perhaps I look too intently when I am reading but there must be cohesiveness and I also ask myself “would this happen in the real world”? Although this is fiction some things must make sense. I don’t really think I am exposing spoilers because they happened at the beginning of the book but I will hide them nonetheless.
This was a DNF for me.
Perhaps I look too intently when I am reading but there must be cohesiveness and I also ask myself “would this happen in the real world”? Although this is fiction some things must make sense. I don’t really think I am exposing spoilers because they happened at the beginning of the book but I will hide them nonetheless.
May 2, 2020
HOW DID THIS BOOK GO FROM ROM-COM TO SOAP OPERA I FEEL SO CHEATED
Let me present to you exhibit A for how a book can start off 5 stars and end at 1.
What the fuck did I just read?!?
This book starts off HILARIOUSLY. I know plane crashes generally speaking aren’t funny, but my god this one was hilarious. I legit thought this would be a 5 star book. The first 20% or so was great. The sexual tension. The humor. The angst. The secrecy. It was SO GOOOD.
Rory made a deal with her dad years ago to go to college in NYC in exchange for interning with him for a year. Only she wasn’t expecting it to be as the assistant GM. Max is a new hire with a rough past. I liked Rory’s fears about her job. Her being open about the nepotism she is getting and how that creates conflicts with other staff members. She knows she’s unqualified. But turns out she really knows her hockey shit. She’s actually good at her job. And Max is just trying to fit in. I think the book would’ve worked better if it was dual perspective. I wanted to know what his relationship was like with his new team.
We also got one really fucking great sex scene (most of their sex scenes are fade to black). This one had him being a total dom with light breath play and involved a mirror and was honestly hot as fuck 💯
The book has such a great start with mild drama and some humor and then....
And then...the tone shifted.
And all of a sudden it became a book about sexual assault? And it kind of came out of left field? I mean there was one case of it I figured out very early on in the book, but still. I have a huge problem with book blurbs making a book out to being something it’s not and no where in the synopsis did it imply I would have to read about sexual assault for 200 pages of a fucking 400 page book.
We have four sexual assaults in the book: two rapes that result in pregnancy, one attempted rape, and one false rape accusation. None are on-page, but some are discussed in detail. We get some weird pro-life ‘the baby is innocent’ propaganda which was annoying. You shouldn’t neglect your kid or take out your anger of how the child was conceived on your kid but you also shouldn’t pressure anyone to not to have an abortion if they want to. That was an odd take imo.
Also in a book with so much sexual assault I don’t get why the author would choose to use a fake rape allegation as a major plot point. These are so so rare in real life and make it harder for others to report. It seemed in poor taste for the author to go that route especially considering everything with this character’s background.
The book did tackle for a quick sec how sports favor players over their victims and why that’s wrong. And it tried to clarify that one character was speaking out about her assault for herself but the catalyst was to clear someone’s name and ultimately the motivations didn’t settle right with me.
If you want to tackle subject matter like this that’s fine but do it right or don’t do it at all. This all felt very much like a wattpad attempt at throwing plot twists around.
Oh and if you thought THAT was a huge tone shift then you clearly have not read the last 15% of the book. I straight up couldn’t stop laughing because WHAT?!? Just WHAT?!?!
I mean the motherfucking FBI and SWAT TEAM 🤣🤣🤣 like logistically how that scene played out made NO SENSE. I laughed out loud.
I don’t think I’ll ever get over the scene where the pizza delivery guy shows up and Rory is like ‘i didn’t order a pizza’ and the pizza guy is like ‘well I would just have to toss it do you want it’ and Baxter goes ‘well what kind is it’ AND THE PIZZA GUY YELLS “It’s called get the fuck on your knees, motherfucker.” and points a gun at Baxter’s head.
THAT IS A REAL SCENE I PROMISE YOU. I CANT MAKE THIS SHIT UP. 🤣🤣🤣
It was so so bad.
Also how the hell did people not realize Baxter was a piece of shit. That’s a dog’s name. You can’t trust humans with animal names!!!!
I think two people must’ve written this book and decided to say fuck all when it comes to editing. One person wrote the hilarious and sexual tension filled first 20% and the other wrote whatever the fuck that ending was supposed to be. I mean Max went from confident and sorta anti-social but flirty in the first 20% to this weird grumpy guy who just sulks in a corner the whole time? Why did his characterization digress?!?
Words cannot describe how hilariously bad so much of this book was.
Quick tangent: This book was way toooooo long. The middle third dragged on. By 55% I was begging for it to end. There were so many ‘3 weeks later’ time jumps. It was obnoxious. Plus it’s a pet peeve of mine to have authors alternate being writing “33” and “thirty-three” when referring to the same thing. Just pick one and stick with it! Also the ebook I read (thank fuck I used a giftcard for this book because it was BAD. I can never trust a goodreads rating again) had some formatting errors where chapters were repeated, sentences were repeated, and the occasional word had a strike through. It was odd. Also shouldn’t Rory know the players names? She just keeps calling everyone “the big player” “some player” like BITCH THIS IS YOUR TEAM KNOW THEIR NAMES. Also I think Max beats out Edward Cullen for most time spent staring at the heroine.
Overall: this book had SO MUCH potential to be SO GOOD but it was WAYYYY TOO LONG, covered too long a time period (almost a year) with too many time jumps, wtf was that tone change, poorly handled sexual assault, and most of the book was just plain boring.
Content Warnings and Trigger Warnings: plane crash, violence, alcohol consumption, sexual assault, sexual assault resulting in pregnancy, domestic abuse, marijuana use, cheating (not from main couple),
Let me present to you exhibit A for how a book can start off 5 stars and end at 1.
What the fuck did I just read?!?
This book starts off HILARIOUSLY. I know plane crashes generally speaking aren’t funny, but my god this one was hilarious. I legit thought this would be a 5 star book. The first 20% or so was great. The sexual tension. The humor. The angst. The secrecy. It was SO GOOOD.
Rory made a deal with her dad years ago to go to college in NYC in exchange for interning with him for a year. Only she wasn’t expecting it to be as the assistant GM. Max is a new hire with a rough past. I liked Rory’s fears about her job. Her being open about the nepotism she is getting and how that creates conflicts with other staff members. She knows she’s unqualified. But turns out she really knows her hockey shit. She’s actually good at her job. And Max is just trying to fit in. I think the book would’ve worked better if it was dual perspective. I wanted to know what his relationship was like with his new team.
We also got one really fucking great sex scene (most of their sex scenes are fade to black). This one had him being a total dom with light breath play and involved a mirror and was honestly hot as fuck 💯
The book has such a great start with mild drama and some humor and then....
And then...the tone shifted.
And all of a sudden it became a book about sexual assault? And it kind of came out of left field? I mean there was one case of it I figured out very early on in the book, but still. I have a huge problem with book blurbs making a book out to being something it’s not and no where in the synopsis did it imply I would have to read about sexual assault for 200 pages of a fucking 400 page book.
We have four sexual assaults in the book: two rapes that result in pregnancy, one attempted rape, and one false rape accusation. None are on-page, but some are discussed in detail. We get some weird pro-life ‘the baby is innocent’ propaganda which was annoying. You shouldn’t neglect your kid or take out your anger of how the child was conceived on your kid but you also shouldn’t pressure anyone to not to have an abortion if they want to. That was an odd take imo.
Also in a book with so much sexual assault I don’t get why the author would choose to use a fake rape allegation as a major plot point. These are so so rare in real life and make it harder for others to report. It seemed in poor taste for the author to go that route especially considering everything with this character’s background.
The book did tackle for a quick sec how sports favor players over their victims and why that’s wrong. And it tried to clarify that one character was speaking out about her assault for herself but the catalyst was to clear someone’s name and ultimately the motivations didn’t settle right with me.
If you want to tackle subject matter like this that’s fine but do it right or don’t do it at all. This all felt very much like a wattpad attempt at throwing plot twists around.
Oh and if you thought THAT was a huge tone shift then you clearly have not read the last 15% of the book. I straight up couldn’t stop laughing because WHAT?!? Just WHAT?!?!
I mean the motherfucking FBI and SWAT TEAM 🤣🤣🤣 like logistically how that scene played out made NO SENSE. I laughed out loud.
I don’t think I’ll ever get over the scene where the pizza delivery guy shows up and Rory is like ‘i didn’t order a pizza’ and the pizza guy is like ‘well I would just have to toss it do you want it’ and Baxter goes ‘well what kind is it’ AND THE PIZZA GUY YELLS “It’s called get the fuck on your knees, motherfucker.” and points a gun at Baxter’s head.
THAT IS A REAL SCENE I PROMISE YOU. I CANT MAKE THIS SHIT UP. 🤣🤣🤣
It was so so bad.
Also how the hell did people not realize Baxter was a piece of shit. That’s a dog’s name. You can’t trust humans with animal names!!!!
I think two people must’ve written this book and decided to say fuck all when it comes to editing. One person wrote the hilarious and sexual tension filled first 20% and the other wrote whatever the fuck that ending was supposed to be. I mean Max went from confident and sorta anti-social but flirty in the first 20% to this weird grumpy guy who just sulks in a corner the whole time? Why did his characterization digress?!?
Words cannot describe how hilariously bad so much of this book was.
Quick tangent: This book was way toooooo long. The middle third dragged on. By 55% I was begging for it to end. There were so many ‘3 weeks later’ time jumps. It was obnoxious. Plus it’s a pet peeve of mine to have authors alternate being writing “33” and “thirty-three” when referring to the same thing. Just pick one and stick with it! Also the ebook I read (thank fuck I used a giftcard for this book because it was BAD. I can never trust a goodreads rating again) had some formatting errors where chapters were repeated, sentences were repeated, and the occasional word had a strike through. It was odd. Also shouldn’t Rory know the players names? She just keeps calling everyone “the big player” “some player” like BITCH THIS IS YOUR TEAM KNOW THEIR NAMES. Also I think Max beats out Edward Cullen for most time spent staring at the heroine.
Overall: this book had SO MUCH potential to be SO GOOD but it was WAYYYY TOO LONG, covered too long a time period (almost a year) with too many time jumps, wtf was that tone change, poorly handled sexual assault, and most of the book was just plain boring.
Content Warnings and Trigger Warnings: plane crash, violence, alcohol consumption, sexual assault, sexual assault resulting in pregnancy, domestic abuse, marijuana use, cheating (not from main couple),
June 18, 2021
– 3.25 stars
I've been searching for a new hockey series for a while and while this series isn't going into my favorite anytime soon (The Deal is still superior), this was still kinda fun.
There is just something very endearing about a guy who is usually stoic, quiet and intense, doing goofy things with his girlfriend like putting on her t-shirt that only reaches his midriff and then having a Britney Spears dance off. 🥺
Rory and Max went from stranger to plane crash survivers to one night stand to boss employee and I found that refreshing, even though everything about the plane crash and how the characters handled it was unrealistic, but I'm bored reading about the same first meeting so that was something different that I could look over. But then this book turned into a complete soap opera. 🤡 To name a few things that happened ... there is OW drama where the woman makes a complete 180 turn by the end of the book, the actual & bigger villain doing the stupidest things for no reason or reasons that don't make any sense, a hate twitter account against Rory who tweets like a 12 yrs old girl who was actually a married old crusty white dude (the villain guy), a hostage keeping where Rory gets rescued by men in SWAT uniforms within a short time. By that point, I had to check myself if I took any hallucinogens, cuz it was just too much for me and I thought I was tripping. 😂
In conclusion, it started over the top and it stayed that way. It was trashy, but at least it was entertaining for a short time. 💫
┍━━━━━━━━━━━━━┑
VANCOUVER WOLVES HOCKEY SERIES
#1 Puck Me Secretly – 3.25 stars
#2 Home Game – 3.5 stars (rtc maybe, but probably not)
#3 The Penalty Box – 3.5 stars (rtc maybe, but probably not)
#4 High Risk Rookie – 3 stars (rtc maybe, but probably not)
┕━━━━━━━━━━━━━┙
I've been searching for a new hockey series for a while and while this series isn't going into my favorite anytime soon (The Deal is still superior), this was still kinda fun.
There is just something very endearing about a guy who is usually stoic, quiet and intense, doing goofy things with his girlfriend like putting on her t-shirt that only reaches his midriff and then having a Britney Spears dance off. 🥺
"I'll see you later."
Halfway to the elevator, his voice sounded behind me. "Hey, girlfriend."
I spun around. "You talking to me?"
"See any other hotties around here?"
Rory and Max went from stranger to plane crash survivers to one night stand to boss employee and I found that refreshing, even though everything about the plane crash and how the characters handled it was unrealistic, but I'm bored reading about the same first meeting so that was something different that I could look over. But then this book turned into a complete soap opera. 🤡 To name a few things that happened ... there is OW drama where the woman makes a complete 180 turn by the end of the book, the actual & bigger villain doing the stupidest things for no reason or reasons that don't make any sense, a hate twitter account against Rory who tweets like a 12 yrs old girl who was actually a married old crusty white dude (the villain guy), a hostage keeping where Rory gets rescued by men in SWAT uniforms within a short time. By that point, I had to check myself if I took any hallucinogens, cuz it was just too much for me and I thought I was tripping. 😂
In conclusion, it started over the top and it stayed that way. It was trashy, but at least it was entertaining for a short time. 💫
┍━━━━━━━━━━━━━┑
VANCOUVER WOLVES HOCKEY SERIES
#1 Puck Me Secretly – 3.25 stars
#2 Home Game – 3.5 stars (rtc maybe, but probably not)
#3 The Penalty Box – 3.5 stars (rtc maybe, but probably not)
#4 High Risk Rookie – 3 stars (rtc maybe, but probably not)
┕━━━━━━━━━━━━━┙
July 4, 2022
TW for sexual assault
I was so obsessed with this book from the moment I started it and listened to the entire audiobook in one day. I do think the beginning was a little bit over the top when Max and Rory survive a plane crash together and Rory reveals her lack of enjoyment in the bedroom. Their survival leaves them spending the night together and then going their separate ways. Little do they know, Max is the newest player on Rory's father's hockey team and she's the general manager in training for that team. Max has a hot head and is in trouble with the press, so Rory is given the job to hand Max from her dad. The two have insane chemistry and really care about each other, but obviously their romance is off limits. I really loved the romance and the hockey we got in this book. Rory is trying to prove herself and that she earned her position and Max is trying to hold onto his career. I really loved Max and how protective was over Rory, even when it meant risking his career. I do think some villains became a bit over the top in this book and the story focused on people being malicious and trying to ruin people's lives, but I that didn't really bother me because I was just so obsessed with the romance. I'm so happy I finally picked this up because it's definitely a new favorite hockey romance of mine!
I was so obsessed with this book from the moment I started it and listened to the entire audiobook in one day. I do think the beginning was a little bit over the top when Max and Rory survive a plane crash together and Rory reveals her lack of enjoyment in the bedroom. Their survival leaves them spending the night together and then going their separate ways. Little do they know, Max is the newest player on Rory's father's hockey team and she's the general manager in training for that team. Max has a hot head and is in trouble with the press, so Rory is given the job to hand Max from her dad. The two have insane chemistry and really care about each other, but obviously their romance is off limits. I really loved the romance and the hockey we got in this book. Rory is trying to prove herself and that she earned her position and Max is trying to hold onto his career. I really loved Max and how protective was over Rory, even when it meant risking his career. I do think some villains became a bit over the top in this book and the story focused on people being malicious and trying to ruin people's lives, but I that didn't really bother me because I was just so obsessed with the romance. I'm so happy I finally picked this up because it's definitely a new favorite hockey romance of mine!
February 15, 2021
“You going to cheer for me?”
“Always.”
“What if we win tonight?”
“Lots of hot sex.”
“And if we lose?”
I pretended to ponder that. “I might be too depressed to have sex.”
“Guess we better win then.”
Our eyes met, and we shared a huge smile.
After graduating, Rory Ashford (22) reluctantly returns home to work for her father, the owner and GM of the Vancouver Wolves, a NHL hockey team. On the plane ride from New York to Vancouver she gets acquainted with her seat mate, Max Logan (26), who ends up helping her through her phobia of flying. Under circumstances of extreme anxiety, Rory word vomits and admits to never having orgasmed before and unfortunately for Rory, her worst nightmare happens, and the plane actually crashes! After the near-death experience, Max gives Rory a night she’d never forget and disappears soon after, leaving her feeling hurt. Back in Vancouver, on her first day as assistant GM, she comes face to face with Max again. When she learns about his identity, a forbidden romance ensues between the two… and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Don't be fooled by the title and cover! The title, "Puck Me Secretly", doesn't encapsulate the sweet romance and the (overgenerous amount of) drama this book had at all! If you delve into this book thinking it's going to be super smutty and hella angsty, you're going to be disappointed...
Rory and Max were very likeable main characters. Rory was a very sweet and hardworking girl. She could be a bit of a pushover at times but her determination to just grit her teeth and win over the respect of the men in such a cutthroat work environment made me respect her. I also liked that she was always thoughtful of Max, never letting her romantic interest in him sabotage his career in any way.
Max was such a PURE CINNAMON ROLL. Despite his past, he was so sweet, so tender-hearted, and so compassionate. I had my reservations about him at first because of his violent tendencies but when his reasons were revealed, my heart immensely softened towards him and I instantly fell in love with him thereafter. He’s definitely made it onto my book boyfriends shelf.
Rory and Max made such a cute pair, I couldn’t help but root for them. They had sizzling chemistry from the get-go. And I loved seeing them get jealous and possessive over each other. Although the smut was few and far between, the scenes were pretty hot!
HOWEVER, Puck Me Secretly was far from perfect. Here were some things I didn't like so much about this book (minor spoilers ahead):
1. The tone: It seemed like the author couldn’t make up her mind about the tone of the story. The first 40% had a lighthearted rom-com feel, and then it quickly devolved into a soap-opera-drama that gave me whiplash. I mean what was with the SWAT team at the end?
2. Character development: I would’ve liked to have seen Rory stand up to her parents. Whether it was her mom trying to set her up with Calder or her father pushing her into filling his shoes, all she does is try to appease and please her parents. It would've been cool to see her confront them head on.
3. Secondary characters: Aside from the main characters, everyone else was very two-dimensional. Rory’s parents SUCKED, they added nothing to the story but act as roadblocks. And what’s worse is that we never got to meet any of the other hockey players on Max’s team! Which is very odd seeing as this is a series, so it was almost as if no one substantial existed aside from the main characters.
4. The villain(s): They were very caricatured and so unconvincing that they might as well have been a cliched high school clique.
5. Too many subplots: I appreciate the author trying to bring in issues of sexism, sexual harassment and nepotism in the workplace, but those subjects were only briefly touched upon so it seemed rather pointless.
6. Some typos…
Also, I think this book would’ve benefited more if it were written in dual POV instead. Max had more of a story to tell than Rory, so it would’ve been more heartfelt to hear from him.
I KNOW, I KNOW! It sounds like I absolutely hated this book, but I don’t! I'm just a picky reader. Despite its long list of shortcomings, I couldn’t put this book down and ended up staying up till the wee hours of the morning to finish this book. Call it a guilty pleasure – I don’t know! Honestly, with some editing (and perhaps cutting out a few subplots), this could’ve easily been a 5-star read. Odette Stone is clearly a talented writer, so I will definitely be continuing with this series.
If you’re in the mood for a sports romance and don’t mind stories packed (and I mean PACKED) full of melodrama, Puck Me Secretly might be worth checking out. 🏒
Rating: 3.75/5
December 1, 2018
The title does not do this book justice... READ THIS BOOK!
I went into this assuming it would be a enemies with benefits secret relationship. I am here to tell you that the title of this book does not do it justice. Maybe it should be called “emotional, hot, sweet, romantic, get you feeling all the feels, hockey player and owners daughter puck secretly in this amazing, well written, sexually tense romance.” Ok that made zero sense as a title or as a sentence, but I don’t care because this book was SUCH a good read. Yes it’s a bit over the top, but I still loved it.
If you like slow-burn forbidden hockey romance, with lots of angst then you need to read this. So so good.
I went into this assuming it would be a enemies with benefits secret relationship. I am here to tell you that the title of this book does not do it justice. Maybe it should be called “emotional, hot, sweet, romantic, get you feeling all the feels, hockey player and owners daughter puck secretly in this amazing, well written, sexually tense romance.” Ok that made zero sense as a title or as a sentence, but I don’t care because this book was SUCH a good read. Yes it’s a bit over the top, but I still loved it.
If you like slow-burn forbidden hockey romance, with lots of angst then you need to read this. So so good.
April 11, 2023
3.5⭐
Genre ~ sports romance
Series ~ Vancouver Wolves Hockey #1
Publication date ~ October 23, 2018
Page Count ~ 406
Audio length ~ 9 hours 59 minutes
Narrator ~ Madeleine Dauer
POV ~ single 1st
Featuring ~ hockey/NHL, boss/employee, nepotism, off limits, secret relationship, minimal steamage, references to s3xual assault
Rory & Max don't know each other, survive a plane crash, spend a quick night together and go their separate ways.
Rory's father is the GM of the Vancouver Wolves and he's priming her to take over his position one day. She's been a big hockey fan since she was 4 , but she's not too sure she's cut out for this job. There are some people in the organization that agree with her and make it known. There were 2 awful characters that cried nepotism and took it to the extreme.
Max has been traded to the Wolves after causing a ruckus on his old team in Minnesota. We don't find out the reasoning behind the big brawl for an awfully long time, and the the reasoning is terrible (not why he did it, but why he had to do it) and I upped my like of Max a little more after this.
Overall, I liked this one well enough, but it was on the longer side. I am curious though why it wasn't written in dual POV, I would have really liked to have Max's perspective. I've already listened to book 2 in the series and that's dual pov, so it's just odd this one wasn't.
Narration notes:
She did a fine job as a female narrator, but if a man is dirty talking to me I'd like it to be an actual man please and not a women low toning her voice.
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Genre ~ sports romance
Series ~ Vancouver Wolves Hockey #1
Publication date ~ October 23, 2018
Page Count ~ 406
Audio length ~ 9 hours 59 minutes
Narrator ~ Madeleine Dauer
POV ~ single 1st
Featuring ~ hockey/NHL, boss/employee, nepotism, off limits, secret relationship, minimal steamage, references to s3xual assault
Rory & Max don't know each other, survive a plane crash, spend a quick night together and go their separate ways.
Rory's father is the GM of the Vancouver Wolves and he's priming her to take over his position one day. She's been a big hockey fan since she was 4 , but she's not too sure she's cut out for this job. There are some people in the organization that agree with her and make it known. There were 2 awful characters that cried nepotism and took it to the extreme.
Max has been traded to the Wolves after causing a ruckus on his old team in Minnesota. We don't find out the reasoning behind the big brawl for an awfully long time, and the the reasoning is terrible (not why he did it, but why he had to do it) and I upped my like of Max a little more after this.
Overall, I liked this one well enough, but it was on the longer side. I am curious though why it wasn't written in dual POV, I would have really liked to have Max's perspective. I've already listened to book 2 in the series and that's dual pov, so it's just odd this one wasn't.
Narration notes:
She did a fine job as a female narrator, but if a man is dirty talking to me I'd like it to be an actual man please and not a women low toning her voice.
Follow me ➡ Blog ~ Facebook
April 22, 2020
Can’t even finish this book the second time around.
1 star- what the fuck was I thinking three years ago? It’s sad that I didn’t notice how much of a pathetic pushover the heroine was. She throws herself at the hero repeatedly and acts like a simpering fool for him. My tastes have changed so much that this book made me want to barf. Literally nauseated by how pathetic this heroine acts and how she lets everyone walk all over her. Meanwhile, the hero allows all the women around him to flirt while he flirts back, he touches them, allows them to sit on his lap, etc. And although there are a few reviews that claimed this book was safe - it’s still disgusting. Also, the heroine flat out tells the manwhore hero that none of her past boyfriends have ever made her orgasm. LOL. Is that not the definition of pathetic?? This book is gross.
4/22/20: 4.5 stars! This book was so much better than what I would expect from a hockey sports romance. It had lots of action and stayed very engaging for the entirety for the story. It was a very unbelievable set of events that occurred, but putting that aside, this book was good! Loved the hero - he was basically perfect. The heroine was also great, but there were a few parts that made me want to smack her.
1 star- what the fuck was I thinking three years ago? It’s sad that I didn’t notice how much of a pathetic pushover the heroine was. She throws herself at the hero repeatedly and acts like a simpering fool for him. My tastes have changed so much that this book made me want to barf. Literally nauseated by how pathetic this heroine acts and how she lets everyone walk all over her. Meanwhile, the hero allows all the women around him to flirt while he flirts back, he touches them, allows them to sit on his lap, etc. And although there are a few reviews that claimed this book was safe - it’s still disgusting. Also, the heroine flat out tells the manwhore hero that none of her past boyfriends have ever made her orgasm. LOL. Is that not the definition of pathetic?? This book is gross.
4/22/20: 4.5 stars! This book was so much better than what I would expect from a hockey sports romance. It had lots of action and stayed very engaging for the entirety for the story. It was a very unbelievable set of events that occurred, but putting that aside, this book was good! Loved the hero - he was basically perfect. The heroine was also great, but there were a few parts that made me want to smack her.
February 20, 2021
⭐ 3.5 Stars ⭐
♫ Songs for this book:
Lost in Ya Love - Chris Brown
Betterman - Dan D'Lion
❝To be honest, his power scared me. Like a dark angel who could crush a woman's heart without even trying❞
🏒 About Puck Me Secretly:
This story follows Rory Ashford who just graduated from college and it's coming back home to work with his father who is the owner of a hockey team. Rory has a phobia of flying and, ironically, it is in a plane where she meets Max Logan (he being her seatmate), and also he's a hockey player who is having some troubles getting his career back together. They face a horrible situation during the flight in which Rory has an anxiety attack because the airplane is going to crash, and that's when Max starts to help her so she can get through that horrible experience. As they could not reach their destination, the airline gave passengers the ease of staying in a hotel, and that's where Max and Rory have an unforgettable night, but the next day he disappears. They meet again in Vancouver, Rory being GM's assistant, so it's there where she discovers who Max is and they begin a secret relationship.
What I didn't like:
↪After reading half the book I couldn't understand that drastic change that the author gave to the story. I feel that there were things that were out of reality, or I don't know if it was just me.
↪At first, it looked like a super light, sweet and easy-to-read rom-com, but suddenly it turned into something totally different. What was that? 😂
↪In the end, I felt that everything was fixed too quickly. The way the problems were solved and the "villain" discovered, was very unbelievable for me. Oh, and suddenly the SWAT team shows up at the end, wtf?
And that Baxter was Hockey Gurl? C'mon, I saw that coming from the beginning of the story, I wasn't surprised😕
↪Katrina's change from "the villain" to "now I'm good, and I wanna help you" hmmm...nooo, that was weird.
What I liked:
↪I loved the relationship between Rory and Max! Their chemistry and connection, omg😍😍
"Will you cheer for me?"
"I always do."
He bent down and dropped a hard kiss on my lips.
"Thanks."
I clutched his arm. "Have fun. I want you to love this."
↪Max was my favorite character, although at first he seemed like the typical "bad boy with anger issues", then I realized that he was completely different. He was such a sweetheart, and when I discovered why he was acting like that, my heart melted. Max's POV was sooo necessary, and I'm pissed we didn't get to know him more!! 😩🤧
↪The chapters weren't very long, so it was a quick and fast-paced book for me. Tbh it was just what I needed.
↪The way Rory always looked for a way to help Max to get out of the trouble he was in, I really liked that support between the two of them.
❝All I cared about was that Max was safe and happy. Everyone else could go fuck themselves❞
Yesss, that's the attitude, Rory!
Overall, I think that the story could have been better constructed in some aspects, but other than that, I really enjoyed it!
♫ Songs for this book:
Lost in Ya Love - Chris Brown
Betterman - Dan D'Lion
❝To be honest, his power scared me. Like a dark angel who could crush a woman's heart without even trying❞
🏒 About Puck Me Secretly:
This story follows Rory Ashford who just graduated from college and it's coming back home to work with his father who is the owner of a hockey team. Rory has a phobia of flying and, ironically, it is in a plane where she meets Max Logan (he being her seatmate), and also he's a hockey player who is having some troubles getting his career back together. They face a horrible situation during the flight in which Rory has an anxiety attack because the airplane is going to crash, and that's when Max starts to help her so she can get through that horrible experience. As they could not reach their destination, the airline gave passengers the ease of staying in a hotel, and that's where Max and Rory have an unforgettable night, but the next day he disappears. They meet again in Vancouver, Rory being GM's assistant, so it's there where she discovers who Max is and they begin a secret relationship.
What I didn't like:
↪After reading half the book I couldn't understand that drastic change that the author gave to the story. I feel that there were things that were out of reality, or I don't know if it was just me.
↪At first, it looked like a super light, sweet and easy-to-read rom-com, but suddenly it turned into something totally different. What was that? 😂
↪In the end, I felt that everything was fixed too quickly. The way the problems were solved and the "villain" discovered, was very unbelievable for me. Oh, and suddenly the SWAT team shows up at the end, wtf?
And that Baxter was Hockey Gurl? C'mon, I saw that coming from the beginning of the story, I wasn't surprised😕
↪Katrina's change from "the villain" to "now I'm good, and I wanna help you" hmmm...nooo, that was weird.
What I liked:
↪I loved the relationship between Rory and Max! Their chemistry and connection, omg😍😍
"Will you cheer for me?"
"I always do."
He bent down and dropped a hard kiss on my lips.
"Thanks."
I clutched his arm. "Have fun. I want you to love this."
↪Max was my favorite character, although at first he seemed like the typical "bad boy with anger issues", then I realized that he was completely different. He was such a sweetheart, and when I discovered why he was acting like that, my heart melted. Max's POV was sooo necessary, and I'm pissed we didn't get to know him more!! 😩🤧
↪The chapters weren't very long, so it was a quick and fast-paced book for me. Tbh it was just what I needed.
↪The way Rory always looked for a way to help Max to get out of the trouble he was in, I really liked that support between the two of them.
❝All I cared about was that Max was safe and happy. Everyone else could go fuck themselves❞
Yesss, that's the attitude, Rory!
Overall, I think that the story could have been better constructed in some aspects, but other than that, I really enjoyed it!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 12, 2019
The first thing that comes to my mind after finish listening to the audio book is: this book has a wrong title. The title itself implies forbidden love story. But this is far from a forbidden love story. This is a story of finding that one true person who loves, respect, accept you. Not to mention fight for the love itself.
Max is my new book boyfriend. Image sitting on the crashing plane and this hot hunk sitting next to you and carries you out. How romantic! This is my first read by Miss Stone. She is a very talented writer. She does not bored me with cheesy romantic love story. She insert an office politic, the cut throat competition in sport industry. She is adding plot and plot into a beautiful twist story.
Its just too bad the steamy and dirty talking is lacking the steam and hotness.
Overall I enjoy this book very much
4 stars
Max is my new book boyfriend. Image sitting on the crashing plane and this hot hunk sitting next to you and carries you out. How romantic! This is my first read by Miss Stone. She is a very talented writer. She does not bored me with cheesy romantic love story. She insert an office politic, the cut throat competition in sport industry. She is adding plot and plot into a beautiful twist story.
Its just too bad the steamy and dirty talking is lacking the steam and hotness.
Overall I enjoy this book very much
4 stars
February 2, 2023
Rage fueled me to keep reading.
Oh my god I’ve never been so frustrated with a book in my life! Every bad guy was pure evil, plotting and ruining lives like it was that easy. Meanwhile, the rest of the characters were dumb as fuck. And I mean, a level of stupidity that makes you wonder how they don’t go around shitting themselves.
The only character noticing what was going on was the protagonist and she either decided to stay quiet for no fucking good reason or no one cared what she had to say. It was sooooo frustrating, I wanted to scream and hit someone in the balls.
Her dad wanted her to come back to take care of the family business, but then he undermined her at any chance. He ignored employees calling her a slut, and any other red flag imaginable in favor of the clearly bad guy.
No one acted like a normal person. The drama was over the top, ridiculous and infuriating. I got so stressed reading this clusterfuck, I wouldn’t be surprised if it gave me an ulcer.
I’m giving this 1 star with all the hate in my heart.
Oh my god I’ve never been so frustrated with a book in my life! Every bad guy was pure evil, plotting and ruining lives like it was that easy. Meanwhile, the rest of the characters were dumb as fuck. And I mean, a level of stupidity that makes you wonder how they don’t go around shitting themselves.
The only character noticing what was going on was the protagonist and she either decided to stay quiet for no fucking good reason or no one cared what she had to say. It was sooooo frustrating, I wanted to scream and hit someone in the balls.
Her dad wanted her to come back to take care of the family business, but then he undermined her at any chance. He ignored employees calling her a slut, and any other red flag imaginable in favor of the clearly bad guy.
No one acted like a normal person. The drama was over the top, ridiculous and infuriating. I got so stressed reading this clusterfuck, I wouldn’t be surprised if it gave me an ulcer.
I’m giving this 1 star with all the hate in my heart.
March 14, 2021
Okay, let me start this review saying that I agree with all my GR friend’s reviews about this book, you need to set aside your disbelief and just roll with it.
The scene with the SWAT? The hockey fans hating their star? Plenty of situations that were almost absurd? Yes, yes, yes, I know, crazy.
BUT! I loved it 😂
It has been a while since I read a steamy hockey novel and I LOVED every minute of this one! I can’t give it more stars because it is what it is and because all of its crazy situations, but trust me, if you like hockey spiced up novels, you will like this one.
I spent the night reading and it was worth all the times my partner had to tell me off and to turn the bedside table light off with a face 🤣
The scene with the SWAT? The hockey fans hating their star? Plenty of situations that were almost absurd? Yes, yes, yes, I know, crazy.
BUT! I loved it 😂
It has been a while since I read a steamy hockey novel and I LOVED every minute of this one! I can’t give it more stars because it is what it is and because all of its crazy situations, but trust me, if you like hockey spiced up novels, you will like this one.
I spent the night reading and it was worth all the times my partner had to tell me off and to turn the bedside table light off with a face 🤣
April 14, 2022
4.5 stars
Who doesn't love a good sports romance. Especially if it has the grumpy/sunshine trope
Who doesn't love a good sports romance. Especially if it has the grumpy/sunshine trope
February 27, 2023
ME GUSTÓ MUCHO!!!
Es un sport romance con amor prohibido.
Rory y Max se conocen en un vuelo, ella tiene fobia a los aviones y él la ayuda a sobrellevarlo, él avión empieza a fallar y ella presa del pánico y la ansiedad le cuenta todos sus miedos y los más importante que nunca ha tenido un orgasmo con un hombre y él le promete que si sobreviven le dará uno.
Al llegar a sus destinos Rory empieza a trabajar como la mano derecha de su papá en el famoso equipo de hockey de Vancouver y que estará a cargo del nuevo problemático y famoso jugador Max Logan el tipo con él que sobrevivió y tuvo un encuentro steamy.
Para Max, este nuevo equipo es su última oportunidad porque si falla se despide del hockey para siempre y tener un romance con Rory es un rotundo no.
Me gustó mucho esta pareja, eran bien bonitos.
Me encantó como se apoyaban y se defendían y querían lo mejor para el otro.
Sus escenas spicy 10/10 SO HOT.
Eso sí, a la mayoría de los personajes los odié, eran unos hijos de la chin@sdkls con ellos, sobre todo con Max el trato hacia él era tan injusto que yo estaba indignada y furiosa por él lo bueno es que siempre tenía a Rory para defenderlo.
Nunca pensé que me fuera a gustar tanto y es que a la autora nunca la había leído, pero sin duda seguiré leyendo la serie.
Es un sport romance con amor prohibido.
Rory y Max se conocen en un vuelo, ella tiene fobia a los aviones y él la ayuda a sobrellevarlo, él avión empieza a fallar y ella presa del pánico y la ansiedad le cuenta todos sus miedos y los más importante que nunca ha tenido un orgasmo con un hombre y él le promete que si sobreviven le dará uno.
Al llegar a sus destinos Rory empieza a trabajar como la mano derecha de su papá en el famoso equipo de hockey de Vancouver y que estará a cargo del nuevo problemático y famoso jugador Max Logan el tipo con él que sobrevivió y tuvo un encuentro steamy.
Para Max, este nuevo equipo es su última oportunidad porque si falla se despide del hockey para siempre y tener un romance con Rory es un rotundo no.
Me gustó mucho esta pareja, eran bien bonitos.
Me encantó como se apoyaban y se defendían y querían lo mejor para el otro.
Sus escenas spicy 10/10 SO HOT.
Eso sí, a la mayoría de los personajes los odié, eran unos hijos de la chin@sdkls con ellos, sobre todo con Max el trato hacia él era tan injusto que yo estaba indignada y furiosa por él lo bueno es que siempre tenía a Rory para defenderlo.
Nunca pensé que me fuera a gustar tanto y es que a la autora nunca la había leído, pero sin duda seguiré leyendo la serie.
July 24, 2019
3 ❤️ 🏑 ❤️🌟s
Such a great and powerful beginning!!! Rory and Max had great chemistry and were a lovely couple.
However, the slow burn romance, all this scheming, the drama and having only Rory’s pov throughout the whole story, wearied me a lot.
Such a great and powerful beginning!!! Rory and Max had great chemistry and were a lovely couple.
However, the slow burn romance, all this scheming, the drama and having only Rory’s pov throughout the whole story, wearied me a lot.
June 12, 2021
I’m definitely in the minority on this one but I didn’t like this one! I’m sorry!
The book started out so strong. Rory is heading home to Vancouver after 4 years of college in New York, and her intense fear of planes kicks in when they experience turbulence and then go down. Through it all she’s consoled by her seat mate, Max, and she confesses embarrassing secrets like… she’s never had an orgasm with a man.
With that kind of set up and then the shock when she walks into work and sees he’s a player on the hockey team her dad’s the GM of… I thought this book was going to be a romcom. It really, really wasn’t.
First of all, I hate reading about catty women. I know it’s inevitable sometimes but the role of Katrina as an antagonist and instigator against Rory was super cringe and hard to read. Especially because we find out she had an affair while married, and then does a 180 and we’re supposed to… forgive her?
Sexual assault plays a big role in this book. There are false allegations, which I never love to read about because it perpetuates the argument “what if women are lying?!?!??”. There’s also a woman who was assaulted by a different hockey player.
So TW for: sexual assault, false allegations of sexual assault, past attempted assault, hospitalization of a parent, violence, bullying/verbal abuse, being held at gunpoint…
To me it felt like this book couldn’t decide what it wanted to be? Or say?
Another issue I had was that with the single POV and the pretty slow burn (after the initial post-near-death-experience hook up), I really didn’t feel like we got to know Max at all. The ending with him suddenly declaring
The book started out so strong. Rory is heading home to Vancouver after 4 years of college in New York, and her intense fear of planes kicks in when they experience turbulence and then go down. Through it all she’s consoled by her seat mate, Max, and she confesses embarrassing secrets like… she’s never had an orgasm with a man.
With that kind of set up and then the shock when she walks into work and sees he’s a player on the hockey team her dad’s the GM of… I thought this book was going to be a romcom. It really, really wasn’t.
First of all, I hate reading about catty women. I know it’s inevitable sometimes but the role of Katrina as an antagonist and instigator against Rory was super cringe and hard to read. Especially because we find out she had an affair while married, and then does a 180 and we’re supposed to… forgive her?
Sexual assault plays a big role in this book. There are false allegations, which I never love to read about because it perpetuates the argument “what if women are lying?!?!??”. There’s also a woman who was assaulted by a different hockey player.
So TW for: sexual assault, false allegations of sexual assault, past attempted assault, hospitalization of a parent, violence, bullying/verbal abuse, being held at gunpoint…
To me it felt like this book couldn’t decide what it wanted to be? Or say?
Another issue I had was that with the single POV and the pretty slow burn (after the initial post-near-death-experience hook up), I really didn’t feel like we got to know Max at all. The ending with him suddenly declaring
April 13, 2025
Odette Stone has officially become one of my romance obsessions. Her writing blends vulnerability, humor, steam, and real emotional stakes so seamlessly, and this book is the perfect example of that. The opening scene alone? ICONIC. A plane crash confession? A mystery orgasm donor? Pure gold.
I actually laughed out loud—and I mean cried-laughing—during that plane scene. I don’t even remember the last time a book made me laugh that hard. The panic, the honesty, the absolutely unfiltered chaos of it all… I was wheezing. A legendary opening.
Max is the kind of damaged, grumpy hero I adore—protective, a little reckless, but with a heart that just aches to be loved right. And Emily? She’s sweet, awkward, brave, and so incredibly relatable. Watching her grow into her own confidence while navigating her feelings for Max was such a satisfying journey.
Their chemistry? OFF THE CHARTS. But more than that, the emotional connection between them, and how they slowly break down each other's walls, made this feel like so much more than a typical sports romance. Plus, the hockey backdrop, the Vancouver Wolves team dynamics, and the perfectly placed moments of humor just elevated everything.
if you're into:
▪︎ A hero who’s soft only for her
▪︎ Secret hookups with high stakes
▪︎ Sports romance with actual substance
▪︎ And a heroine you want to root for from page one
…then Puck Me Secretly is an absolute must-read. I devoured it—and I’m already diving into the next Wolves book because I’m officially obsessed. Odette Stone, you have me in a chokehold.
🎶“Adore You” – Harry Styles
🎶“Talk” – Khalid
🎶“Forever” – Lewis Capaldi
I actually laughed out loud—and I mean cried-laughing—during that plane scene. I don’t even remember the last time a book made me laugh that hard. The panic, the honesty, the absolutely unfiltered chaos of it all… I was wheezing. A legendary opening.
Max is the kind of damaged, grumpy hero I adore—protective, a little reckless, but with a heart that just aches to be loved right. And Emily? She’s sweet, awkward, brave, and so incredibly relatable. Watching her grow into her own confidence while navigating her feelings for Max was such a satisfying journey.
Their chemistry? OFF THE CHARTS. But more than that, the emotional connection between them, and how they slowly break down each other's walls, made this feel like so much more than a typical sports romance. Plus, the hockey backdrop, the Vancouver Wolves team dynamics, and the perfectly placed moments of humor just elevated everything.
if you're into:
▪︎ A hero who’s soft only for her
▪︎ Secret hookups with high stakes
▪︎ Sports romance with actual substance
▪︎ And a heroine you want to root for from page one
…then Puck Me Secretly is an absolute must-read. I devoured it—and I’m already diving into the next Wolves book because I’m officially obsessed. Odette Stone, you have me in a chokehold.
🎶“Adore You” – Harry Styles
🎶“Talk” – Khalid
🎶“Forever” – Lewis Capaldi
April 30, 2021
Vancouver Wolves Hockey Series
Puck Me Secretly ➟ 3 stars
Home Game ➟ to be read
The Penalty Box➟ to be read
High Risk Rookie ➟ to be read
Book: Puck Me Secretly
Rating: 3 stars
Favorite Quote: “But are you going to cheer for me?”
I lifted my hand to his cheek. “I always cheer for you.”
Summary
Rory Ashford is returning home after graduating college to work for her dad who is the general manager of the Vancouver Wolves Hockey team. However, Rory is treading her trip to Vancouver for two reasons: she isn’t ecstatic to go work for her dad and she has a huge fear of flying. And to her misfortune, her fear of planes comes true when the plane starts to have some heavy turbulence. Her misfortune does turn into some luck, when the stranger next to her basically saves her life. Max Logan is one of the best hockey players in the league, however his apparent attitude isn’t the best. He is being transferred to Vancouver because of a fight he had during a game with his teammate that caused him to be bench for the whole season. As Max and Rory survive a plane crash together, the last thing they were expecting was to see each other again. Soon enough, on the first day of her job Rory is startled to find out the guy who helped her during the crash, is one of the players on the team – she is his boss. Nothing can happen between them but that doesn’t mean their feelings will just go away.
Review
Nothing makes me happier than a good hockey romance. I can’t explain it but out of all sports romances, hockey books always hit different. So, I did not really have any expectations when I started this. I saw hockey and just added it to my tbr. In all, I did enjoy this, but it was definitely a little too melodramatic for my taste.
↳Plot. The plot in this book was a bit weird. At first, I thought it was going to be more of a rom-com. Even though the way Rory and Max met was a scary experience, they kind of had a meet cute. Their first conversations were funny and sweet at the same time. But then the story definitely did take more of a drama-romance feeling, which I didn’t mind in the beginning, but it got worse as the story progressed. The last 30 percent was just drama after drama after drama: so much was happening at once, it was hard to keep up. Also, some of the drama and mysterious plot points were executed poorly and could have been written better. Nonetheless, I liked Odette’s writing style enough that it kept me interested even when there was too much unnecessary drama going on.
↳Characters. I had some issues with our heroine, Rory . At first, I liked her, she was funny in the first couple chapters and she was really relatable. But then she got really annoying from my point of view. I feel like she created so much OW drama by getting jealous of people that she didn’t need to be jealous of. This really bothered me especially since However, by the end of the book I went back to liking her a little bit – in all she was a strong, courageous, sassy, and witty heroine but the plot just made her a unlikable. As for Max , I am feeling indifferent to him as well. I really liked him in the beginning, he was such a sweet guy, and I couldn’t help but love him. But again, the melodramatics in the plot kind of ruined his character for me so by the end I just couldn’t care less about him.
↳Romance. Rory and Max had a cute romance; from their first interaction I really liked them and I think the sweetness continued throughout the novel. However, nothing about their relationship stood out for me, it felt almost like the same old stuff I read in every other book. So, even though they were enjoyable it was a bit unforgettable. Although, I do want to mention Max was very cute with Rory and I loved his protective side when it came towards her.
↳Ending Thoughts. This was a decent hockey book. I wasn’t disappointed but I still think it could have been better. To be honest, if the last 30 percent did not happen to be so crazy, I think I would have rated this higher. Regardless, I am going to continue on with the series!
Puck Me Secretly ➟ 3 stars
Home Game ➟ to be read
The Penalty Box➟ to be read
High Risk Rookie ➟ to be read
Book: Puck Me Secretly
Rating: 3 stars
Favorite Quote: “But are you going to cheer for me?”
I lifted my hand to his cheek. “I always cheer for you.”
Summary
Rory Ashford is returning home after graduating college to work for her dad who is the general manager of the Vancouver Wolves Hockey team. However, Rory is treading her trip to Vancouver for two reasons: she isn’t ecstatic to go work for her dad and she has a huge fear of flying. And to her misfortune, her fear of planes comes true when the plane starts to have some heavy turbulence. Her misfortune does turn into some luck, when the stranger next to her basically saves her life. Max Logan is one of the best hockey players in the league, however his apparent attitude isn’t the best. He is being transferred to Vancouver because of a fight he had during a game with his teammate that caused him to be bench for the whole season. As Max and Rory survive a plane crash together, the last thing they were expecting was to see each other again. Soon enough, on the first day of her job Rory is startled to find out the guy who helped her during the crash, is one of the players on the team – she is his boss. Nothing can happen between them but that doesn’t mean their feelings will just go away.
Review
Nothing makes me happier than a good hockey romance. I can’t explain it but out of all sports romances, hockey books always hit different. So, I did not really have any expectations when I started this. I saw hockey and just added it to my tbr. In all, I did enjoy this, but it was definitely a little too melodramatic for my taste.
↳Plot. The plot in this book was a bit weird. At first, I thought it was going to be more of a rom-com. Even though the way Rory and Max met was a scary experience, they kind of had a meet cute. Their first conversations were funny and sweet at the same time. But then the story definitely did take more of a drama-romance feeling, which I didn’t mind in the beginning, but it got worse as the story progressed. The last 30 percent was just drama after drama after drama: so much was happening at once, it was hard to keep up. Also, some of the drama and mysterious plot points were executed poorly and could have been written better. Nonetheless, I liked Odette’s writing style enough that it kept me interested even when there was too much unnecessary drama going on.
↳Characters. I had some issues with our heroine, Rory . At first, I liked her, she was funny in the first couple chapters and she was really relatable. But then she got really annoying from my point of view. I feel like she created so much OW drama by getting jealous of people that she didn’t need to be jealous of. This really bothered me especially since However, by the end of the book I went back to liking her a little bit – in all she was a strong, courageous, sassy, and witty heroine but the plot just made her a unlikable. As for Max , I am feeling indifferent to him as well. I really liked him in the beginning, he was such a sweet guy, and I couldn’t help but love him. But again, the melodramatics in the plot kind of ruined his character for me so by the end I just couldn’t care less about him.
↳Romance. Rory and Max had a cute romance; from their first interaction I really liked them and I think the sweetness continued throughout the novel. However, nothing about their relationship stood out for me, it felt almost like the same old stuff I read in every other book. So, even though they were enjoyable it was a bit unforgettable. Although, I do want to mention Max was very cute with Rory and I loved his protective side when it came towards her.
↳Ending Thoughts. This was a decent hockey book. I wasn’t disappointed but I still think it could have been better. To be honest, if the last 30 percent did not happen to be so crazy, I think I would have rated this higher. Regardless, I am going to continue on with the series!
September 24, 2019
Not a bad start to this series. The SWAT scene made me laugh though.
Puck Me Secretly was a rather quick read. In it, you will meet Rory and Max. Their first meeting was kind of sweet. They were in a plane crash and ended up surviving. It was also cute how he helped ease her anxiety and pain by spending the night with her. Not so sweet was him leaving her high and dry after a hot night but it was bound to happen.
Little did they know that they lived in such a small ass world. She ended up being his boss and it was going to be one wild ride to see what was going to happen. Boy, did stuff happen. Things kind of felt like they were all over the place. Whether it was the swat, the random meanness or hatred, and a bunch of other stuff. For example, her parents being fishy af. It annoyed me to no end so I just had to see how this was going to end.
Overall, it was cute. I, of course, will try to find time to dive into the next book. Mostly because I want to know what else this team can go through. Seriously, I can't wait.
Puck Me Secretly was a rather quick read. In it, you will meet Rory and Max. Their first meeting was kind of sweet. They were in a plane crash and ended up surviving. It was also cute how he helped ease her anxiety and pain by spending the night with her. Not so sweet was him leaving her high and dry after a hot night but it was bound to happen.
Little did they know that they lived in such a small ass world. She ended up being his boss and it was going to be one wild ride to see what was going to happen. Boy, did stuff happen. Things kind of felt like they were all over the place. Whether it was the swat, the random meanness or hatred, and a bunch of other stuff. For example, her parents being fishy af. It annoyed me to no end so I just had to see how this was going to end.
Overall, it was cute. I, of course, will try to find time to dive into the next book. Mostly because I want to know what else this team can go through. Seriously, I can't wait.
May 18, 2023
SPOILERS (so you can save yourself the time and mental energy. I suffered so you don’t have to).
Also Trigger Warning there is some SA talk (here and in the book):
What in the ever-loving, seven circles of Dante’s hell was this monstrosity?
Quick recap (except not really because wtf):
The Players: Rory and Max (and about 1000 other characters, except literally a single other hockey player on his team?)
1. R and M meet on a plane that ACTUALLY CRASHES in the first few pages and then almost bang out the adrenaline. Somehow this is the least ridiculous thing that we’ll read about.
2. R’s Dad forces her into a job as his assistant (he owns a hockey team) and SURPRISE! Guess who her new ‘I want you to watch this guy and make sure he stays out of trouble’ project is?
That’s right it’s Max-y boi! She proceeds to tell him off in front of everyone and demand he call her Ms…this is never mentioned again.
3. (Important note: lol not really.M’s old team hates him cause he beat up the star player. Carry on)
R starts coming to games and gets straight up assaulted by the fans of his old team? Like they try and carry her off as if they’re robbing a bank? ‘We’ll take this!’ 💀
4. The media manager hates R’s guts and straight up starts bullying her and Rory just lets it happen??? Also Media babe is super sabotaging the job but they do nothing about it? Even though everyone knows? Weird business practices but k.
5. We learn the Head Coach dude-bro also hates our Rory girly cause she stole ‘his job’. And he isn’t even remotely subtle about it. Once again no one cares.
6. Someone is running a Twitter that literally calls her a whore every chapter, but her Dad and M don’t understand why that would upset her??
Also Daddy-o keeps switching between “why do you care what happens to Max?!” and “max is your responsibility!”. Bro let the girl breathe god damn. The man’s logic is more complicated than quantum mechanics.
(for everyone’s sanity I’m gonna flash forward a bit, because all this is going down in the first 15-20%. You’re very welcome.)
To set the scene: R’s Dad has stated he doesn’t like M because he ‘reminds me of someone.’ k. cool? Now to continue the train wreck:
7. R and M are in a super secret relationship and he calls himself her BF and there’s a cute ‘aww’ moment. They immediately forget this conversation ever happened and have some variation of it again 2 chapters later. 10/10 for editing on that one.
8. Her mum finds out and is IMMEDIATELY like ‘this dude is the monster of all trash, absolutely not!” Rory proceeds to tell her that he’s the dude from the crash. Mama Bear don’t care.
9. M has a secret friend (Lolita) we know nothing about and OMFG SHES PREGNANT. Except she was SA’d? and plot twist: M is a SA baby so he wants to protect her?
…..this was a hockey romance. What is happening??
(I would like to break here to mention there is a scene where they are texting and Rory girl goes “when I hung up”. Hung up what hon? You good? You need to go lay down?)
10. R&M do a cute little sleepover and she gets a call from the team lawyer on the way home. Turns out one of their players was arrested for SA (what is with all the SA). Who could it possibly have been?!?!?! OMFG IT WAS MAX!!!
11. Rory girl is as confused as I’ve been from the minute I picked up this book, and rushes to the police station. Ends up telling lawyer and dad it’s impossible because they’re dating and she was with him alllllllll night. Bit too much info to drop on your dad there, girly pop.
12. Dad has a heart attack (look fair enough, I would take one too by this point). And is straight up DEAD for so long R has a whole chat with her Mum and they get to a hospital.
Now don’t get me wrong, a Dr I am not, but even I’m pretty sure you can’t come back from the kind of mush that would turn your brain into. Yet somehow, Dad will make a full recovery!
…Is he Jesus?
13. Mum takes it upon herself to sign over full owner powers while dad is de-zombifying. To her loving daughter that’s been doing the assistant job and is literally trained? NOPE! To the super sketchy Head Coach that hates her kid. How these mfs still have a successfully business is beyond me.
14. Safe to say all hell breaks loose, Max is fired and so is Rory girl (from a building that has her name on it), and Head Coach wants to bring in the player Max beat up.
15. Suddenly (in the span of a few chapters) the following occurs:
- Lolita shows up explaining that her SA-er is the beaten up player.
- We find out that Head Coach bribed a woman to fake Max SAing her so he could get him fired
- Another revelation: The guy Max reminds her parents of is his SAing father. Oh and he also tried to SA Rory’s mum once. Queue ‘It’s a Small World’ theme song I guess? Like wtf?
- Rory gets reinstated, Head coach gets fired, Lolita’s bad guy gets arrested.
Alls well that ends well, right? WRONGGGGG!
16. Rory is kidnapped (is it kidnapping if it’s in your own home, or just a hostage situation?) by Head Coach and he is gonna 💀💀💀 her. This is where he also admits to running the twitter that calls her a whore!!😱
His motivation? He didn’t like being told he was wrong about which player to get on the team. Solid motive there my guy.
17. R gets saved by the pizza guy (this is not a joke) and they live happily ever after. In an epilogue where Rory gives up her life and degree for a job she didn’t even want a few months ago. 👍
Dishonourable mentions:
1. The audio sounded like it was being read by a robot. Which made for some very uncomfortable and traumatising smut scenes.
2. I’m convinced the author is completely, anaphylaxis level, allergic to contraction words. I promise they won’t (sorry would not) kill you.
3. Every single person was insufferable. Everyone. The whole time.
4. You could put a gun to my head and I wouldn’t be able to tell you the name of a single other player on that team. They don’t exist. Just Max skating alone.
0/5 ✨ You will never get this time back, don’t do it.
Also Trigger Warning there is some SA talk (here and in the book):
What in the ever-loving, seven circles of Dante’s hell was this monstrosity?
Quick recap (except not really because wtf):
The Players: Rory and Max (and about 1000 other characters, except literally a single other hockey player on his team?)
1. R and M meet on a plane that ACTUALLY CRASHES in the first few pages and then almost bang out the adrenaline. Somehow this is the least ridiculous thing that we’ll read about.
2. R’s Dad forces her into a job as his assistant (he owns a hockey team) and SURPRISE! Guess who her new ‘I want you to watch this guy and make sure he stays out of trouble’ project is?
That’s right it’s Max-y boi! She proceeds to tell him off in front of everyone and demand he call her Ms…this is never mentioned again.
3. (Important note: lol not really.M’s old team hates him cause he beat up the star player. Carry on)
R starts coming to games and gets straight up assaulted by the fans of his old team? Like they try and carry her off as if they’re robbing a bank? ‘We’ll take this!’ 💀
4. The media manager hates R’s guts and straight up starts bullying her and Rory just lets it happen??? Also Media babe is super sabotaging the job but they do nothing about it? Even though everyone knows? Weird business practices but k.
5. We learn the Head Coach dude-bro also hates our Rory girly cause she stole ‘his job’. And he isn’t even remotely subtle about it. Once again no one cares.
6. Someone is running a Twitter that literally calls her a whore every chapter, but her Dad and M don’t understand why that would upset her??
Also Daddy-o keeps switching between “why do you care what happens to Max?!” and “max is your responsibility!”. Bro let the girl breathe god damn. The man’s logic is more complicated than quantum mechanics.
(for everyone’s sanity I’m gonna flash forward a bit, because all this is going down in the first 15-20%. You’re very welcome.)
To set the scene: R’s Dad has stated he doesn’t like M because he ‘reminds me of someone.’ k. cool? Now to continue the train wreck:
7. R and M are in a super secret relationship and he calls himself her BF and there’s a cute ‘aww’ moment. They immediately forget this conversation ever happened and have some variation of it again 2 chapters later. 10/10 for editing on that one.
8. Her mum finds out and is IMMEDIATELY like ‘this dude is the monster of all trash, absolutely not!” Rory proceeds to tell her that he’s the dude from the crash. Mama Bear don’t care.
9. M has a secret friend (Lolita) we know nothing about and OMFG SHES PREGNANT. Except she was SA’d? and plot twist: M is a SA baby so he wants to protect her?
…..this was a hockey romance. What is happening??
(I would like to break here to mention there is a scene where they are texting and Rory girl goes “when I hung up”. Hung up what hon? You good? You need to go lay down?)
10. R&M do a cute little sleepover and she gets a call from the team lawyer on the way home. Turns out one of their players was arrested for SA (what is with all the SA). Who could it possibly have been?!?!?! OMFG IT WAS MAX!!!
11. Rory girl is as confused as I’ve been from the minute I picked up this book, and rushes to the police station. Ends up telling lawyer and dad it’s impossible because they’re dating and she was with him alllllllll night. Bit too much info to drop on your dad there, girly pop.
12. Dad has a heart attack (look fair enough, I would take one too by this point). And is straight up DEAD for so long R has a whole chat with her Mum and they get to a hospital.
Now don’t get me wrong, a Dr I am not, but even I’m pretty sure you can’t come back from the kind of mush that would turn your brain into. Yet somehow, Dad will make a full recovery!
…Is he Jesus?
13. Mum takes it upon herself to sign over full owner powers while dad is de-zombifying. To her loving daughter that’s been doing the assistant job and is literally trained? NOPE! To the super sketchy Head Coach that hates her kid. How these mfs still have a successfully business is beyond me.
14. Safe to say all hell breaks loose, Max is fired and so is Rory girl (from a building that has her name on it), and Head Coach wants to bring in the player Max beat up.
15. Suddenly (in the span of a few chapters) the following occurs:
- Lolita shows up explaining that her SA-er is the beaten up player.
- We find out that Head Coach bribed a woman to fake Max SAing her so he could get him fired
- Another revelation: The guy Max reminds her parents of is his SAing father. Oh and he also tried to SA Rory’s mum once. Queue ‘It’s a Small World’ theme song I guess? Like wtf?
- Rory gets reinstated, Head coach gets fired, Lolita’s bad guy gets arrested.
Alls well that ends well, right? WRONGGGGG!
16. Rory is kidnapped (is it kidnapping if it’s in your own home, or just a hostage situation?) by Head Coach and he is gonna 💀💀💀 her. This is where he also admits to running the twitter that calls her a whore!!😱
His motivation? He didn’t like being told he was wrong about which player to get on the team. Solid motive there my guy.
17. R gets saved by the pizza guy (this is not a joke) and they live happily ever after. In an epilogue where Rory gives up her life and degree for a job she didn’t even want a few months ago. 👍
Dishonourable mentions:
1. The audio sounded like it was being read by a robot. Which made for some very uncomfortable and traumatising smut scenes.
2. I’m convinced the author is completely, anaphylaxis level, allergic to contraction words. I promise they won’t (sorry would not) kill you.
3. Every single person was insufferable. Everyone. The whole time.
4. You could put a gun to my head and I wouldn’t be able to tell you the name of a single other player on that team. They don’t exist. Just Max skating alone.
0/5 ✨ You will never get this time back, don’t do it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 23, 2020
SO I was in the mood for a sports romance but I have read most of the usual suspects. After a lot of searching I came across this one on KU and it sounded like the perfect read for my mood. Odette being a new to me author meant I went into it with some apprehension.
It wasn't long before I was completely sucked in. There were a few moments where I thought the drama was getting to be a little much but I was so invested I quickly got over that and held my breath waiting to see how it was going to play out.
I loved Max and Rory. They had such great chemistry from their first meeting. And I loved that with everything going on they both acted with maturity. And watching Max go all protective alpha, while trying to maintain the secrecy of their relationship was awesome.
I am so happy that this is a KU series so I can head on over to binge the rest of the books.
It wasn't long before I was completely sucked in. There were a few moments where I thought the drama was getting to be a little much but I was so invested I quickly got over that and held my breath waiting to see how it was going to play out.
I loved Max and Rory. They had such great chemistry from their first meeting. And I loved that with everything going on they both acted with maturity. And watching Max go all protective alpha, while trying to maintain the secrecy of their relationship was awesome.
I am so happy that this is a KU series so I can head on over to binge the rest of the books.
May 4, 2019
Finished it after weeks, finally, but I still wonder how this book could get its high ratings.
Absolutely ridiculous! My first impression was completely confirmed: the book is unrealistic nonsense hockey-wise, story-wise and character-wise, and the writing style/story telling is not convincing.
Absolutely ridiculous! My first impression was completely confirmed: the book is unrealistic nonsense hockey-wise, story-wise and character-wise, and the writing style/story telling is not convincing.
February 16, 2021
THAT WAS AWFUL 😭 she rlly described her mf cl*t as a “lush nub” FJKSFBDJFJD????????????
April 16, 2021
This is my first book by this author and it will not be my last!
I enjoyed everything about this book. It has excitement, sweetness, action, suspense, sexiness, mystery. I didn’t know anything about this book going into it since I didn’t read the synopsis but I knew it was about hockey.
Rory is a strong female character and that is always welcomed in a book as far as I’m concerned.
Max Logan was caring and thoughtful and an all-around perfect character.
This couples journey even though it was full of drama coming at them from all directions, was refreshing to be a part of. Their loyalty was spot on, there was no manipulating one another and they had respect for each other. I loved the way Rory supported Max and the way Max always took her feelings into consideration.
This was absolutely a 5 Star read for me!!!
I enjoyed everything about this book. It has excitement, sweetness, action, suspense, sexiness, mystery. I didn’t know anything about this book going into it since I didn’t read the synopsis but I knew it was about hockey.
Rory is a strong female character and that is always welcomed in a book as far as I’m concerned.
Max Logan was caring and thoughtful and an all-around perfect character.
This couples journey even though it was full of drama coming at them from all directions, was refreshing to be a part of. Their loyalty was spot on, there was no manipulating one another and they had respect for each other. I loved the way Rory supported Max and the way Max always took her feelings into consideration.
This was absolutely a 5 Star read for me!!!
August 20, 2019
So cute. So fluffy.
I love books like this. They aren't going to stick with me for years and years but they make me happy in the moment and they bring up my spirit. I love books with redemption, love, and justice and this ticked all those boxes for me.
Was it great writing? No.
There were also editing marks in the book and strange typos but I can get over that for the sake of this book being exactly what I wanted in the time that I wanted it.
I love books like this. They aren't going to stick with me for years and years but they make me happy in the moment and they bring up my spirit. I love books with redemption, love, and justice and this ticked all those boxes for me.
Was it great writing? No.
There were also editing marks in the book and strange typos but I can get over that for the sake of this book being exactly what I wanted in the time that I wanted it.
February 8, 2021
If you have the ability to suspend disbelief (especially if you're a hockey fan), you may enjoy this book. Otherwise, good luck.
So why am I giving it so many stars? It kept me turning the pages, even as I was talking back to my kindle and shaking my head saying "why isn't he fired", " why don't you fire her", "stand up for yourself", " why can't you talk to your parents", "why doesn't he have an agent", " fans would never treat their star player that way"....I can go on and on.
I don't know what it was about this book---maybe I just had to know the story behind Max's bad reputation. I'll admit I never expected Max's backstory to be so sad. So bravo to the author for coming up with something new and making me root for Max and Rory even more.
Now if she can just clean up the believability of the hockey part, this series could get interesting.
3 1/2 stars
So why am I giving it so many stars? It kept me turning the pages, even as I was talking back to my kindle and shaking my head saying "why isn't he fired", " why don't you fire her", "stand up for yourself", " why can't you talk to your parents", "why doesn't he have an agent", " fans would never treat their star player that way"....I can go on and on.
I don't know what it was about this book---maybe I just had to know the story behind Max's bad reputation. I'll admit I never expected Max's backstory to be so sad. So bravo to the author for coming up with something new and making me root for Max and Rory even more.
Now if she can just clean up the believability of the hockey part, this series could get interesting.
3 1/2 stars
February 7, 2023
Tropes:
- hockey romance
- secret/forbidden relationship
Puck Me Secretly is probably one of the most over the top romances, but it somehow works. Seriously, there was a plane crash, multiple assaults, draaaammmaaa out the ass, a secret relationship, and even a . It was A LOT, but I loved it 🤣
- hockey romance
- secret/forbidden relationship
Puck Me Secretly is probably one of the most over the top romances, but it somehow works. Seriously, there was a plane crash, multiple assaults, draaaammmaaa out the ass, a secret relationship, and even a . It was A LOT, but I loved it 🤣
October 26, 2021
“I never gave up on you. I gave up on myself.”
“That plane crash was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“Me too.”
**Synopsis:**
Max and Rory are both headed to Vancouver. When the plane starts to have some problems at 36,000 feet, Rory is convinced they are all going to die and starts confessing things to Max.
~ “I don’t want to die. I’ve never been in love. I wanted to give my art a real chance. I want to have kids one day. And I haven’t had a real orgasm with a guy.”
Once they realize they aren’t going to die, Max decides he’d like to help Rory check one of those things off her list.
~ “How do you know you could make me orgasm?”
He held my gaze. “I know how to fuck.”
“But how do you know women weren’t faking it with you?”
His eyes narrowed and his face, from beneath his mask, broke out into a huge smile. “Are you for real?” “I faked it with my boyfriends.”
“Trust me, I could get you off.”
What’s a girl to say to that, except….challenge accepted. Turns out Max wasn’t lying, but when Rory wakes up alone the next morning with just a note from Max she’s furious. But the surprise is on both of them when it turns out Rory is Max’s new boss.
~ “Max was here. None of this was making any sense. How was he here? On the ice? He was a hockey player? For the Wolves?
He stared back at me. Dripping sweat. Impossibly big in his uniform. Stupidly hot. Defiant. If possible, more pissed off than me.”
** The following are my thoughts about this book: **
* * The way Max reacted during the plane scene instantly had me in his corner. He thought he was going to die, yet he was calm and his top priority was to care for a stranger who was terrified. Hello new book boyfriend!! 💖
* * i thought this was going to be a light rom com, but there was actually some danger / suspense. That turn surprised me, but I actually liked it.
* * It was really sad to see how people treated Max.
* * sometimes Rory seemed weak. I wish she would have stood up to those who opposed her.
* * The “hockeygurl” tweets were immature and added nothing to the story.
* * I really didn’t like Calder when he was brought into the story. But I did learn to appreciate his loose lips and how he constantly told “Roar” all the secrets that were going on behind her back. He proved to be an invaluable source of information for her.
* * I liked the story, but I’m the type that gets really frustrated when the good guys never catch a break and are always on the defense trying to prove the bad guys are up to something. Every once in awhile the good guy needs to win a battle or two, not just at the end.
* * sometimes bad people and wastrels just need to stay that way. There were some character personality flips and it didn’t real feel authentic to who they were before the flip. They didn’t seem like people that would change.
* * the parents unwillingness to see the coach as anything other than perfect was frustrating. They knew him for a long time and people can’t hide their true colors forever. Seems like they would have had a better handle on his character.
* * in the beginning Rory really, really didn’t want to work for her father. There was a small reference to her wanting to do art. But by the end of the book she clearly wanted to be the assistant GM and art was forgotten. Just another example of how the characters in the beginning somehow changed by the end of the book without a clear transition that made sense.
* * it was obvious who the bad guy was from the beginning, but the way it wrapped up with the SWAT team was just over the top.
* * the entire story is told from the female POV, which was disappointing. I think the reader (and the story) could have definitely benefited from Max’s viewpoint. Also, there are other books in this series but because I didn’t spend any time with Max and the team, I don’t know any of the other players and I’m not invested in anyone else’s story. I’m not sure if I will continue on with the series or not.
**Overview:**
- Content Warning: assault, rape, mentions of physical abuse in a marriage (all off page)
- Setting: Vancouver
- POV: female POV only
- Tropes: sports / professional athlete (no actual play by play hockey game scenes) boss / employee
- Who is the Hero? Max Logan (age: 26). Professional hockey player. He’s one of the fastest skaters in the NHL, but has a bad reputation for his “off-ice antics”. Doesn’t have a good relationship with his mom.
* The following words/phrases were used to describe Hero: Alpha, bossy, dominating, take charge kind of guy, a man’s man, a wildcard, bad reputation, pensive, cool under pressure, talented
* H likable? Yes.
- Who is the Heroine? Aurora (aka Rory) Ashford (age: 22). Just graduated college. Her father is the owner and GM of the Vancouver Wolves NHL hockey team and he’s expecting her to take over one day. Rory doesn’t want this, but her life has been planned out for her and her father does not take no for an answer.
* The following words/phrases were used to describe Heroine: doesn’t want anyone to have power or control over her, has an ongoing power struggle with her dad, grew up in the world of hockey, feels indebted
* h likable? Yes.
- h virgin? No
- First time they kiss: 9%
- First time they sleep together: 55%
- Safe sex? No condoms used. Discussion about being clean / tested happened after they slept together.
- First time they say I Love You 82%
- steamy? Yes
- OW/OM drama? Not much. A few side characters but no obvious love / attractions with those side characters
- H/h cheat? No
- Time apart? A week or so
- Did I skip pages? No
- Big secrets? not really secrets, but there are things in Max’s past that he is not willing to share until the end
- Did I cry? No
- Did I laugh? No
- Did I swoon🥰? so many things made Max swoony!!
- Cliffhanger? No
- HEA? Yes
- Epilogue? it’s not listed as “epilogue” but the last chapter is three months later
- Recommend? it held my interest, but the single POV and character inconsistencies were a little bothersome for me
**Quotes**
“Max had believed we would die, but he spent his last moments trying to comfort me and make me believe we’d be okay.”
“My happiness made everything taste better, including my saltine crackers and marble cheese.”
““Hockey is his life.”
He smiled, his blue eyes crinkling. “That’s where you are wrong. Hockey is his job and there are far more important things in this world than our jobs.”
“The only thing you need to decide is how you really feel about him.”
“Is it that easy?”
“It is if you let it be.”
“That plane crash was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“Me too.”
**Synopsis:**
Max and Rory are both headed to Vancouver. When the plane starts to have some problems at 36,000 feet, Rory is convinced they are all going to die and starts confessing things to Max.
~ “I don’t want to die. I’ve never been in love. I wanted to give my art a real chance. I want to have kids one day. And I haven’t had a real orgasm with a guy.”
Once they realize they aren’t going to die, Max decides he’d like to help Rory check one of those things off her list.
~ “How do you know you could make me orgasm?”
He held my gaze. “I know how to fuck.”
“But how do you know women weren’t faking it with you?”
His eyes narrowed and his face, from beneath his mask, broke out into a huge smile. “Are you for real?” “I faked it with my boyfriends.”
“Trust me, I could get you off.”
What’s a girl to say to that, except….challenge accepted. Turns out Max wasn’t lying, but when Rory wakes up alone the next morning with just a note from Max she’s furious. But the surprise is on both of them when it turns out Rory is Max’s new boss.
~ “Max was here. None of this was making any sense. How was he here? On the ice? He was a hockey player? For the Wolves?
He stared back at me. Dripping sweat. Impossibly big in his uniform. Stupidly hot. Defiant. If possible, more pissed off than me.”
** The following are my thoughts about this book: **
* * The way Max reacted during the plane scene instantly had me in his corner. He thought he was going to die, yet he was calm and his top priority was to care for a stranger who was terrified. Hello new book boyfriend!! 💖
* * i thought this was going to be a light rom com, but there was actually some danger / suspense. That turn surprised me, but I actually liked it.
* * It was really sad to see how people treated Max.
* * sometimes Rory seemed weak. I wish she would have stood up to those who opposed her.
* * The “hockeygurl” tweets were immature and added nothing to the story.
* * I really didn’t like Calder when he was brought into the story. But I did learn to appreciate his loose lips and how he constantly told “Roar” all the secrets that were going on behind her back. He proved to be an invaluable source of information for her.
* * I liked the story, but I’m the type that gets really frustrated when the good guys never catch a break and are always on the defense trying to prove the bad guys are up to something. Every once in awhile the good guy needs to win a battle or two, not just at the end.
* * sometimes bad people and wastrels just need to stay that way. There were some character personality flips and it didn’t real feel authentic to who they were before the flip. They didn’t seem like people that would change.
* * the parents unwillingness to see the coach as anything other than perfect was frustrating. They knew him for a long time and people can’t hide their true colors forever. Seems like they would have had a better handle on his character.
* * in the beginning Rory really, really didn’t want to work for her father. There was a small reference to her wanting to do art. But by the end of the book she clearly wanted to be the assistant GM and art was forgotten. Just another example of how the characters in the beginning somehow changed by the end of the book without a clear transition that made sense.
* * it was obvious who the bad guy was from the beginning, but the way it wrapped up with the SWAT team was just over the top.
* * the entire story is told from the female POV, which was disappointing. I think the reader (and the story) could have definitely benefited from Max’s viewpoint. Also, there are other books in this series but because I didn’t spend any time with Max and the team, I don’t know any of the other players and I’m not invested in anyone else’s story. I’m not sure if I will continue on with the series or not.
**Overview:**
- Content Warning: assault, rape, mentions of physical abuse in a marriage (all off page)
- Setting: Vancouver
- POV: female POV only
- Tropes: sports / professional athlete (no actual play by play hockey game scenes) boss / employee
- Who is the Hero? Max Logan (age: 26). Professional hockey player. He’s one of the fastest skaters in the NHL, but has a bad reputation for his “off-ice antics”. Doesn’t have a good relationship with his mom.
* The following words/phrases were used to describe Hero: Alpha, bossy, dominating, take charge kind of guy, a man’s man, a wildcard, bad reputation, pensive, cool under pressure, talented
* H likable? Yes.
- Who is the Heroine? Aurora (aka Rory) Ashford (age: 22). Just graduated college. Her father is the owner and GM of the Vancouver Wolves NHL hockey team and he’s expecting her to take over one day. Rory doesn’t want this, but her life has been planned out for her and her father does not take no for an answer.
* The following words/phrases were used to describe Heroine: doesn’t want anyone to have power or control over her, has an ongoing power struggle with her dad, grew up in the world of hockey, feels indebted
* h likable? Yes.
- h virgin? No
- First time they kiss: 9%
- First time they sleep together: 55%
- Safe sex? No condoms used. Discussion about being clean / tested happened after they slept together.
- First time they say I Love You 82%
- steamy? Yes
- OW/OM drama? Not much. A few side characters but no obvious love / attractions with those side characters
- H/h cheat? No
- Time apart? A week or so
- Did I skip pages? No
- Big secrets? not really secrets, but there are things in Max’s past that he is not willing to share until the end
- Did I cry? No
- Did I laugh? No
- Did I swoon🥰? so many things made Max swoony!!
- Cliffhanger? No
- HEA? Yes
- Epilogue? it’s not listed as “epilogue” but the last chapter is three months later
- Recommend? it held my interest, but the single POV and character inconsistencies were a little bothersome for me
**Quotes**
“Max had believed we would die, but he spent his last moments trying to comfort me and make me believe we’d be okay.”
“My happiness made everything taste better, including my saltine crackers and marble cheese.”
““Hockey is his life.”
He smiled, his blue eyes crinkling. “That’s where you are wrong. Hockey is his job and there are far more important things in this world than our jobs.”
“The only thing you need to decide is how you really feel about him.”
“Is it that easy?”
“It is if you let it be.”
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