I Don't Date Hockey Players: Enemies to Lovers Hockey Romance

by Lolu Sinclair

A high-stakes sports romance with all the tension of a sudden-death overtime. Perfect for fans of fierce heroines, irresistible rivals, and a game that’s about to get very personal.

Anna Green lives and breathes hockey. As the Portland Freezers’ publicist, her job is to keep the struggling team in the spotlight—and out of trouble. But with their last big sponsor pulling out and ticket sales plummeting, she needs a miracle.

Enter Blake Tyler, the Freezers’ fiery new center. He’s aggressive, unpredictable, and a walking PR disaster. He’s also frustratingly gorgeous—and exactly the kind of headline risk Anna doesn’t need.

Then there’s Charlie Haskell, star forward of their biggest rival, the Skateful Shredders. He’s got charm, swagger, and a history of getting under Anna’s skin. Their professional sparring has always been heated, but when a brewing hockey feud spills over into her world, Anna is forced to manage the fallout.

Blake causes chaos. Charlie stirs something deeper. And Anna? She’s determined not to mix business with pleasure… until her heart breaks the rules.

With a championship at stake and emotions running high, Anna has to decide if love is worth the risk—or if she’s better off staying on the sidelines.

“Pure romcom gold. Funny, flirty, and full of heart—the banter is elite, the chemistry is 🔥.” — Nikki M.

“Loved this book from start to finish. A five-star hockey sports romance.” — Megan S.

“Absolutely captivating… it hooked me from the very first page and kept me up late into the night.” — Janet M.

“Cute, funny, and a great time. Banter + hockey = win!” — Amanda D.

“Not your typical sports romance—unexpected POVs and messy, real emotions.” — Anne M.

Genres: Romance

392 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 16, 2025

Reviews

[Jessi ❤️ H. Vojsk [if villain, why hot?] · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Anna has one rule she lives by as a publicist of a hockey team: don’t date hockey players. Don’t even think about it. But it’s so hard when there’s a new hot player in the team and even the rival golden retriever hockey player laid eyes on you.

It’s the typical hockey romance, you could say. Girl says she won’t date hockey players because: she works for them/doesn’t like hockey/ thinks they are dumb or players etc. But all her thoughts get thrown out, when she meets this one hockey player who changes her mind.
That happened here and it happened in other books.
The only think that wasn’t happening was a love triangle (thank god, you couldn’t convince me to like Blake, it’s nearly impossible) even though there was a third act breakup (also pretty normal for these kind of stories).

Characters 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Anna is a cute, nice girl who works hard and drinks too much iced coffee. She tries to bring new, fresh ideas to the team, but her father (the couch) is rather old fashioned and doesn’t want to try something risky and new.
Charlie is a golden retriever by heart. He’s sweet, caring, is good with kids and is all in all professional.
Blake - the new hockey player of the team - is rather dumb (sorry), delusional af and a catastrophe. He’s mean, has bad manners and blurts out the unprofessional and mean comments about everything and everyone. He’s even talking to all the wrong reporters.
His character development was a bit too crazy for my liking. He went from a dumb narcist to a teamplayer with morale and manners in just a chapter. It wasn’t even shown, just told to the readers how he changed.

Relationship 🌟🌟🌟🌟
I loved Charlie’s and Anna’s relationship. Mainly because Charlie seems respectful and caring. They had good chemistry and it didn’t matter if they were at a charity event or on a date (or not date).

Writing 🌟🌟🌟
Even though it wasn’t the best writing I ever read, it was good and entertaining. Sometimes I thought it was a bit bland, but all in all enjoyable.

[kendall · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started a lot more slowly than expected for something marketing as high stakes.

The characters majorly lacked communication skills needed to build an effective relationship (even while ironing out their feelings).

The dialogue is clunky and there are so many phrases that are just not how people speak to each other. Fiction or otherwise.

They did not seem to trust their reader to remember what was going on. At multiple points there were recaps of what had happened prior.

As more of a side note - the author mentions the city the story takes place more in this book than is even remotely relevant. AND calling your dad coach is honestly crazy.

[em · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I did not like this book at all. I wanted to love it so badly but it was slow, the characters weren’t very likable, and some parts of it were just so cringy that I had to dnf this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lost Lust for the opportunity to arc read!

[liz ౨ৎ · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars

What did I just read? This was…not good.

I found Blake to be extremely unlikeable. Assuming that Charlie was using Anna to get at him, just felt so icky to me. And it was even ickier when he said it to her face.

The thing that turned me away from this book the most was her saying “goal” after sex. I couldn’t take the embarrassment that filled my body.

And what was that random Kyle POV?

The love triangle felt non-existent. One man had feelings for her, while Anna and the other were basically in a relationship the whole time (or at least it seemed that way to me).

This book would have been so much better without the triangle. But I will say that I am happy with who Anna chose.

[Geeah Thompson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you Net Galley for this Arc!

I expected a love triangle/ workplace romance with drama and some toxic behavior. What I got was a psycho who doesn’t know how to be a human and communicate while two adults navigate a relationship. There was no love triangle. Despite that, Anna was a doormat to her dad. She let him bulldoze her and shoot down all her ideas and I wanted to scream at her to quit so bad.

[Gabija. Keista Skaitytoja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley for this Arc🙏

LT:
Ech. Viršelis nuostabus mane labiausiai ir sužavėjo. Plius dar ir ledo ritulininkai. Na man atrodė knyga tikrai.
Bet, bet, bet. Taip ir nesupratau, kam reikėjo jo Blake personažo🤔 tas “meilės trikampis” atrodė toks meh. Nereikalingas.
Kitas painus momentas - tai pagrindinė veikėja, savo tėtį vadina arba tėčiu arba treneriu. Biški painiojo mane skaitant.
Bet - Charlie ! Šitas veikėjas viską gelbėjo🥰 jis man labai patiko, ir jo skyriai skaitėsi įdomiausiai!
Taip, buvo vietų, kur juokiausi, ypač “įsilaužiam į namus, suverčiam juos, bet nepamirštam palaistyti gėlių!”😅
Buvo ir tų fainų, romantiškų vietų🥰
Bet bendrai - vidutiniška man knyga.

EN: Eh. The cover was amazing and that's what impressed me the most. Plus the hockey players. Well, I really like these books.
But, but, but. I never understood why was needed the Blake character🤔 that "love triangle" seemed so meh. Unnecessary.
Another confusing moment is the FMC, when she calls her dad either dad or coach. It really confused me while reading.
But - Charlie! This character saved everything🥰 I really liked him, and his chapters were the most interesting to read!
Yes, there were places where I laughed, especially "we break into houses, turn them over, but don't forget to water the flowers!"😅
There were also those nice, romantic places🥰
But overall - an average book for me.

[Keeks · Rating 4 out of 5]

UPDATED REVIEW - I am so so pleased that the publishers and NetGalley reached out and asked me to re-read and re-review this updated manuscript! My biggest issue the first time around was that the 3rd person narrative caused the story to be confusing and overly convoluted.

HOWEVER - I am so pleased to report that the revised manuscript in 1st person narrative was exactly what I was hoping for from this story! It was much easier to connect with each character and value their addition to the overall story. This is a great story and much easier to navigate now! Wonderful Job

[Ariel Maughan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who doesn’t love a fast paced hockey romance with a touch of a love triangle? This was a fun, fast & engaging read! I haven’t come across a hockey romance I haven’t enjoyed & this is a fun one!!

[McKaylee Drake · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars rounded up generously

Not gonna lie, I came into I Don’t Date Hockey Players expecting drama, spice, and a love triangle that would keep me up at night. Instead… I kinda just kept checking how many pages were left.

Anna’s whole “girl boss PR rep stuck between two hot hockey players” setup could’ve been so fun, but it felt surface-level the whole way through. I never really connected with her, and the romance didn’t give what it needed to give. Blake and Charlie were basically cardboard cutouts of “aggressive bad boy” and “cocky golden retriever” but with zero actual depth or tension.

Also… for a book about hockey? There was barely any hockey. No real game-day stakes, no locker room chaos, no sense of the sport being important beyond just being a backdrop. It could’ve been set in literally any industry and nothing would’ve changed.

The pacing dragged, the dialogue felt awkward at times (why were there so many weird metaphors??), and the emotional beats didn’t land. I’m all for a messy romance, but this was more confusing than compelling.

I kept hoping it would pull itself together by the third act, but the ending was just kinda rushed and meh. Not the worst thing I’ve ever read, but definitely not one I’d recommend unless you really love hockey… and even then, manage expectations.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for this ARC

[Cierra Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one had so much potential, but unfortunately fell flat. I think the biggest reason I didn’t love this book is because the synopsis isn’t quite how I would describe the actual plot.

eeks
- treble-pov
- I actually really liked the minor characters (the main characters had their issues)

icks
- too many reality references it took me out of the story
- they’re insane? like clinically?
- not an actual love triangle I fear. she never actually shows interest in one of the guys

This book was insane and not in a good type of way. I was ready to dnf at 30% but pressed on. I think if this book went through a lot more editing and refining, it could be a good book but a lot of the plot was very messy. This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Marie Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

That book is a big No-No for me. I was on the edge of DNFing it so many times. I can‘t believe this is suppose to be a love triangle. It was many things but certainly not a love triangle.

I hated Blake with every fiber in my boby. What do you mean this arrogant women-hating person is suppose to be a love interest? Not even to mention that he hired someone to stalk on her or that he broke into her home?!

But if you would put Blake out of the Book it would be a decent hockey Romance. It still wouldn’t be great but okay!



Thank you Netgalley and Lost Lust for granting me the ARC of this book.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hockey is Anna’s whole life - specifically the Portland Freezers. As their publicist it’s her duty to keep the team in the spotlight and out of trouble. But she’s failing - they’ve lost their last big sponsor and ticket sales are dropping. Enter their new player, Blake Tyler. Blake is a PR nightmare - aggressive and unpredictable, with a long standing feud with Charlie Haskell, a rival player.

Charlie has plenty of charm and a penchant for getting under Anna’s skin. When Blake and Charlie’s feud turns personal and Anna is caught between them she’ll have to make a choice - who will it be?

I was really intrigued by the premise of PR girlie stuck in a love triangle between two rival players - there was the opportunity there for a really good plot - but unfortunately for me it fell slightly flat. The characters felt kind of two dimensional and we didn’t see any real growth from them throughout the book. The MMCs had their golden boy and bad boy stereotypes and just ran with that the whole time. This meant that I never really cared about the love triangle and was never rooting one way or the other, because the characters were all flat.

Also it’s not really a love triangle. It’s more like two of the characters fall for each other and start a relationship - this is cute and the book should’ve just been them. But then there’s a guy who’s obsessed with the FMC and feels entitled to her, and is kinda like a stalker. It’s not a love triangle if it’s a couple and then a stalker. So I don’t think that’s how it should be marketed.

From the synopsis we are told Hockey is Anna’s entire life, but it’s a key element of the plot that’s surprisingly missing from this book. Usually with hockey romances we get games, and the pre/post game media etc. but this didn’t have any of that. It was almost like we were told they worked in the sport and that was it.

Overall, this kinda fell flat for me

ARC copy provided by Lost Lust & NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

[Mandy Webb · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second version of the book.
I read the ARC of the first version and was disappointed, but the second version is much better!
Our FMC, Anna, is the coach's daughter. She is also the publicist for his hockey team.
Blake, is almost insufferable. Charlie is the hockey star on a rival team and adores Anna.
Three POVs - I think this is what I still had a hard time with while reading, it just felt off. I can't put my finger on why it didn't feel like it flowed well, but it didn't. I think we could have done without one of the POVs.
The characters were a bit over the top, so it was hard to relate to them, and it lacked character development.
The plot was structured better this second go round, but still isn't structured very well. I wanted it to be because I wanted to love the book, but I want to be honest with all of you. The pace was quick, and I liked that about the book.
The book's description doesn't serve it well. It makes it seem that there is a love triangle that plays a large part in the plot, and that is not the case. It is misleading and gives the reader that expectation, so then, when you read the book, it falls completely flat.
I still think the book is disjointed, which makes it seem more chaotic than I think the author meant to portray.
I still think this book needs edits and rewrites. Maybe even a focus group of readers to go through each chapter with the author and explain what doesn't work?
Still has potential, but still needs work, even after the second version.
Thank you to NetGalley, Lolu Sinclair, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this revised version.
Happy Reading.

[charmette.books · Rating 1 out of 5]

I Don’t Date Hockey Players is the story of Charlie, Blake, and Anna. Charlie and Blake are hockey players who play for rival minor league teams, and Anna works for one of the teams. Both men are interested in Anna, even though she “doesn’t date hockey players”.


I only made it through about 3/4 of this book. I could not finish this book for multiple reasons. First and most importantly, I was offended by the idea that it is acceptable for a love interest to hire someone to stalk a woman, and to break into her home and trash it. These toxic masculine behaviors have no place in a romance book. The are criminal, not romantic


The author tries to create a love triangle between the three characters, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense because Anna is dating Charlie throughout most of the book and Blake is interested in her in a one-sided way. The pacing was slow and did not keep my interest. Honestly, I just couldn’t finish the book after Blake’s behavior became more and more violent and threatening.


Romanticizing violence against women is completely unacceptable in any form. This book needs more editing, and frankly sensitivity readers that should have cut those parts of the book out entirely. This is not a book or an author that I would recommend or read again.


Thank you to Lost Lust Publishing and NetGalley for an advance reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Alex Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Anna Green lives and breathes hockey. As the Portland Freezers’ publicist, her job is to keep the struggling team in the spotlight—and out of trouble.
Enter Blake Tyler, the Freezers’ fiery new center. He’s aggressive, unpredictable, and a walking PR disaster. Then there’s Charlie Haskell, star forward of their biggest rival, the Skateful Shredders. He’s got charm, swagger, and a history of getting under Anna’s skin."

Who doesn’t love a fast-paced hockey romance with a love triangle involved? This was a cute book that I truly loved, especially as a fan of sports romances.
I haven’t come across a hockey romance that I didn't absolutely love, and this one goes in that category!! This isn't your typical sports romance though, which was also kind of different for me, but again, I did enjoy it nonetheless.

Charlie is the epitome of golden retriever and I fell for this character, H A R D!! He is a professional in all aspects (& also everything that Blake is NOT!)

Huge thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and of course the author for a copy of this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. :)
All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Katie Pivowar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had potential, but it missed the mark for me overall. There were too many POVs, some of which didn’t serve a huge purpose having their own chapters. While I like the connection between Charlie and Anna, I could have lived without Blake; he seemed TOO into his own world and difficult to feel empathy towards. I also felt like many of the interactions between the hockey players felt insanely corny and a step beyond realistic.
The writing itself wasn’t terrible, but I did not understand the point of Anna calling her dad both “dad” and “coach.” While it may have been to distinguish the roles he plays, they were interchanged so much that it felt like two separate people.
Overall, it’s not one I would recommend if you truly want a hockey romance. If you’re just looking for a filler book, you may enjoy it, but I have others I’d recommend before this.

[Anne Marko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not your typical romance novel. Anna, the coaches daughter and publicist for the Portland Freezers has a policy not to date hockey players. Blake, the Freezers news acquisition, has it bad for Anna as soon as he sees her. And Charlie, the star of the rival neighboring team the Shredders, is as enchanted with Anna as Blake is. I thought this would be a love triangle, but it’s not.

Told from their three points of view it didn’t quite go as expected. Anna’s story and deciding to take a chance on love with Blake risking both their careers was so well done. The Blake portion was a little unhinged and unnecessary, his character was so badly written and 2 dimensional. Honestly, that’s what’s holding me back from saying 5 stars, it just seems to be noise that didn’t need to be there.

Thanks to Net Galley for the arc!

[Stephanie Munguia · Rating 2 out of 5]

ARC Review!!!

I sadly did not enjoy this book. I don't get the multiple POV's: there's Anna, Charlie, Blake, and Kyle for literally 1 chapter. Anna is the publicists for the Freezers who Blake plays for and her dad is the coach of. The other team is the Shredders who Charlie plays for. Anna has always had this rule that she will not date any hockey players because of the complications and everything that comes with it. Blake likes Anna and wants to date her but he's a weirdo. Charlie meets Anna and has before??? I'm iffy on that but likes her and wants to pursue her but Anna has her rule. Overtime Anna and Charlie develop feelings and complications arise and the final game is in jeopardy.
This was hard to get through and I found myself putting it down plenty of times. Blake is a weirdo. There was no need for multiple POVs. 2 stars.

[megreads_x · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley, Lolu Sinclair, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for a honest review.

This book was okay! I am a big ice hockey fan and I was so excited when I got accepted as an arc reader for this!
Did I enjoy it? Partially. Could it be better? Yes. Did I like the characters? Yes.

Although the plot is generally something that I like, I just felt like it was slightly rushed. I don’t mind a love triangle now and again however I feel like this didn’t add much to the story and left me a little confused in some parts.

This is a fast-paced/short ice hockey romance read. It was written in an engaging way and the main couple was entertaining to follow at first but the relationship seemed really rushed and over the top.

[Pà · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to read this because I like hockey stories, but it was just okay. The story felt rushed, especially the relationship between Charlie and Anna, which seemed a bit too fast and over the top. The love triangle with Blake didn’t add much and made things confusing. Blake was also hard to relate to. There were too many different points of view, some unnecessary, and the way Anna called her dad “dad” and “coach” was confusing. Some hockey scenes felt cheesy and unrealistic. The writing wasn’t bad, but the dialogue was just average. Overall, it had potential but didn’t really work for me. Thank you so much to the author and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read the book in advance, I received this for free and I'm leaving a honest review

[Samantha Powers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Those is not a love triangle. This is a hockey romance with a PR girl and a rival hockey player and the other guy is psycho and should be considered the villain. Charlie was the only one with real character depth and Anna was very one dimensional and just kept being a doormat to the people around her, she's an adult but acts like she's 16 and it made the book read a little younger for me. Liked their relationship a lot but every time we got to a Blake chapter I wanted him to get arrested or kicked off the team. Plus these coaches were terrible on both sides, I would hate to be on either of these hockey teams like seriously I would have quit hockey and gone to coaching if I was Charlie. Thanks Netgalley for an early copy of this one.

[Jadee Mattheis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was interesting. I went into this expecting a full blown love triangle between the 3 main characters but honestly I never felt it was one. The one MMC wasn’t even likable. I’m all for a brooding guy but I struggled to find any redeeming qualities in him other than the fact he cared for plants. The book was very slow in the beginning and honestly I feel the city and the environment was focused on more than the connections between the 3 main characters. Also, what was with the random Kyle POV chapters. Overall I really liked the ending and the relationship that came together in the end, but the buildup to get there was rather strange.

Thank you to Lost Lust and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for a honest review.

[Eran Richter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok real talk, I like Anna as a character but honestly I wish she would've put herself first more, that may be because it hits a little too close to home though. I love Charlie's goofy energy, it was really refreshing to see a hockey player playing the game for the love of the game. A lot of hockey romance's recently have main characters playing the game for the money...which leads us to Blake. I really really disliked Blake for 99.7% of this book. I felt like he could have been pulled from the plot entirely and the story would've still worked. I love Anna and Charlie's romance though and overall feel like this would be a good read for a hockey fan that just wants a cozy romance with a splash of spice. I would probably pick up a book by the author again.

*I received this as an ARC copy

[sarina!!]

I expected this book to have some tension, spice, and an exciting love triangle, but I ended up with a slow plot, flat characters, and barely any actual hockey. I feel like Anna's "PR girl storyline" had some potential but wasn't properly set-up, and her love interests felt like walking clichés with no depth.

The dialogue felt clunky, the metaphors missed the mark more often than not, and the constant reminders of past events made this book really hard to get through. Considering it is listed as a sports romance, there was barely any sport. Any vague mentions of it could’ve easily been swapped with any other setting.

On top of all that, the ending felt extremely rushed and I was honestly just relieved it was over.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this arc.

[Amy :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC 💕

I found this to be a very run of the mill hockey romance. I loved Charlie, he’s such a cutie pie and I would’ve loved more of a focus on the forbidden romance element of this.

I didn’t understand the need for Blake to also be a “love interest” because he really didn’t do anything other than become a bit of a villain??? Like I can see why he was tipped over the edge and ended up doing some less than ideal things but ultimately it all felt very forced and didn’t have massive consequence.

I think more of a focus on Charlie as the love interest would have benefited the story but I like it overall :)

[Lena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley, Lolu Sinclair, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for a honest review.

I really tried to like this book. However, I just couldn’t get into it. Although the plot is generally something that I like, I just felt like it was very rushed. And the love triangle element in the book did not add much to the story which confused me ultimately. Dialogue was alright but nothing i’d say was great, just kind of felt meh on it. There was a lot of recaps which I felt like was unnecessary for this book.

[Gillian Sinclair · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love it & the book had major potential, but it just fell flat. Blake was an unnecessary 3rd character in a far stretch of a love triangle? I know they tried to give him a bit of redemption at the end but he is just a straight up psychopath and there is nothing cute about it. The conflict could have and should have just been left with Anna sleeping with Charlie, “the enemy”.
Aside from that, I know this was an ARC, but the constant flipping from 1st to 3rd person gave me major whiplash and I constantly had to reread sentences to make sure I knew who was talking.

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I Don't Date Hockey Players" is a fast-paced (you guessed it) hockey romance read. We all like those, right? It was written in an engaging way and the main couple was entertaining to follow at first but... the relationship seemed really rushed and over the top. The love triangle felt non-existent and I honestly think the story would be better without it. This book had a lot of potential but unfortunately it wasn't my favorite.

[Chrissy Jadwisiak · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like hockey romance books this is a bit of a twist on that. Not a lot of hockey action going on but a lot of what's going to happen next happening. Its definitely something to read to keep you on your toes. I have to say that I did question it a few times in spots like WTF? but that was the fun of it. It had me laughing a lot and I loved it. I can see why I love hockey romance books after reading this. I highly recommend reading this book!

[Edie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you net galley for this ARC.

This book was not terrible I just don't think it was for me. I find for me why choose/love triangles are hit or miss and this was a miss.
I did like all the characters and have nothing negative about them I just don't think they are that memorable.
For me I love when a hockey romance has quite a bit of hockey action in it as I find it entertaining and I found this book was a bit lacking in that area. Also I thought his book was just paced a bit too slow.