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Grady
Traded. With my crush. What could go wrong?
Getting traded always sucks. The silver lining this time is that I’ve been traded to the Riptide, near my hometown, with my teammate —and secret crush—Landon Casco.
Landon's the son of the goalie I idolized growing up. He’s also smoking hot and never fails to make me laugh. The only problem? He has a serious girlfriend. But even if he was bi or gay, I wouldn’t do anything about it. I'm deep in the closet.
On our first night in our new city, Landon’s a mess. It’s his first time being traded, his first full season back in the league after beating cancer, and his relationship is rocky at best. Trying to be a good friend and ease the tension, I take him and his girlfriend Angela out. I planned on a few beers and maybe a game of pool, not a threesome. But that’s where we end up.
Now Angela’s ghosted Landon, and he’s acting like we’re barely friends, but I’m crushing even harder. Luckily I have a back-up goalie eager to steal my title as starter and family members popping by uninvited every day to distract me.
When Angela shows back up pregnant, Landon and I have to stop pretending that night never happened. It's time to face our fears, our demons, and each other. It turns out, there’s a lot more than the possibility of parenthood that we need to figure out.
Getting traded always sucks. The silver lining this time is that I’ve been traded to the Riptide, near my hometown, with my teammate —and secret crush—Landon Casco.
Landon's the son of the goalie I idolized growing up. He’s also smoking hot and never fails to make me laugh. The only problem? He has a serious girlfriend. But even if he was bi or gay, I wouldn’t do anything about it. I'm deep in the closet.
On our first night in our new city, Landon’s a mess. It’s his first time being traded, his first full season back in the league after beating cancer, and his relationship is rocky at best. Trying to be a good friend and ease the tension, I take him and his girlfriend Angela out. I planned on a few beers and maybe a game of pool, not a threesome. But that’s where we end up.
Now Angela’s ghosted Landon, and he’s acting like we’re barely friends, but I’m crushing even harder. Luckily I have a back-up goalie eager to steal my title as starter and family members popping by uninvited every day to distract me.
When Angela shows back up pregnant, Landon and I have to stop pretending that night never happened. It's time to face our fears, our demons, and each other. It turns out, there’s a lot more than the possibility of parenthood that we need to figure out.
350 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 29, 2025
11 people are currently reading
883 people want to read
About the author
Victoria Denault
31 books833 followersSign up for Victoria's monthly newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/cexOL9
Victoria Denault loves ocean air, seventies music, strong heroines and flawed heroes. She is a former journalist, stand-up comic and corporate marketing minion. Victoria is a Canadian and former Californian who currently lives in a 225 year-old house with her husband, their Chihuahua Maximus and more spiders than she cares to think about.
Victoria Denault loves ocean air, seventies music, strong heroines and flawed heroes. She is a former journalist, stand-up comic and corporate marketing minion. Victoria is a Canadian and former Californian who currently lives in a 225 year-old house with her husband, their Chihuahua Maximus and more spiders than she cares to think about.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
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November 2, 2025•spoilers•
The author reached out to me asking if I was interested in an ARC of their MM honey book and of course, always. I've read a book by Denault before and enjoyed it and so I was looking forward to this. Unfortunately there were a few things I didn't love, and it's partially my fault for going in completely blind to the story. As this isn't a book I'd normally read given the full information and it didn't exactly knock my socks off, I'm not going to give a rating.
Landon and Grady are two friends who both come from a long line of hockey royalty. Currently playing together, they both get traded to back to their hometown team. The trade kicks off a series of life changes for both of them, and they find their friendship turning into something more. But family, expectations, and exes don't make it easy to live and love out and proud.
I really loved Landon and Grady's friendship. They have such a natural and easy connection that was already established and seemed to flow right into their romance. They had their ups and their downs, but their undeniable chemistry kept drawing them back to each other. Landon pushed Grady to be open and honest with himself and his family, supporting him as he took the scary leap out of the closet. Grady was a bit more flawed of the two but he truly adored everything about Landon. He needed a push now and then, but once he got it together he couldn't be a more loving and devoted partner. It wasn't easy, but their natural understanding of one another let them be a pillar of strength when the other needed it the most.
What I struggled with in this book is that I haven't read any of the other series connected to this. And it's partially my fault for sure, because I didn't realize it was connected to anything. However not knowing anyone at all, it was a lot of names and random connections that I couldn't and didn't particularly want to keep track of. There were a good amount of family side plots too that didn't really contribute to this story and made it feel a little bit like a soap opera. The family history lesson every chapter and other dramas were a little off putting for someone reading this as a standalone.
My other issue was with Landon's girlfriend. Again, this is my fault for not reading the blurb and going in blind, but when I hit the Angela chapter I went to see other reviews and saw that it was also a surprise pregnancy trope. I read mostly LGBTQ+ romances and haven't read something like this in years. I don't necessarily want to read a MMF story or sex scenes from a female POV when I'm expecting something else. I don't have a problem reading them but I was sold on something different. It was fine, but I almost just decided not to finish. I ended up scanning those chapters because I'm really just not interested.
However when Angela showed back up later I did like and respect how she handled the situation. She didn't want to be a mother herself but knew how important it was for Landon, and gave him that option. I did like her chapter in the second part and how she helped Landon and Grady move past their issues, truly wanting them to be happy. It made up from her attitude in the beginning.
If you have read these previous series and books this one is tied to, you're invested in the family, and you don't mind a little bit of mixing things up in the main relationship, then I think you'd like this. As someone who went in thinking it was a MM standalone or start of a series, this wasn't exactly what I was expecting - and I do take part of the blame for that. But l did like watching Landon and Grady's friendship turn into something more and the beautiful coastal Maine backdrop. Readers of Denault's other interconnected series will have a fun time watching these two fall in love and keeping up with the rest of the crew!
Read if you like:
• friends to lovers
• sexual awakening
• hockey romance
•••••••••••••••••••••
The author reached out to me asking if I was interested in an ARC of their MM honey book and of course, always. I've read a book by Denault before and enjoyed it and so I was looking forward to this. Unfortunately there were a few things I didn't love, and it's partially my fault for going in completely blind to the story. As this isn't a book I'd normally read given the full information and it didn't exactly knock my socks off, I'm not going to give a rating.
Landon and Grady are two friends who both come from a long line of hockey royalty. Currently playing together, they both get traded to back to their hometown team. The trade kicks off a series of life changes for both of them, and they find their friendship turning into something more. But family, expectations, and exes don't make it easy to live and love out and proud.
I really loved Landon and Grady's friendship. They have such a natural and easy connection that was already established and seemed to flow right into their romance. They had their ups and their downs, but their undeniable chemistry kept drawing them back to each other. Landon pushed Grady to be open and honest with himself and his family, supporting him as he took the scary leap out of the closet. Grady was a bit more flawed of the two but he truly adored everything about Landon. He needed a push now and then, but once he got it together he couldn't be a more loving and devoted partner. It wasn't easy, but their natural understanding of one another let them be a pillar of strength when the other needed it the most.
What I struggled with in this book is that I haven't read any of the other series connected to this. And it's partially my fault for sure, because I didn't realize it was connected to anything. However not knowing anyone at all, it was a lot of names and random connections that I couldn't and didn't particularly want to keep track of. There were a good amount of family side plots too that didn't really contribute to this story and made it feel a little bit like a soap opera. The family history lesson every chapter and other dramas were a little off putting for someone reading this as a standalone.
My other issue was with Landon's girlfriend. Again, this is my fault for not reading the blurb and going in blind, but when I hit the Angela chapter I went to see other reviews and saw that it was also a surprise pregnancy trope. I read mostly LGBTQ+ romances and haven't read something like this in years. I don't necessarily want to read a MMF story or sex scenes from a female POV when I'm expecting something else. I don't have a problem reading them but I was sold on something different. It was fine, but I almost just decided not to finish. I ended up scanning those chapters because I'm really just not interested.
However when Angela showed back up later I did like and respect how she handled the situation. She didn't want to be a mother herself but knew how important it was for Landon, and gave him that option. I did like her chapter in the second part and how she helped Landon and Grady move past their issues, truly wanting them to be happy. It made up from her attitude in the beginning.
If you have read these previous series and books this one is tied to, you're invested in the family, and you don't mind a little bit of mixing things up in the main relationship, then I think you'd like this. As someone who went in thinking it was a MM standalone or start of a series, this wasn't exactly what I was expecting - and I do take part of the blame for that. But l did like watching Landon and Grady's friendship turn into something more and the beautiful coastal Maine backdrop. Readers of Denault's other interconnected series will have a fun time watching these two fall in love and keeping up with the rest of the crew!
Read if you like:
• friends to lovers
• sexual awakening
• hockey romance
•••••••••••••••••••••
October 28, 2025
There is not been a book in the Hockey Royalty series that I haven't loved, but I'm not sure I've devoured one as quickly as I did Grady!
Grady Garrison is from a family of hockey royalty, a goalie and has been traded several times, but won the Cup with his current team. He also has a secret crush on his teammate, defenseman Landon Casco.
Landon Casco has been through it the last few years. He was diagnosed with leukemia and then made a comeback to his team that eventually rose the Stanley Cup. He's got a long-term girlfriend who stuck by him during his treatment, but things haven't been great.
When Grady and Landon both get traded to a team closer to both families, Grady helps Landon as he has never been through a trade before and his girlfriend, Angela, is absolutely freaking out. The trade brings Grady and Landon closer together and things change when all three of them spend a night together. Then Angela ghosts Landon and Grady is there to comfort Landon. Will more develop between the two teammates?
I was totally into this story from the very beginning. I liked both Grady and Landon and understood where they were both coming from as the navigated their own issues and hang-ups. It was also great to see some of the other "hockey royalty" pop up in the book as well! This is definitely one of my favorites of this series!
**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title in exchange for an honest review**
Grady Garrison is from a family of hockey royalty, a goalie and has been traded several times, but won the Cup with his current team. He also has a secret crush on his teammate, defenseman Landon Casco.
Landon Casco has been through it the last few years. He was diagnosed with leukemia and then made a comeback to his team that eventually rose the Stanley Cup. He's got a long-term girlfriend who stuck by him during his treatment, but things haven't been great.
When Grady and Landon both get traded to a team closer to both families, Grady helps Landon as he has never been through a trade before and his girlfriend, Angela, is absolutely freaking out. The trade brings Grady and Landon closer together and things change when all three of them spend a night together. Then Angela ghosts Landon and Grady is there to comfort Landon. Will more develop between the two teammates?
I was totally into this story from the very beginning. I liked both Grady and Landon and understood where they were both coming from as the navigated their own issues and hang-ups. It was also great to see some of the other "hockey royalty" pop up in the book as well! This is definitely one of my favorites of this series!
**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title in exchange for an honest review**
December 31, 2025
I usually review everything I read right away, but I sat with this one for a while, because I wasn’t sure why I didn’t like it as much as I wanted to.
Ultimately, it comes down to two things:
1. The love triangle I was not expecting and felt weirdly betrayed by, since I went in with the intention of reading an MM romance, only to get a third POV and some uncomfortable for the characters (as well as the reader) MFM action going on. Not even gonna touch on the whole surprise pregnancy trope turned baby daddy roulette turned surrogacy. It was all just so messed up.
2. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why Grady was so scared to come out to his family. We know those characters from other books. They’re not homophobic jerks, yet he can’t even be himself with his own sister?! This just didn’t make sense and I simply didn’t like it.
The main relationship and the plot around it had a good premise, it’s just all the drama around it that made it not the best fit for me.
Ultimately, it comes down to two things:
1. The love triangle I was not expecting and felt weirdly betrayed by, since I went in with the intention of reading an MM romance, only to get a third POV and some uncomfortable for the characters (as well as the reader) MFM action going on. Not even gonna touch on the whole surprise pregnancy trope turned baby daddy roulette turned surrogacy. It was all just so messed up.
2. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why Grady was so scared to come out to his family. We know those characters from other books. They’re not homophobic jerks, yet he can’t even be himself with his own sister?! This just didn’t make sense and I simply didn’t like it.
The main relationship and the plot around it had a good premise, it’s just all the drama around it that made it not the best fit for me.
October 22, 2025
Another zinger from Victoria Denault - a MM hockey romance with all the feels. I'm likely biased because I really enjoy Ms. Denault's writing style and fell in love with her hockey families years ago. The Hockey Royalty series tells the stories of the next generation. Grady Garrison is a goalie and Landon Casco is a defenseman, both from hockey families. Although close as teammates and friends, after being traded to a new team they find themselves even closer. That closeness grows to everything for them both but each struggle for very different reasons.
This is a story of love and acceptance. If only our world was as accepting of everyone as they are in these books. Giving these two lovable characters, their crazy families and their hot love story, 5 stars.
This is a story of love and acceptance. If only our world was as accepting of everyone as they are in these books. Giving these two lovable characters, their crazy families and their hot love story, 5 stars.
October 29, 2025
I absolutely adore this series but I honestly can't pick a favourite now... the next gen are killing it in the drama stakes and the angst over living up to their family legacies. This blending of the hockey families (Garrison and Casco) was top notch too. I loved Grady and his quiet stoic nature so was rooting for him from the start. I loved the way his relationship with Landon evolved, it felt so honest and real. This wasn't a cut and dried story where you immediately knew what would happen or how people would react all the time. This is what keeps my interest throughout and the writing just flows so well too. Another fabulous part of a great series that I hope keeps going for a while yet!
October 30, 2025
Tumultuous and attention grabbing! Must be okay with M/M/F and M/M relationships to enjoy! The next book in Victoria Denault's Hockey Royalty series is easy to sink your teeth into with amazingly relatable characters, forbidden love, and lots of drama all the way around. Grady and Landon are both super easy to like and sympathize with and the angst they feel is really emotional. I loved the characters, loved the love triangle/closeted issues they had to deal with and most of all loved their happily ever after! I highly recommend this book as well as the entire series to anyone who really enjoys a second gen hockey romance where we get to catch glimpses of past characters later in life when their kids and siblings are now settling into love.
December 28, 2025
Have y'all read Grady and Lance's story yet?
MFM encounter to MM
Emotional, angsty, and unforgettable and full of messy human consequences. With a dash of family support and love.
This 2nd Gen hockey romance absolutely wrecked me in the best way.
Bestie to lovers. Teammates.
Lance has made a recovery from Luekemia but its struggling with his long term girlfriend.
Grady is a big, burly redhead, deeply in love with his unavailable best friend.
The results are devastating yet ultimately healing.
MFM encounter to MM
Emotional, angsty, and unforgettable and full of messy human consequences. With a dash of family support and love.
This 2nd Gen hockey romance absolutely wrecked me in the best way.
Bestie to lovers. Teammates.
Lance has made a recovery from Luekemia but its struggling with his long term girlfriend.
Grady is a big, burly redhead, deeply in love with his unavailable best friend.
The results are devastating yet ultimately healing.
October 24, 2025
Flew through this book! Loved the dynamic between the two main characters. They both were lovable characters and you could see where their challenges came from. I wish we got a bit more of a back story about why Grady had some of his “hang ups” but I still liked his character and was happy with his emotional growth throughout the book. I enjoyed seeing tidbits of the other hockey royalty couples as well. I really like returning to the families we know and seeing those dynamics. Loved the ending- Perfect romance read!
Also Im dying to know what couple will be next as always!
Also Im dying to know what couple will be next as always!
October 29, 2025
Grady and Landon's journey from besties to lovers and finally their HEA is one that I'll be thinking about for a while to come. The storyline progresses at a great pace and is, in my opinion well written. I also really loved the occasional third POV from Angie. There's not much to dislike about this book and the only thing in the way of Grady and Landon's HEA for most of the book is Grady. This is such a well-fleshed out story, which is to be expected from this author. I can't sing the praises of Victoria Denault and this book enough.
October 20, 2025
Love this whole series but these two are my new faves. Grady and Landon both so unsure of their team trade, and of their true selves. Scared to share with anyone. Even to the extent of alienating one another. But some wise words from families that love them dearly and a push or two from a coach they both begin to see that the choice of not being true to themselves would rob them of too much. Love these characters! Beautiful story!
November 5, 2025
5 stars for Grady by Victoria Denault
What an amazing read. Love the blending of the Garrisons and Cascos. Love checking in with the OGs. Will make you want to reread their parents' stories. I love Grady and Landon's love story. They sure love each other and are best friends. Some hot and sexy scenes too. I love them both sharing their insecurities. It so nice to read about all of the support both of them each have. Can't wait for the next installment of Hockey Royalty.
What an amazing read. Love the blending of the Garrisons and Cascos. Love checking in with the OGs. Will make you want to reread their parents' stories. I love Grady and Landon's love story. They sure love each other and are best friends. Some hot and sexy scenes too. I love them both sharing their insecurities. It so nice to read about all of the support both of them each have. Can't wait for the next installment of Hockey Royalty.
November 2, 2025
I loved this book so much. Grady and Landon's story had so much good yearning and chemistry. I loved the dynamic between these two from beginning to end. And I really appreciated that the author didn't make Angela the villain, which would have been the easy route to take. These characters were complex and imperfect but that's what made the story even better. My favorite book so far in the series.
November 11, 2025
I got this as a good read giveaway and had never read anything else in the series or anything else by this author. I didn’t realize quite how much M/F romance they wrote or that this had so much of one MC’s girlfriend in it. I rarely need a girlfriend’s POV in an M/M romance nor do I need an MMF scene. Almost the moment I got Angie’s POV. I began to lose interest and it never quite came back.
October 23, 2025
Woo! This one’s a scorcher!! Grady and Landon are super hot! I really enjoyed how their relationship grew despite their fears. And, of course, seeing some of the Garrison family again was an extra bonus! Great addition to a great series! Looking forward to the next one!
October 31, 2025
I absolutely am loving this next gen series! Grady was an incredible book. I loved the connection between the characters. It was a truly beautiful story about family and love and finding your person. It was a stunning book. loved it!
November 20, 2025
I just really love all of these. They just keep being good.
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