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Defending The Heart: The Gilbert's Duology Book #1
Kaylee Gilbert's last year of girls' high school hockey at St. River's Collegiate is supposed to be perfect. But there's a problem—they have two players and a single goalie. She isn't sure how the season is supposed to happen with that many people on their team; the only way they can have a proper team is if they pick up players.
So they take players from Bright's Arm Academy—their rivals.
Riana Johnson just wanted the year to go by without a hassle, but when she ends up messing up Kaylee's order—her future defence partner—any hope of that happening has been thrown into a fire pit. Now, she has to team up with Kaylee while they bicker about a single mistake on an order she didn't even mean to make.
Then, when the problem is resolved and they start getting along, the lines between being friends and something more begin to blur.
So they take players from Bright's Arm Academy—their rivals.
Riana Johnson just wanted the year to go by without a hassle, but when she ends up messing up Kaylee's order—her future defence partner—any hope of that happening has been thrown into a fire pit. Now, she has to team up with Kaylee while they bicker about a single mistake on an order she didn't even mean to make.
Then, when the problem is resolved and they start getting along, the lines between being friends and something more begin to blur.
346 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 13, 2025
36 people are currently reading
251 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 30, 2025
*first time reading such a new book, so forgive me for the long review*
I went into Defending the Heart excited for a WLW hockey/enemies-to-lovers story. While it didn’t really work for me, I do want to acknowledge that this is the author’s first published book, which is genuinely exciting. I hope it brings them success and new readers, because the core idea is solid!
That being said, the execution fell a lil short. The “enemies” aspect barely exists, with the main conflict coming from a latte flavor mix-up. This makes the enemies-to-lovers trope feel rushed and underdeveloped. Any tension introduced early on is quickly dropped, and instead of a meaningful buildup, the hostility just feels juvenile and forced. It kinda left the romance feeling unearned.
The writing has some minor issues, including continuity errors (Kaylee’s hair being described as dirty blonde in one scene and deep brown in another), grammar mistakes, and a typo or two. Some of the early conflicts also feel immature. After arguing and making up within just a few pages, the romance itself moves very fast, with immediate flirting, instant nicknames, and instant girlfriend status post-kiss, which might feel unrealistic to readers past a high school mindset.
The Carlton subplot is another weak point. Riana venting to a random guy on Instagram, and not realizing he’s her love interest’s brother, is hard to buy. At one point, he says he doesn't wanna be “picking sides” between a lifelong sibling and a girl he's been DMing for a few weeks. Really?
While I appreciate queer representation and normalization, the fact that nearly every side character ends up queer and paired off feels more like a checklist than organic storytelling.
By the end, the story feels stretched out yet oddly unfinished. Three side relationships are hinted at but go nowhere. The epilogue offers little closure beyond a romantic happy ending for the main couple and reinforces the sense that this book is aimed at a much younger audience.
Overall, this book reads like an extended Wattpad fic: cheesy, very PG, rushed, and underdeveloped. While the WLW hockey premise had a lot of potential, the execution just didn't do it for me. I do hope that in future books, the author is able to deepen the conflict, pacing, and character development.
I went into Defending the Heart excited for a WLW hockey/enemies-to-lovers story. While it didn’t really work for me, I do want to acknowledge that this is the author’s first published book, which is genuinely exciting. I hope it brings them success and new readers, because the core idea is solid!
That being said, the execution fell a lil short. The “enemies” aspect barely exists, with the main conflict coming from a latte flavor mix-up. This makes the enemies-to-lovers trope feel rushed and underdeveloped. Any tension introduced early on is quickly dropped, and instead of a meaningful buildup, the hostility just feels juvenile and forced. It kinda left the romance feeling unearned.
The writing has some minor issues, including continuity errors (Kaylee’s hair being described as dirty blonde in one scene and deep brown in another), grammar mistakes, and a typo or two. Some of the early conflicts also feel immature. After arguing and making up within just a few pages, the romance itself moves very fast, with immediate flirting, instant nicknames, and instant girlfriend status post-kiss, which might feel unrealistic to readers past a high school mindset.
The Carlton subplot is another weak point. Riana venting to a random guy on Instagram, and not realizing he’s her love interest’s brother, is hard to buy. At one point, he says he doesn't wanna be “picking sides” between a lifelong sibling and a girl he's been DMing for a few weeks. Really?
While I appreciate queer representation and normalization, the fact that nearly every side character ends up queer and paired off feels more like a checklist than organic storytelling.
By the end, the story feels stretched out yet oddly unfinished. Three side relationships are hinted at but go nowhere. The epilogue offers little closure beyond a romantic happy ending for the main couple and reinforces the sense that this book is aimed at a much younger audience.
Overall, this book reads like an extended Wattpad fic: cheesy, very PG, rushed, and underdeveloped. While the WLW hockey premise had a lot of potential, the execution just didn't do it for me. I do hope that in future books, the author is able to deepen the conflict, pacing, and character development.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 29, 2025
As a former hockey player I was really excited to read a wlw hockey book that didn’t include a relationship with a coach or figure skater, but I felt like this book fell a little short of expectations. Having seen excerpts on tiktok I was expecting the rivals to lovers conflict to be more drawn out, but it was rushed. The main rivalry came from interactions at a coffee shop, not years of playing hockey against each other which I thought was a missed opportunity. The main character struggling with her sexuality went very 0-100 with the relationship. Typical couples wouldn’t start dating 1 second after kissing it felt very rushed. She instagram chatted with the brother not knowing who he was even though he got coffee at her shop every morning.
All in all I may be biased because of my real experience at that age with teammates dating, realizing their sexuality, rivalries, etc and I’m glad that people are writing in the genre because I’ve always wanted more books that resemble my own experiences. I also know it’s the writers first book which is imaging and I hope she continues to develop as a writer and put out great work.
All in all I may be biased because of my real experience at that age with teammates dating, realizing their sexuality, rivalries, etc and I’m glad that people are writing in the genre because I’ve always wanted more books that resemble my own experiences. I also know it’s the writers first book which is imaging and I hope she continues to develop as a writer and put out great work.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 24, 2025
Incredibly sweet hockey romance
January 1, 2026
Feels like a well written Wattpad novel. Some scenes need to be longer to actually get where you are standing time-wise. Overall, it’s a great comfort book.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews