Checked Into Love

Evergreen Cove #2

by Brooklyn Hart

He's all in. She's all walls.

Ryan "Mac" MacKenzie has been in love with librarian Rachel Horn since the moment he walked into her library with too many flowers and zero chill. She's brilliant, beautiful, and thinks he's a chaos tornado in hockey skates—which, fair. But when she agrees to coffee, Mac knows he's found his forever.

Rachel has been burned before. Publicly humiliated by an ex who called her "too boring" for his exciting life. So when the Eagles' most enthusiastic player pursues her with grand gestures and genuine heart, she wants to believe it's real. But men like Mac don't stay with women like her. Do they?

Just as Rachel starts to trust in their future, a ghost from her past arrives in Evergreen Derek Matthews, the hotshot sports PT who mentored her ex and convinced him to dump her. Derek's in town to destroy the Eagles' beloved physical therapist Ellie Hansen's reputation—and he's more than willing to use Rachel's insecurities against her to do it.

Mac will fight for Rachel. But can Rachel fight for herself?

A small-town hockey romance opposites attract, he falls first, forced proximity, a cinnamon roll hero who's all in from day one, a heroine learning she's always been enough, meddling teammates, and a villain readers will love to hate.

🌶️ Spice Medium-Hot

376 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication January 17, 2026

Reviews

[Ellen Abrahams · Rating 5 out of 5]

So pleased to receive an advanced copy of this book.

This book takes us back to Evergreen Cove and home of the Eagles hockey team, but this story is about Mac and Rachel. Although this can be read as a standalone it was pleasing to have all the characters from the first book.

From start to finish this book had me invested in the storyline, which had a great plot, love all the characters and the friendships that form around this hockey team and Evergreen Cove. Mac being another super cute hockey player!

Really enjoy the style of writing from this author, this book did not disappoint, really excited to return to Evergreen Cove in the future for the next instalment.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Checked Into Love is such an adorable, feel-good read. This small-town hockey romance gave me all the warm, cozy vibes. It’s Book 2 in the Evergreen Cove series, but I read it as a standalone and had no issues jumping straight in.

Mac is hands-down one of the most lovable book boyfriends you could ask for. He radiates golden retriever energy — sweet, supportive, and impossible not to fall for. Rachel comes into the story carrying a lot of emotional baggage, heartbreak from her ex, and deep-rooted trauma, which made her journey feel very real and relatable.

What I really loved was how this book showed the work that goes into a relationship. Mac and Rachel experience genuine ups and downs and actively choose to communicate and put effort into making things work. It’s a refreshing reminder that love isn’t always rainbows and sunshine — sometimes it’s hard, messy, and requires patience — but it’s worth it when the feelings are real.

This was an easy, heart-warming read that left me smiling, and I really enjoyed my time in Evergreen Cove. A lovely romance from Brooklyn Hart.

About the book:

⭐️ He Falls First (and hardest!)
⭐️ Opposites Attract
⭐️ Small-Town Hockey Romance
⭐️ Trauma Healing
⭐️ Hero Who Reads Romance Novels to Understand Her
⭐️ Grand Gestures (she makes it!)
⭐️ “I’m Not Leaving” Energy
⭐️ Dual POV
⭐️ Slow Burn (1–2 explicit scenes)
⭐️ Interconnected Standalone (Book 2, can be read as a standalone)

Spice Rating: 🌶️

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a soft 4 star until 90%, then dropped to a hard 3 due to the events in the closing chapters...
Take it as you will, some might see it differently to me, but this is my personal opinion....

Ryan “Mac” and Rachel

Tropes:
* Small town
* Sports romance
* He falls first
* Forced proximity
* Cinnamon roll MMC
* Found family
* Instalove vibes

Rachel has been hurt before, and when you find out what happened, you want to give her a big hug.
However, Mac seems to be the ultimate golden retriever/cinnamon roll who won’t give up.

This tried to be a cute/sweet story. It did have a little (a lot) angst, a nasty villain, and an FMC reluctant to give it a go due to trust issues.

Jamie actually really annoyed me in the beginning, so it was hard for me to warm up to him.
Derek’s manipulations were obvious, and it frustrated me wth how gullible some of the characters were.
I did enjoy the town hall meeting. Emotional, and packed a punch, everyone needs the Henderson’s in their corner!

I didn’t like the events at 90%. There were too many occasions of control. For a cinnamon roll hero, Mac has a disturbing tendency to want to control Rachel’s actions, and it didn’t leave me with a nice feeling. To actually punish her in a way because she needed to do something for herself, and have everyone validate his actions because she violated a boundary?

That grand gesture pissed me off. It came from the wrong person.

GTFOH….

[Mona M · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC Review


This was a cute small town hockey romance, I would like to go back and read Cole and Ellie’s story and read the next one when it comes out

Unfortunately for me it was a little harder to read because the chapters were long but that’s the style and works for a lot of people. I felt that the relationship between Mac and Rachel with more chapters could’ve had more build up for the relationship it felt like a lot of context and plot was missing from their connection for example not giving him a chance and then doing a complete 180 very quickly

it felt like insta love which isn’t my favourite. It had only been two months timelines wise in the book so it felt like we were moving so fast in those two months. Nonetheless it was a cute book and I’m invested in the next book for when it comes out (even though I didn’t like Jamie in the beginning)

Spice level: 0.5🌶️


Happy reading! - Mona

Thank you to BookSirens for the ARC

[Kelsey Mostrom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very clunky read for me and I skimmed the last 25% of the book.

The main characters didn't have much relationship building beyond continually circling back to they can't trust each other and the one of them walking away or leaving every time they had trust issues, only to be madly in love immediately after like it didn't happen and continue the cycle over and over throughout the book.

I felt like there was a lot of context missing between each of the bouts of trust issues, because if all their relationship was is continually having one of them do something to break the trust of the other, I don't see how they possibly could have been ready to trust each other enough to move in together after less than 2 months.

Thank you to BookSirens for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Ella Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️
Im so grateful to have received an ARC copy of this book! We are taken back to Evergreen Cove to follow Rachel and Macs journey. This was a really sweet read and I loved the characters so much (apart from Derek!) There was moments that i was reading and seriously couldn't put the book down. I had moments where I could feel my heart racing (especially in town hall) and moments where everything just clicked. I think both of the characters were written so well. There was no massive dilemma in their relationship, a few ups and downs, but everything fell into its place perfectly. This was such an amazing read and 100% deserves all 5 ⭐️

[Karen Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh I'd love to squash Derek Matthews he's a brilliantly written bully.

It was great to see Cole and Ellie again, still dealing with the bad Doctor.

Rachel and Mac are perfect together, his ‘golden retriever’ personality is perfect to counteract her trust issues.

The Town Hall scene is just perfect and everyone needs a Mrs and Mr Henderson in their corner.

Both Mac and Rachel had their blips that deserved a second chance. And finally the grand gesture at the ice rink was chef’s kiss.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book of the Evergreen Cove Series. The MMC and FMC are opposites: MMC tends towards grand gestures, while FMC is quiet, reserved, and scared to move forward after a humiliating breakup—a sweet story of second chances, trust, personal growth, and moving forward. This is a nice, feel-good read.

[wasuretta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so curious and looking forward to read Mac's story and glad to be back in Evergreen Cove!
I thought it would be lean to be rom/com because of Mac's personality but it was more serious.
Mrs. Henderson was the best!
The fluff, steamy and angst were on point!

Curious about Jamie 👀

[Amber Gregory · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the story, although it was a little slow for me. The characters were cute and charming. I loved the ending.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the pleasure to read this book as an ARC reader.

What I loved about this book was the vulnerability of the main characters. The story captured me from the beginning.

I also liked the fact that the story continued, where book 1 stopped.

I can't wait until book 3.

Tamara #bookstamreads

[Tammy Carlsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beta reading this currently, review coming soon!

[Aerin Susinko · Rating 2 out of 5]

All and all it was a cute story. The main characters were never on the same page for the majority of the book which was kind of hard to read. The conflicts in this were anticlimactic.

[Alyssa Weiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great follow up book. The characters are endearing, the story is the right mix of angst and hope. All the characters are back from the first book in the series. ❤️

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this as an early read. The concept was cute - Librarian x Hockey player - it’s what caught my attention to this book.

I loved the found family vibes and how much of a golden retriever Mac was.

I had some difficulties with some of the inconsistencies throughout the book and some of the characterization of characters from book 1-2.

I think a lot of people who love a golden retriever male love interest, insta love, and a fast track relationship.

[Dan Tucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a heart-warming, cute read, just what I needed!

[Isis Ray-sisco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this in one sitting. It was a fun read and I would recommend it to people who like this genre. You won’t regret it.