Sin Bin

D.C. Stars #5

by Chelsea Curto

Brody Saunders is the best coach in the NHL. Grumpy, menacing and with two Stanley Cups under his belt as the head coach of the DC Stars, the last thing he should be doing is hooking up with his player’s younger sister. After the night of their one night stand almost ends in tragedy, he pulls away, vowing to pretend like their rendezvous ever happened.

Hannah Everett is a world champion figure skater who doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life. When she acknowledges she’s burnt out with the sport she’s spent her whole life doing, she realizes she needs all the help she can get to find herself, and her love of skating, again.

What starts as an agreement for Hannah to coach Brody’s daughter for the figure skating season, quickly turns into something more. Between the time they’re spending together on and off the ice, Hannah starts to see Brody isn’t the short-tempered man the media portrays him to be, and the longer they fight their connection, the more the tension between them grows.

Falling in love with the girl fourteen years younger than him isn’t part of Brody’s plan, but can he stay out of the sin bin when the world finally learns about their relationship?

Genres: Romance, Sports Romance, Hockey, Sports, Hockey Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary

470 pages, Paperback

Published December 9, 2025

About the author

Chelsea is a flight attendant and romance author who writes fun, fresh and flirty love stories with plenty of spice. When she's not making fictional characters banter for twenty chapters before they finally kiss or serving chicken or pasta on an airplane, you can find her trying to pet as many dogs as she can.


COME SAY HI!

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Website: www.authorchelseacurto.com

Reviews

[Marianna Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

A GRUMPY SINGLE DAD WITH THE FILTHIEST MOUTH WHO QUITE LITERALLY GETS ON HIS HANDS AND KNEES AND CRAWLS FOR HER?!!!!! Need I say more?!!

Brody Saunders the man that you are. No I’m sick. Disgusted. UNWELL. I cannot stop thinking about this man. He literally booked a flight across the country for one night to be with her because she was sad and lonely. He faked sick and left his hockey game to catch a flight to make it to her figure skating competition…?!!! No he worships the ground she walks on.

Did I also mention he’s an nhl hockey coach and she’s his players sister??? Yeah yeah yeahhhhhh.

God this series is everything to me, without a doubt my favorite hockey romance series no question. The found family in this is literally one of my all time favorites. The emotional connection I have to these characters is not even funny. I cried so many times in this because of the relationships between characters and seeing what other characters from past books were going through and getting glimpses of their lives like they’re all so important to me I could read about them forever.

Brody and Hannah were absolutely perfect. Their chemistry from the moment they met was palpable and my god were they HOT. And Brody being the best dad on the PLANETTTT!!

Something I also so deeply adore about this series is how it doesn’t follow traditional gender roles and doesn’t put women in a box of what is considered a traditional “happy ending” in romance books. Like my girl Chelsea LOVES women and it shows in her books. I love how some of her fmcs like Hannah don’t see themselves ever getting married/having kids , but still being in a happy, loving relationship where their partner uplifts them and supports them. This is something I strongly relate to and it’s rare to seeing in romance books. Also all these women are so confident and sure of themselves in all aspects of their lives and it’s so empowering. Ugh I could go on and on and onnnnnnnn!!!

Anyways I’m gonna shut up now I’m literally crashing out I want to reread it right this second!

“Jesus Christ.” “My name is Brody, sweetheart. Try to get it right next time.”

“What else do you want, baby? The moon? I’ll bring it out of the fucking sky for you.”

“Peace. That’s the way to describe what it’s like to have her in my arms. The outside noises, the responsibilities, the list of things I need to accomplish tomorrow—everything else on my plate disappears. It narrows down to a single thing, the only woman who has ever had so much of my attention. Her.”

[naz · Rating 4 out of 5]

“𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆. 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒆.” 𝑰 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏. “𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰’𝒎 𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰’𝒎 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇𝒊𝒔𝒉, 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆.”

Coach Brody Saunders, everyone!!!! Book 5 ATEEEE 😌🍽️ I was giddy from page 1, and I knew I was gonna love every single second and I did 🙂‍↕️ This book follows our grumpy coach (who we all love at this point) and how he cannot stay away from a player’s sister. He definitely tries, but when her daughter needs an ice-skating coach and Hannah is the only one available… well, cue the forced proximity hehe aka it’s inevitable. ⛸️✨

“𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕, 𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒚? 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒐𝒏? 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒌𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖.”

I’m sorry, but I will continue to scream at the top of my lungs about this series. Chelsea Curto will forever be one of my favorite authors she brings such beautiful stories that are combines in romance in such a unique way that I devour each and every single book.

“𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚, 𝑯𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒂𝒉.”

This book in particular I adored their flirtiness, chemistry, and communication. Hannah is an outspoken woman who has zero problem saying what’s on her mind, which I totally look up to her. And don’t even get me started on Brody Saunders… he’s direct, a single dad, and an authority figure. Don't even get me started on ribbons, I cannot look at them the same again. HOT. PERIOD 🔥🎀

“𝑺𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝑰 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆,” 𝑰 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒌. “𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆.”

I definitely recommend reading the series in order, because by the time this book lands in your hands, you’ll be obsessed with Coach Brody and begging for his happy ending ❤️

Why then not the 5 stars? Well to be honest this question I can answer it simply that even though I devoured and adored every second.. I think compared to Hat Trick and Power Play (my top two) I needed more RAW emotion, but definitely a personal preference.

tropes
✨grumpy x sunshine
🏒age gap (14 years)
✨forbidden relationship
🏒single girl dad
✨friends to lovers
🏒one night stand

⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.
𝗽𝗿𝗲-𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 ꪆৎ ˚⋅ am I dropping everything I am reading to start this bad boi, why yes I AM!!!!!

[⋆˚୨ৎ˚⋆ Kim ⋆˚୨ৎ˚⋆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

જ⁀➴ 4 stars

HUGE thank you to Chelsea Curto and Love Notes PR for the eARC in exchange for an honest review! Sin Bin is out now!

"The winning is great. Watching good hockey is a blast. But for the first time in my life, I want a partner to share all of that with.

And I want it to be her."

⋆𐙚❅🦌*°⋆❆.⛸️ ⋆𐙚❅🦌*°⋆❆.⛸️ ⋆𐙚❅🦌*°⋆❆.⛸️ ⋆𐙚❅🦌*°⋆❆.⛸️ ⋆𐙚❅🦌*°⋆❆.⛸️ ⋆𐙚❅🦌*°⋆❆
Well, well, well. Chelsea Curto has done it once again. She needs to run a class on how to write green flag MMCs and confident FMCs or something like that because literally every single book she puts out in this series is somehow even better than the last! Just when I think I have a favorite DC Stars character, she's like, "Well, here's a few more that I think you'll like," and then makes it even harder for me to choose.

Something of note before reading this book is that I'd say you HAVE to read Hat Trick before reading Sin Bin. I know Chelsea Curto has talked about this on her IG before, but in case you aren't caught up, the events of Hat Trick overlap with the first 20-30% or so (give or take about 5%) of Sin Bin. From what I saw, the events of the first few chapters of Sin Bin are the exact same as the first few chapters of Hat Trick, just from Brody and Hannah's perspectives rather than Riley and Lexi's. After that, the rest of Sin Bin takes place after the events of Hat Trick.

While the book can be read on its own, I highly recommend reading Hat Trick first so you're not completely lost on the events and for the immersive reading experience of getting to know Riley and Lexi a little more, considering they still make cameos in the book here and there (as well as the rest of the characters we've already met before in previous books).

Let's dive into the characters:

⋆𐙚❅ Hannah: I related to her character a lot, and I think she's going to take the cake for my new favorite DC Stars FMC! She struggles with burnout and falling out of love with the one thing that she's supposed to love the most: figure skating. I totally understand the feeling of feeling burnt out, as I'm sure many of us have at some point or another, whether it's with work or with school or anything else. I think the burnout hurts even more when it's something that you're extremely passionate about, and you're left wondering why you feel this way when you're supposed to be happy that this is what you love to do, and I felt her pain and related to that a lot. It's like once that light goes out for you, you're wondering what your next move is and what you can do to get that spark back, and I love how Brody helped her reconnect with her love for figure skating. At least for me, I found her so relatable because she's my age in the story (25), so it was easier to connect with her out of all of the DC Stars characters, only because the other FMCs in the series have all been older than me.

⋆𐙚❅ Brody: The entire book was basically a manual on how to be a good father. Brody is literally the best dad to his daughter, Olivia, and he's supportive of both Olivia and Hannah in their endeavors. Not to mention that his love language is acts of service? Like, he flies out to see Hannah compete in a skating competition? He buys her keychains to add to her collection in every city the DC Stars play in? His nickname may be Broody Brody, but it's clear that underneath the surface, he cares about all of his players and the people he loves deeply. Also, can we take a moment to appreciate how healthy his co-parenting relationship is with Kali?

I loved seeing the other characters make cameos in the series, as per usual, especially Maverick and Emmy. I'm glad all of them are doing well and thriving, but especially them because they're the OG couple in the series, and I'm so happy they got their happy ending🥹

The few things I took a star off for:

1. Hannah calling Brody "daddy:" Listen, I know that Hannah's doing it as a joke because it has a double entendre, but I physically cringed every time she said it. I know this is a personal thing and not so much a reflection on the writing because it's honestly very fitting with Hannah's character and her personality, but I just HATE that nickname in real life AND in books. I don't think there's a single book where I didn't have an issue with that nickname. It's just so cringy😭

2. I wish we got to see more interactions between Hannah and Grant. It's constantly alluded to that she and Grant have a super close sibling relationship, and I get it, both of them are busy since Grant's playing for the DC Stars and has his own stuff to worry about during the season. I wish we got to see more moments between them that reflected how close they are because it felt like a lot of the interactions we got between them were pretty surface-level and through the text messages they had with each other throughout the story.

3. While I don't mind spice in romance books (or lack of spice in romance books, I don't really care either way as long as the story is written well), I did feel like some of the spicy scenes felt out of place. I felt like some of it took away from exploring other topics like Hannah and Grant's relationship, Hannah falling back in love with skating or going more into how she started to fall out of love with it and leading her into the situation she's in during the events of the book, and seeing more moments with Olivia and Brody interacting and exploring more of their father-daughter relationship.

Overall, I enjoyed Sin Bin, and I can't believe we're almost at the end of the DC Stars series! I will warn you that Sin Bin ends on a cliffhanger for Cross Check, which is the next book in the series and I can't wait to see what's next for Ethan and Grant.👀
⋆𐙚❅🦌*°⋆❆.⛸️ ⋆𐙚❅🦌*°⋆❆.⛸️ ⋆𐙚❅🦌*°⋆❆.⛸️ ⋆𐙚❅🦌*°⋆❆.⛸️ ⋆𐙚❅🦌*°⋆❆.⛸️ ⋆𐙚❅🦌*°⋆❆
⋆˙⟡ 𝒫𝓇𝑒-𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹 (12/7/2025): I GOT THE ARC! I’m SO excited to start this and read Hannah and Brody’s story.

⋆˙⟡ 𝒫𝓇𝑒-𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹 (9/10/2025): We’re getting FED by Chelsea Curto this year. The fact this isn’t even the only book she has left coming this year is absolutely insane to me! She’s one of my favorite indie authors and I’m so glad she’s getting recognized by more people and getting the flowers and recognition she deserves🥹💐

[Seeraaa ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

✎ᝰ. 2,75☆
“𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘭.”



𝐼𝑐𝑒 𝑄𝑢𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑥 𝐺𝐶 ❤️

⚠️ First of all, make sure you download the full version of the book.

Honestly, there were many things I didn’t like about this book, which made it really hard for me to enjoy it. This is just my personal opinion, of course.

I didn’t like the age gap at all, and I wasn’t a fan of their relationship either—especially how it started. The idea that Brody had been crushing on Hannah for years was fine, but Hannah suddenly flirting with her brother’s coach? That felt… weird. There was barely any interaction between them, she knew he was grumpy, thought he disliked her—and yet she was the one who initiated everything. I was like… where did all this confidence come from? 🤣

I thought Lexi was the bold one, but Hannah completely closed that file 😅

The way Brody left Hannah at the beginning made me feel really sorry for her. And honestly, I didn’t feel that their relationship added anything meaningful to her figure skating journey. Training with Brody should have deepened her love and passion for skating, but instead—even after she said she started enjoying it again—she suddenly decided to retire, then just as suddenly decided to come back… without a clear explanation of how, why, or what changed. It all felt very rushed. This could have been explored so much better to add depth to their relationship instead of relying on so many spicy chapters, some of which felt strange—strip skating, for example, was just cringe to me 😬

Another thing: I really liked Hannah and Grant’s relationship at first. I genuinely thought they were close. But that turned out not to be true. Hannah opened up to Brody about her feelings and secrets almost immediately, yet she didn’t tell her own brother—despite the fact that she was sleeping with his coach. Meanwhile, Brody made sure to talk to his daughter (sorry, I forgot her name—headache 😭) because she’s important to him. Hannah didn’t even bother doing the same with Grant.

And I won’t even start on Hannah calling him “daddy.” I was close to gagging every single time 🤢. In real life, I absolutely hate how casually this term is used.

What I did like, though, was the friendship between Kali and Brody, and how they managed co-parenting their little daughter together—although I do find her a bit rude at times 🫣. I also loved Maverick and Emmy with their daughter, and I cannot wait for Ethan’s book—I’m desperate to know what he’s been going through 👀🔥
And oh… I’m very excited for the trouble Grant is definitely going to get into 😌🍿.

Overall, this book had some moments I enjoyed, but there were many things that didn’t work for me personally. ❤️🏒⛸️




Happy release day! 🏒❤️⛸️

[Giulia ❀ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Updated review: Apparently, I did in fact get a wrong digital copy of this book. Thanks @Katy for letting me know that my copy was missing 18 chapters + the epilogue!
Unfortunately, I still didn’t love this book. It was too spicy for my liking and, at times, it made me cringe. I loved the idea of talking about burnout, but, sadly, we didn’t experience the process of Hannah recovering from it how I would’ve wanted to do. I’m really excited for Grant’s book though!

———
Did I get an incomplete copy? I’m genuinely confused. This book felt like it was part of a duet, but I searched and apparently there won’t be any book two, it’s a standalone, so what’s going on?? Hannah and Brody are not even officially together in the last chapter and there is no epilogue… We don’t see Hannah competing, we don’t see Brody’s daughter competing, we don’t see any “I love you” moment, we don’t see Hannah’s brother’s reaction to their relationship, which leads to the fact that there is no true forbidden love element. This was my most anticipated release of December, so now I’m disappointed and sad

[lucialeelibros · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why won’t Goodreads give me the update I need so I can rate this book with INFINITE STARS? WHY. GOD.

First of all, a HUGE thank you to Love Notes PR for making me happy once again and for letting me be, for the third time, part of Chelsea Curto’s ARC team. And of course, to my beloved author herself: THANK YOU. I don’t even know what else to say, but… thank you for creating this magnificent world and for letting me be one of the thousands who read you with pure devotion.

Now, where do I even begin? I’ve been waiting for this book since May when we read Hat Trick, and I honestly didn’t think the day would come. But here we are. And I’m sorry, Liam, but Brody Saunders is officially my #1. I love older men, and if they’re MUCH older? Even better. Delicious, honestly. This story is insanely good. INSANELY. I want to put this book on the highest pedestal in my entire bookshelf. Anyway, let’s get into it, because this review is about to be VERY long.

What can you expect from this book?
🏒Age gap (13 years, and they’re in totally different life stages; plus the story overlaps with Hat Trick).
🏒Skating lessons.
🏒Coaching moments.
🏒Forbidden romance.
🏒 Found family.
🏒Banter.
🏒Funny chats.
🏒GRUMPY x SUNSHINE.
And probably a bunch of micro-tropes hidden in there, but discovering them while reading is half the fun.

Now, onto the story.

Brody and Hannah are a whole storm. When you see the cover and read “grumpy x sunshine,” you expect a shy, embarrassed heroine and a big macho man who dominates everything especially being the older one. But… that’s not what we get here. It’s actually kind of the opposite. This is probably Chelsea’s spiciest book so far. The one that gave me the most tension. The one that made me feel the most heat, because yes… Coach Saunders may not talk much, but in bed? THAT. MOUTH.

Brody Saunders is a single father to a 13-year-old who dreams of becoming a figure skater. Suddenly her coach is gone and she’s in a tight spot until one of the DC Stars players offers his beloved sister to step in and help… a sister Brody apparently “kind of knows from afar.” Sure. Right. *Wink wink.* Brody is a lonely man. His life is two things: his daughter and hockey. A past injury forced him off the ice and turned him into one of the youngest and most well-known coaches in the league. He loves his daughter, loves hockey, and has no time for anything else… until a bold, tall, stunning blonde walks in and starts messing with his entire life: Hannah Everett.

Hannah is vibrant, joyful, and full of potential as a professional skater. But like all of us, sometimes loving something doesn’t stop burnout. Life forces you to pause. To step back. To figure out what’s next. And that doesn’t mean she can’t have fun especially if that fun comes in the shape of a MUCH older man. She loves her family, her friends, and is trying to reconnect with her passion, so she agrees to coach Liv. And between all the skating sessions, the jokes, the tension, the unexpected soft moments… those lines they drew between them (because yes, there’s a past) start to blur. And there’s nothing left to do but face the thing they’ve both been avoiding: us.

Hannah and Brody are officially my #1 Chelsea Curto couple of all time. There is no universe in which I can fully express how MUCH I loved reading this book. So I’ll just leave the following in a spoiler. DO NOT READ: WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO, GRANT EVERETT, AND HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO WAIT MONTHS TO FIND OUT WHAT YOU DID WITH YOUR OLDER WOMAN???

RATING:
♾️⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
4/5 SPICE.

Thanks for reading my review. Love you, Chelsea.

[madi · Rating 4 out of 5]

⋆˙⟡ — 4 stars
ugh i loved this 😩 rtc!!

𐙚⋆°｡⋆♡ pre-read ♡⋆°｡⋆𐙚
⤷ i got the arc for this last week and i’m so excited to finally start it 😌 everything chelsea posted on insta had me giggling 🤭 and ofc i’m reading this with my bestie har!! i love you sooo much and i can’t wait to yap about hannah and brody with you 💐

thank you SO MUCH chelsea curto and love notes pr for the arc ♡

[daisy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve loved every other DC stars book but this felt so cringey. The dialogue was so unnatural, it felt like I as the reader was constantly trying to be taught a lesson instead of just being able to enjoy a spicy fun hockey romance. I think there’s good inclusivity in this series which is great & really important but now it’s to the point where every character is different in some way just to make sure that inclusivity is highlighted in the authors books, if that makes sense? It kinda feels like non genuine. It’s not subtle or touched on when they have deep conversations, it’s just blurted out at random points to make sure it’s in the book. I didn’t like this book had any plot at all, it started out with her not knowing what to do with her life then the plot just got lost.

I am so sad that i literally found myself cringing on nearly every page :( I love this series so much and I will continue but this just wasn’t it at all.

[margot]

I GOT THE ARC LET'S GO!!

thank you to chelsea curto and love notes PR for the eARC in exchange for an honest review! sin bin will be out on december 8th, 2025 💘💫

----౨ৎ

you can bet i'm going to be insufferable when this comes out 🏃‍♀️‍➡️🏃‍♀️‍➡️

[bean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brody & Hannah, my beloveds 😭

[Emma.catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

“For the ones still trying to figure everything out. You’re not behind. There’s so much time, and something even better is waiting for you on the other side."

5 books in and I am still hooked 🙇🏻‍♀️ Honestly, I had NO idea what to expect from this book. Initially I wasn’t that bothered about reading Brody’s story. Then I began reading. Instantly sucked Chelsea’s gold standard dual POV narrative, I was won over once again.

Chelsea, you've done it yet again. You never cease to amaze me by the depth and breadth of your content. You never miss or disappoint, and alway deliver 👏🏽

It all starts on one terrible, tragic night. The night that kick started book 4, aka the night of Riley’s accident 💔 This coincidentally happened to be the night that NHL coach, Brody Saunders had a one night stand with Hannah Everett, a world champion figure skater. She also happens to be Grant’s (one of the players) younger sister. Daunt. Daunt. Daunt.

16 months later: they are both still thinking about that night. Hannah is suffering from burnout, realising she needs help to find her love of skating again. Meanwhile, Brody is searching for a figure skating coach for his daughter. And so, a mutual agreement is made - Hannah to coach Brody's daughter, while Brody coaches her in skating basics to reignite her love of skating.

I spy forced proximity 👀

As they spend more time on and off the ice a connection starts to grow, tension rises. Falling for a girl fourteen years younger than him isn't part of Brody's plan, but can he stay out of the sin bin when the world finally learns about their relationship? 🧐

Up until now, Brody has been a somewhat quiet character, always there, but in the background. He intruding me. Initially, he comes across as a grumpy, detached man but, as we get to know him it is obvious this isn’t always the case. Throughout the book we see him opening up, becoming happier and more involved in the personal lives of his team members. He made still be a broody man, but around Hannah and his daughter, he can’t help but smile ☺️ There is something extra special about the fact this side of him is reserved for his loved ones. Furthermore, I had NO IDEA how incredibly kind this man was - acts of service is 100% his love language. He cares so deeply for Hannah, but it was also very heartwarming to see how special his daughter is to him.

Hannah is our FMC in this book. She is a completely new character to us, and honestly, it took me a few chapters to warm up to her. I didn’t relate to her as much as some of the other characters however, I did grow very found of her and was fully onboard with their relationship. She is somewhat like Lexi - strong, fiercely independent, and determined. I admired her for not pushing herself beyond her limits, instead putting her mental health first.

This relationship was a 5 🌟 dynamic. There was no doubt in my mind that these two were perfect for each other. From the very beginning, something just FELT right about the chemistry between them and I love how Chelsea grew their relationship so organically. Compared with some of the other books in this series, these two seemed to be consistently on the same page regarding the status of their relationship. One did not fall before the other. Nor did one feel more than the other. They were the perfect match 👌🏽

One of my favourite things about this book was seeing the all of relationships between the characters. I had really come to know and love them in the previous books and this was like a special edition preview into their future 🤩 It was so wholesome and heartwarming seeing how they had all developed over the years, yet they stayed true to each other. A solid family unit.

Furthermore, I love how Brody is recognised for all that he has done for the team. They are all good guys, and that kind of camaraderie comes from the ground up. So, here’s to Brody Saunders - the best coach in NHL 👏🏽 and, most importantly, the best dad you could wish for 💖 ✨

“You did all of this, Brody. This camaraderie. This love. It doesn’t happen everywhere, but when it does, it’s magic.” ✨

I am so sad to have come to the end of this EPIC series. I have had so much fun getting to know this gang and I know they will stay with me. This is without a doubt one of my favourite sports romance series’ and I am thankful that it isn’t totally over yet - 2 more books are in the running 🙇🏻‍♀️

4.5 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

[har ౨ৎ [catching up on reviews] · Rating 4 out of 5]

┆ ⤿ 🫧 ⌗ started: december 16, finished: december 17

this was so cute i loved it 🥹 rtc

── .✦ pre-read 𓂃˖ ࣪⊹

getting an arc for my fave series?! screaming on top of my lungs 🤭🌟 reading this with my love mads 💝 so so grateful we both got this arc and that we get to yap sm over hannah and brody! the fact that i’m 55% in already and i have no complaints. i see another 5 star coming!

ⓘ thank you sm to lovenotes pr & chelsea for the arc!

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to sleep on it, but after revisiting my highlights, this is for sure a 5 star 🤩😍 my fave of the series so far! I can’t explain it, broody brody is just unmatched in every possible way soooo

[marts ⋆˚𝜗𝜚˚⋆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25⭐️ i’ve always enjoyed this series but i think you can tell that this book was rushed. the story didn’t click completely and i just didn’t enjoyed it as much.

i also think there are inconsistencies in the timeline compared to hat trick? like brody flying out to hannah happens later here than in hat trick based on riley’s story? i haven’t seen anyone else talking about it so i’m not sure.

hopefully next book will be better!

[Tia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ummmm I am devastated to report that this is my least favourite DC Stars book 😞 I was so so excited for this one, I loved Brody in the previous books and I wanted to get to know him more!

This just felt really rushed to me - the first meeting between Brody and Hannah honestly just felt so bizarre and stilted and gave me the ick. I didn’t feel any chemistry between them and didn’t believe in their relationship at all. It felt like such a random pairing?

I absolutely HATED the spice scenes, every time the word “Daddy” appeared on the page I physically cringed.

The thing that saved the book for me was the rest of the team - Chelsea Curto just creates such immaculate found family vibes and I loved seeing the team again. I love the way she writes dialogue and banter, and I’m so glad we still got the group texts in this one too!

I’m still obsessed with this series, it’s still god-tier for me but this one just wasn’t it. I’m really excited for the next books though after the sprinklings of Ethan and Grant we got in this book!

Thank you so much to LoveNotes PR for the advanced reader copy!

[Abigail · Rating 5 out of 5]

I biblically need Brody Saunders at this point.

He was the perfect single grump daddy with the filthiest mouth ever!! I fear he has set the standard so high for the rest of the mmc’s in this series. Like this man booked a flight for her because she was lonely and missing him, he didn’t miss her first competion back, collects keychains for her and ohh yeahhh he crawls for her. This man worships the ground Hannah walks on, I just can’t!! It is sickening how much I love this man!! And he happens to be like the best dad ever. I will never shut up about him!!

“Peace. That’s the way to describe what it’s like to have her in my arms. The outside noises, the responsibilities, the list of things I need to accomplish tomorrow - everything else on my plate disappears. It narrows down to a single thing, the only woman who has ever had so much of my attention. Her.” … SCREAMING!!

Hannah, loveeeee her!! It’s so refreshing to see a fmc who knows what she wants and takes it. Her and Brody were so perfect together!! Their chemistry was just oozing from when they first met!! And the spice, bye, they were soooo HOT!!!
I can yap about them for days!!

Idk how Chelsea does it , but each book just keeps getting better!! I’m so obsessed with the found family and every single character. Like I can’t help, but tear up when I think about all of them because that’s just how attached I am to them and this series 😭 i also love how Chelsea writes strong , powerful , independent woman who go after they’re dreams and don’t settle for the norm society tries to shove us in. This will forever by my top god tier hockey romance series!! 😭

I’m counting the days for Grant’s book!!

[Ala 🫶🏻 · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.25

there were good ideas but the execution was poor

i don’t hate this book, but the problems i had with this book are very prevalent in this series. i feel like the author doesn’t really know how to convey emotions without making characters say it out loud. because of that brody’s and hannah’s conversations felt like therapy session where they are very aware of their feelings. it was weird and unnatural. literally the first few chapters hannah is telling brody that she’s feeling burnt out and doesn’t want to skate anymore and she’s also suddenly confessing she’s bisexual. you don’t even say those things to your own brother (there is an explanation but it’s really weak to me) but you’re confessing all your problems and your life story to a man you don’t really know and with whom you only plan to sleep with.

i hoped we would get more insight into hannah’s burn out and in general her attitude to figure skating. instead of showing us at the beginning of the book how she struggles with skating we are being told by hannah she doesn’t enjoy skating. and it’s a constant problem. training with olivia is shown like twice and then it’s stopped in order to include more sex scenes. training with brody is dealt with similarly. we got a few lessons but then we got an equivalent of poker on ice 🙄

their whole relationship felt cringe and too sweet. i felt like the majority of their interactions ended in bed which is why i didn’t believe in their feelings cause how do you fall in love with each other when all the time you’re ending up in bed and your conversations sound robotic.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

STOPPPP this was soooooo cute but i need grants book now

[Muffinsandbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn, she did it agin : je suis de nouveau tombée amoureuse d'un mec fictif et de la meuf hyper badass et très inspirante pour qui il crush FORT.
Vous savez ce que je vais dire : y a clairement trop de smut dans cette saga et oui, j'ai trouvé que le début de la relation entre les deux était un peu trop "facile" ? Mais entre le found family dans l'équipe, les thèmes abordés et tous les green flags de la relation, je pourrais tomber dans les pommes tellement ça me rend heureuse de lire ça. Vraiment, cette saga, je l'aime, je l'aime, je l'aiiiiiiime. J'ai si hâte d'avoir la suite !!!!! Et qu'est-ce que je vais faire de ma vie quand ça sera fini ???? Il ne reste plus que deux tomes... j'ai peur. J'ai hâte, mais j'ai peur.

[Jill (readinginpjs) · Rating 5 out of 5]

re-reading the final version 🥰

⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ➳❥ beta read & LOVED
Coach + Hannah! 🏒⛸

✦ tropes & stuff:
✨ age gap (24/38)
✨ one night stand
✨ NHL coach x world champion figure skater
✨ tattooed single dad (to a teen girl)
✨ forbidden (player’s sister)
✨ grumpy sunshine
✨ found family
✨ dual 1st person pov

[Larareads · Rating 5 out of 5]

6 FREAKING ⭐️

This is my favorite from the series! I'm never gonna get over Hannah and Brody, I love them sooo much!!!

[ohna · Rating 1 out of 5]

the art of subtlety is lost to chelsea curto, i am afraid.


also i should mention i don’t think this author can write kids. i have attempted to read two books by her with the single parent trope and i haven’t felt connected to the kids at all.this isn’t usually something what happens i get annoyed by the kid or like the kid in her case i just forgot the kid existed.

[vikaఌ · Rating 5 out of 5]

★ ★ ★ ★.5

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩, 𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙖𝙝? 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙨? 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙪𝙣? 𝙂𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄’𝙡𝙡 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙨𝙠 𝙛𝙤𝙧.

This definitely takes second place after Slap Shot💗💗
Brody and Hannah were amazing together. They are literally made for each other!!
What really stuck was Hannah’s struggle with figure skating. I know exactly how she felt but in comparison I never continued. At first I thought she retired completely but after the we got to the epilogue I felt sooo happy.
My only complaint is the lack of Liv’s and Hannah’s time together. I wish their relationship was more explored.

Still, this is an absolute banger. I was pretty scared of this book because I wasn’t convinced of the previous book and because of my high expectations for this one. I always wanted BB’s story 😝

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
Coming out December 8

[Sandy (Sandy.Reads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Honestly, this entire series is an easy five stars, but Sin Bin completely stole my heart. I absolutely adored getting to know Brody, our gruff, grumbling head coach who has been a mystery in the best way throughout the series. Watching him soften and turn into a total, unapologetic ball of love with Hannah? It was everything I didn’t even realize I needed.

They are truly the yin to each other’s yang. The way their personalities balance, challenge, and complement one another is peak opposites attract energy. Their chemistry had me hooked from page one.

What makes this book even more special is how beautifully it showcases the found family aspect woven throughout the entire series. These characters, this group of guys and gals, feel real, warm, chaotic, loyal, and unforgettable. I’m already sad thinking about the series coming to an end because they’re the kind of crew that lives in your heart long after the final chapter.

Chelsea Curto knocked it out of the park with this one. Bravo.

[⋆★taylor★⋆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

4* for Hannah, 5* for Brody 🫣

[Molly ౨ৎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

i already KNOOOW. this is a 5 stars. saw the pintrest board and audibly groaned 2 more months guys.. 2 more months AHH


edit: Guys. it’s time.

edit: i need alone time with this book. like genuinly sobbing cause of how good it is. how do i get it medicall injected into me?

[julia ⊹ · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars — ⛤
⤿ started on 21.12.25 - finished on 25.12.25

⊹ how long have i felt like i’ve been searching for the sun, only for it to be right in front of me the whole time?

never have i thought i would dislike a chelsea curto book this much. i mean, i have loved all of her previous books, and love the characters deeply, all of them have a place in my heart- but this one was nothing like i‘d hoped. first of all, i despise the age gap trope- and since brody was fourteen years older, this obviously has it. secondly it felt super rushed, they didn’t even get together or said i love you in the end. it felt like the book was cut off at the sixty percent mark.

normally my annotations overflow when reading a book by chelsea, but this one was nothing like the others. i barely have any quotes saved. and most of the ones i have are from the other couples.
listen i don’t want to be a hater so i do have a few things i liked about this quirky book. i really loved olivia’s and hannah’s relationship, and brody did seem like a caring dad. i also loved hannah and grant’s relationship- it kind of reminds me of my brother and i. well i guess that it.

all in all, this book isn’t life changing in and way. maybe it’s me that’s the problem tho, but in that case, i wouldn’t wanna be anyone else. 😻


annotations .ᐟ

— „ i’m sure you’ve met a lot of people in your life who are starstruck by your accomplishments. they see your medals. they see the money you’ve earned. they see your social media following. but under all of that, you’re still hannah everett. and hannah everett, the figure skater, hannah everett, the coach, and hannah everett, the regular human who is surprisingly good at bowling are all the same to me.“
— „ i learned a long time ago that family isn’t something you’re born into. it’s the people you find along the way, and i’m really fucking glad i found you all.“
— „ a lot of my friends have sibling relationships that are stilted and sad, but that’s not ours, and i’m so glad.“
— „ i guess when someone’s the center of your universe, everyone else ceases to exist.“
— „ friends and family night. three years ago. you were in the middle of the ice doing some pretty spin, and i couldn’t look away. i didn’t want to look away, and it frustrated me to no end… you, hannah everett ; you have always had my attention.“

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️ I love this series but this book just didn’t hit like I expected it to. I didn’t feel like I connected with either MCs character and I found myself getting bored at points. I haven’t noticed this with Chelsea Curto’s writing before but, in this book I felt like she heavily relied on dialogue to express emotion rather than showing us how they felt which made the characters feel rather 2 dimensional to me. I was excited to see how Hannah’s burnout was dealt with and see her make progress but we didn’t get to see much of that, which disappointed me. It almost felt like an after thought when, initially, it was made out that it would be the overarching character development plot.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still incredibly excited for the final two books in the series and I really enjoyed the little Easter eggs that were dropped into this book hinting towards their storylines. I also really do love the DC stars found family and the Emmy/Maverick and Riley/Lexi crumbs we were fed, but sadly Sin Bin, as a whole, was a miss for me 💔

[rayhanah · Rating 3 out of 5]

i love this author, love this found family of silly hockey players and their girls but despite being really excited for body's book this was really meh.

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

FINAL REVIEW: This is going to be long but it only felt fair to come back and review now that I’ve finally managed to read the whole thing. I’ll post my updated thoughts on the book and base my star rating on that, then talk about on the issues I had with the release.

TLDR; the book was a huge, obviously rushed disappointment, filled with errors - 2 stars and the way the release mistake was handled was awful and has really made me reconsider whether I will continue reading the series. UK readers should also be aware they may continue to get the wrong version of the file when purchasing/using KU.

So the book itself - I wanted to love this so much and there were some positives for it, but I was still underwhelmed. I really enjoyed that the storyline was nice and chill, there was no crazy high stakes to the relationship imo and I appreciated that. I also really liked the sexual dynamics between Brody and Hannah (although I think they could have been explored much better). It was super refreshing to see more submission from the MMC and for the author to explicitly delve a little more into kink-adjacent territory. For me the author navigated the age-gap trope well. It’s not a trope I personally love but I was able to forget about the age gap aside from a few key moments (there’s definitely still plenty for age gap lovers though!) so I think it still keeps universal appeal.

Having said all that, I was really disappointed with this book. For me the plot line felt very samey and I felt like it repeated a lot of similar scenes, without actually showing much development in the characters. The characters themselves also felt underwhelming. I can understand Hannah being a little less developed as she was a completely new character, but I was SO excited for Brody’s book and there was so much potential for him in my opinion and it just wasn’t realised. I don’t feel like we truly got to see the real Brody, beyond him being a bit of a simp for Hannah - I love that, don’t get me wrong, but I wanted MORE. I also have to point out that the book reads like it wasn’t edited at all, there are SO many typos and errors that at times it was hard to read. The worst of these errors were the timeline/plot errors - Olivia skates 4 times a week except for 3 days but then the days she’s available for practice are the same 3 days she has off? It’s as if the book wasn’t proofread at all (which I will elaborate on in the next section of my review). Overall the book was an easy read and I’d have given it 3 stars, but the errors were really quite prominent, so it’s getting 2 from me. Super underwhelmed by this addition to the DC stars series, Brody deserved so much better than this rush job of a book imo.

The release/issues with obtaining the book: SO I want to preface what I’m about to say by saying that this is not meant as an attack on Chelsea Curto as a person/author, but I’d be remiss in leaving a fair review if I didn’t talk about how abominably this release was handled.

For context, before this I didn’t follow Chelsea on any social media and I am based in the U.K., while Chelsea is based in EST. I preordered Sin Bin in September, so I was super excited for it. On release day, it was delivered to my Kindle app, I read it and got to what appeared to be a very strange and abrupt end sometime in the early afternoon. I headed over to social media to find Chelsea’s page and see if anyone else in the comments had had the same problem, to find a post saying that there were issues with the upload (read: the author had uploaded the wrong file) and that the correct file had been uploaded and approved at 4am EST (approx 9am UK time) meaning that I was already reading the book when the Amazon file was changed. So naturally, I headed over to speak to Amazon customer service about this to try and resolve it. To cut a long story short, 3 customer service chats over 3 full days couldn’t resolve the issue and I’ve ended up resorting to using other means to finish this book.

Unsurprising Amazon issues aside, during this whole rigmarole, I spent quite a lot of time on Chelsea’s Instagram and Threads feeds. To Chelsea’s credit, she did say that people could DM her with issues if they needed help and appeared to be interacting with some people. However, some of what she was posting was baffling to me, given the scale of the issue readers were experiencing. Firstly, her stories showed that her ARCs for Sin Bin went out the day before release, which would explain the aforementioned lack of any sort of proofreading and clearly tells me that this book was not ready and release should have been pushed back.

Secondly and more importantly in my opinion, while readers were in her comments and threads talking about all of the problems with the book, the author was posting stories and threads about hints for her next book, other authors books she’s enjoying reading and posts about how well the book is doing in the US and Canada. She was also posting self-deprecating threads about how sad she was that her release hadn’t gone to plan.

Now, I want to be clear, I wish every success on smaller authors like Chelsea. They work hard and they deserve it and again, I don’t have anything against her as a person and respect and admire her & her writing as an author. It must also have been hard for her having to deal with so many issues surrounding her release. But in my opinion posting like that when your readers are experiencing issues because of a mistake on your part is a little unprofessional and tone deaf. Ultimately, if you made a mistake and uploaded the wrong file, you’ve pretty much got to take it on the chin and resolve it as quickly and apologetically as possible. People will still celebrate the success of the book in a day’s time when they’re not experiencing issues anymore. At the point of writing this it’s 3 days past release and I still had issues with Amazon not giving me the correct version of the book this morning, so I can only assume that all U.K. readers are still experiencing the same problem.

I feel like the author should have just pushed back the release on this book to be honest and the way the mistake was handled has really given me pause about whether I’ll continue reading the series. I hope that Chelsea can learn from the experience for next time, but overall it’s left a bad taste in my mouth.

I also hope that any UK readers will see this review before they buy, to save them the hassle I have been through with this book.


I’m leaving my original reviews/comments below for posterity.

*********************************************************
08/12/25

EDIT: Chelsea Curto has posted on Instagram that there are issues with preordered content having the wrong file. But her resolution tips just did not work for me, I couldn’t update the file and I’ve refunded it and purchased again only to have received the same incomplete copy. I’m going to have to take it up with Amazon to try and get the right file, not sure if it’s just a U.K. problem but damn it’s really soured the books release for me on the whole, I’d have preferred if the author just delayed release a few days until it was ready cos this has been kind of a mess. 2 stars for me because of the total faff

Original review: I wanted to love this book and I was so excited I preordered the kindle edition months ago, but while I enjoyed it for the most part the ending just came out of nowhere? There was a sexy scene and then that was just it. No resolution to anything, no scene with people finding out they were dating, it just finished?! I’m so confused by the ending and I’m really hoping it’s just a case of the wrong file being sent out because it wasn’t remotely like the rest of the series and I’m so gutted by that