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Milwaukee Serpents #2
Pucking Grumpy
Have a baby with my best friend? The one I’m secretly in love with? Sure. What could go wrong?
After 4 years of trying to fall for anyone but Shaw, I’m still single and I still want a baby. So I’ve got a proposal for him: be my baby daddy. Shaw may not love me back the way I want him to, but that doesn't mean he can't help me fulfill my dream of becoming a mother.
We’ll be co-parents. Platonic co-parents. He doesn’t need to know it’s not-so-platonic for me.
When the pain of my rheumatoid arthritis gets to be too much and I need some…we’ll call it “natural pain relief,” he’s willing to lend a helping hand. Or mouth. Or…other parts.
Now I’m sleeping in his bed. He’s making me midnight snacks. My cats torment his dog.
The line between friendship and relationship gets blurrier every day. But it’s only while I’m pregnant.
I wish I could tell him I want us to stay this way after the baby’s born. But now I’ve got more than just my heart on the line.
What happens when you get almost everything you want, but it’s not enough?
When Shaw and Emma strike a deal to become co-parents, promises reveal passion, and friendship starts to feel a lot like a relationship. Sometimes, the risk is worth the reward.
This steamy hockey romance continues the Milwaukee Serpents hockey romance series perfect for fans of Ainsley Booth and Chelsea Curto. Each book in the series stands alone and has its own HEA. One-click to get this delicious romance now.
Tropes: friends to lovers, grumpy/sunshine, mutual pining, found family, forced proximity, bisexual rep, chronic illness rep, hot hockey romance, hurt/comfort, a sweet basset hound, midnight grilled cheese
After 4 years of trying to fall for anyone but Shaw, I’m still single and I still want a baby. So I’ve got a proposal for him: be my baby daddy. Shaw may not love me back the way I want him to, but that doesn't mean he can't help me fulfill my dream of becoming a mother.
We’ll be co-parents. Platonic co-parents. He doesn’t need to know it’s not-so-platonic for me.
When the pain of my rheumatoid arthritis gets to be too much and I need some…we’ll call it “natural pain relief,” he’s willing to lend a helping hand. Or mouth. Or…other parts.
Now I’m sleeping in his bed. He’s making me midnight snacks. My cats torment his dog.
The line between friendship and relationship gets blurrier every day. But it’s only while I’m pregnant.
I wish I could tell him I want us to stay this way after the baby’s born. But now I’ve got more than just my heart on the line.
What happens when you get almost everything you want, but it’s not enough?
When Shaw and Emma strike a deal to become co-parents, promises reveal passion, and friendship starts to feel a lot like a relationship. Sometimes, the risk is worth the reward.
This steamy hockey romance continues the Milwaukee Serpents hockey romance series perfect for fans of Ainsley Booth and Chelsea Curto. Each book in the series stands alone and has its own HEA. One-click to get this delicious romance now.
Tropes: friends to lovers, grumpy/sunshine, mutual pining, found family, forced proximity, bisexual rep, chronic illness rep, hot hockey romance, hurt/comfort, a sweet basset hound, midnight grilled cheese
400 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 28, 2026
About the author
Liz Lincoln
24 books91 followersLiz has been concocting stories as long as she can remember, and from the beginning they involved two people falling in love.
When she's not writing, she spends her time rooting for the UW Badgers and the Green Bay Packers (or yearning for the return of football season), cross-stitching and embroidering sassy sayings or nerdy characters (Wonder Woman is her favorite), and drinking too much Diet Coke.
She lives in Milwaukee, WI, with her husband, two kids, three cats, and a turtle.
When she's not writing, she spends her time rooting for the UW Badgers and the Green Bay Packers (or yearning for the return of football season), cross-stitching and embroidering sassy sayings or nerdy characters (Wonder Woman is her favorite), and drinking too much Diet Coke.
She lives in Milwaukee, WI, with her husband, two kids, three cats, and a turtle.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
Pucking Grumpy by Liz Lincoln is a delightfully sweet, charmingly steamy, and deeply heartwarming friends-to-lovers sports romance that serves as a fantastic second entry in the Milwaukee Serpents Hockey Romance series.
The story centers on Shaw, a notoriously grumpy defenseman for the Milwaukee Serpents, and Emma, a bright, sunshiney elementary school teacher who happens to be his absolute best friend. While their mutual attraction and deep love for one another are glaringly obvious to everyone in their orbit, both remain entirely oblivious to each other's true feelings, choosing instead to protect their cherished friendship above all else. However, their comfortable dynamic takes an unexpected turn when Emma decides she is done waiting for the elusive "right partner" to fulfill her dream of becoming a mother. Determined to take control of her future, she asks Shaw—the most reliable man in her life—to step in as her donor and co-parent. As if navigating pregnancy, joint parenting plans, and unspoken feelings while maintaining a "strictly platonic" boundary weren't complicated enough, Emma also battles rheumatoid arthritis, which causes her significant physical pain while unmedicated. When she learns that intimacy and physical release can offer natural pain relief, she turns to Shaw for help, igniting a passionate shift in their relationship that quickly obliterates the line between best friends and lovers.
Lincoln’s signature writing style shines through with flawless pacing, an effortless balance of swoon-worthy sweetness and sizzling heat, and a delightfully authentic cast of supporting characters. What makes the book particularly compelling is its thoughtful representation of chronic illness, weaving Emma’s daily reality with arthritis into the romance in a way that highlights Shaw’s tender, fiercely protective nature without ever diminishing her independence. Seamlessly executing the classic grumpy-meets-sunshine trope alongside the fake-indifference of two best friends hopelessly in love, Pucking Grumpy delivers a captivating, feel-good hockey romance that satisfies sports romance fans and leaves readers eagerly anticipating the next book in the series.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review. All words and opinions are my own; no AI was used in writing this review.
The story centers on Shaw, a notoriously grumpy defenseman for the Milwaukee Serpents, and Emma, a bright, sunshiney elementary school teacher who happens to be his absolute best friend. While their mutual attraction and deep love for one another are glaringly obvious to everyone in their orbit, both remain entirely oblivious to each other's true feelings, choosing instead to protect their cherished friendship above all else. However, their comfortable dynamic takes an unexpected turn when Emma decides she is done waiting for the elusive "right partner" to fulfill her dream of becoming a mother. Determined to take control of her future, she asks Shaw—the most reliable man in her life—to step in as her donor and co-parent. As if navigating pregnancy, joint parenting plans, and unspoken feelings while maintaining a "strictly platonic" boundary weren't complicated enough, Emma also battles rheumatoid arthritis, which causes her significant physical pain while unmedicated. When she learns that intimacy and physical release can offer natural pain relief, she turns to Shaw for help, igniting a passionate shift in their relationship that quickly obliterates the line between best friends and lovers.
Lincoln’s signature writing style shines through with flawless pacing, an effortless balance of swoon-worthy sweetness and sizzling heat, and a delightfully authentic cast of supporting characters. What makes the book particularly compelling is its thoughtful representation of chronic illness, weaving Emma’s daily reality with arthritis into the romance in a way that highlights Shaw’s tender, fiercely protective nature without ever diminishing her independence. Seamlessly executing the classic grumpy-meets-sunshine trope alongside the fake-indifference of two best friends hopelessly in love, Pucking Grumpy delivers a captivating, feel-good hockey romance that satisfies sports romance fans and leaves readers eagerly anticipating the next book in the series.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review. All words and opinions are my own; no AI was used in writing this review.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Thank you to Liz Lincoln for the opportunity to read this early!
Overall, I enjoyed the book. I enjoyed both of our characters, and I enjoyed their interactions with one another. There were a lot of cute moments that had me smiling.
That being said, there were some things that I somewhat brought down my rating:
- I thought we went way too long with our main characters being in denial of the other person's feelings for one another. Like, way too long. .
- I thought the sex was incredibly boring. I know that every couple is different but this was just plain jane sex, in my opinion.
- The FMC's family was truly pissing me off. I read hockey romances, admittedly, to kind of get away from the real life shittiness of real-world hockey stars, so every time they were mentioned, it was just one big reminder.
- Still not a fan of Pepper, and still kind of wishing she didn't get with Eddie, though I'm sure that's where it's going (and I normally love second chances!)
That being said, I'm still excited to continue this series and while the above was mentioned, I did have fun reading this!
Overall, I enjoyed the book. I enjoyed both of our characters, and I enjoyed their interactions with one another. There were a lot of cute moments that had me smiling.
That being said, there were some things that I somewhat brought down my rating:
- I thought we went way too long with our main characters being in denial of the other person's feelings for one another. Like, way too long. .
- I thought the sex was incredibly boring. I know that every couple is different but this was just plain jane sex, in my opinion.
- The FMC's family was truly pissing me off. I read hockey romances, admittedly, to kind of get away from the real life shittiness of real-world hockey stars, so every time they were mentioned, it was just one big reminder.
- Still not a fan of Pepper, and still kind of wishing she didn't get with Eddie, though I'm sure that's where it's going (and I normally love second chances!)
That being said, I'm still excited to continue this series and while the above was mentioned, I did have fun reading this!
October 25, 2026
Received as an ARC. Book 2 in the Milwaukee Serpents series.
Emma and Shaw are great characters and adorable, sometimes frustratingly so! Two friends having a baby together and plan to co-parent, but are steadfast in their “just friends” status, despite both their friend groups developing epic eye rolls at their protestations.
I loathe the “miscommunication” trope, so I had been wondering if this was going to feel like that. Happily it didn’t, not really. Yes a seemingly simple conversation could have cleared up a few things, but it was fun to watch them muddle their way through the situations they created for themselves.
The secondary characters, Shaw’s teammates, Emma’s girlfriends and assorted family and partners provided a little something extra and never felt like it was overcrowded.
The author is very inclusive, with characters all along the 2SLGBTQIA+ spectrum, disabilities and health issues (rheumatoid arthritis in this case), and doesn’t shy away from mental health struggles that include therapy and medication. It makes so many of the characters much more relatable.
I love the found family feeling in this series. The inevitable HEA was a great ending.
Emma and Shaw are great characters and adorable, sometimes frustratingly so! Two friends having a baby together and plan to co-parent, but are steadfast in their “just friends” status, despite both their friend groups developing epic eye rolls at their protestations.
I loathe the “miscommunication” trope, so I had been wondering if this was going to feel like that. Happily it didn’t, not really. Yes a seemingly simple conversation could have cleared up a few things, but it was fun to watch them muddle their way through the situations they created for themselves.
The secondary characters, Shaw’s teammates, Emma’s girlfriends and assorted family and partners provided a little something extra and never felt like it was overcrowded.
The author is very inclusive, with characters all along the 2SLGBTQIA+ spectrum, disabilities and health issues (rheumatoid arthritis in this case), and doesn’t shy away from mental health struggles that include therapy and medication. It makes so many of the characters much more relatable.
I love the found family feeling in this series. The inevitable HEA was a great ending.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I have read and enjoyed other books by the author and Pucking Grumpy certainly didn't disappoint. I loved the author's writing style and I found the pacing was just right. The story was cute and easy to follow and had a great cast of characters. I'm enjoying all the sports romance novels that are around at the moment and I found that the author did this really well. Overall a brilliant novel that I highly recommend to other readers. I look forward to reading more by the author.
💝 Thank you to the author Liz Lincoln and the publisher for my arc ebook copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
💝 Thank you to the author Liz Lincoln and the publisher for my arc ebook copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Indie Reviewers
The way this had me cracking up as how they at first had to say how she became with child! The connection was there and I was so happy when his team mates helped get his head out of his rear end and admit how he felt! This was cute and adorable and yet a slow burn they will have you feeling all of it!
I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Everyone can see they are in love with each other except them! Both are too afraid to tell the other. Best friends having a baby together and co-parenting. Everyone, especially her family has an opinion on that! You can't help but fall in love with these two. Swoon.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Read the content warnings, toxic family members everywhere.
Chronic Illness Representation! Yes!
Mental Health Representation! Yes!
Bi 4 Bi! Yes!
I Loved! Loved! LOVED! Pucking Grumpy!
Grump on the outside “gummy bear” on the inside
Shaw and Emma finally finally finally go from Friends to Lovers to Forever!
So many good highlights, this is the one!
And don’t talk to me again until after you’ve said “ILY” and he’s said “ILY2” and you’ve f**ked about it.
Chronic Illness Representation! Yes!
Mental Health Representation! Yes!
Bi 4 Bi! Yes!
I Loved! Loved! LOVED! Pucking Grumpy!
Grump on the outside “gummy bear” on the inside
Shaw and Emma finally finally finally go from Friends to Lovers to Forever!
So many good highlights, this is the one!
And don’t talk to me again until after you’ve said “ILY” and he’s said “ILY2” and you’ve f**ked about it.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews