I absolutely loved reading Puck Money; it was such a sweet read, and the main male character Nick was so utterly adorable that I just wanted to squish him.
The book centres around Annie and Nick. Annie has been having a relationship with her married boss, and on the way to her best friend's wedding, she realises she is fed up with being second best and strung along and ends things. She's happy for her friend, but there's an element of sadness as she feels like she's never going to be somebody's first choice. Only she meets Nick, and she's definitely his first choice, but she's too blind to see it. He's so kind and sweet to her, and they have great chemistry, but when it comes to getting down and dirty, it's absolutely terrible. Annie judges him for that, when in reality, although Nick might be some hotshot pro hockey player, he's actually got no experience with women. He's a pansexual male, and his only sexual experiences have been with another man, so he doesn't really know what he's doing, but his sexuality is a secret, and so Annie doesn't know that.
I loved Nick. He was so awkward and bumbling and constantly getting it wrong when trying to take his teammate's advice, and that just made him seem so real and so likeable to me. I loved that he said and did the wrong thing but that it was genuinely an error and he was just a sweetheart, which was clear from his relationship with sideline characters. Despite his initial anger at Annie when he found out she'd shared details of his lack of sexual finesse, I was glad they managed to develop a friendship and understanding from it.
Annie's character was another that was easily relatable. She could seem a bit standoffish, and at first, I wasn't sure I would like her, but as the book continued and we got more of her POV and inner dialogue and started to see the real person, her actions became more understandable. She's massively insecure when it comes to relationships, as she's always been a dirty little secret, so she can't seem to fathom that she can ever have or be more, and then there's the added pressure of her career as a sports agent. She's worked so hard and applied more pressure on herself by taking on her mother's medical debts that she's drowning, and so it just continues to be a cycle of doing everything everybody else wants and forgetting about her own wants and needs.
There were some heartbreaking moments, but I loved that Nick and Annie were able to break their own cycles and develop something special. There were some beautiful moments between the two of them, and I loved every minute, from the cringy moments to the laughs out loud and not forgetting the spice. It's a great all-rounder that left me with a smile on my face.