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Puckboys #10
Charming Puckboy
LACHIE
It doesn’t matter that I was the number one draft pick in the NHL or that I’m projected to be the next great generational player, because none of it is enough to impress my childhood crush back in my hometown.
Sam used to mock me for being like a Disney Princess with my uncanny knack for finding animals in need. And being home in Colorado for the summer, I’m bound to run into him now that he runs the animal shelter where I used to volunteer. Where I used to try to get his attention every chance I had.
He never noticed me then, at least not in the way I wanted.
But if there’s one thing my time in the NHL has taught me, it’s how to fight for what I want.
SAM
It’s been a few years since I saw the Disney Princess volunteer, but when he brings in a stray cat, I almost can’t believe it’s the same guy.
Damn, has he changed.
Gone is the gangly, pimple-faced teen, and in his place is a man who’s grown up and bulked out. He used to follow me around, asking endless questions about animal care.
Now he’s back, but instead of asking about animals, he’s asking about me. About my life.
Flirting with me. And he’s good at it, too.
There’s something about Lachie that’s undeniably irresistible. I’m willing to give in to his charms, even knowing all he can offer is a summer fling.
Turns out, my Disney Princess grew up to be a real Prince Charming.
It doesn’t matter that I was the number one draft pick in the NHL or that I’m projected to be the next great generational player, because none of it is enough to impress my childhood crush back in my hometown.
Sam used to mock me for being like a Disney Princess with my uncanny knack for finding animals in need. And being home in Colorado for the summer, I’m bound to run into him now that he runs the animal shelter where I used to volunteer. Where I used to try to get his attention every chance I had.
He never noticed me then, at least not in the way I wanted.
But if there’s one thing my time in the NHL has taught me, it’s how to fight for what I want.
SAM
It’s been a few years since I saw the Disney Princess volunteer, but when he brings in a stray cat, I almost can’t believe it’s the same guy.
Damn, has he changed.
Gone is the gangly, pimple-faced teen, and in his place is a man who’s grown up and bulked out. He used to follow me around, asking endless questions about animal care.
Now he’s back, but instead of asking about animals, he’s asking about me. About my life.
Flirting with me. And he’s good at it, too.
There’s something about Lachie that’s undeniably irresistible. I’m willing to give in to his charms, even knowing all he can offer is a summer fling.
Turns out, my Disney Princess grew up to be a real Prince Charming.
335 pages, Paperback
First published April 16, 2026
About the author
Eden Finley
69 books8,494 followersEden Finley is an Amazon bestselling author who writes steamy contemporary romances that are mostly full of snark and light-hearted fluff.
She lives to create an escape from real life for herself and her readers.
She's also an Australian girl and apologises for her Australianisms that sometimes don't make sense to anyone else.
She lives to create an escape from real life for herself and her readers.
She's also an Australian girl and apologises for her Australianisms that sometimes don't make sense to anyone else.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 945 reviews
April 17, 2026
5/5 - THAT’S HOW YOU END A SERIES. This is my favorite in this 10 book series by a landslide. Lachie and Sam were my favorite characters by far in this series. I loved the tropes in this book and loved how Saxon and Eden wrapped up everyone’s story at the very end. I cried in those last two chapters because fuck they were so sweet. I’m gonna miss these boys, but definitely will revisit this series in the future!
waiting-for-release
November 6, 2025i'm not ready for this series to be over 😭
April 22, 2026
was i the only one who expected a sappy, drawn out ending?
don’t get me wrong, i loved that scene with ezra but i guess i wanted more. i feel like we haven’t gotten to say goodbye properly.
for what concerns the book, it’s definitely better than the past few in this series (which isn’t saying much). absolutely not in the same league as the first three. those were exceptional.
i don’t know if i would’ve enjoyed this as much without knowing it was the last one, you know?
i have so many mixed feelings about this hahaha.
i am excited for the next cowrite!
don’t get me wrong, i loved that scene with ezra but i guess i wanted more. i feel like we haven’t gotten to say goodbye properly.
for what concerns the book, it’s definitely better than the past few in this series (which isn’t saying much). absolutely not in the same league as the first three. those were exceptional.
i don’t know if i would’ve enjoyed this as much without knowing it was the last one, you know?
i have so many mixed feelings about this hahaha.
i am excited for the next cowrite!
June 1, 2026
Finally, the end of the Puckboys is here! NGL, even if my feelings for this series are somewhat mixed, I’m still pretty sure I’m going miss them.
This was the least awful of the Kiki brothers' books, but it was still bad and boring. There was no real drama or reason for their relationship not to work. Connor was still a dick, and the parents were still meh.
This was the least awful of the Kiki brothers' books, but it was still bad and boring. There was no real drama or reason for their relationship not to work. Connor was still a dick, and the parents were still meh.
Currently Reading
April 20, 2026I don’t know what’s more unbelievable, that this series is ending or that there were 10 books in this series 👀 I don’t even remember if I’ve read them all😭
April 20, 2026
Lachie is such a sweetheart & Sam is so perfect for him. The Disney princess nickname is so fitting for Lachie, I loved it! I really enjoyed their banter & how hilarious they were. They just fit so well together & I loved seeing them fall in love. It was never gonna be a summer fling 🤣 I hated thinking about Lachie’s offer of 7 years in St. Louis, but I was so happy when Sam went all in & surprised him there.
I really cannot believe this is the last book, I’ve loved every one in the series. So bittersweet seeing everyone in the Queer Collective one last time 🥲 but loved their shenanigans especially at the beginning of the book, & the epilogue had me cryin. This book was a great end to the series-seriously the end of an era 🏒
fav parts:
I don’t want you to go, I tell him silently. I wish I could stay, his eyes tell me right back.
How he can be so familiar after all this time is a mystery to me, but as our mouths meet, hands tearing at whatever clothes we can reach, this part of my chest settles. It’s like stepping inside after a freezing cold day. Like climbing into bed when you’re exhausted to your bones. Lachie feels … he feels like home.
“I don’t need anything from you except to love me. Because you’re it for me, Sammy. You always have been. This moment, right here, it’s what I’ve been waiting for. My entire life starts with you.”
I really cannot believe this is the last book, I’ve loved every one in the series. So bittersweet seeing everyone in the Queer Collective one last time 🥲 but loved their shenanigans especially at the beginning of the book, & the epilogue had me cryin. This book was a great end to the series-seriously the end of an era 🏒
fav parts:
I don’t want you to go, I tell him silently. I wish I could stay, his eyes tell me right back.
How he can be so familiar after all this time is a mystery to me, but as our mouths meet, hands tearing at whatever clothes we can reach, this part of my chest settles. It’s like stepping inside after a freezing cold day. Like climbing into bed when you’re exhausted to your bones. Lachie feels … he feels like home.
“I don’t need anything from you except to love me. Because you’re it for me, Sammy. You always have been. This moment, right here, it’s what I’ve been waiting for. My entire life starts with you.”
April 20, 2026
4.5✨
🥹🥺😌
Este... Y qué hacemos ahora con nuestras vidas???
🥹🥺😌
Este... Y qué hacemos ahora con nuestras vidas???
April 17, 2026
Non-spoiler thoughts on the book/series:
I wish I could say that this series ended on a high note but after Novi’s book (which was significantly better than Connor and Easton’s books in my opinion) this just wasn’t good. This book felt like an 8 episode tv show in the sense that there wasn’t enough time to effectively execute the idea/concept, or the relationship between Sam and Lachie without it feeling hollow and rushed.
It makes me sad that my least favorite books in this series are the Kiki brothers books because when they were introduced I got so excited for their stories.
I will miss many of the characters in this series, and the joy many of these books brought me even if they were ridiculous at times, and disappointing at others.
Asher Dalton I will love you forever.
Book Spoilers:
I swear this book was 5% relationship development and 95% thinking/talking about long distance and then doing it for like five seconds. I get there was history with Sam and Lachie knowing each other prior to this book, but we needed more time with them actually developing a relationship together. Not one based on childhood crushes and insta lust, and not one that was developed over long distance. As a result, I didn’t really care about their relationship and they both just irritated me constantly.
Because of the setup of them only having the summer and then in actuality only like 2 weeks because of the puppies and Sam’s job and the collective, everything felt rushed. It felt like they really only dated and were truly together for like five minutes before 70 million dollars was being turned down and Sam was thinking about moving states and they were like we’re in love and we’re doing long distance but we hate it and are both depressed. The idea and concept was there, but it just didn’t work.
Also, while many of these books aren’t realistic, Lachie in this book was the exact opposite to the Lachie we’d seen before. Him being 21 and all the sudden deciding he’s ready to settle down also just felt all kinds of off to his character.
I feel like this book and their relationship would’ve benefited more if they started hooking up that summer, and over the years did that while Lachie was home during his break before he ultimately got traded back home after the 7 years and then they could actually date. Idk I feel like that would’ve made more sense for their relationship and for me, would have been more entertaining and shown more development.
I wish I could say that this series ended on a high note but after Novi’s book (which was significantly better than Connor and Easton’s books in my opinion) this just wasn’t good. This book felt like an 8 episode tv show in the sense that there wasn’t enough time to effectively execute the idea/concept, or the relationship between Sam and Lachie without it feeling hollow and rushed.
It makes me sad that my least favorite books in this series are the Kiki brothers books because when they were introduced I got so excited for their stories.
I will miss many of the characters in this series, and the joy many of these books brought me even if they were ridiculous at times, and disappointing at others.
Asher Dalton I will love you forever.
Book Spoilers:
I swear this book was 5% relationship development and 95% thinking/talking about long distance and then doing it for like five seconds. I get there was history with Sam and Lachie knowing each other prior to this book, but we needed more time with them actually developing a relationship together. Not one based on childhood crushes and insta lust, and not one that was developed over long distance. As a result, I didn’t really care about their relationship and they both just irritated me constantly.
Because of the setup of them only having the summer and then in actuality only like 2 weeks because of the puppies and Sam’s job and the collective, everything felt rushed. It felt like they really only dated and were truly together for like five minutes before 70 million dollars was being turned down and Sam was thinking about moving states and they were like we’re in love and we’re doing long distance but we hate it and are both depressed. The idea and concept was there, but it just didn’t work.
Also, while many of these books aren’t realistic, Lachie in this book was the exact opposite to the Lachie we’d seen before. Him being 21 and all the sudden deciding he’s ready to settle down also just felt all kinds of off to his character.
I feel like this book and their relationship would’ve benefited more if they started hooking up that summer, and over the years did that while Lachie was home during his break before he ultimately got traded back home after the 7 years and then they could actually date. Idk I feel like that would’ve made more sense for their relationship and for me, would have been more entertaining and shown more development.
April 19, 2026
3.5
This is the end and I'm a little emotional. The last chapter is very symbolic and I loved it.
The book is not the strongest one I must admit, but I still really like Lanchie and Sam and I loved to see everyone again.
This is the end and I'm a little emotional. The last chapter is very symbolic and I loved it.
The book is not the strongest one I must admit, but I still really like Lanchie and Sam and I loved to see everyone again.
April 17, 2026
5 stars!!!! I don’t want it to be over 😭😭😭
This book had me feeling all the feelings. I genuinely loved Lachie and Sam, and there is a specific part in their story that made me actually shed tears of happiness.
This book had me smiling, giggling, kicking my feet (hello yearning), swooning over cute boys with PUPPIES, and it was just a great end to a great series.
I will miss the hilariousness of the queer collectives shenanigans so much.
A re-read of the entire series is definitely in my future.
This book had me feeling all the feelings. I genuinely loved Lachie and Sam, and there is a specific part in their story that made me actually shed tears of happiness.
This book had me smiling, giggling, kicking my feet (hello yearning), swooning over cute boys with PUPPIES, and it was just a great end to a great series.
I will miss the hilariousness of the queer collectives shenanigans so much.
A re-read of the entire series is definitely in my future.
April 19, 2026
I don't know if this was actually really good or if it was made better by the fact that it's the last one and I'm going to miss everyone. Yes. Even bloody Ezra. Hah! Not.
He is still SO annoyingly present in this. But I'll allow it. Because after today, I never have to put up with him again.
Also loved how Foster Grant says he thought they were called the QC because they're queer and Ezra is collecting them💀
Okay. Onto the book.
Adored Lachie and Sam. Lower stakes than Romeo and Juliet but I've always loved stories where circumstances are against them.
Lachlan's only 21 but he's already been pining after Sam for 6 years or so by the time this one starts.
And not only is he dealing with obstacles like Sam wondering if it's inappropriate to be into someone who's been into him since he was 12 and Sam an adult, but also, Lachie lives in Missouri to Sam's Colorado, is still yet to start the last year of his ELC AND has an offer for a $70m for 7 years contract waiting on his signature - still in Missouri.
Sam thinks he's just an average guy managing an animal shelter because he wasn't smart enough to pursue veterinary medicine. Definitely didn't see himself falling for a bonafide rising star. Or said star being just as into him, with an additional 6 years of specific relevant experience of being into Sam.
Really seemed like the world could not and would not give them a break.
And because they only just started seeing each other, and Lachie's only 21, not only do his parents think he's way too young to base a massive career decision on a relationship that's only lasted one summer, but secretly, he and Sam are scared of that, too.
I mean, hell. So was I.
Because, yes, they're both really into each other, but are they $70m worth of 'into' each other?
Lachie's whole thought process about that question is why he's going to be one of my faves from this series, right up there with Novi (and begrudgingly, Connor).
Yes, I love me a 'love over everything else' MC. The more unhinged, the better.
And sure, I had to painfully endure Ezra for 10 books to get to Lachlan.
But I got to Lachlan 🥰 and he was worth every minute of the wait. Yes, I usually enjoy Sadenverse books because they're fun and minimum angst. But this one has just the right amount of angst for my appetite.
Bittersweet. Sweet because no more Ezra. Bitter because I know Iggy Toma will be back in yet another Sadenverse audiobook, ready to ruin another generation of MCs with his voice.
Still.
No more Ezra. That alone is worth its own 5* rating.
He is still SO annoyingly present in this. But I'll allow it. Because after today, I never have to put up with him again.
Also loved how Foster Grant says he thought they were called the QC because they're queer and Ezra is collecting them💀
Okay. Onto the book.
Adored Lachie and Sam. Lower stakes than Romeo and Juliet but I've always loved stories where circumstances are against them.
Lachlan's only 21 but he's already been pining after Sam for 6 years or so by the time this one starts.
And not only is he dealing with obstacles like Sam wondering if it's inappropriate to be into someone who's been into him since he was 12 and Sam an adult, but also, Lachie lives in Missouri to Sam's Colorado, is still yet to start the last year of his ELC AND has an offer for a $70m for 7 years contract waiting on his signature - still in Missouri.
Sam thinks he's just an average guy managing an animal shelter because he wasn't smart enough to pursue veterinary medicine. Definitely didn't see himself falling for a bonafide rising star. Or said star being just as into him, with an additional 6 years of specific relevant experience of being into Sam.
Really seemed like the world could not and would not give them a break.
And because they only just started seeing each other, and Lachie's only 21, not only do his parents think he's way too young to base a massive career decision on a relationship that's only lasted one summer, but secretly, he and Sam are scared of that, too.
I mean, hell. So was I.
Because, yes, they're both really into each other, but are they $70m worth of 'into' each other?
Lachie's whole thought process about that question is why he's going to be one of my faves from this series, right up there with Novi (and begrudgingly, Connor).
Yes, I love me a 'love over everything else' MC. The more unhinged, the better.
And sure, I had to painfully endure Ezra for 10 books to get to Lachlan.
But I got to Lachlan 🥰 and he was worth every minute of the wait. Yes, I usually enjoy Sadenverse books because they're fun and minimum angst. But this one has just the right amount of angst for my appetite.
Bittersweet. Sweet because no more Ezra. Bitter because I know Iggy Toma will be back in yet another Sadenverse audiobook, ready to ruin another generation of MCs with his voice.
Still.
No more Ezra. That alone is worth its own 5* rating.
May 13, 2026
This was good! Really enjoyed it. Loved all the animals/the animal shelter. Loves the glimpses of the other characters without it being too much. Loved the epilogue.
Characters in books always be like “I couldn’t take his money I need to make it on my own.” Meanwhile me over here would love to take a rich persons money 😂😂
Rounding up because it’s been a good series and I’m sad it’s over!
Characters in books always be like “I couldn’t take his money I need to make it on my own.” Meanwhile me over here would love to take a rich persons money 😂😂
Rounding up because it’s been a good series and I’m sad it’s over!
April 18, 2026
It’s done! Final Puckboy book! Unfortunately, it is definitely one of the worst with the insta love, zero plot and annoying pining (the worst kind…)
April 27, 2026
So good
Sad to see this series go. Its an absolute classic series. Loved them all.
These two were adorable
Glad they both got their hea
Fantastic series
Sad to see this series go. Its an absolute classic series. Loved them all.
These two were adorable
Glad they both got their hea
Fantastic series
April 1, 2026
Do you ever just read a book with a smile on your face and shimmery tears the whole time? This is how I felt reading this book, through the humour, the sweet and tender moments, the big gestures, the collective,
I adored every single moment.
Sam manages the local animal shelter where Lachie volunteered growing up, he also happens to be Lachie’s childhood crush (unbeknownst to Sam)! They have a super cute re-meet cute involving a kitten, and let’s just say that Sam notices Lachie’s this time around! There was instant chemistry between these two, then cue Conner ruining that when he meets Sam again (it was hilarious).
I loved these two getting to know each other, the honesty of their feelings, the Queer collective meet up and the antics with the Stanley cup and squirrels, and those gorgeous puppies. These two were on borrowed time, a summer fling that was never going to be enough. They had to take a leap of faith to be together and I love how they worked it out.
Ezra has always been a firm favourite of mine and I’m so pleased with how much he featured in this book, bringing laughs, over the top antics and tears to my eyes with how much he cares for each and every queer player. I loved all the cameos and mentions of all of our Puckboys and their partners and all the full circle moments.
Being the last book in the series I wanted to savour every second and savour I did. Thank you so much to Saxon and Eden for giving us this series, filled with laughs, antics, so much heart and gorgeous Puckboys who all deserved their happily ever afters. I cannot wait to continue to reread the full series again and again.
I adored every single moment.
Sam manages the local animal shelter where Lachie volunteered growing up, he also happens to be Lachie’s childhood crush (unbeknownst to Sam)! They have a super cute re-meet cute involving a kitten, and let’s just say that Sam notices Lachie’s this time around! There was instant chemistry between these two, then cue Conner ruining that when he meets Sam again (it was hilarious).
I loved these two getting to know each other, the honesty of their feelings, the Queer collective meet up and the antics with the Stanley cup and squirrels, and those gorgeous puppies. These two were on borrowed time, a summer fling that was never going to be enough. They had to take a leap of faith to be together and I love how they worked it out.
Ezra has always been a firm favourite of mine and I’m so pleased with how much he featured in this book, bringing laughs, over the top antics and tears to my eyes with how much he cares for each and every queer player. I loved all the cameos and mentions of all of our Puckboys and their partners and all the full circle moments.
Being the last book in the series I wanted to savour every second and savour I did. Thank you so much to Saxon and Eden for giving us this series, filled with laughs, antics, so much heart and gorgeous Puckboys who all deserved their happily ever afters. I cannot wait to continue to reread the full series again and again.
April 28, 2026
Cute couple. Thankful they didn’t cum all over the roommate’s $20,000 couch. Wish they had adopted a cat!
June 9, 2026
♾️♾️♾️
Queer Collective Forever
I'm fineeee, I'm fine 🥹🥹🥹
Just gonna go cry at this bittersweet ending, in my head they're all playing forever and ever cus the QC doesn't end 🥹🥰
Fuck I already miss them so much 😭😭😭
Queer Collective Forever
I'm fineeee, I'm fine 🥹🥹🥹
Just gonna go cry at this bittersweet ending, in my head they're all playing forever and ever cus the QC doesn't end 🥹🥰
Fuck I already miss them so much 😭😭😭
Did Not Finish
April 28, 2026DNF at 20% in.
Almost 400 pages and Sam and Lachie will just go back and forth with a very predictable formula.
I don't have the mental capacity right now to go through yet another uninteresting story that'll torpedo me into yet another lengthy reading slump, so no, I'm not finishing it.
It's been somewhat of a good ride with this series. It's about time it ended, though.
The best book couple for me were Connor and Parker.
Almost 400 pages and Sam and Lachie will just go back and forth with a very predictable formula.
I don't have the mental capacity right now to go through yet another uninteresting story that'll torpedo me into yet another lengthy reading slump, so no, I'm not finishing it.
It's been somewhat of a good ride with this series. It's about time it ended, though.
The best book couple for me were Connor and Parker.
April 17, 2026
I was really looking forward to this as I’ve enjoyed this series a lot but what was that? In what world would Lachie go for Sam? Chemistry was nonexistent. This had no angst no tensions and the spice was at the level of ketchup. So bummed.
May 4, 2026
Awwwww, it was soooo good. What an amazing end to an era (well...that's a line from a review I saw that made me start this series) This series had my heart from the 1st book itself and I'm gonna miss them terribly.
Lachie and Sam and Angelica❤❤❤🥺🥺🥺 and there one more puppy whose name I didn't catch? Omg I'm in love with them. So so much❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
That whole Disney princess thing was so cute. Loved the plot and all the animals😘
This series is so worth it dayummmmm I also want to read about Ethan. He seemed a pretty cool guy.
Some major spoilers ahead:
--
Cheer 'o to being queer'o! The Collective would like to dedicate this book to all of their fans. You're Queer Collective too now.
OHH...AWWW
--
A loud chuckle comes from behind me, and I freeze.
"The Disney Princess has returned."
His voice is like butter, and I hate it. I hate it because I still react to it.
--
"I was beginning to think you'd moved. It's been way too long since you brought in an animal." Sam gasps. "Have you been cheating on us with another rescue?"
--
While Easton was spending his teen years lusting after our older brother's best friend, I was fantasizing about the day the boy from the animal shelter would look at me the way I've always looked at him ... with maybe less drool.
--
"Princess?" Sam cocks his head.
"Sorry, what?"
"I asked if you'd moved. You haven't been here in ..."
PRINCESS??? MY JAW FUCKING DROPPED
--
I don't even get the chance to say hello before Easton talks. "Where are you? I thought you were going for a quick run. Where is my car, and if you say in a ditch, you'll be in a ditch next time I see you."
--
"I'm at the animal shelter because-"
"Oh God. Is it another llama? It's a llama, isn't it?"
Sam's head snaps in my direction so fast I know I'm going to have to explain the llama thing all over again as soon as this call ends.
"It's not a llama. Get Connor or your boyfriend to bring you to the shelter to get your car. It's in perfect condition. No birthing fluid or anything got anywhere."
"What the fuck?"
"Gotta go. About to deliver some babies." I end the call.
"So... There was a llama?"
--
Connor gestures to Easton. "See, he gets it."
Easton face-palms. "I wasn't agreeing with you, you dickface."
"You're the dickface."
And these two say I'm immature.
--
"How much do you think the Collective guys will hate it if I make them all run a half-marathon while they're here?"
"Not at all. Especially if you put a wager on it."
"What kind of wager?"
"Tell Ezra that if he beats everyone in the race, he can choose the group activities for the whole trip."
"And if anybody else wins?"
East glances over at me. "Ezra won't get to plan anything. Trust me. They will all be dying to stop Ezra from having that kind of power."
The entire Collective seems to find Ezra annoying as hell. Me? He's kind of my idol.
--
"You don't want to touch the Stanley Cup?"
"Not if it means I'll never win one. I could be good at... wait, what sport competes for the Stanley Cup?"
I slump. "You're lucky you're hot."
--
"Is everyone here queer?"
"That is why we're called the Queer Collective."
"Is it?" A man passing stops in front of me. "I thought it was because we're queer and Ezra is collecting us."
Lachie snorts. "Considering you're married to the smartest man I've ever met, Foster, you of all people should know the answer to that."
"I dunno. Zach calls us a cult. Are we a cult?"
"Pretty much."
"Shit." Foster says, "I need to call Beck. He has experience getting out of those."
I have no clue who Beck is, but it sounds like someone needs to be worried about him.
--
"Whoa, Mr. Animal Man hasn't been skipping chest day, has he?"
I turn toward Ezra, "I take care of myself."
"Yeah, you do. See, Anton? There is no letting yourself go. Got it? No excuses!"
The GQ model with the slick black hair and big sunglasses flips him off.
"He loves me," Ezra sighs.
Lachie snickers into his drink. "The fact you have to tell people that during every conversation is a worry."
--
"So..." I start,
"Uh-oh. That doesn't sound good."
"Why? What are you imagining comes next?"
"So, get the fuck out of my office? So... that wasn't as good as I remembered. So, I'm actually married with three kids, and your sister is the baby momma."
"You don't have a sister."
"I never said my thoughts made sense."
"Do you want to know what I was actually going to say?"
"Depends. Do you have kids?"
"Not three."
His whole face drops, and it's hard not to laugh.
"I'm screwing with you. I don't care how hot someone is, I'd never cheat."
"Good to know."
--
"Fuck me, shouldn't you at least let them know you're alive?"
"Considering being here was Easton's idea, if he chooses not to tell them, it's on him."
"So why is Ezra the one calling you?"
"That was also Easton's idea. I have his car."
"Let me guess. Ezra didn't know?"
"Let's see."
Then Ezra's voice message fills my office.
"Look, little Kiki, I know I said I was fine with cum on the interiors, but I was talking in general. That's a rental. Do you know how much they charge for jizz removal? Because I do, and it's not cheap."
Lachie ends the message. "Sounds like he's fine with it."
--
"As long as you don't care about making Ezra paranoid, you're welcome to help with the puppies tonight."
"Are you kidding? Making Ezra paranoid is everyone's favorite pastime."
"And now I'm feeling sorry for the guy."
--
"Oh, good! You're alive," Ezra cries in his over-the-top fashion.
"Dramatic much? You're sounding like Connor more and more every day. Are you getting old?"
Ezra's mouth drops. "What did you say?"
--
Ezra joins us. "Not that I don't love the view, but why is Aleks stripping?"
"Photoshoot," Gabe replies. "These little cuties need homes, and what better way to make it happen than pictures that go viral?"
"And Aleks was the first one you asked? Please. If you want viral, you should have come to the source."
"He said viral, not virus," the black-haired player says, joining us.
"Even you can't deny I'm irresistible, Little Dalton," Ezra throws back.
Little Dalton has an evil look cross his face, "Bet Aleks gets more likes than you."
--
Ezra says "What was that weight-of-the-world sigh? You have a man out there waiting for you, cute puppies to cuddle, and you smoked us all out there on the ice. You should be gloating."
"I'll happily gloat about kicking your old ass all over the ice."
"Then what's up? Talk to Uncle Ez about your troubles."
"Uncle Ez?"
"I was going to say Daddy Ez, but despite what you think, I'm not Damon King levels of old yet."
--
He sighs. "Bring her up here, and come back to bed."
"But what about all the pee and not allowing the pups on the bed?"
"I'm not saying to bring all of them up here. Just her. And you will be washing my sheets tomorrow if she pees anywhere."
"Deal." I jump up so fast, Angelica yips and thinks it's playtime. Oops. I hold her close to me. "Shh, shh, shh, baby. It's not time for zoomies. It's time for cuddles with your daddies."
"Temporary daddies," Sam says through a yawn.
--
Each time someone comes to the shelter to check out the litter of puppies, I've been sure to keep Angelica with me. Sam pretends he doesn't notice me disappear with her and even buys my excuses when I say she needed to go to the toilet or needed a bath or was lacking in vitamin D, so I took her outside.
--
"Iconic Angelica needs a walk. Now. Please."
Ethan catches on. "You know, I've just been hit with the need for a matcha. Angie is coming with me."
"It's Angelica."
"She needs a lesbian name for when she's doing lesbian things, like physical exercise and leaving the house after 5:00 p.m. without it involving alcohol."
I have no idea where Ethan gets this stuff. "Tell me you've never met a lesbian before."
"Do you want to argue about lesbians, or do you want to get laid?"
--
"I hate that I'm so good," I say to myself, not realizing that Sam is awake next to me.
He snorts. "I love that you're so humble."
"Humble is my middle name."
"Lachlan Humble Kikishkin. It has a nice ring to it."
"You finally learned how to say my last name correctly in time for me to leave? It's like you want to make this harder on me."
Sam reaches for me and pats my cheek. "Sorry. Lachlan Humble Kinikishton."
"Much better."
--
"This is for all the stupid emotions that made me turn down seventy million fucking dollars."
My gaze finds Sam's widened eyes.
"Wh-what did you say?" he rasps.
"Uhhhhhh."
"Did you say seventeen million dollars?"
Before I find the right words to say, he blurts, "I'm the one!"
...
"I adopted Angelica."
Fuck. I thought declaring he's the one for me was romantic, but this? It brings tears to my eyes. "You you did?"
"I didn't want to tell you until you came back to see me because I didn't want her to be the only reason why you'd visit, but ... if you're saying you turned down seventeen million dollars because you'd rather be here-I know it's mostly for your family, but I'd like to think I'm a factor in it-then you should know how deep my feelings go for you. And seeing how much you love her, I couldn't let ... her go."
--
"I'm just going to say it: this sucks."
"It really does." I flick my sunglasses down over my eyes in case I'm in danger of crying, and I refuse to do that in the middle of the street.
"You know... we'll play Colorado this year. And when I have a handful of days off-which is rare, but it happens-I always make a visit home. Then I should have a week off in early February..." His words fade away. February. Six months away. His voice cracks when he speaks again. "Maybe we could catch up?"
"Yeah." I keep my tone light. "Angelica would love that." I'll love that. "She'll miss you." I'll miss you.
He holds my gaze. "I'll miss her too."
--
"Can I kiss you?"
His gaze snaps to mine, and I see the same longing I have reflected back at me. A million little things pass between us before his lips tighten.
"No."
All my hope crashes. I should have expected it, shouldn't have asked at all. As much as it hurts, maybe this is a good thing. Maybe-
"If you do" His voice cracks. "-there's no way I'll be able to get on that plane."
I stagger back from him, grateful for my sunglasses as I press my lips together in a way that I hope doesn't make it obvious I'm about to cry.
A tear sneaks out from under his sunglasses, and I drink him in, committing him to memory.
--
"Pfft. I'm never going to be as old as you. I've made a deal with the devil, and I'm going to be young and cute forever."
"You're definitely one of those things."
"It's cute, isn't it?"
"Nope." He stands. "Okay, now that we've gotten deeper than we ever have before"
"That's what he said."
Hawke throws up his hands. "I give up."
"I love you too," I sing as he walks away.
--
Lachie: If I bought you your own animal shelter in St. Louis, would you move here? Jk.
Yes, because putting jk at the end isn't the universal sign for "Not really joking but will say I am in case what I said makes it awkward."
Sam: Miss me that much already?
Lachie: You have no idea.
Sam: Actually, I do.
A picture message comes through, and my chest aches at the sight. It's of Sam and Angelica in bed, and she's cuddled up to him, her nose nudging his cheek.
Sam: One night might have turned into letting her sleep on the bed every night. I blame you.
Lachie: Good. That little princess deserves to be spoiled. Being that adorable is tiring.
Sam: Are you still talking about the dog or me? Need I remind you, you're the Disney Princess.
--
I tug open my door to find Easton and Connor Kikishkin on my doorstep.
"Ah... hi?"
"Let us in," Connor says, then, without waiting for an invitation, pushes past.
"He meant to say please," Easton assures me as he follows his brother.
--
"It's not our fault," Easton scoffs. "Lachie wouldn't let us near you. Every time I dropped him here and tried to come in, he threatened to trip me during our first game. Not cool."
--
Ethan uses that exact moment to enter. "Girl, wait until I tell you what happened at the" He cuts off as he rounds the corner and finds our place full. "Huh. You know, when I told you that the easiest way to get over Lachie was to get under someone else, I didn't mean find two look-alikes to double-team you. This feels like the opposite of progress."
While the brothers gag, I slap my hand over Ethan's mouth before he can say anything else. "You are so close to losing your best friend card. This is Connor and Easton. Lachie's brothers."
"Oh... I am so relieved."
"Can you look after the dog?" Easton asks.
"I am the queen's third daddy."
--
"More shots?" I ask, because we might as well do this thing properly.
"I got it." Connor signals again.
"You don't have to pay," I point out. "I can get my own."
Easton stops me. "He can pay. His boyfriend is a billionaire. That's with a B. He will pay every single round until the end of time."
--
"I did the numbers, and as long as nothing else comes up, I'll be able to go two pay days from now and not touch my savings." Ethan sighs, playing with his phone, and a second later, my screen lights up.
I choke on the bite I've just taken. "A thousand dollars? I can't take this."
"Girl, you think I'm giving you a choice? It's a small price to pay to get some damn peace around here. Angelica and I are sick of seeing you all depressed."
"I'm not depressed."
"We're not doing this back-and-forth thing. You're taking the money and going and seeing your man for the weekend. And Angelica and I are doing mani-pedis and watching Golden Girls reruns, and we both know you'll ruin the vibes by being here."
--
"How much does it cost to buy a private plane?"
Sam shoves me. "You're not buying a private plane."
"No, not me, but I could probably convince Parker to."
--
I launch myself toward the scrum but barely make it a few feet before I'm tugged backward as Miles grabs my jersey with his glove and pulls me away like a mother kitten grabbing her young by the scruff.
"Nope. Your brothers will kill me if I let you jump in there."
"Why you ruining my fun?"
"Why are you determined to get punched in the face tonight?"
"Because it's fun. Duh."
"Right. And it has nothing to do with that guy you were fawning all over at the summer house."
"Don't bring him into this. I'm a chaos gremlin. And look at all the chaos. Isn't it beautiful?"
"Yeah. You know what else is beautiful? Not being in denial. You should try it sometime."
"If all my teammates weren't getting misconducts, I'd punch you and keep this glorious chaos going."
"I get a feeling the only chaos going on with you is your mental health." Miles and his bromotions. "Are you okay?"
"Nope. But I'm hilarious. That's something."
--
After uncontrollable I'm so proud of you sobbing from Ethan, and an embarrassing number of Angelica kisses, we get on the road before the sun has broken the horizon.
--
"Hey ..."
Hearing his voice and knowing he's so close is the weirdest mix of relief and longing. "Remember how you said you'd buy me an animal shelter if I moved to St. Louis?"
"Yes?" His voice is confused, but with a hint of amusement.
"I never needed the shelter."
"Yeah It was a joke. That's what the J-K stands for." ...
"What I mean is, I just need you, Lachie." That cuts off whatever he was about to say, and I have to wait for a response.
He swallows hard. "You've had me since I met you."
"Did you know there are five animal shelters within a ten-minute drive of Hawke's place?"
"I actually had no idea."
"Hopefully, one of them is hiring."
"H-hiring?" I give him a second to wrap his head around my words. "S-Sam... what ... what do you mean?"
"Come outside."
Another long pause, and this time when he answers me, his voice is a harsh rasp. "You're supposed to say joke."
The almost scared hope in his voice tells me I'm exactly where I'm meant to be. "I'm not joking."
--
"How did I get so lucky to find you?"
"You didn't. I found you. Or... more specifically, the animals I rescued did."
Sam cups my face. "My Disney Princess."
I don't hate that name so much anymore. I lean in and press my lips against his. "My Prince Charming."
--
but then I see Ezra's red-rimmed eyes and Anton watching his husband like he might start crying too.
Oh, fuck. What the hell is happening?
The world is ending, someone's dying... oh my God, the daddies of the Collective have broken up. The OG couple. The first to win a Cup together. That's why tonight is so topsy-turvy.
Lachie and Sam and Angelica❤❤❤🥺🥺🥺 and there one more puppy whose name I didn't catch? Omg I'm in love with them. So so much❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
That whole Disney princess thing was so cute. Loved the plot and all the animals😘
This series is so worth it dayummmmm I also want to read about Ethan. He seemed a pretty cool guy.
Some major spoilers ahead:
--
Cheer 'o to being queer'o! The Collective would like to dedicate this book to all of their fans. You're Queer Collective too now.
OHH...AWWW
--
A loud chuckle comes from behind me, and I freeze.
"The Disney Princess has returned."
His voice is like butter, and I hate it. I hate it because I still react to it.
--
"I was beginning to think you'd moved. It's been way too long since you brought in an animal." Sam gasps. "Have you been cheating on us with another rescue?"
--
While Easton was spending his teen years lusting after our older brother's best friend, I was fantasizing about the day the boy from the animal shelter would look at me the way I've always looked at him ... with maybe less drool.
--
"Princess?" Sam cocks his head.
"Sorry, what?"
"I asked if you'd moved. You haven't been here in ..."
PRINCESS??? MY JAW FUCKING DROPPED
--
I don't even get the chance to say hello before Easton talks. "Where are you? I thought you were going for a quick run. Where is my car, and if you say in a ditch, you'll be in a ditch next time I see you."
--
"I'm at the animal shelter because-"
"Oh God. Is it another llama? It's a llama, isn't it?"
Sam's head snaps in my direction so fast I know I'm going to have to explain the llama thing all over again as soon as this call ends.
"It's not a llama. Get Connor or your boyfriend to bring you to the shelter to get your car. It's in perfect condition. No birthing fluid or anything got anywhere."
"What the fuck?"
"Gotta go. About to deliver some babies." I end the call.
"So... There was a llama?"
--
Connor gestures to Easton. "See, he gets it."
Easton face-palms. "I wasn't agreeing with you, you dickface."
"You're the dickface."
And these two say I'm immature.
--
"How much do you think the Collective guys will hate it if I make them all run a half-marathon while they're here?"
"Not at all. Especially if you put a wager on it."
"What kind of wager?"
"Tell Ezra that if he beats everyone in the race, he can choose the group activities for the whole trip."
"And if anybody else wins?"
East glances over at me. "Ezra won't get to plan anything. Trust me. They will all be dying to stop Ezra from having that kind of power."
The entire Collective seems to find Ezra annoying as hell. Me? He's kind of my idol.
--
"You don't want to touch the Stanley Cup?"
"Not if it means I'll never win one. I could be good at... wait, what sport competes for the Stanley Cup?"
I slump. "You're lucky you're hot."
--
"Is everyone here queer?"
"That is why we're called the Queer Collective."
"Is it?" A man passing stops in front of me. "I thought it was because we're queer and Ezra is collecting us."
Lachie snorts. "Considering you're married to the smartest man I've ever met, Foster, you of all people should know the answer to that."
"I dunno. Zach calls us a cult. Are we a cult?"
"Pretty much."
"Shit." Foster says, "I need to call Beck. He has experience getting out of those."
I have no clue who Beck is, but it sounds like someone needs to be worried about him.
--
"Whoa, Mr. Animal Man hasn't been skipping chest day, has he?"
I turn toward Ezra, "I take care of myself."
"Yeah, you do. See, Anton? There is no letting yourself go. Got it? No excuses!"
The GQ model with the slick black hair and big sunglasses flips him off.
"He loves me," Ezra sighs.
Lachie snickers into his drink. "The fact you have to tell people that during every conversation is a worry."
--
"So..." I start,
"Uh-oh. That doesn't sound good."
"Why? What are you imagining comes next?"
"So, get the fuck out of my office? So... that wasn't as good as I remembered. So, I'm actually married with three kids, and your sister is the baby momma."
"You don't have a sister."
"I never said my thoughts made sense."
"Do you want to know what I was actually going to say?"
"Depends. Do you have kids?"
"Not three."
His whole face drops, and it's hard not to laugh.
"I'm screwing with you. I don't care how hot someone is, I'd never cheat."
"Good to know."
--
"Fuck me, shouldn't you at least let them know you're alive?"
"Considering being here was Easton's idea, if he chooses not to tell them, it's on him."
"So why is Ezra the one calling you?"
"That was also Easton's idea. I have his car."
"Let me guess. Ezra didn't know?"
"Let's see."
Then Ezra's voice message fills my office.
"Look, little Kiki, I know I said I was fine with cum on the interiors, but I was talking in general. That's a rental. Do you know how much they charge for jizz removal? Because I do, and it's not cheap."
Lachie ends the message. "Sounds like he's fine with it."
--
"As long as you don't care about making Ezra paranoid, you're welcome to help with the puppies tonight."
"Are you kidding? Making Ezra paranoid is everyone's favorite pastime."
"And now I'm feeling sorry for the guy."
--
"Oh, good! You're alive," Ezra cries in his over-the-top fashion.
"Dramatic much? You're sounding like Connor more and more every day. Are you getting old?"
Ezra's mouth drops. "What did you say?"
--
Ezra joins us. "Not that I don't love the view, but why is Aleks stripping?"
"Photoshoot," Gabe replies. "These little cuties need homes, and what better way to make it happen than pictures that go viral?"
"And Aleks was the first one you asked? Please. If you want viral, you should have come to the source."
"He said viral, not virus," the black-haired player says, joining us.
"Even you can't deny I'm irresistible, Little Dalton," Ezra throws back.
Little Dalton has an evil look cross his face, "Bet Aleks gets more likes than you."
--
Ezra says "What was that weight-of-the-world sigh? You have a man out there waiting for you, cute puppies to cuddle, and you smoked us all out there on the ice. You should be gloating."
"I'll happily gloat about kicking your old ass all over the ice."
"Then what's up? Talk to Uncle Ez about your troubles."
"Uncle Ez?"
"I was going to say Daddy Ez, but despite what you think, I'm not Damon King levels of old yet."
--
He sighs. "Bring her up here, and come back to bed."
"But what about all the pee and not allowing the pups on the bed?"
"I'm not saying to bring all of them up here. Just her. And you will be washing my sheets tomorrow if she pees anywhere."
"Deal." I jump up so fast, Angelica yips and thinks it's playtime. Oops. I hold her close to me. "Shh, shh, shh, baby. It's not time for zoomies. It's time for cuddles with your daddies."
"Temporary daddies," Sam says through a yawn.
--
Each time someone comes to the shelter to check out the litter of puppies, I've been sure to keep Angelica with me. Sam pretends he doesn't notice me disappear with her and even buys my excuses when I say she needed to go to the toilet or needed a bath or was lacking in vitamin D, so I took her outside.
--
"Iconic Angelica needs a walk. Now. Please."
Ethan catches on. "You know, I've just been hit with the need for a matcha. Angie is coming with me."
"It's Angelica."
"She needs a lesbian name for when she's doing lesbian things, like physical exercise and leaving the house after 5:00 p.m. without it involving alcohol."
I have no idea where Ethan gets this stuff. "Tell me you've never met a lesbian before."
"Do you want to argue about lesbians, or do you want to get laid?"
--
"I hate that I'm so good," I say to myself, not realizing that Sam is awake next to me.
He snorts. "I love that you're so humble."
"Humble is my middle name."
"Lachlan Humble Kikishkin. It has a nice ring to it."
"You finally learned how to say my last name correctly in time for me to leave? It's like you want to make this harder on me."
Sam reaches for me and pats my cheek. "Sorry. Lachlan Humble Kinikishton."
"Much better."
--
"This is for all the stupid emotions that made me turn down seventy million fucking dollars."
My gaze finds Sam's widened eyes.
"Wh-what did you say?" he rasps.
"Uhhhhhh."
"Did you say seventeen million dollars?"
Before I find the right words to say, he blurts, "I'm the one!"
...
"I adopted Angelica."
Fuck. I thought declaring he's the one for me was romantic, but this? It brings tears to my eyes. "You you did?"
"I didn't want to tell you until you came back to see me because I didn't want her to be the only reason why you'd visit, but ... if you're saying you turned down seventeen million dollars because you'd rather be here-I know it's mostly for your family, but I'd like to think I'm a factor in it-then you should know how deep my feelings go for you. And seeing how much you love her, I couldn't let ... her go."
--
"I'm just going to say it: this sucks."
"It really does." I flick my sunglasses down over my eyes in case I'm in danger of crying, and I refuse to do that in the middle of the street.
"You know... we'll play Colorado this year. And when I have a handful of days off-which is rare, but it happens-I always make a visit home. Then I should have a week off in early February..." His words fade away. February. Six months away. His voice cracks when he speaks again. "Maybe we could catch up?"
"Yeah." I keep my tone light. "Angelica would love that." I'll love that. "She'll miss you." I'll miss you.
He holds my gaze. "I'll miss her too."
--
"Can I kiss you?"
His gaze snaps to mine, and I see the same longing I have reflected back at me. A million little things pass between us before his lips tighten.
"No."
All my hope crashes. I should have expected it, shouldn't have asked at all. As much as it hurts, maybe this is a good thing. Maybe-
"If you do" His voice cracks. "-there's no way I'll be able to get on that plane."
I stagger back from him, grateful for my sunglasses as I press my lips together in a way that I hope doesn't make it obvious I'm about to cry.
A tear sneaks out from under his sunglasses, and I drink him in, committing him to memory.
--
"Pfft. I'm never going to be as old as you. I've made a deal with the devil, and I'm going to be young and cute forever."
"You're definitely one of those things."
"It's cute, isn't it?"
"Nope." He stands. "Okay, now that we've gotten deeper than we ever have before"
"That's what he said."
Hawke throws up his hands. "I give up."
"I love you too," I sing as he walks away.
--
Lachie: If I bought you your own animal shelter in St. Louis, would you move here? Jk.
Yes, because putting jk at the end isn't the universal sign for "Not really joking but will say I am in case what I said makes it awkward."
Sam: Miss me that much already?
Lachie: You have no idea.
Sam: Actually, I do.
A picture message comes through, and my chest aches at the sight. It's of Sam and Angelica in bed, and she's cuddled up to him, her nose nudging his cheek.
Sam: One night might have turned into letting her sleep on the bed every night. I blame you.
Lachie: Good. That little princess deserves to be spoiled. Being that adorable is tiring.
Sam: Are you still talking about the dog or me? Need I remind you, you're the Disney Princess.
--
I tug open my door to find Easton and Connor Kikishkin on my doorstep.
"Ah... hi?"
"Let us in," Connor says, then, without waiting for an invitation, pushes past.
"He meant to say please," Easton assures me as he follows his brother.
--
"It's not our fault," Easton scoffs. "Lachie wouldn't let us near you. Every time I dropped him here and tried to come in, he threatened to trip me during our first game. Not cool."
--
Ethan uses that exact moment to enter. "Girl, wait until I tell you what happened at the" He cuts off as he rounds the corner and finds our place full. "Huh. You know, when I told you that the easiest way to get over Lachie was to get under someone else, I didn't mean find two look-alikes to double-team you. This feels like the opposite of progress."
While the brothers gag, I slap my hand over Ethan's mouth before he can say anything else. "You are so close to losing your best friend card. This is Connor and Easton. Lachie's brothers."
"Oh... I am so relieved."
"Can you look after the dog?" Easton asks.
"I am the queen's third daddy."
--
"More shots?" I ask, because we might as well do this thing properly.
"I got it." Connor signals again.
"You don't have to pay," I point out. "I can get my own."
Easton stops me. "He can pay. His boyfriend is a billionaire. That's with a B. He will pay every single round until the end of time."
--
"I did the numbers, and as long as nothing else comes up, I'll be able to go two pay days from now and not touch my savings." Ethan sighs, playing with his phone, and a second later, my screen lights up.
I choke on the bite I've just taken. "A thousand dollars? I can't take this."
"Girl, you think I'm giving you a choice? It's a small price to pay to get some damn peace around here. Angelica and I are sick of seeing you all depressed."
"I'm not depressed."
"We're not doing this back-and-forth thing. You're taking the money and going and seeing your man for the weekend. And Angelica and I are doing mani-pedis and watching Golden Girls reruns, and we both know you'll ruin the vibes by being here."
--
"How much does it cost to buy a private plane?"
Sam shoves me. "You're not buying a private plane."
"No, not me, but I could probably convince Parker to."
--
I launch myself toward the scrum but barely make it a few feet before I'm tugged backward as Miles grabs my jersey with his glove and pulls me away like a mother kitten grabbing her young by the scruff.
"Nope. Your brothers will kill me if I let you jump in there."
"Why you ruining my fun?"
"Why are you determined to get punched in the face tonight?"
"Because it's fun. Duh."
"Right. And it has nothing to do with that guy you were fawning all over at the summer house."
"Don't bring him into this. I'm a chaos gremlin. And look at all the chaos. Isn't it beautiful?"
"Yeah. You know what else is beautiful? Not being in denial. You should try it sometime."
"If all my teammates weren't getting misconducts, I'd punch you and keep this glorious chaos going."
"I get a feeling the only chaos going on with you is your mental health." Miles and his bromotions. "Are you okay?"
"Nope. But I'm hilarious. That's something."
--
After uncontrollable I'm so proud of you sobbing from Ethan, and an embarrassing number of Angelica kisses, we get on the road before the sun has broken the horizon.
--
"Hey ..."
Hearing his voice and knowing he's so close is the weirdest mix of relief and longing. "Remember how you said you'd buy me an animal shelter if I moved to St. Louis?"
"Yes?" His voice is confused, but with a hint of amusement.
"I never needed the shelter."
"Yeah It was a joke. That's what the J-K stands for." ...
"What I mean is, I just need you, Lachie." That cuts off whatever he was about to say, and I have to wait for a response.
He swallows hard. "You've had me since I met you."
"Did you know there are five animal shelters within a ten-minute drive of Hawke's place?"
"I actually had no idea."
"Hopefully, one of them is hiring."
"H-hiring?" I give him a second to wrap his head around my words. "S-Sam... what ... what do you mean?"
"Come outside."
Another long pause, and this time when he answers me, his voice is a harsh rasp. "You're supposed to say joke."
The almost scared hope in his voice tells me I'm exactly where I'm meant to be. "I'm not joking."
--
"How did I get so lucky to find you?"
"You didn't. I found you. Or... more specifically, the animals I rescued did."
Sam cups my face. "My Disney Princess."
I don't hate that name so much anymore. I lean in and press my lips against his. "My Prince Charming."
--
but then I see Ezra's red-rimmed eyes and Anton watching his husband like he might start crying too.
Oh, fuck. What the hell is happening?
The world is ending, someone's dying... oh my God, the daddies of the Collective have broken up. The OG couple. The first to win a Cup together. That's why tonight is so topsy-turvy.
April 30, 2026
This book is way too damn long for a story you can see through from the very first page.
Their connection feels shallow and based entirely on lust. The long-distance drama was completely pointless and felt like a cheap way to stretch the word count. I skimmed a huge chunk of it.
2⭐️ for some hot sex scenes.
Thank god this series is done!
I wonder if every bestselling author eventually becomes this lazy and half-hearted. Either way, I am officially done with these two. I won't be reading any more of their books.
Their connection feels shallow and based entirely on lust. The long-distance drama was completely pointless and felt like a cheap way to stretch the word count. I skimmed a huge chunk of it.
2⭐️ for some hot sex scenes.
Thank god this series is done!
I wonder if every bestselling author eventually becomes this lazy and half-hearted. Either way, I am officially done with these two. I won't be reading any more of their books.
April 27, 2026
I’m sure going to miss these guys.
April 22, 2026
Excuse me while I write this review 🥹🥲
Rating⭐️: 5/5
Spice🌶️: 3/5
Tropes:
* MM Hockey Romance
* Childhood Crush
* Summer Fling
* Opposites Attract
* Flirty Banter
* Collective Mayhem
* The END of an Era🥲
It was such a bittersweet feeling finally starting this one, it being the last one and because I remember when Egotisitical Puckboy first came out. I just cannot believe this series is over 😭
This one follows the youngest Kiki brothers, Lachie, and his quest for getting his childhood crush to finally notice him. Sam is the manager at the animal shelter where Lachie used to frequently come in with animals in need, earning Lachie the name "Disney Princess". These two were the cutest things ever. What started as a summer fling with the flirting banter and spicy times, quickly turns into longing glances, yearning to be together for real and wanting nothing to get their way.
I loved everything about this book especially ALL the Queer Collective shenanigans and there were A LOT of them. Most of them are funny but also some quite sappy moments as well, *cough cough* Ezra, I did not think he would ever make me cry. 🥹🥲
Favorite quote(s):
“You nursing a puppy shirtless and caring so much for those tiny creatures is probably the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“We were fucked from the beginning because it was never, ever a simple fling. What we have is deeper. A real connection.”
*I received an arc of this book from Foreword PR, this is my honest review*
Rating⭐️: 5/5
Spice🌶️: 3/5
Tropes:
* MM Hockey Romance
* Childhood Crush
* Summer Fling
* Opposites Attract
* Flirty Banter
* Collective Mayhem
* The END of an Era🥲
It was such a bittersweet feeling finally starting this one, it being the last one and because I remember when Egotisitical Puckboy first came out. I just cannot believe this series is over 😭
This one follows the youngest Kiki brothers, Lachie, and his quest for getting his childhood crush to finally notice him. Sam is the manager at the animal shelter where Lachie used to frequently come in with animals in need, earning Lachie the name "Disney Princess". These two were the cutest things ever. What started as a summer fling with the flirting banter and spicy times, quickly turns into longing glances, yearning to be together for real and wanting nothing to get their way.
I loved everything about this book especially ALL the Queer Collective shenanigans and there were A LOT of them. Most of them are funny but also some quite sappy moments as well, *cough cough* Ezra, I did not think he would ever make me cry. 🥹🥲
Favorite quote(s):
“You nursing a puppy shirtless and caring so much for those tiny creatures is probably the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“We were fucked from the beginning because it was never, ever a simple fling. What we have is deeper. A real connection.”
*I received an arc of this book from Foreword PR, this is my honest review*
August 4, 2026
If you had told me ten books and roughly 3,000 pages ago that I would be this hesitant to leave behind these adorable hockey-playing trainwrecks, I would not have believed you. But here we are. Charming Puckboy is the tenth and final book in the series, and Finley and James send it out with both its longest novel and, for the first time, something I would describe as genuine sustained angst.
The extra length matters. Several earlier Puckboys novels have felt constrained by sub-300-page runtimes, most criminally Irresponsible Puckboy, with its missing third act. Lachie and Sam are given considerably more room, and their story needs it because Charming Puckboy is fundamentally a summer romance. The tension of a summer romance depends on having enough time to establish something worth losing while its expiry date steadily approaches. Rush that process and the looming separation becomes something I struggle to care about.
That is what I love about the trope: the tension is built into it from the moment the story begins. There is a giant metaphorical bomb timer counting down towards the end of summer, and everyone involved knows exactly what happens when it reaches zero. Usually one of two things happens. In the first version, someone clips the metaphorical red wire at the last possible second: an airport dash, a public declaration, a sudden realisation that whatever was supposed to pull the couple apart matters less than the person standing in front of them. I like that version.
I love the messier one.
Sometimes nobody defuses the bomb. Summer ends. Reality arrives. The thing explodes, leaving everybody miserable in the wreckage, and the characters have to work out whether loving each other is enough to claw their way back towards something sustainable. Charming Puckboy understands that most of the pleasure in this structure comes from knowing the timer cannot simply be ignored. For more than half the novel, the end of summer hangs over Lachie and Sam, and there is no easy mechanism capable of making their circumstances change.
Lachie himself is an interesting evolution from the youngest, nineteen-year-old Kiki brother we first met in Forbidden Puckboy and Possessive Puckboy. Those books introduced someone newly exploring his sexuality and having an extremely enthusiastic time doing so. Charming Puckboy jumps forward roughly two years, the most substantial time jump the series has attempted, and finds twenty-one-year-old Lachie unexpectedly ready for something settled.
It is a change, and I am not entirely convinced the earlier books naturally predicted it, but the passage of time makes marginally believable. I also think making three of the ten Puckboys protagonists brothers was one of the series’ smarter structural choices. Connor, Easton and Lachie create a smaller organising unit parallel to the Queer Collective, allowing their books to function almost as a mini-series within the larger one.
Sam one of the relatively few major protagonists who exists entirely outside professional hockey gets an unusually equal share of the emotional material. Much of the story is built around both men slowly recognising that the “summer fling” they agreed to is considerably more serious than either intended, and Sam’s perspective is essential once the deadline they have been avoiding finally arrives.
Their relationship is also refreshingly simple. Lachie and Sam are not healing one another’s enormous traumas or correcting some defining character defect. They are attracted to each other, they enjoy being together, and eventually they love each other. That is enough. Their shared instinct to care for animals gives that simplicity an almost immediately domestic quality. Lachie’s apparently supernatural ability to attract creatures in need, earning him the longstanding “Disney Princess” nickname, is a running joke, but the shelter, the puppies and their mutual investment in caring for them also give Lachie and Sam a shared life remarkably quickly. Adding a more elaborate psychological problem simply to manufacture depth would have made the book worse. The obstacles are external; the relationship itself is remarkably uncomplicated.
That simplicity carries into the sex. Both men enter the story as established queer adults who know what they enjoy, so there are no instructional interludes, identity crises or tentative “teach me” dynamics. Their sexual compatibility feels established almost instinctively, and the heat comes increasingly from anticipation, particularly once hockey season begins forcing distance between them.
My tolerance for Queer Collective shenanigans has fluctuated wildly across this series, so I am aware of the hypocrisy involved in saying that Charming Puckboy, which contains an enormous amount of Collective material, handles it better than almost any previous instalment. The difference is integration. For once, the book solves a problem the series has repeatedly struggled with: how to celebrate its enormous and ever-expanding ensemble without requiring the current protagonists to surrender their own romance to it. Before the epilogue, the Collective feels like it is supporting Lachie and Sam rather than competing with them. Ezra chasing Lachie around with the Stanley Cup in a wheelbarrow, desperately trying to make him touch it and therefore supposedly curse himself never to win one, may be my favourite Ezra appearance in the entire series: exactly the right intersection of goofy and menacing.
Could I have taken more angst? Absolutely. This is still Puckboys, not an attempt to emotionally destroy me, and even its most painful novel remains a considerable distance from the most ruinous romances I have read. I did not cry, but I was moved. And after ten books spent with these ridiculous men, that turns out to be enough.
Puckboys - Series Review:
I tend to think of CU Hockey and Puckboys as largely contiguous series, but looking specifically at these ten books, I think Puckboys develops a remarkably consistent test for whether one of its romances will work for me: does the trope reveal the relationship, or is the trope being asked to create it?
The strongest books usually have an answer before the gimmick fully takes over. Tripp and Dex (Irresponsible Puckboy) do not become emotionally intimate because they accidentally marry; the marriage forces them to recognise the intimacy already organising their lives. In Shameless Puckboy, the root of Oskar’s exhibitionism makes sense once Lane understands that Oskar doesn't need another audience; he wants to be known. Connor’s possessiveness in Possessive Puckboy works because the novel distinguishes an instinct from the ways that instinct can become either suffocating or deeply reassuring depending on whether it is wanted.
The weaker books often contain perfectly good ingredients without enough specificity underneath them. Bromantic Puckboy gives us bros, sex and eventual romance without ever making Bilson feel indispensable to Miles. Foolish Puckboy assembles chemistry, sexual discovery, competing schedules and two likeable protagonists without quite turning them into something greater. The series is at its best when the trope becomes a way of understanding these particular men rather than a substitute for understanding them.
The Queer Collective follows a similar trajectory. Initially, it is one of the series’ smartest ideas, transforming interconnected standalones into an actual queer social world where careers continue, relationships endure and previous protagonists do not disappear once their books are over. As membership grows, however, maintaining that world begins to compete with the current romance for space. Charming Puckboy ultimately proves that the problem was never the Collective itself, but whether it was supporting the couple at the centre of the book or asking them to surrender their own story to it.
What surprised me most is how much the series expands its emotional range without ever ceasing to be recognisably Puckboys. Later novels become willing to deal with control, bullying, celebrity, professional ethics, the cost of living in the closet and homophobia, while retaining the same commitment to horny idiots making catastrophically questionable decisions.
The quality was never perfectly consistent. My affection was. Somewhere across ten books, these men stopped feeling like a procession of increasingly ridiculous romance premises and became a community I genuinely wanted to keep checking in on.
Puckboys - Series Ranking:
1. Charming Puckboy
2. Irresponsible Puckboy
3. Stubborn Puckboy
4. Possessive Puckboy
5. Shameless Puckboy
6. Egotistical Puckboy
7. Forbidden Puckboy
8. Foolish Puckboy
9. Clueless Puckboy
10. Bromantic Puckboy
The extra length matters. Several earlier Puckboys novels have felt constrained by sub-300-page runtimes, most criminally Irresponsible Puckboy, with its missing third act. Lachie and Sam are given considerably more room, and their story needs it because Charming Puckboy is fundamentally a summer romance. The tension of a summer romance depends on having enough time to establish something worth losing while its expiry date steadily approaches. Rush that process and the looming separation becomes something I struggle to care about.
That is what I love about the trope: the tension is built into it from the moment the story begins. There is a giant metaphorical bomb timer counting down towards the end of summer, and everyone involved knows exactly what happens when it reaches zero. Usually one of two things happens. In the first version, someone clips the metaphorical red wire at the last possible second: an airport dash, a public declaration, a sudden realisation that whatever was supposed to pull the couple apart matters less than the person standing in front of them. I like that version.
I love the messier one.
Sometimes nobody defuses the bomb. Summer ends. Reality arrives. The thing explodes, leaving everybody miserable in the wreckage, and the characters have to work out whether loving each other is enough to claw their way back towards something sustainable. Charming Puckboy understands that most of the pleasure in this structure comes from knowing the timer cannot simply be ignored. For more than half the novel, the end of summer hangs over Lachie and Sam, and there is no easy mechanism capable of making their circumstances change.
Lachie himself is an interesting evolution from the youngest, nineteen-year-old Kiki brother we first met in Forbidden Puckboy and Possessive Puckboy. Those books introduced someone newly exploring his sexuality and having an extremely enthusiastic time doing so. Charming Puckboy jumps forward roughly two years, the most substantial time jump the series has attempted, and finds twenty-one-year-old Lachie unexpectedly ready for something settled.
It is a change, and I am not entirely convinced the earlier books naturally predicted it, but the passage of time makes marginally believable. I also think making three of the ten Puckboys protagonists brothers was one of the series’ smarter structural choices. Connor, Easton and Lachie create a smaller organising unit parallel to the Queer Collective, allowing their books to function almost as a mini-series within the larger one.
Sam one of the relatively few major protagonists who exists entirely outside professional hockey gets an unusually equal share of the emotional material. Much of the story is built around both men slowly recognising that the “summer fling” they agreed to is considerably more serious than either intended, and Sam’s perspective is essential once the deadline they have been avoiding finally arrives.
Their relationship is also refreshingly simple. Lachie and Sam are not healing one another’s enormous traumas or correcting some defining character defect. They are attracted to each other, they enjoy being together, and eventually they love each other. That is enough. Their shared instinct to care for animals gives that simplicity an almost immediately domestic quality. Lachie’s apparently supernatural ability to attract creatures in need, earning him the longstanding “Disney Princess” nickname, is a running joke, but the shelter, the puppies and their mutual investment in caring for them also give Lachie and Sam a shared life remarkably quickly. Adding a more elaborate psychological problem simply to manufacture depth would have made the book worse. The obstacles are external; the relationship itself is remarkably uncomplicated.
That simplicity carries into the sex. Both men enter the story as established queer adults who know what they enjoy, so there are no instructional interludes, identity crises or tentative “teach me” dynamics. Their sexual compatibility feels established almost instinctively, and the heat comes increasingly from anticipation, particularly once hockey season begins forcing distance between them.
My tolerance for Queer Collective shenanigans has fluctuated wildly across this series, so I am aware of the hypocrisy involved in saying that Charming Puckboy, which contains an enormous amount of Collective material, handles it better than almost any previous instalment. The difference is integration. For once, the book solves a problem the series has repeatedly struggled with: how to celebrate its enormous and ever-expanding ensemble without requiring the current protagonists to surrender their own romance to it. Before the epilogue, the Collective feels like it is supporting Lachie and Sam rather than competing with them. Ezra chasing Lachie around with the Stanley Cup in a wheelbarrow, desperately trying to make him touch it and therefore supposedly curse himself never to win one, may be my favourite Ezra appearance in the entire series: exactly the right intersection of goofy and menacing.
Could I have taken more angst? Absolutely. This is still Puckboys, not an attempt to emotionally destroy me, and even its most painful novel remains a considerable distance from the most ruinous romances I have read. I did not cry, but I was moved. And after ten books spent with these ridiculous men, that turns out to be enough.
Puckboys - Series Review:
I tend to think of CU Hockey and Puckboys as largely contiguous series, but looking specifically at these ten books, I think Puckboys develops a remarkably consistent test for whether one of its romances will work for me: does the trope reveal the relationship, or is the trope being asked to create it?
The strongest books usually have an answer before the gimmick fully takes over. Tripp and Dex (Irresponsible Puckboy) do not become emotionally intimate because they accidentally marry; the marriage forces them to recognise the intimacy already organising their lives. In Shameless Puckboy, the root of Oskar’s exhibitionism makes sense once Lane understands that Oskar doesn't need another audience; he wants to be known. Connor’s possessiveness in Possessive Puckboy works because the novel distinguishes an instinct from the ways that instinct can become either suffocating or deeply reassuring depending on whether it is wanted.
The weaker books often contain perfectly good ingredients without enough specificity underneath them. Bromantic Puckboy gives us bros, sex and eventual romance without ever making Bilson feel indispensable to Miles. Foolish Puckboy assembles chemistry, sexual discovery, competing schedules and two likeable protagonists without quite turning them into something greater. The series is at its best when the trope becomes a way of understanding these particular men rather than a substitute for understanding them.
The Queer Collective follows a similar trajectory. Initially, it is one of the series’ smartest ideas, transforming interconnected standalones into an actual queer social world where careers continue, relationships endure and previous protagonists do not disappear once their books are over. As membership grows, however, maintaining that world begins to compete with the current romance for space. Charming Puckboy ultimately proves that the problem was never the Collective itself, but whether it was supporting the couple at the centre of the book or asking them to surrender their own story to it.
What surprised me most is how much the series expands its emotional range without ever ceasing to be recognisably Puckboys. Later novels become willing to deal with control, bullying, celebrity, professional ethics, the cost of living in the closet and homophobia, while retaining the same commitment to horny idiots making catastrophically questionable decisions.
The quality was never perfectly consistent. My affection was. Somewhere across ten books, these men stopped feeling like a procession of increasingly ridiculous romance premises and became a community I genuinely wanted to keep checking in on.
Puckboys - Series Ranking:
1. Charming Puckboy
2. Irresponsible Puckboy
3. Stubborn Puckboy
4. Possessive Puckboy
5. Shameless Puckboy
6. Egotistical Puckboy
7. Forbidden Puckboy
8. Foolish Puckboy
9. Clueless Puckboy
10. Bromantic Puckboy
April 16, 2026
This was everything! I laughed, I cried and had a smile on my face the whole time. Lachie and Sam have something special and I loved being on this ride with them. I loved the tension and the strong emotions between them. Lachie is young, and while he's a really laid-back and chill person he also has a maturity about him that makes you forget that he's the baby of the Collective. He's worked hard for his career and I understood why he was hesitant to accept the contract. On the other hand Sam has also worked hard for his career and had a job and community that he loved. These two boys made me cry a couple of times, but they figured it out in the end, and boy were they happy.
It's also a bittersweet book, because we say goodbye to our favorite group of chaotic hockey players. The Collective lives on, but slightly differently. I loved the Collective shenanigans and all of the cameos. Ezra started it all and it was such a full circle moment with the last chapter. Coincidentally that is when the waterworks started 😅 I love Ezra, he is the most chaotic but also most loveable character and I'll miss his quips a lot. It was great to see everyone in that last chapter and see how their lives have changed and evolved. It was great to see them be happy and living their best lives.
Thank you to Eden Finley and Saxon James to writing this world and all of these great characters! This was a fun ride and I hope we'll still see them around in the Sadenverse.
It's also a bittersweet book, because we say goodbye to our favorite group of chaotic hockey players. The Collective lives on, but slightly differently. I loved the Collective shenanigans and all of the cameos. Ezra started it all and it was such a full circle moment with the last chapter. Coincidentally that is when the waterworks started 😅 I love Ezra, he is the most chaotic but also most loveable character and I'll miss his quips a lot. It was great to see everyone in that last chapter and see how their lives have changed and evolved. It was great to see them be happy and living their best lives.
Thank you to Eden Finley and Saxon James to writing this world and all of these great characters! This was a fun ride and I hope we'll still see them around in the Sadenverse.
April 27, 2026
I absolutely adored this book. It was so much fun, so sweet, and just a perfect end to what was an incredible series. I have the biggest urge to go back to the start and reread them all. Highly recommend this one to fans of this series. Also, the audio was perfection. I’m in love!
April 17, 2026
It’s the end of an era. The last Puckboys book, and wow did this one deliver.
Little Kiki Lachie is a Disney Princess with animals always finding him, and Sam is the manager of an animal shelter. They have known each other for years. Lachie has had a crush on Sam since they were teenagers and Sam doesn’t even know who the Kiki brothers are!!!
A summer fling, Queer Collective shenanigans, a box of puppies and one very large contract make this book a must read in the series. Saxon and Eden definitely made me fall in love brought out a few tears lots of laughs and made me remember how much I love this series.
Little Kiki Lachie is a Disney Princess with animals always finding him, and Sam is the manager of an animal shelter. They have known each other for years. Lachie has had a crush on Sam since they were teenagers and Sam doesn’t even know who the Kiki brothers are!!!
A summer fling, Queer Collective shenanigans, a box of puppies and one very large contract make this book a must read in the series. Saxon and Eden definitely made me fall in love brought out a few tears lots of laughs and made me remember how much I love this series.
July 9, 2026
Character- 3.25/5
Plot- 3.5/5
Pacing- 3.5/5
Entertainment- 4/5
Rating- 3.5/5
Well its the end of an era, with the final book in the Puckboy series finally done, and to be honest, it wasn't really the big ending I was expecting. Yes there are lots of enjoyable moments, and I liked the final Kiki brother, but I couldn't help feeling like...is this it?
Now I'll start first with how much I thoroughly love this series, so many fun characters and very entertaining stories scattered throughout. But there are times when it suffers from 'boring partner' issues, and this final entry is one of those. Lachie is fun, charming of course and entirely lovable, with the added twist of his snow white tendencies adding to the overall cuteness meter. But his conflict in this book has little to do with his own personal growth, but rather Sam, who ultimately has to make the decision regarding their relationships future. Lachie is kind of complete from the start to the finish, and I was just expecting more.
Sam therefore is left to carry the angst of the book, and to be honest I don't know why he hesitates other than completely normal nerves to try something new, and it takes him quite a lot of time in this book to come to that conclusion. Its just not something that kept me fully engaged, and at a certain point I was just sort of done with the story. And that's a real shame because I was hoping for something a bit more bombastic to end on, with maybe the final couple being some sort of queer collective effort to put people together.
The ending is also very abrupt and a little anti-climactic, with a bit of the emotion lacking for everything were tying up here.
Honestly I'm not going to say much more, but I do really enjoy this group and I like these two writers, so I'll be grateful for what I had before. However I do hope they create some sort of novella for these characters to give them a more heartfelt send off, maybe an idea they can look into.
Plot- 3.5/5
Pacing- 3.5/5
Entertainment- 4/5
Rating- 3.5/5
Well its the end of an era, with the final book in the Puckboy series finally done, and to be honest, it wasn't really the big ending I was expecting. Yes there are lots of enjoyable moments, and I liked the final Kiki brother, but I couldn't help feeling like...is this it?
Now I'll start first with how much I thoroughly love this series, so many fun characters and very entertaining stories scattered throughout. But there are times when it suffers from 'boring partner' issues, and this final entry is one of those. Lachie is fun, charming of course and entirely lovable, with the added twist of his snow white tendencies adding to the overall cuteness meter. But his conflict in this book has little to do with his own personal growth, but rather Sam, who ultimately has to make the decision regarding their relationships future. Lachie is kind of complete from the start to the finish, and I was just expecting more.
Sam therefore is left to carry the angst of the book, and to be honest I don't know why he hesitates other than completely normal nerves to try something new, and it takes him quite a lot of time in this book to come to that conclusion. Its just not something that kept me fully engaged, and at a certain point I was just sort of done with the story. And that's a real shame because I was hoping for something a bit more bombastic to end on, with maybe the final couple being some sort of queer collective effort to put people together.
The ending is also very abrupt and a little anti-climactic, with a bit of the emotion lacking for everything were tying up here.
Honestly I'm not going to say much more, but I do really enjoy this group and I like these two writers, so I'll be grateful for what I had before. However I do hope they create some sort of novella for these characters to give them a more heartfelt send off, maybe an idea they can look into.
April 21, 2026
I am so unwell it’s not even funny. I’m talking sobbing, 15 tissues used and having to re read scenes cause the page is so blurry I can’t. Who would have thought saying goodbye would be so hard?
Anyways, review to come when I can actually stop crying.
What to expect:
☀️ summer fling (that was never going to stay a fling)
🐶 hockey player × animal shelter manager
💛 childhood crush
⏳ age gap (6 years)
🏒 “it was always you”
🐾 cute animals + puppies + chaos
💬 banter! banter! banter!
🌈 found family (THE QUEER COLLECTIVE!!!)
I am still unwell. I genuinely don’t know how to put into words how perfect this finale was, but I’m going to try because this book deserves every ounce of love I can give it. Charming Puckboy is the kind of ending that makes you laugh, cry, smile through tears, and then immediately want to reread the entire series from the beginning.... eventhough I did that already in preparation for this release.
This book felt like coming home.
From the moment Sam reappeared — yes, the SAME vet who flirted with Parker, I screamed — I knew this was going to be special. And then the Queer Collective shows up doing a half marathon in TUTUS??? I was gone. Fully feral. This group of idiots has owned my heart for ten books, and seeing them together one last time felt like a gift.
Ezra and Anton just carrying the freaking stanley cup around like a child and making the players that have not won yet, like Lachie try to touch it, had me in utter hysterics. My lovable idiots.
And then there’s Lachie.
Disney Princess Lachie. Sunshine incarnate. The softest, sweetest, most chaotic Kiki brother who has been carrying a crush on Sam since he was basically a kid bringing injured animals to the shelter. The way he looks at Sam? The way he adores Sam? I melted.
Sam didn’t stand a chance.
Their re-meet cute with the kitten? Adorable.
The puppy photoshoot? I was kicking my feet.
Uncle Ezra? I ascended.
The feud with the squirrels and stealing the Cup? Peak Collective behavior.
But what really got me — what absolutely destroyed me — was the yearning.
Because they’re together. They’re kissing, touching, falling, laughing, spending every second of the summer wrapped up in each other… and they’re STILL yearning. Still aching. Still holding back because they both know there’s an end date looming over them.
That kind of yearning hits DIFFERENT.
And the thing is… it was never going to be just a summer fling. Everyone knew. Lachie knew. Sam knew. I knew. The Collective definitely knew. These two fit together so naturally, so inevitably, that watching them try to pretend it was temporary was both beautiful and heartbreaking (kid you not I was a sobbing mess reading the airport goodbye scene).
Sam is perfect for Lachie. He’s grounded, steady, a little grumpy, a lot clueless about hockey (which was hilarious), and he sees Lachie for exactly who he is — not the NHL golden boy, not the generational talent, but the boy who used to show up at his shelter with animals tucked under his arm.
And Lachie? He’s so full of love it spills out of him. His idolization of Ezra had me cackling, especially when he used Ezra and Anton’s obsession with each other to his advantage. His relationship with his brothers has grown so much, and Connor and Easton making sure Sam didn’t feel abandoned after the summer? My heart.
And Sam being demanding in bed? I was not prepared. Not even a little. The intimacy between them is soft, emotional, and still so intense. It fits them perfectly.
But the emotional core of this book — the thing that made me cry — is the choice Lachie has to make. His career, his future, his dreams… or Sam. And the way they navigate that, the way they try every option, the way they refuse to rush into something without thinking it through… it felt so real. So mature. So earned.
When Sam said “I adopted Angelica,” I actually choked.
When Lachie said Sam felt like home, I cried.
When the Collective showed up in the epilogue, I sobbed.
(I may have gone through an entire packet of kleenex reading this book.... I wish I was joking)
This book is everything I love about this series:
the humor, the chaos, the found family, the tenderness, the big gestures, the quiet moments, the love that feels like destiny.
It’s the perfect goodbye.
I’m not okay.
But I loved this so much.
And if Eden and Saxon ever decide to give us something Puckboy-adjacent or an extended epilogue or a "here they are 10 years later" I WILL BE FIRST IN LINE. Although, in the meantime, I wouldn't say no to an Ethan or Hawke book.... cause I AM SEATED ALREADY.
Anyways, review to come when I can actually stop crying.
What to expect:
☀️ summer fling (that was never going to stay a fling)
🐶 hockey player × animal shelter manager
💛 childhood crush
⏳ age gap (6 years)
🏒 “it was always you”
🐾 cute animals + puppies + chaos
💬 banter! banter! banter!
🌈 found family (THE QUEER COLLECTIVE!!!)
I am still unwell. I genuinely don’t know how to put into words how perfect this finale was, but I’m going to try because this book deserves every ounce of love I can give it. Charming Puckboy is the kind of ending that makes you laugh, cry, smile through tears, and then immediately want to reread the entire series from the beginning.... eventhough I did that already in preparation for this release.
This book felt like coming home.
From the moment Sam reappeared — yes, the SAME vet who flirted with Parker, I screamed — I knew this was going to be special. And then the Queer Collective shows up doing a half marathon in TUTUS??? I was gone. Fully feral. This group of idiots has owned my heart for ten books, and seeing them together one last time felt like a gift.
Ezra and Anton just carrying the freaking stanley cup around like a child and making the players that have not won yet, like Lachie try to touch it, had me in utter hysterics. My lovable idiots.
And then there’s Lachie.
Disney Princess Lachie. Sunshine incarnate. The softest, sweetest, most chaotic Kiki brother who has been carrying a crush on Sam since he was basically a kid bringing injured animals to the shelter. The way he looks at Sam? The way he adores Sam? I melted.
Sam didn’t stand a chance.
Their re-meet cute with the kitten? Adorable.
The puppy photoshoot? I was kicking my feet.
Uncle Ezra? I ascended.
The feud with the squirrels and stealing the Cup? Peak Collective behavior.
But what really got me — what absolutely destroyed me — was the yearning.
Because they’re together. They’re kissing, touching, falling, laughing, spending every second of the summer wrapped up in each other… and they’re STILL yearning. Still aching. Still holding back because they both know there’s an end date looming over them.
That kind of yearning hits DIFFERENT.
And the thing is… it was never going to be just a summer fling. Everyone knew. Lachie knew. Sam knew. I knew. The Collective definitely knew. These two fit together so naturally, so inevitably, that watching them try to pretend it was temporary was both beautiful and heartbreaking (kid you not I was a sobbing mess reading the airport goodbye scene).
Sam is perfect for Lachie. He’s grounded, steady, a little grumpy, a lot clueless about hockey (which was hilarious), and he sees Lachie for exactly who he is — not the NHL golden boy, not the generational talent, but the boy who used to show up at his shelter with animals tucked under his arm.
And Lachie? He’s so full of love it spills out of him. His idolization of Ezra had me cackling, especially when he used Ezra and Anton’s obsession with each other to his advantage. His relationship with his brothers has grown so much, and Connor and Easton making sure Sam didn’t feel abandoned after the summer? My heart.
And Sam being demanding in bed? I was not prepared. Not even a little. The intimacy between them is soft, emotional, and still so intense. It fits them perfectly.
But the emotional core of this book — the thing that made me cry — is the choice Lachie has to make. His career, his future, his dreams… or Sam. And the way they navigate that, the way they try every option, the way they refuse to rush into something without thinking it through… it felt so real. So mature. So earned.
When Sam said “I adopted Angelica,” I actually choked.
When Lachie said Sam felt like home, I cried.
When the Collective showed up in the epilogue, I sobbed.
(I may have gone through an entire packet of kleenex reading this book.... I wish I was joking)
This book is everything I love about this series:
the humor, the chaos, the found family, the tenderness, the big gestures, the quiet moments, the love that feels like destiny.
It’s the perfect goodbye.
I’m not okay.
But I loved this so much.
And if Eden and Saxon ever decide to give us something Puckboy-adjacent or an extended epilogue or a "here they are 10 years later" I WILL BE FIRST IN LINE. Although, in the meantime, I wouldn't say no to an Ethan or Hawke book.... cause I AM SEATED ALREADY.
April 25, 2026
3.5 stars, but rounded up for old-time's sake since this is the last installment in this series (thank god). This was cute. It was long, it was predictable, but it was cute. I think the super likeable characters are what did it for me. Lachie, the youngest Kikishkin brother gets his time in the limelight in this book where we see him and his animal magnetism bag the animal shelter manager he has been crushing on since he was a child. Sam, said animal wrangler, is a sweet, hot man who looks after injured and abandoned animals, so what's not to love there. They embark on a Summer fling while Lachie is off for the season and back home in Colorado. But come season, they will be forced to part as Lachie goes back to Missouri. Their chemistry was great, and they gel in more ways than physical. Things obviously get complicated when feelings get involved and then the rest of the book is them just trying to make this seemingly impossible thing work. There were lots of Collective member cameos and Kiki brother shenanigans. We get updates on basically the entire squad. It was a sweet send off for a long series, that I am actually glad is over because I just couldn't keep them all straight anymore.
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