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Open Net
Dani Kowalski has spent five years keeping the Boston Banshees on the ice. As the team's athletic trainer, she tapes shoulders, manages knees, and reads bodies for a living. She's steady, she's private, and she hasn't let anyone past the professional perimeter she built when she moved to Boston. Not her teammates. Not her brother in Pittsburgh. Not the woman behind the bar in Dorchester who keeps putting wings in front of her without being asked.
Maggie Flynn hasn't needed anyone since Paddy died. She runs his bar the way he taught her — doors open, lights on, regulars fed, Dez in the kitchen. She has Dennis on his stool and a photograph on the wall and a brother who stopped calling twelve years ago. She has a system. The system works. She is not, under any circumstances, going to fall for the quiet trainer with the careful hands who walked in out of the rain on a Tuesday in October.
But Dani sees what Maggie holds. And Maggie feeds what Dani's been missing. And between a Pittsburgh kitchen where pierogi pizza is a love language and a Dorchester bar where the jukebox knows when to stop, two women who have spent their lives taking care of everyone else are about to find out what happens when somebody takes care of them.
Open Net is a sapphic romance about two trans women, a dead man's bar, a Polish mother's holy card, and learning how to ask for the thing you need.
Book Four in the Offside Hearts series. Can be read as a standalone.
Maggie Flynn hasn't needed anyone since Paddy died. She runs his bar the way he taught her — doors open, lights on, regulars fed, Dez in the kitchen. She has Dennis on his stool and a photograph on the wall and a brother who stopped calling twelve years ago. She has a system. The system works. She is not, under any circumstances, going to fall for the quiet trainer with the careful hands who walked in out of the rain on a Tuesday in October.
But Dani sees what Maggie holds. And Maggie feeds what Dani's been missing. And between a Pittsburgh kitchen where pierogi pizza is a love language and a Dorchester bar where the jukebox knows when to stop, two women who have spent their lives taking care of everyone else are about to find out what happens when somebody takes care of them.
Open Net is a sapphic romance about two trans women, a dead man's bar, a Polish mother's holy card, and learning how to ask for the thing you need.
Book Four in the Offside Hearts series. Can be read as a standalone.
350 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 19, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 15, 2026
a different hockey story
I wanted to love this book as I really liked the prior three in the series, but a couple of things held me back. Firstly, I was 25% into the book and was confused because I thought Dani was trans and there was no mention of that in any of her inner musings as she started to date someone new. And I found it hard to believe that two trans women, who had been ‘intimate’ with one not having had bottom surgery wouldn’t realize the other person was trans. It just seemed like something that should have had a bit more impact on the story.
The second thing was the writing - the author has a unique style which just became a lot by this fourth book. And I missed the hockey - would have liked more details about the games, Dani’s job and what the other women were up to.
Overall the story was sweet and I would recommend just to complete the series.
I wanted to love this book as I really liked the prior three in the series, but a couple of things held me back. Firstly, I was 25% into the book and was confused because I thought Dani was trans and there was no mention of that in any of her inner musings as she started to date someone new. And I found it hard to believe that two trans women, who had been ‘intimate’ with one not having had bottom surgery wouldn’t realize the other person was trans. It just seemed like something that should have had a bit more impact on the story.
The second thing was the writing - the author has a unique style which just became a lot by this fourth book. And I missed the hockey - would have liked more details about the games, Dani’s job and what the other women were up to.
Overall the story was sweet and I would recommend just to complete the series.
June 5, 2026
Enjoyable read.
Having the two main characters in a queer romance predisposed me to like both the story and the two main characters. Quinn writes engaging characters and tales.
However, she needs both a knowledgeable hockey consultant and a thorough editor. Example Dani, the Banshees trainer, is on a road trip over three thousand miles away. A star player on the team comes to the bar during the road trip along with three other players. That makes zero sense and the star player returns the next night. The team is in Vancouver and San Jose at the time. They are both major metropolitan cities with enough bars without a trip back to Boston. I hesitated at first to criticize the hockey stuff but they’re the only sports information some readers might be exposed to. It has to be right.
Having the two main characters in a queer romance predisposed me to like both the story and the two main characters. Quinn writes engaging characters and tales.
However, she needs both a knowledgeable hockey consultant and a thorough editor. Example Dani, the Banshees trainer, is on a road trip over three thousand miles away. A star player on the team comes to the bar during the road trip along with three other players. That makes zero sense and the star player returns the next night. The team is in Vancouver and San Jose at the time. They are both major metropolitan cities with enough bars without a trip back to Boston. I hesitated at first to criticize the hockey stuff but they’re the only sports information some readers might be exposed to. It has to be right.
June 15, 2026
I really want to like the book but there are a few glaring issues. The bones of the story are there and the characters are there but the book needs a heavy editing pass for the conversations. Numerous times in the book people will speak twice in a row so the familiar order of who is talking gets jumbled. It definitely got to the point where I started to think that the book might be written with AI and I am still on the fence about that, given some other weird inconsistencies.
Also, the spice-level of the book is vastly lower than the previous three and feels somewhat phoned in which is surprising given the subject matter. I usually just skim or skip through spicy parts because I am in these books for the cute romance anyway, but this book felt uninspired.
Also, the spice-level of the book is vastly lower than the previous three and feels somewhat phoned in which is surprising given the subject matter. I usually just skim or skip through spicy parts because I am in these books for the cute romance anyway, but this book felt uninspired.
April 27, 2026
Two characters who cared
Certainly a different read for me, not in a negative way but maybe broadening my reading scope. Once again two characters who carried life’s baggage, one heavier than the other’s, but were prepared to accept each other to maintain their relationship because they cared about each other. And once again there were ‘technical’ problems with the book but I skipped over them as I was invested in these characters.
Certainly a different read for me, not in a negative way but maybe broadening my reading scope. Once again two characters who carried life’s baggage, one heavier than the other’s, but were prepared to accept each other to maintain their relationship because they cared about each other. And once again there were ‘technical’ problems with the book but I skipped over them as I was invested in these characters.
April 27, 2026
Certainly a different read for me, not in a negative way but maybe broadening my reading scope. Once again two characters who carried life’s baggage, one heavier than the other’s, but were prepared to accept each other to maintain their relationship because they cared about each other. And once again there were ‘technical’ problems with the book but I skipped over them as I was invested in these characters.
August 21, 2026
what just happened?
Loved her other 3 novels in this series and was prepared to love this one. I didn't. Not for the subject matter, but somehow this book was written without the nuance, language, and even grammar of the first three. Care to know who is speaking? Too bad. It was a great love story full of redemption and reclaiming, but it was awful. Very disappointing. However, please read the first three in the series, which are phenomenal.
Loved her other 3 novels in this series and was prepared to love this one. I didn't. Not for the subject matter, but somehow this book was written without the nuance, language, and even grammar of the first three. Care to know who is speaking? Too bad. It was a great love story full of redemption and reclaiming, but it was awful. Very disappointing. However, please read the first three in the series, which are phenomenal.
April 23, 2026
what a great addition to this series
I love the way this author keeps delivering complicated characters who share their inner and outer selves with us. Her understanding of complicated relationships is exceptional.
I love the way this author keeps delivering complicated characters who share their inner and outer selves with us. Her understanding of complicated relationships is exceptional.
May 26, 2026
one of the best
One of the best novels I have read. And I am a 74 year old Polish woman from Pittsburgh. Who is trans.
One of the best novels I have read. And I am a 74 year old Polish woman from Pittsburgh. Who is trans.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews