Pulling the Goalie

Puck Struck #3

by Kate Cochrane

Sparks fly when a championship-winning goalie agrees to train a Hollywood actress for her breakout role in this sapphic hockey romance for fans of Rachel Reid and Ashley Herring Blake.

"Deliciously steamy and re-readable. Sapphic readers, this is your perfect introduction to hockey romance." —USA Today bestselling author Becca Grischow

Amy ‘Teddy’ Tedesco is coming off a championship winning season as the goalie for the Boston Wicked. She should be riding a high and training harder than ever. Instead, her arm is in a sling thanks to a nasty, violent collision during the final playoff game. Teddy’s terrified to get back on the ice—and even more terrified to admit that to her teammates, or worse, to herself.

Anne Montclair has been a big-name Hollywood actress for as long as she can remember. But the public has credited her success to her family connections, and she’s hungry to prove to the world that she has real talent. When Anne has the chance to play a hockey goalie in an awardsy biopic, she jumps at the chance. And she knows exactly who she wants as her coach. 

Teddy needs a way back onto the ice, one that won’t leave her paralyzed with fear. Anne needs a hockey champion to help take her film career to the next level. But when their workplace relationship turns into something more, suddenly their goals don’t seem so simple.

"Fun, swoony, and impossible to put down." —Shayna Douglas, author of Skating the Line

For fans of. . .
• Hockey romance
• Workplace romance
• Sapphic romance
• Fish out of water
• Two worlds colliding
• High competency couples

Puck Struck 
• Wake Up, Nat & Darcy
• Yours for the Season
• Pulling the Goalie

Genres: Lesbian, Romance, Sports, Queer, LGBT, Adult, Sports Romance

Kindle Edition

Expected publication January 26, 2027

Reviews

[Fernanda (ivyfer_isreading) · Rating 2.5 out of 5]

You know when something bothers you in the very beginning of a book and it just doesn't leave your mind for the entire duration of the story? That happened to me here. I just couldn't get past the "sexual harassment" jokes, it just bothered me a lot and it was in the back of my mind until the very end. So yeah... Not great.
Pulling the Goalie is a story about a hockey player and an actor seeking her out for help because her next role is playing a hockey player. Right up my alley, but it was a big disappointment.
This book took fast burn to another level, they exchanged two words and are already kissing.
The things I liked were few but they exist: the queerbaiting discourse felt culturally relevant, the hockey "instructions" were interesting for someone that loves hockey but only in the romance novel setting way and the last 15% where they were actually doing their jobs(acting and playing) were my favorite favorite parts.
Unfortunately I just didn't enjoy this for things that happened really early on and stuck with me, as I mentioned before.

Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin Romance for the ARC.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so so not normal about this I love it so much! I thought the whole premise was so fun with Ann needing goalie lessons for her movie. Teddy was so cute too and I loved that story covered her recovering being hurt after a game. I loved that it showed the mental toll it took on her.

Their relationship was very cute! It’s definitely insta lust at the beginning but they keep it professional while they’re working. The spicy scenes are SPICY and very well written.

I also really enjoyed the tabloid articles that were included! It added that little extra something!

I highly recommend this!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

[Gretal · Rating 1.5 out of 5]

I thought Wake Up, Nat and Darcy was pretty bad, but I believe in second chances so I decided to give this one a shot too. That was a huge mistake.

This book didn't really start off great for me with the whole Boston winning the championship thing, but unfortunately the rest of the book was even worse.

For some reason, this book also had a nepo baby mc? (This was one of the things I complained about in my review of Kate Cochrane's first book) Anne was more aware of her nepo baby privilege than Darcy, at least, but I still did not like it and I'm baffled by the decision to write another nepo baby mc so soon.

Another big issue I had with this book was how repetitive it was. The romance just kept going in circles where one mc would flirt or make an innuendo and then get awkward and apologize for "sexually harassing" the other mc and the other mc would reassure her no it's okay and then we'd repeat that a few chapters later. I also have to add here that for some reason there were 105 instances of the word "sorry." It was horrible. This just really did not leave me interested in their romance at all. I found both of the characters pretty annoying, and by the end of the book I was kind of actively hating them.

I think the writing in this was really bad even aside from the repetitiveness: there was a lot of telling and just handholding for the reader, not trusting you to extrapolate or guess on anything.

And my final issue is that for some reason Anne was just filming her movie in "Canada." It's clearly supposed to be somewhere in the Pacific time zone, close to but not in Vancouver, but I couldn't find any instance where the city was explicitly named and it was incredibly annoying to read sentences where Boston was presented next to "Canada" (but actually the specific location where Anne was filming). I think especially in this geopolitical climate we're living in, it was a bad choice that will tick Canadians off.

All in all, I do not recommend this, and I will not be giving Kate Cochrane a third chance (please feel free to yell at me if you see me doing so).

[Cas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pulling the Goalie by Kate Cochrane is a steamy slow burn following professional hockey play Amy "Teddy" Tedesco and A-list actress Anne Montclair as Teddy teaches Anne how to be a goalie so she can nail an upcoming role. I loved every part of this book, from the setting, to the characters, to the plot and the writing, everything was top notch. I can't believe I hadn't heard of this series before, but now I can't wait to go and binge the first two. 100% would recommend to fans of the PWHL, lesbians, and anyone who watched heated rivalry and wished there was a sapphic hockey franchise.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anne is a Hollywood star who wants people to take her career seriously, which is why she wants to play Jessie Campbell in her biopic. But she needs a coach to teach her everything she needs to know about being a goalie. That’s where Teddy, the Boston Wicked goalie, comes in. The problem? They have a crush on each other, and spending all that one on one time together while trying to keep things strictly professional is easier said than done.

Both Teddy and Anne are so cute, and I really loved the first two chapters. But after that, the story started moving painfully slowly and felt really dragged out. For example, I didn’t need several chapters dedicated to shopping for hockey gear, a super detailed, extremely long description of the gear or Anne learning how to put all the gear on. None of that felt necessary to me. And honestly, that was just one example, the whole book had this slow paced feeling that made it harder and harder for me to stay invested.
Another thing that didn’t really work for me was the way they would flirt with each other, immediately apologize, flirt again, and then apologize all over again. And don’t even get me started on the whole “sexual harassment” thing. To me, it was clearly flirting, and every time they stopped to apologize, it completely killed the chemistry and cuteness of the moment. Instead of being fun or swoony, some of those scenes ended up feeling a little cringey.

One thing I really liked, though, was the use of social media comments and tabloid reactions to show how much people were constantly judging Anne and how Teddy ended up getting dragged into it too. I actually thought that was really interesting, and I wish there had been more of those throughout the book.

I was pretty excited about this one going in, but unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I really liked Teddy and Anne as characters, but the overall story felt way too slow, with a lot of moments stretched out longer than they needed to be. Sadly, this just wasn’t the book for me.

[Aiyesha]

** THE VERSION OF THIS BOOK THAT I READ WAS AN ARC **

[Siobhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pulling the Goalie is a sapphic hockey romance about an actor needing to learn how to play a believable goalie by getting coaching from a top player recovering from an injury. Teddy's team won the championship, but she injured her collarbone in a collision and is struggling mentally to get back on the ice. When Hollywood actress Anne comes to her with a proposition to help Anne get the skills for filming a hockey biopic, it seems like the chance for Teddy to distract herself, but that distraction might just be Anne herself.

As I've enjoyed a few queer hockey romances recently (despite not being the biggest romance reader), I thought I would give this one a try when it came up on Netgalley. I've not read the other books in the series, but it definitely didn't feel like I needed to (unlike something like the Game Changers series which I think does benefit from understanding all the cameos). The start of the book really dives right in, making it clear that both characters are aware of each other from social media and have a bit of a crush situation going on. As soon as they meet, sparks fly, but then Anne suggests they work together with a contract and everything, so they shouldn't do anything unprofessional.

From there, most of the book is them flirting and then apologising for it, which does get a bit repetitive. I liked that there's lots of detail about the hockey side (I know nothing about hockey, but I do like when high concept romance actually does feel embedded within the concept) and I liked Teddy's story about getting over her injury mentally. There was a lot about the level of paparazzi that Anne deals with and also how she gets accused of "queerbaiting" by seeming to date a woman, and I felt that these elements could have been handled better, with more about why Anne hadn't actually publicly come out and less shock that the press could find out where people live. It could have even had space to critique the idea that real people can queerbait, but instead it was more just Anne being offended they didn't know she wasn't straight without her having publicly said anything.

Basically, this is a sweet romance without much conflict, perfect when you want something that isn't too deep and without really any relationship drama. Sometimes that's what people feel like reading! But if you want romance that has a bit of tension and drama, this isn't the one for you.

[Reli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall Rating: 4 Stars

This story follows Teddy, a killer goalie for the Boston Wicked, who is trying to manage her recovery from a serious injury during the last season. Having fallen from the high of the championship, she is desperately trying to keep up a happy appearance. Insert, ultra megastar Anne. Anne desperately wants to break out of her stereotypical roles and work on a movie that has meaning to her. Her eyes are set on, none other than Amy "Teddy" Tedesco to help her achieve that goal.

Anne approaches Teddy at a game and asks her out to dinner. They discuss working together so Anne can portray the biopic of a famous goalie. Sparks fly between the pair immediately and it becomes difficult balancing professionalism and their blatant attraction to one another. Their working together will challenge both women. Anne forced to step up and not allow herself to be coddled. Teddy forced to step back onto ice, despite her PTSD flashbacks. Can these two get through the summer without breaking boundaries or the paparazzi hounding them?

Overall, I think this was a good read. It very much is a sappy romance but in a good way. I think if you enjoy Alexandria Balfour, you will absolutely enjoy this book. Specifically, if you enjoyed Playing for Keeps. I think the romance was very sweet and had some really good vulnerable moments. This book very much feels like watching a good hallmark movie on a cold day. I was grinning and laughing out loud at some moments.

If you want a feel good story, this is worth the read. I do wish that there was more of a conflict to the story. While Teddy is dealing with PTSD flashbacks, we don't get overly involved in that. This is absolutely a fast burn romance, so my slow-burn lovers, beware. The story was enjoyable as a whole.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Harlequin and NetGalley for the ARC!

Oh my god, I loved this! There isn’t enough sapphic hockey romance out there, and this one is such a delight! I loved both Teddy and Anne, and the banter and romance is just so fun and sweet. I love all the hockey instruction scenes and the author, having played goalie herself, does a great job with the hockey accuracy. The support and care they show each other with the mental health involving Anne’s insecurities and Teddy’s PTSD is so hopeful. I really enjoyed the side characters, especially Hailey, Coxie, and the other teammates. I definitely would recommend this to anyone who is a hockey fan, especially goalie lovers like myself.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was rather blah. It might have been somewhat more interesting to someone who is super into hockey as there is just a lot of stuff about learning to play hockey, but I really did not need that many details about what pads to wear and how to make them ready to play in. The relationship between the characters was just not very interesting and whatever tension the author was trying to create to throw a wrench in their relationship just did not work.

[Alicen Ricard · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this arc.

I had a good time reading this book. I thought the pacing was a little weird in places, especially with their relationship. However, the concept was really fun and the characters were too and that really carried it for me.