Lovefool

Minnesota Mustangs #3

by Celeste Briars

Lake Capitano has always been a little too loud, a little too bold, and a lot too unwilling to let things go—especially after losing her sister. She channels her grief into protests, journalism, and half-baked decisions, which gives her anger somewhere to crash-land. She’s always known she wasn’t cut out for love—the handholding, the mushy-gushy compliments, the white-picket fence future—so when a video of her ex-boyfriend with his tongue down another girl’s throat goes viral, Lake does what any rational woman would do: she unleashes a swarm of crickets in his house. What she doesn’t plan for? Getting caught mid-revenge, half-dressed, by an unexpected—and very hot—male witness.

Sutton Whittaker lives by the rules—not out of necessity, but in the wake of a cautionary tale. With a father who works as a firefighter, he’s seen his fair share of how ugly the world can be, and the unvarnished truth keeps him cautious. As a player for the Minnesota Mustangs, hockey is his family, his focus, and the closest thing he has to stability. The pursuit of love and its unavoidable pitfalls have never been his priority, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t crave an intimacy that extended beyond game debriefs and drunken heart-to-hearts. He’s definitely not looking for chaos—until chaos shows up in a five-foot-seven package of lace and attitude in his teammate’s bedroom.

Helping Lake escape seems like a one-time occurrence…until he can’t shake the memory of her from his head. When she’s tasked with writing a news article to cover the hockey team’s season, Sutton doesn’t think anything will come from a little harmless flirting. What starts as a messy meet-cute turns into late-night pizza dates with a side of soul-bearing and something dangerously real. Close proximity and stolen glances become a gateway into the kind of relationship that transcends unconditional love, but when Lake’s story puts Sutton’s team in the crosshairs, he’s forced to choose between an impossible ultimatum: protect the people who gave him everything, or risk losing the only woman who’s ever made him want more.

Can Lake put aside her moral superiority complex and make the necessary sacrifices to keep the only person who has ever mattered to her, or will her betrayal unravel the fabric of their relationship for good?

Genres: Hockey, Romance, Sports Romance, Sports, Friends To Lovers, Hockey Romance, Rom Com

400 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 3, 2026

About the author

Celeste Briars is an indie author who specializes in spicy hockey romances. She’s a UC Davis alumnus with a bachelor’s in psychology. She loves creating memorable meet-cutes and happily ever afters. When she’s not writing, you can find her binge-watching horror movies, playing with her cats, or dancing the night away with her friends. If you’re looking for books with spice hot enough to question your religious values and feel-good moments that make your heart sing, please cuddle up with a Reapers novel and stay a while!

You can keep in touch through Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/celestebria...) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@celestebriars...).

Reviews

[Cristina]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I JUST finished this one and I’m OBSESSED. 🥹💗 It was sooo cute and tender… but also HOT. 👀🔥

And listen, I normally skip spicy scenes, BUT THESE ONES??? Damn. They were so good I actually wanted to read them. 😮‍💨

What I loved most was how perfectly this book balanced the tenderness and care around topics like depression and self-hate with the desperation, messiness, and absolute need that can come with love. It felt emotional without losing the fun and romance, and I was completely here for it.

And SUTTON!!! 🥹🧸 He was the biggest teddy bear and I loved literally EVERYTHING about him. Every single thing. Even his breeding kink 😜😂

And Lake??? Oh, she was MESSY. Like, “me-level messy” 😂 Which obviously made her incredibly relatable. She was adorable, chaotic, and just so easy to love.

Basically, I loved these two, I loved their mess, I loved the tenderness, I loved the spice… I loved pretty much EVERYTHING about this book. 💗

Definitely a new favourite! 🥹✨

[⋆˚୨ৎ˚⋆ Kim ⋆˚୨ৎ˚⋆]

જ⁀➴ 3 stars

Thank you to Celeste Briars and Love Notes PR for the eARC! All opinions are my own. Lovefool is out now!

"You're the best part of me. It doesn't matter where the hell we end up in the future, you'll always occupy the largest place in my heart."

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.
I think this is one of those books that is an "it's not you, it's me" issue." I'm not saying 3 stars is bad! It's just one of those middle-of-the-road, "I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought, but I'd still recommend it to certain people" books.

I saw a quote a while back by someone who said, "Isn't it lovely when you have a soft place to land?" in terms of finding someone who can become a safe space for you, and I wholeheartedly agree that that fits with Lake and Sutton's relationship. While some people may argue that Sutton and Lake seemed to have an insta-love/insta-lust sort of relationship right from the get-go, I'm glad that they didn't immediately act on those impulses and allowed themselves to get to know each other first. Sutton's a gentle giant, and he's always looking out for the people he loves and making sure they're safe. He jumped in to help Lake with her younger brother when her mother couldn't, and he's always looking for ways to make Lake smile even on her worst days.

I think Sutton and Lake take the cake as one of the more wholesome relationships so far in the series, mainly because I think they had the best balance in helping each other grow and heal from their past traumas, personal issues, and doubts together. If you've read the other books in the series, I think you could argue that Merit and Crew also fit this category, but Lake had some SERIOUS childhood trauma she had to work through and blamed herself for, even all of these years later. Sutton helped her learn that her boldness and willingness to stand up for those who can't isn't a failure; it's a strength. I think this quote about her from Sutton sums it up better than I can:

"Lake Capitano is a hurricane. Not in the sense that she's messy and unpredictable, but in the sense that she's strong, unyielding, passionate. She loves without caution. She loves without boundaries. She channels her emotions into actions, and that's more than I can say for myself."

In return, Lake helped Sutton realize that he's perfect the way he is, and he's constantly gone out of his way to show that he loves her even before he said the actual words, "I love you." She helped him become more confident in himself and who he is as a "protector" and how loyal he is to the people he loves and his teammates.

Sutton and Lake were absolutely perfect for each other, but I'm going to put an asterisk on that because some things gave me the side-eye while reading and made me move Sutton from green-flag territory to yellow and even red-flag territory for me as an MMC. There were a lot of things in the third act that made me take out my metaphorical red flag and start waving it around, which SUCKS because he was the absolute greenest flag of a character for the entirety of the story leading up to that point. Some things were said in said third act that were just...below the belt, to put it nicely. It was absolutely not necessary to say to anyone, but especially Lake. Was he self-aware enough to realize that what he said was wrong? Yes, but I still don't think it was warranted in any context, and if I were Lake, that would've been my breaking point, and I would've just kicked him to the curb. She honestly had way more patience than I would've had in that scenario. What's even worse is that Lake ends up blaming herself for a bulk of it, even though she hadn't done anything wrong.

Also...I need to talk about the spice here, because this actually knocked my rating down a bit. There'll be more info below the trigger/content warnings at the end of the review to keep the main part of my review spoiler-free, but I just wanted to say that this is what knocked my rating down on TOP of everything that happened in the third act. The spice level itself was on par with any other Celeste Briars book, but I'm sorry, I had to cringe because....yeah, there's things I'm not the biggest fan of when it comes to spice, and this is a personal thing that I couldn't get past. If you're into what Sutton and Lake do in the book, I'm not going to yuck your yum, and I know that this is why my rating is more of an "it's not you, it's me" sort of deal.

Overall, if you're looking for a sports romance that also has a lot of heart and healing, this might be the book for you! There were a few things I personally couldn't get past, but just because it wasn't for me doesn't mean it might not be your next five-star read! I can't wait for the next book, Lovelorn, because OMG the little excerpt at the end of Lovefool has me excited. It's literally the ONE couple I've been looking to read about FOREVERRRRRRR.

(P.S. A giant middle finger goes to Buford Montgomery. May you rot in fictional character hell for the rest of your days.)
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.
Trigger/content warnings (will contain spoilers for the book, so read at your own risk):

Flashback of the death of a sibling, on-page panic attack, depression, body image issues, graphic violence, negative self-talk, sexual content (2.75-3/5 on my personal spice scale, but this will vary depending on your personal experience with reading spice), suicidal ideation, parental neglect, alcohol and drug consumption



*spice spoilers down below, keep scrolling and read at your own risk*












1. There's a scene in the book where Sutton eats Lake out while she's on her period, and at the end, he smiles, and there's literally period blood all over his teeth (so literally inside his mouth) and his face. iI know that as a healthcare professional, there's nothing wrong with doing that, provided that everyone's gotten tested recently for STIs and all of that fun stuff. It's just not my personal cup of tea.

2. I did NOT need to know how much hair Sutton had down there. The fact that Lake said it was like, a thick forest of hair or something like that did NOT make it better.

3.

[Sim-fully Ever After]

4🌟 | 3🌶️

The mix of playful chaos, tenderness, and undeniable chemistry made this such a fun romance to settle into.

Sutton and Lake had an easy connection, and I especially enjoyed how their relationship could be both sweet and steamy while still having plenty of emotional depth.

Sutton was an absolute teddy bear, completely gone for Lake, while Lake’s messy, chaotic personality made her incredibly relatable. I also appreciated how naturally the story handled her struggles with depression and self-worth, while the Minnesota team dynamics added plenty of humor along the way.

Their relationship had so much warmth and openness, and I liked seeing them create a space where they could communicate without judgment. The spice was amazing, especially alongside all the tenderness between them.

Overall, this was a cute, steamy, emotionally layered romance with a pairing that was incredibly easy to get invested in.

~~~~

A sincere thank you to Celeste Briars and Love Notes PR for the ARC! 🥰📚

I’m so grateful for the early read. As always, all thoughts and opinions are completely my own. ✨

[ashlee ❤]

Lake + Sutton

-mf college hockey
-journalist x hockey player
-teammates ex
-friends to lovers
-black cat x golden retriever
-bad girl x good boy
-breeding kink

holyyyy shiiitttt was this spicyyyyyy!! that breeding kink really came in clutch yall!! i loved the development of them & their relationship as well as their personal lives..i will say lake’s interaction with her mom when she called her for comfort was super confusing to me after reading this entire time what she had to say about her mom…but i still greatly enjoyed these two!

[Micki]

I had high hopes for this book, after seeing a exert from it about the MMC being self conscious of his size and mentioning other anxieties he has I was really excited! a big muscle man with a soft belly and gentle demeanor? sounds like my cup of tea. a FMC with a traumatic past? perfect. unfortunately this book was not my favourite.

here are the issues I had with the book.
after a few good lines that made me laugh i realised that the author seems to through unnecessarily large words in that even for someone who has a large enough vocab I had to look up so many words, after about 6 dictionary definitions I gave up. at times I feel like they wrote the book, they pulled up a thesaurus and changed a few words to make it sound more intelligent.
a personal issue I had was eating out while the FMC was on her period, that's a no from me. I don't want to yuck anyone's yum but... yuck. especially the detail they went into for the scene. made me gag tbh.
Now I don't mind a breeding kink in books. in some situations I'm all for it. but during the MC's first time having sex he says " I want to breed you". no. I do not like that, I know its called a breeding kink but to say I want to breed you during sex makes it sound like she's a puppy farm bitch and then thinking about puppy farms made me sad. I shouldn't be sad when reading a sex scene.
towards the end of the book there's some drama and after the reconciliation they both have these massive sappy speeches to each other about how they saved each other and they're the only light in the tunnel etc etc and for 22 year olds who have only been dating for like 2months(?) it was excessive and I couldn't help but roll my eyes through it.

[Saartje’s literartea]

Exploring romance tropes, and this time it was a college romance : a journalism major and a hockey player.

Lake is an absolute queen! The introduction between her and Sutton is so funny and wholesome in a sense.

The dynamic within the Minnesota club is a nice element of the book. I thought it was hilarious to read the conversation between Sutton and his teammates.

Some parts definitely threw me for a loop and made me clutch my pearls. I knew from the plot there was going to be a confrontation between Sutton and Lake, but oh my god. The author had me on the edge of my seat wanting to keep reading.

I also didn't expect Lake to have that kind of trauma. I was like , this poor girl, and it was implemented well throughout the story how it affected her.

What made me give it a 3-star rating was mainly because of the type of spice.

I want to say I did love how they gave each other the space and comfort to explore and communicate without shame.

It was the dirty talk that seemed repetitive and the type of kinks that made me not enjoy the spice all the time. That is just not my preference , and if you did enjoy it, that's cool!

The word "engorged" took me out, though.

Overall , a cute and funny summer read.

Thank you Love Notes PR and the author for this free arc in exchange for an honest review!

Sorry if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes:)

[Jennifer W]

Thank you Celeste Briars and your team for this arc 🥰

Lovefool started out soooo good and Lake is hilarious! She reminded me a bit about myself actually lol and there were numerous times I was like: omg, I definitely would have done that/said that and so on 😅 Sutton is so precious, what a guy 🥹 I liked him so much!!!

Anyways, I laughed so much in the beginning and I thought their meet cute was soo good and really set the tone for the rest of the book. However, it did derail a bit during the middle part and some things just weren’t for me 🙈 it just felt very chaotic there for a minute hehe

But towards the end it was back on track and I really liked the third act of the book. I very much enjoyed the way their relationship grew and how they supported each other.

It was cute and very spicy, had hockey in it and I overall liked the vibes, but I think it was a bit too messy for me to be able to give it more than 3⭐️. I really like this team and their group dynamic and I am very curious about the next book (thanks for including a chapter from book 4 btw) 🤭 this little snippet caught my attention so fast!

[Leena]

The 2 stars are me being nice...mainly because Sutton is smokin hot.

I've been planning to read some books by Celeste Briars for a while, and all I can say is—I don't regret waiting!!

This book was rushed in terms of how their relationship progressed, the conflict being settled the way it was, and how fast they made up after the conflict they had.

All of this is pretty sad considering I thought the book started off nicely with the first few pages. Next thing you know Sutton's saying her and her brother are his priorities. He said he put them over his college hockey career that suddenly became even more important than them for a split second towards the end!

We also were starved of more background and scenes between Lake and her Mom. They have a very rocky and untouched relationship that needs mending. And it was just casually brought back up towards the end and solved with just a few words? Unbelievable.

Not to mention we never even touched the surface of his relationship with his Dad.

I went in with a lot of hope, and I'm leaving with my brain fried. I don't think I'll be reading anything else from this author.

[Jessabookaholic]

Review of Advance Copy
Thank you so much Love Notes and Celeste for this opportunity!

This was such a cute and funny book. Loved the dynamic of the group! The story was pretty hilarious for me and that make it easier to read. However, there was times that it got a bit boring and some words choices that didnt make me get fully into the story. That also causes some scenes to be kind of cringey at moments. Sometimes simple words are better for the situation.

I’m not a fan of some tropes here like the insta- love kinda thing, but it was good in here and the third act break up… that felt a bit unnecessary

Overall, I liked it, i would definitely be giving the author another opportunity!

[Brittany Harville]

3.75⭐️ round up!
Thank you Love Notes PR for the ARC! This was very cute and very spicy! I loved our giant teddy bear MMC and his devotion to the people he loves and cares about. Sutton was just what our FMC Lake needed. (Loved both their names too) She was such a fun chaotic badass! A journalist who went through a very traumatic moment in her life and felt she had no one on her side or understood her meets our jolly giant hockey player. He was just so likable and his own insecurities made him even more lovable. The way these two become friends and morph into what they become had me hooked on this book and I had to find out who was going to break first!

[The Book Ssirren]

Hahaha! This was such a fun and wild ride with Sutton and Lake. That girl was a firecracker. I dyed laughing when Sutton caught her in the act of revenge. Pants down, red handed lol. Then he helps her escape. Sir, you’re not an accomplice lol. This book was so much fun. Their meet cutes, their banter. The moments got spicy. But omgosh this was so good. I laughed, I swooned, I took a cold shower lol.
This was an absolute blast. So well written. I adored these two so much.

[Sydney Newby]

Thank you to LoveNotesPR for this ARC! I really enjoyed the plot of this book and thought it had a good story. However, I found a lot of the dialogue very cringey and it made the book difficult to get through.

[Chelsea]

First and foremost, I was hooked the second I saw the blue and yellow, and then the character art started rolling in and I was DONE. Celeste did it again! 💙💛

She somehow made me fall in love with two characters who have the BEST banter and sexual tension. Yes queen. And I’m obviously obsessed with their names too. 😂

Lake finds herself needing a quick exit from a situation she never should’ve gotten herself into. Enter Sutton: rule follower, hockey player, and complete hottie. What starts as some shameless flirting turns into more time together when Lake starts writing an article about Sutton’s hockey team, the Minnesota Mustangs.

The banter between these two is SO good, and the slow burn? 🔥 Sutton is a big ol’ teddy bear, while Lake is a tiny tornado, and somehow they’re exactly what the other needed.

I loved watching these two get pulled into each other’s orbit, and the third-act drama was a fun little addition. I’m so happy I continued this series because it’s quickly becoming one of my favorite cute, fun hockey romance reads! 🏒💙💛

Thank for the ARC Love Notes PR!!

[Isabella Grace]

“𝗙𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗷𝗮𝗶𝗹.”

RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5
SPICE: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️


Okay.

Before we discuss Lake.

Before we discuss Sutton.

Before we discuss the Minnesota Mustangs.

I need to have a tiny emotional moment.

🤏🏻

CELESTE BRIARS IS LITERALLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE AUTHORS.

And every single time this woman slides into my DMs and PERSONALLY asks me if I want to ARC read her newest book???

😭

Do you understand what that does to me?!

There is something so unbelievably surreal about loving an author’s work and then having THAT AUTHOR come directly to you like:

“Hey, I wrote something. Do you want to read it?”

DO I WANT TO READ IT?!

Celeste.

Baby.

I WOULD LIKE TO BE FIRST IN LINE.

😂

Seriously though, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.

There are no words for the feeling of an author whose writing you genuinely LOVE wanting YOU to read their work.

I’m gonna cry.

But we don’t do that here.

Emotions are disgusting.

MOVING ON.

😂

Because we’re back with the Minnesota Mustangs for BOOK THREE.

And if you’ve been here longer than approximately twelve minutes, you already know what sports romance does to me.

But HOCKEY romance?!

🥵

That’s different.

Hockey romance is basically one of my core food groups at this point.

I don’t make the rules.

Actually, I probably did make that rule.

Whatever.

FIVE STARS.

FIVE. FUCKING. STARS.

And I knew we were in for a good time approximately five seconds after meeting Lake Capitano.

Because how does our heroine respond when a video of her ex-boyfriend making out with another woman goes viral?

Does she cry?

Block him?

Journal?

Call a friend?

Begin a peaceful healing journey centered around personal growth?

HAHAHAHA.

NO.

Lake decides to release a SWARM OF FUCKING CRICKETS into his house.

🦗🦗🦗🦗🦗

I’m sorry.

I LOVE HER.

Immediately.

No further character development required.

Five stars for pest based revenge alone.

😂

Unfortunately, Lake’s carefully constructed and extremely mature revenge operation hits a slight snag when she gets caught…

half dressed,

stuck in a window,

by an enormous hockey player.

👁️👄👁️

ROMANCE IS ALIVE AND WELL, PEOPLE.

Forget bumping into each other at a coffee shop.

Forget accidentally grabbing the same book.

Forget spilled drinks.

Give me:

“I was committing cricket-related crimes against my cheating ex and a giant hockey player caught me halfway through the window.”

THAT’S A FUCKING MEET-CUTE.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

And the giant hockey player in question?

Sutton Whittaker.

Oh.

Ohhhh.

😮‍💨

Hello, sir.

Because Sutton is everything Lake isn’t.

He’s cautious.

Structured.

Responsible.

Rules make sense to him.

Stability makes sense to him.

His hockey team is his family.

His life is relatively controlled.

And then Lake comes flying through his teammate’s bedroom window in lace and attitude while apparently committing an act of biological warfare against her ex.

😂

Sutton:

I like stability.

Lake:

🦗 SURPRISE, BITCH.

And THAT is how we begin.

He helps her escape.

It should be a one-time interaction.

A bizarre story he’ll tell his teammates someday.

Except Sutton cannot stop thinking about her.

🥹

HE WAS SMITTEN FROM THE FUCKING BEGINNING.

My favorite disease in fictional men.

There’s something about watching a huge man get completely flustered by ONE woman that scratches a very specific part of my brain.

Sutton is this massive professional hockey player…

and Lake shows up with her smart mouth, chaos, confidence, and ridiculous little schemes and suddenly this man has forgotten how to function.

GOOD.

MAKE THE BIG MAN NERVOUS.

😂

He basically meets her while she’s half-dressed, trapped in a window and releasing insects into another man’s house and thinks:

🥹 I would like to know her better.

Sutton…

That’s not a meet cute.

That’s a psychiatric evaluation.

But I support you.

😂

Then Lake gets assigned to cover the Mustangs’ season as part of her journalism work.

Which means these two suddenly have an excuse to keep seeing each other.

And Sutton thinks:

What’s the harm in a little flirting?

SUTTON.

You giant fucking idiot.

YOU WERE ALREADY GONE.

There was no “harmless flirting.”

This man saw Lake ONCE and his brain immediately created a new folder labeled:

Trouble 🥰

AND HE CALLS HER TROUBLE?!

😩

Celeste.

PLEASE.

Nicknames already get me.

But a giant hockey player looking at his little chaos demon and calling her Trouble?

I’M JUST A GIRL.

I HAVE LIMITATIONS.

😂

And their chemistry?!

GOOD LORD.

The flirting.

The stolen looks.

The teasing.

The tension.

The late night pizza dates.

The little moments where they start talking about things that actually MATTER.

Watching Sutton slowly become completely obsessed with this woman while Lake is basically like:

Romantic love? Couldn’t be me. Sounds terrible.

Meanwhile Sutton is standing approximately three feet away looking at her like:

🥹 That’s my future wife.

😂

Lake doesn’t believe she’s made for love.

She doesn’t want the mushy shit.

The handholding.

The compliments.

The white picket fence fantasy.

And a lot of that makes sense once you start understanding what’s underneath all of her chaos.

Because Lake is FUNNY.

She’s loud.

She’s bold.

She’s impulsive.

She is a walking bad decision wearing a cute outfit.

She’s my kind of woman.

😂

But the chaos isn’t all she is.

Lake is carrying so much grief.

She lost her sister young.

She’s been blaming herself.

She’s spent years trying to hold everything together while carrying anger she doesn’t know where to put.

She’s trying to be there for Max.

She’s trying to deal with parents who emotionally checked out.

She’s protesting.

Writing.

Fighting.

Making questionable decisions.

Releasing crickets.

You know.

Healthy coping mechanisms.

😂

But underneath all of it is someone who desperately wants to matter.

Someone who wants to be cared for.

Someone who has convinced herself she isn’t built for love partly because wanting it would mean admitting how badly she needs someone to stay.

😭

CELESTE.

I SAID WE WEREN’T CRYING.

GET BACK TO THE HOCKEY PLAYER.

And Sutton?

SUTTON FUCKING WHITTAKER.

🥹🧸

This man is a TEDDY BEAR.

A giant, muscular, slightly soft-around-the-middle HOCKEY TEDDY BEAR.

And THANK YOU for that, by the way.

Because I loved that Sutton wasn’t described as another carved-from-marble, 2%-body-fat romance hero.

He’s huge.

He’s strong.

He’s an athlete.

And he’s got a little tummy.

HOT.

Give me different bodies in romance.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

And Lake is FERAL for him.

AS SHE SHOULD BE.

Because apparently while Lake was committing cricket crimes, Sutton was busy being specifically engineered to destroy me.

Big?

Check.

Hockey player?

Check.

Protective?

Check.

Sweet?

Check.

Gets nervous around the woman he likes?

CHECK.

Falls hard?

CHECK.

Emotionally supportive?

CHECK.

Makes her a FUCKING PLAYLIST to help her through a panic attack?!

🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨

EXCUSE ME?!

A PLAYLIST?!

HE MADE HER A PLAYLIST?!

😭

That’s it.

Everyone go home.

Sutton wins.

Because I can joke about fictional men committing felonies all day long and I WILL but there’s something about a man paying attention to what a woman actually needs that gets me every fucking time.

Lake doesn’t need Sutton to fix her.

He can’t erase her grief.

He can’t undo her past.

He can’t magically make her stop blaming herself.

He just…

shows up.

Supports her.

Encourages her.

Reassures her.

Makes space for her emotions.

Lets her be messy.

Lets her be loud.

Lets her be Lake.

🥹

DISGUSTING.

I LOVE HIM.

And the emotional connection between these two is what really sold this book for me.

Yes, they’re wildly attracted to each other.

Like…

WILDLY.

😂

But their relationship becomes so much more than that.

The late-night conversations.

The vulnerability.

The way they reassure each other.

The way Sutton supports Lake’s journalism.

The way Lake gets beneath all of Sutton’s caution.

They both become somewhere the other person can finally exhale.

And THAT’S my shit.

Give me all the chemistry you want.

But then make me BELIEVE these two actually like each other when they’re fully clothed.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

And Celeste absolutely did.

Now…

We should probably address the other thing.

👀

Because Sutton Whittaker may be a teddy bear…

BUT THAT TEDDY BEAR HAS RANGE.

😮‍💨

The tension between these two had been simmering for SO LONG that when they finally stopped behaving themselves?

GOODBYE.

Lake and Sutton discovering they have some particularly compatible interests?

😂

OF COURSE THEY DO.

Because apparently Celeste looked at everything she’d already given me and thought:

You know what this needs?

🔥 Praise
🔥 A breeding kink
🔥 Sutton being significantly less teddy bear like when appropriate

Ma’am.

ENOUGH.

I HAVE A FAMILY.

😂

And when I tell you the sexual tension between these two was SUFFOCATING?

In the best possible way.

Because Sutton can go from:

🥹 I made you a playlist because I know you’re struggling.

to:

😈 Well. Hello, Daddy.

THE DUALITY.

The RANGE.

One minute I’m hugging the giant hockey teddy bear.

The next I’m like:

SIR, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PLAYLIST?!

😂

Apparently Sutton is capable of both emotional regulation AND making me question mine.

Good for him.

And Lake matches his energy PERFECTLY.

That’s what makes them so much fun.

Neither one feels like they’re simply filling a trope.

They’re weird.

Messy.

Horny.

Emotional.

Funny.

Complicated.

And completely fucking gone for each other.

Which means naturally…

SOMETHING HAS TO GO WRONG.

😭

Because Lake’s journalism eventually puts the team directly in the crosshairs.

She discovers information involving her ex, illegal betting, and something that could seriously affect the Mustangs.

And suddenly Sutton is caught between the two things that mean the most to him:

The team that became his family.

And Lake.

The woman who somehow went from random cricket criminal stuck in a window to the person he can’t imagine losing.

And listen.

I understood why Sutton was upset.

I understood the loyalty to his team.

I understood the fear.

I understood that Lake’s choices had consequences.

BUT.

SUTTON WHITTAKER.

👁️👄👁️

The second he used Lake’s sister against her during that argument?

I nearly became a suspect in my own criminal investigation.

SIR.

NO.

BAD HOCKEY PLAYER.

PUT THAT SENTENCE BACK WHERE YOU FOUND IT.

🚨

I went from:

🥹 My sweet teddy bear.

to:

🧍🏻‍♀️ I will put you through the fucking boards myself.

REAL QUICK.

😂

Because that was LOW.

And Lake was already carrying so much guilt around her sister.

So watching him hit THAT wound?!

MY HEART.

😭

I was pissed.

I was hurt for her.

I wanted him to fix it.

And thankfully…

THE MAN GROVELS.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Because Sutton eventually realizes Lake wasn’t trying to hurt him.

She wasn’t trying to destroy his team.

She was trying to do what she believed was RIGHT.

And that’s Lake.

She’s stubborn.

She’s messy.

She can absolutely make questionable decisions.

But she cares.

Deeply.

And Sutton ultimately understands that loving Lake doesn’t mean only loving her when her choices are convenient for him.

So he shows her.

He chooses her.

He supports her.

And watching him realize what actually matters?

😭

FINE. YOU CAN COME OUT OF THE PENALTY BOX.

I forgive you, Sutton.

Mostly.

I’m keeping the skates nearby in case we need to revisit the issue.

😂

But their love is so beautifully imperfect.

They’re not two perfectly healed people meeting at exactly the right moment.

They’re messy.

They fuck up.

They hurt each other.

They apologize.

They grow.

They choose each other again.

And again.

And again.

That’s what made LoveFool feel so good.

It’s tender without becoming boring.

Emotional without losing the humor.

Hot without relying on spice to create chemistry.

Funny without making the heavier subjects feel trivial.

And Celeste handles themes of grief, depression, self-hate, guilt and panic with so much care.

Lake can be hilarious AND hurting.

Sutton can be protective AND make mistakes.

Neither character is flattened into one thing.

And I loved them for it.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

🏒 Hockey romance
💗 Minnesota Mustangs — Book 3
🦗 Cricket-based revenge 😂
🔥 Chaotic meet-cute
🖤 Grief + healing
🥹 Giant teddy-bear MMC
🔥 He falls HARD
🖤 Journalism storyline
🏒 Team-as-family
🔥 Forced/close proximity
🍕 Late-night pizza dates
🥹 Emotional caretaking
🎶 HE MAKES HER A PLAYLIST
🔥 Praise
👀 Breeding-kink compatibility
🖤 Depression/self-hate themes
🔥 Incredible sexual tension
🥹 Big man getting flustered around one woman
🖤 Messy FMC representation
🔥 “Trouble” nickname
💔 Third-act pain
🧎🏻‍♂️ Groveling
🏒 One hockey player temporarily sentenced to the penalty box for saying some BULLSHIT
💗 Two messy people learning they deserve to be loved exactly as they are

FIVE “I RELEASED CRICKETS INTO MY EX’S HOUSE AND ACCIDENTALLY ACQUIRED A GIANT HOCKEY BOYFRIEND” STARS.

Honestly?

Lake may have just discovered the most effective dating strategy I’ve encountered in romance.

Hinge?

Deleted.

Bumble?

Unnecessary.

Tinder?

Absolutely not.

Apparently the answer is:

STEP ONE: Acquire crickets.

STEP TWO: Commit petty revenge.

STEP THREE: Get stuck half-dressed in window.

STEP FOUR: Giant professional hockey player appears.

STEP FIVE: Profit.

📝

I’m taking notes.

😂

But seriously, Celeste…

You did it AGAIN.

The Minnesota Mustangs already had me.

It’s hockey romance.

Obviously I’m seated.

But LoveFool gave me exactly why I love this genre so much.

The team.

The found family.

The banter.

The giant men who can slam each other into plexiglass but become completely fucking useless when the woman they like looks at them.

THAT’S CINEMA.

😂

And Sutton?

Sutton is the perfect reminder that occasionally I CAN appreciate a green flag.

Don’t get excited.

This does not represent substantial personal growth.

My morally gray man tracking system remains fully operational.

🚩

But every once in a while, a giant hockey-playing teddy bear comes along and temporarily distracts me from the fictional felons.

Especially when he calls his girl Trouble, makes her playlists, worships her chaos, and has… extracurricular interests.

👀

I’m only human.

And Lake?

My messy little cricket terrorist.

🦗🖤

I adored her.

She is loud.

Complicated.

Impulsive.

Grieving.

Stubborn.

Funny.

Passionate.

Sometimes wrong.

Sometimes SO fucking messy.

And still completely deserving of someone who looks at all of it and says:

Yeah. Her. That’s the one I want.

😭

FUCK.

Okay.

We’re getting dangerously close to emotions again.

Shut it down.

🚨

FIVE STARS.

Five stars for Lake.

Five stars for Sutton.

Five stars for the Mustangs.

Five stars for Celeste continuing to feed my hockey-romance addiction like she isn’t personally responsible for making it worse.

And an honorary sixth star for:

🦗 THE CRICKETS.

Never forget the soldiers who made this romance possible.

😂🦗🏒💗

Celeste Briars, you can keep sliding into my DMs with those ARC invitations for as long as you damn well please.

I will continue responding with the literary equivalent of:

YES. YES I WANT IT. GIVE IT TO ME.

Because there is something incredibly special about being asked to read a book by an author you already genuinely adore.

And I’ll never stop being grateful for it.

🥹

Ew.

Feelings.

ANYWAY…

SUTTON WHITTAKER.

HOCKEY.

DADDY ENERGY.

GIANT TEDDY BEAR.

FIVE FUCKING STARS.

🏒🥵🖤

Now somebody release more crickets.

Apparently we have a hockey player to summon.

[Amber]

Thank you to Love Notes PR for this arc!

Rating: 3.5 ⭐️
Tropes:
Teammates Ex
Friends to Lovers
Journalist x Hockey Player
Opposites Attract

Lovefool follows Lake & Sutton. Lake is a journalist and advocate who meets Sutton by chance as she tries to take revenge on her cheating ex. She is chaotic and outgoing - but has an emotional past that holds her back from truly connecting with people.

Sutton is part of the hockey team along with Lake’s ex - que the drama & is basically just one big teddy bear. He is rather reserved and shy compared to other MMCs in this series - however he certainly comes out of his shell when he meets Lake.

There is a real emotional rollercoaster in this book - both main characters have to work on themselves for them to work together.

I will say at times I struggled with some of the dialogue in this book - it felt (at times) as if there was just exposition for the sake of it but it didn’t serve any purpose in the story.

Lovefool is the 3rd book in the Minnesota Mustangs series but could be read as a standalone. I would highly recommend it for anyone who has read the first two books - or anyone who loves hockey romances in general! I’m so excited to read the next one !!

[Jenna Lundberg]

🦗❤️ He Met Her Mid-Revenge and Fell for All Her Chaos ❤️🦗
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 Stars | 🌶️🌶️ 2 Chili Peppers

If a man catches you half-dressed and stuck in a window while you're releasing crickets into your cheating ex's bedroom and his first thought is basically, I need to know this woman...

You might have found your person. 😂🦗❤️

Lovefool had me giggling almost immediately, and Lake Capitano is an absolute QUEEN.

She's loud, outspoken, impulsive, passionate, a little chaotic, and completely unapologetic about taking up space. Her cricket-based revenge against her cheating ex might not be the most rational decision she's ever made, but it does give us one of the funniest meet-cutes I've read in a while.

Because that's how she meets Sutton Whittaker.

Sutton is a hockey player for the Minnesota Mustangs, a rule follower, much more cautious than Lake, and apparently incapable of seeing this woman at maximum chaos without immediately becoming completely smitten.

I loved him. 🥹🏒

He's steady, patient, kind, thoughtful, and just a little flustered by Lake, which was ADORABLE. Watching this big hockey player get nervous around the woman who has completely fascinated him had me smiling so much.

And I loved that Sutton doesn't fall for some quieter or more manageable version of Lake.

He meets her while she's literally committing cricket revenge.

This man knew exactly what he was signing up for. 😂

But underneath Lake's humor and chaos is so much pain.

Losing her sister when she was young left her carrying grief and guilt that she's never really put down. With her parents struggling after the loss, Lake also took on responsibility for her younger brother Max, and you gradually realize just how much she's been holding together while everyone sees this loud, fearless woman on the outside.

That part of her story hit me harder than I expected.

Lake uses journalism, protests, humor, strong opinions, and sometimes questionable decisions as places to put all that emotion. She's so accustomed to DOING something that simply allowing herself to feel everything she's carrying can be terrifying.

Sutton gives her somewhere safe enough to do exactly that.

One of my favorite things about their relationship was that he never asks Lake to dim herself.

She's been made to feel like she's too loud, too opinionated, too emotional, too much.

Sutton basically looks at all that brightness and thinks:

More, please.

❤️

And when the vulnerability underneath Lake's personality begins surfacing, he doesn't suddenly treat that as the “real” version of her either.

The chaos is Lake.

The strength is Lake.

The grief is Lake.

The humor is Lake.

The vulnerability is Lake.

He wants ALL of her.

I especially loved some of the smaller ways Sutton cares for her. The playlist he makes to help her through a panic attack was such a sweet, personal moment. He's protective without constantly trying to take over, and their emotional connection grows through conversations, late-night pizza, flirting, teasing, and simply spending time together.

The chemistry is definitely there too. 👀🔥

Lake and Sutton are attracted to each other basically from the beginning, and watching Sutton become increasingly obsessed with his “Trouble” was so much fun.

I also appreciated that their intimate relationship gives them room to communicate and explore without shame or judgment. There were some word choices, repetitive dirty talk, and specific elements of the spice that weren't really for me personally and occasionally pulled me out of the moment, but that's completely a preference thing.

And yes...

“engorged” took me out. 😂

Where this story really surprised me, though, was the journalism storyline.

Lake is assigned by her college newspaper to cover the Minnesota Mustangs' season, which gives her and Sutton plenty of opportunities to get closer. It also lets us spend time with his teammates, and I LOVED the team dynamic.

Their conversations were hilarious, and the Mustangs really feel like Sutton's family rather than random hockey players surrounding the romance.

Which makes what happens later much more complicated.

Lake uncovers information involving her ex, Steven, illegal betting, and something that could have serious consequences for the team.

Now she's caught between her responsibility as a journalist and the people she's grown to care about.

And Sutton?

He's caught between Lake and the team that has given him stability, belonging, and family.

I knew from the blurb that these two were eventually headed toward a major confrontation.

I still was NOT prepared. 😳

Sutton says something during that conflict involving Lake's deepest grief that crossed a line for me, especially after she trusted him enough to share that vulnerable part of herself.

I was so mad at him.

SIR.

WE WERE DOING SO WELL. 😭😂

I understood why he was scared and angry about what could happen to his team, but understanding his emotions didn't make the way he hurt Lake okay.

Thankfully, Sutton eventually has to confront that.

He realizes Lake wasn't trying to destroy his family. She was trying to do what she genuinely believed was right, even knowing it could cost her something she desperately wanted to keep.

And I appreciated seeing him take responsibility and work to make things right.

That said, the third-act breakup did feel a little more forced than I wanted after watching these two develop such a supportive relationship. There were also moments through the middle where the story became a little chaotic, and some of the wording occasionally pulled me out of scenes.

Those things are ultimately what kept this at four stars rather than pushing it into five-star territory for me.

But I still had SUCH a fun time with Lake and Sutton.

I laughed so much.

I loved the Mustangs.

I loved Sutton being completely smitten with Lake.

I loved watching Lake discover that she doesn't need to become smaller to be loved.

And I really appreciated that the story allows her to have strong convictions while also learning that life isn't always as simple as right versus wrong.

Likewise, Sutton has to learn that loyalty doesn't mean protecting the people you love from every consequence.

They challenge each other.

They support each other.

They make mistakes.

They hurt each other.

And ultimately, they choose to grow.

Lovefool was funny, messy, steamy, emotional, and full of personality. Lake and Sutton gave me plenty to smile about, and the Minnesota Mustangs were such a fun group that I'm definitely curious to see where this series goes next.

But really, Sutton's fate was sealed the moment he found Lake hanging halfway out of a window with a cricket revenge plan.

He never stood a chance. 😂🦗❤️

Thank you to Celeste Briars and Love Notes PR for the gifted advanced reader copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Kiarra-Lee Clark]

Another Celeste Briars book that has taken over my mind, body and soul?? Check Check Check! I honestly adore every single book that Celeste writes, they make me laugh, giggle, cry and swoon so hard and these two will just have your heart melting.

Overall Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️.5
Swoon Meter: 📈📈

Right off the bat, this book has me giggling! Lake is absolutely hilarious! Pulling a revenge plan of putting crickets through her ex’s bedroom but her plan gets a little interrupted by a 6 foot mountain of a man and her dress caught in the window… what a fun little meet cute they had.

I was giggling over the way Sutton become obsessed with her! He was so smitten from the moment he saw her chaos in his teammates room. Instantly knew that her ex was an idiot for letting her go. Then all he wanted to do was get to know her and just UGHHHHHH! I really love Sutton!

Lake had a lot of trauma to unpack throughout this novel. Greiving a sister she lost the she was young and blaming herself, being a good big sister to Max when her parents checked out. Lake was trying to see it together so much. I really felt for her. She was struggling with so much that she just wanted someone to take care of her and love her.

Sutton definitely had no trouble there. This big hunk of a man was nervous around our girl!!! nothing I love more than when a big, tall, muscular man gets flustered around smart, pretty women!! The flirty comments, the longing looks, the frisky outfits and quips had me giggling. These two were burning for each other! And how he nicknamed her 'trouble' gahhhhh!

I also love the diversity in this book, Sutton isn't a 6 pack, wash board abs man, he's muscular, tall and has a bit if a tummy but you know what, I LOVE THAT!!!! These two were so horny for each other it was suffocating, but in a good way because boy when they finally kissed it was SCREAMINNNGGGGGG! God their sexual tension is out of this world. When I tell you I was gripping the bed sheets when I found out both Lake and Sutton have a breeding kink! MY GOD! THE SPICE WAS INSANE! I was fanning myself profusely! but also the praising, UGH! yes yes yes yes yes!

but it;s not the spice that makes this novel fun, it's the emotional connection they make together along the way. They both lift each other up, reassuring one another that they are allowed to feel, but themselves and be honest. Sutton helping Lake through a panic attack by sending her a playlist HE MADE FOR HER?!?! ARE YOU KIDDING!

I loved how Lakes study in journalism brought her closer to Sutton. He supported her and praised her. I truly value Lake's honesty when it came to find out what her ex, Steven, was up to, illegally betting and causing the team absolute chaos in the games. While I could understand where Sutton was going from when Lake told him, I was sobbing over the way he treat Lake... using her sister's death against her was harsh. I almost threw my kindle across the room, but I knew Sutton had an inkling that what lake said was right... and when he found out her grovelled! My heart ached for Lake so bad!

But, like the yearn gin man he is, he made it up to her tenfold and showed her how much he really loved her. Realising the article because he knew Lake was just trying to do the right thing in the ned and all he really cared about was having her in his life. Sutton and Lake's love was so beautiful and chaotic and raw and passionate and they really deserve each other.

A huge thank you to celeste for picking me as an ARC reader yet again! I am always so grateful every time I get to scream about these books! This novel was a rollercoaster of emotions but god was it a fun ride! Sutton and Lake were such a fun time, they were emotional, raw and flirty! I can't wait for the next couple! I juts know they're going to be so so so much fun hehehehe... especially based off the snippet at the end!

[Karina]

I first discovered Celeste with her series The Riverside Reapers, and I enjoyed her writing. I started off the Minnesota Mustangs series with Lovesick, and I fell in love with the characters and the spice. However, I didn’t mention it in my first review that I thought that Celeste and her writing style were a bit more poetic than they were in the Riverside Reapers series. When I read LoveStruck, I gave it two stars and noted that Celeste tends to derail from the plot or the scene with excessively poetic lines. While I do enjoy the artistic side of the imagery that she gives us, I think there’s a fine line between poetry and overkill. I read romance to get lost in the story, and if I have to pull out a dictionary every sentence, then I would prefer to read a different genre. I enjoy that she gives us metaphors for the scenes that she is describing, but if I have to go back three or four paragraphs, which is when the last plot point or action was described, then I lose the flow of the story. One line of a metaphor or a comparison is fine, but when you ramble on for a full paragraph or two, then it’s overkill. Truthfully, if we remove all the excess text and comparisons, this book could easily be 100+ pages shorter.

I made it to 70% of the book and had to take a break. It took me two weeks to come back to the book because I am determined to finish it before the end of the month. I hate DNFing a book when I feel a strange "loyalty" to the author (don't ask me why because I don't know why I am trying to be loyal), because, while I know that Sutton and Lake are going to finish together, I want to know what happens between them.

This book started off good with some very funny plot points and one-line-zingers, but it quickly turned. Very quickly, we hear about their insecurities and their anxieties, and we know some of their backstory, especially Lake's. I still haven’t seen the point of conflict. This book has the trope of dating my teammate's ex; however, the ex isn't even relevant to the plot until the last 25%, where he has a chapter dedicated to him, creating a conflict and then quickly glossing over how to resolve it. I can't give more details because I don't want to spoil the plot...sorry, chapter.

Sutton has no ambition to go pro in hockey; he barely mentions the college degree he is pursuing or any goal he is striving for, so I don't see much purpose for his character. All we know about him is his relationship, his view of his father, and his own insecurities. Lake could have more of a character development; however, at 70% of the book, I still hadn’t seen her develop and then all of a sudden, her "career" is the most important thing to her and she creates the conflict, of which said ex is a part of, and demonstrates very little professionalism because, at 75% into the book, we don't have time to fully explain an action plan. Celeste has to quickly gloss over and rush through the plot's conflict/ARC. I’ve gotten to know her backstory, her insecurities, and her fears; however, I don’t see a future. The book at this point just feels like it’s a rambling on and on with no destination insight.

On a positive note, I think Celeste did a great job with the humor, especially at the beginning of the book, and it started out very promising. Of the three books in this series thus far, I think this is the funniest and could be a more engaging and lovable couple. If the excess text could just be edited out and left to the essentials of the book.

I also want to say that there were some scenes that made me cringe. While some of the kinks of this book are not ones that I enjoy, like breeding or sexual activity during menstruation, I’ve also read enough romance books where these kinks have been mentioned and done tastefully. I think these two kinks in this book were just a little too graphic were excessive.

[Melanie Gates]

This is the first novel from Celeste that I've read and it was absolutely precious. I'll be back for more.

Sutton, what an adorable, sweet, giant teddy bear you are. A hockey player with a heart of gold, ready to defend Lake at any moment and so surprisingly romantic it was so precious.

Lake, also adorable but a total chaos cloud, is doing her best. She's messy in the best ways and so easy to fall in love with.

Their "meet cute" is official when Lake breaks into Sutton's place, which is the same place her ex-boyfriend lives... where she's going to exact her revenge. Except, everything goes downhill from there. When I said she's messy in the best way... she ends up practically naked in front of Sutton the first time they meet. And he is gone for her at this moment and on. He is likely the definition of "down bad."

Lake is back in his life quickly as she is a journalist for the college newspaper and she's been tasked with writing articles about the hockey team... which she definitely doesn't really want to do because she doesn't want to run into her ex. But... she gets voluntold to do it, so she reluctantly agrees.

Sutton is drawn to her like a moth to a flame. He adores her loud, rambunctious nature and doesn't want her to change. When he learns of the pain of her past, he turns even softer, which I definitely couldn't have imagined he'd accomplish — but he totally did. She does her best to hide her emotions with her work (journalism), protests for causes that matter to her, humor (and lots of it) and questionable decision-making that may or may not just add to her chaos cloud. She gives off adorable tornado energy.

Their chemistry was 🔥 even if Lake was reluctant to give into the relationship. Her walls were built high and strong... but Sutton worked to break it down to see the real her.

The spicy stuff was spiccyyyy and he definitely has a breeding kink 😮‍💨

For two people who wear their emotions guarded with lock and key, they're inevitably going to mess up. Sutton says something during the major turning point in the story that crossed a line and totally broke my heart. But hey, even big teddy bears make mistakes. He was scared, she was scared and that led to a bit of miscommunication and poof. While this third act breakup felt a little forced, it was understandable. Trust is hard. Grief is hard. Communicating without hurting one another is hard.

Life is messy, no matter how you look at it.

No matter what, you were rooting for them throughout the whole story because you knew, based on how we read Sutton felt and the words he did express out loud... his fate was sealed the moment he ran into the tornado of Lake, who stumbled in with crickets in hand and a dress stuck in the window.

They're absolutely precious.

Thank you to Celeste and Love Notes PR for this ARC opportunity.

TL:DR
⭐️ 4.25/5 (I was so mad at Sutton for the 3rd-act breakup & some words that I had to look up what they meant)
🏒 College hockey star MMC
📰 School journalist FMC
🖤 Teammates ex
🐈‍⬛ She's a black cat
🐕 He's a golden retriever
💞 Opposites attract
💔 Third-act breakup
🤰 He has a breeding kink
🩸 He performs oral sex while she's on her period
❤️‍🩹 Healing from loss (they're both children of single parents)
🎢 Emotional rollercoaster
🔥 Strong chemistry
💬 Fabulous banter
🌶️ 3.5/5

[Beth’s Book Collection]

"You're lucky you're cute." "Glad to know my flirting has paid off. I've spent months trying to get your attention."

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶🌶🌶.5

What you'll find in this book:
• Teammates Ex
• Midsize MMC
• Forced Proximity
• Opposites Attract
• Friends to Lovers
• Black Cat x Golden Retriever
• Journalist x Hockey Player
• Found Family
• Bad Girl x Good Boy

If you're looking for a new hockey romance series to sink your teeth into then I cannot recommend this series created by Celeste enough. Packed full of the emotional depth and spicy goodness I have come to love from hockey romances, this series is such a feel good one even if it might have you a bit of an emotional mess here and there. The books in this series can definitely be read as stand alones, but for me, I love the context of having read the previous books, the understanding of how the side characters git to where they are. This also lends itself to the comfort of returning to a familiar world, making for an easy and incredibly enjoyable read.

In this story we follow Lake and Sutton, who after a chance meeting start down the spiral of working to earn eachothers trust from two people that have been so heavily shaped by their pasts. I adored Lake's fire and willingness to get payback on those that have wronged, but there is also this dual side to Lake that is vulnerable and still carries so much hurt and it is so interesting to rationale this girl with the one we meet at the very start of the book. Her own worst enemy and queen of sabotaging a good thing in order to keep people at arms length and not get hurt again is the biggest hurdle Sutton has to overcome in his quest of loving Lake. Sutton, the large Mustangs defence man with muscles for days has the most caring personality, always taking it upon himself to help overs. I loved how down bad he is for Lake from the get go, how she makes him crazy in the best possible way and how this brings out a more possessive side to his personality. These two aside we meet both returning and new characters which add depth and layering to this story making it both enjoyable and engaging.

Celeste doesn't shy away from the past of these characters, bringing this to the forefront in order to develop them further. We get to know Lake and Sutton as they get to know one another which makes the story feel smooth and easy to read. A book spent with these characters slowly making themselves more and more vulnerable to one another with the hurdles pushing at the shaky foundation built keeps you on the edge of your seat. The spice, the unsastiable desire feels perfect for the characters and the story. My favourite part of this book was definitely the emotions and the healing that the characters undergo and how Celeste has shaped this into a hockey romance.

Thank you so much to Love Notes PR for sending me an e-ARC to read and review early.

Author: Celeste Briars
Series: Minnesota Mustangs
Publisher: Independently Published
Release Date: September 3rd, 2026
Pages: 400

[B Worthington]

⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 🌶️🌶️🌶️
ARC Review of Lovefool by @celestebriarsauthor

This is Sutton and Lake's story and the third part of an interconnected series. You can read this as a standalone though--I did and never felt lost. With that being said, I do plan to go back and read the first two stories!

Lake is a college journalist who is passionate about everything she cares for. She protests, she seeks revenge (which leads to one of the best 'meet cutes' I've read), she stands up for others, and she fights for what she thinks is right. She is probably the wittiest FMC I've read in a long time, I laughed so much reading this story. She also is battling heavy trauma from devastating loss and guilt.

Sutton is the definition of a giant teddy bear. He is a college hockey player who doesn't seem to have been passionate about a whole lot until he meets Lake. Then, it's game over. He goes all in and cares for her deeply.

They navigate some challenges but always come out the other side stronger and deeper in love.

Some things you'll find in this story include:
❤️ Journalist x hockey player
❤️ College romance
❤️ Healing from loss
❤️ Children of single parents
❤️ Br33ding kink
❤️ Or@l on her 🩸
❤️ Ex's teammate

The one thing that kept this from getting all 5 stars for me was just that there are multiple times throughout the story that the language was distracting to me. The characters would use vocabulary that didn't feel like it matched their character. I love a beautiful description or passionate statement with well thought out words but there were times that instead my mind fixated on the language rather than it flowing with the story.

I highly enjoyed this book and am excited to go back and read the first two. I'm also excited for the next one! This book officially releases on September 3. Add to your TBR now!

[Kristen]

✨ARC REVIEW✨

Thank you so much Love Notes PR🫶🏼

I really loved this book straight from the beginning. I loved how we got introduced to Lake with her chaotic personality already showing, and then adding Sutton from the very beginning with basically a love-at-first-sight situation was SO cute.

I’ll be honest, I really wanted this ARC because it reminded me so much of my own fiancé and myself, and it did not disappoint. There were so many little characteristics of both Lake and Sutton that reminded me of him and myself, and I think that honestly made me love the story even more. 🥹

Let’s dive into the story…

Lake is a college journalist who is very outspoken and passionate about making positive changes in the world. I really loved how passionate she was about what she believed in and how she wasn’t afraid to speak up about the things that mattered to her.

And then we have Sutton, who is such a protective teddy bear. 🥹 He was so supportive of Lake and her interests, and I just loved how smitten he was with her from the beginning.

Their meet-cute was SO original, and I genuinely loved it. I feel like I’m always reading the same types of meet-cutes in romance books, so when I came across this one, I immediately knew it was going to stick with me. I’ll probably think about this meet-cute every time I read another cliché one now 😂

And then the DAY AFTER meeting her, Sutton is already so smitten with Lake and his nerves are honestly so cute. Ahh, such a teddy bear!!

This book was such a swoonfest. If I had to pick one word to categorize it, that would definitely be it. It was sweet, romantic, fun, and just gave me all the warm and fuzzy feelings.

What to expect:
🥰 Friends to Lovers
👀 Teammate's Ex
🏒 Hockey Romance
🤭 Opposites Attract
💞 Forced Proximity
🐈‍⬛ Black Cat x Golden Retriever
💋 Midsize MMC
❤️‍🩹 Mutual Healing
📚 College Romance

[Emmy Wong]

This book was such a fun read, with great characters and the best romcom vibes. I mean meeting the love of your life while you’re stuck in a window trying to enact revenge on his teammate isn’t exactly the ideal meetcute but was adorable regardless. From the start I loved both Sutton and Lake and rooted for them all the way. Lake is spunky, passionate and stands up in what she believes in, everything I love in an fmc. But she’s also got her own demons, a dead younger sister and a need for justice that may have a darker origin. She’s been through a lot and I love how Sutton played a huge part in helping her find parts that her trauma stole from her and let go of her guilt. Sutton is such a fun character too because one would expect a six foot five division 1 hockey player to be very cocky, but he’s really humble, super sweet and often insecure, with a penchant for apologising for things he didn’t cause. They’re both a little messed up but really find the light in each other. I also found it so endearing how he accompanied her to an animal rights protest as her protector, and planned an extravagant picnic and presented it to her like a penguin finding pretty rocks for its mate. To my surprise I actually really liked the third act breakup, yes it did break my heart too and I was crying, but it made so much sense and drove both Lake and Sutton’s character arcs to a full circle close. It is an argument that goes off the “hurt people hurt people” format where they say bad things in the heat of the moment, but the point that proves their healthy relationship is how after they cooled down they realised their mistakes and really communicated and compromised. It had me really emotional in the end because of how deeply I fell for both of them but this book was worth it I don’t care about the tears. I give this a 4.5/5

[Emily Knaus]

Lake and Sutton have the kind of chemistry that sparks instantly. Sutton is every green flag rolled into one. He’s patient, kind, thoughtful, steady and when it comes to the bedroom, he’s confident and emotionally focused on Lake’s pleasure before his own. Lake is pure sunshine chaos. She’s vibrant, outspoken, and used to being told she’s “too much.” Watching her be fully herself with someone who never asks her to dim is the beating heart of this book. Sutton could literally not have been more perfect for her.

They’re two people carrying old wounds who slowly start healing in each other’s orbit, and the forced proximity gives them room to shine. Lake gets assigned by her college’s newspaper editor to follow the Minnesota Mustangs team for the season right after her ex, a former player, cheats on her. Her attempt at petty revenge (involving crickets, of all things) leads to a hilarious meet cute when Sutton catches her and decides to help instead of judge. It’s messy, charming, and gives you a first hand look to how their relationship is going to unfold.

The season long proximity, the banter, the emotional thawing, it all works. Sutton’s steadiness paired with Lake’s spark makes them feel like a couple who should make it.

But the third‑act breakup didn’t fit them. It felt forced, like a plot device rather than an organic conflict, and it undercut some of the emotional growth the story had built so far into it. And while the chemistry is strong, the word choice during the spicy moments is literally cringey. It’s distracting enough that it pulled me out of scenes that should’ve landed harder. There are things that are said that feel so over the top and trying too hard to be sexy.

Overall, I really enjoyed Sutton and Lake’s story! I laughed a lot at their shared antics, teared up over the emotional bits, and was overwhelmingly happy for them to find their HEA.

A huge thank you to Celeste Briars and Love Notes PR for the early copy!

[Ems]

Lake Capitano breaks into her (ex)boyfriends house with a box full of crickets to release as punishment for cheating on her, but she didnt expect to get a witness to the whole thing. Sutton Whittaker, a big, muscular teamplayer to her ex, caught her breaking and entering, but decides to let her go because he doesn't like his teammate, and he finds Lake fascinating. Forced together by an article Lake must write about the hockey team, they develop a relationship. But, relationships are never easy, and this couple has a lot of obstacles to overcome.

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars because there were so many advanced and (for me) unusual words that i had to keep looking up what they meant, and i did not enjoy the way the intimate scenes were written. I also did not agree with the storytelling of Lake's impact on Sutton's life, his impact on her life is very good written and believable, unfortunately not the other way around.

Otherwise they book had some really cute moments, Sutton is a big Teddy Bear and i cannot belive how big of a bear he actually is! Im still in chock, but in a good way, about how big his heart is, and how he just want to care for Lake and everyone he consider family. It was fun reading about the woman being the more dominant one and taking the lead, and the guy being the more insecure one. And my heart broke for the retelling of the sisters death and a part towards the end that i will not say anything more about because that would be a spoiler..

If you enjoy vivid out of line open door scenes, hockey romcom with healing, this might be the book for you.

[lalibreriadiirene]

Lovefool was such a fun read, especially in the beginning! Lake had me laughing so much, and honestly, I related to her more than I expected. There were so many moments where I was just sitting there thinking, “Yep, I would 100% do/say the exact same thing” 😭

And Sutton??? What a sweetheart. I absolutely loved him and completely understand the hype because he was SO precious 🥹

The beginning of the book was definitely my favourite. I laughed a lot, and I thought their first meeting was adorable and such a great way to introduce their relationship. It really made me excited to see where their story was going to go.

That being said, I did feel like things got a little all over the place around the middle. There were quite a few things happening at once, and some of the choices just weren't really for me. It felt a little chaotic for a while and I definitely wasn't enjoying it as much as I did at the start.

Thankfully, I think the book found its footing again towards the end! I really enjoyed the third act, especially seeing their relationship develop and how supportive they were of one another. Their dynamic was definitely one of my favourite things about the story.

Overall, it was a cute and spicy read with hockey, a fun group of characters, and a vibe that I really enjoyed. I just wish the middle had been a little less messy because I think that would have made me enjoy the book even more.

For now, I'm giving it ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5!

Also, I really love this whole team and their group dynamic. I'm definitely curious to see where the next book takes us 👀 And thank you for including a chapter from book 4 because now I'm even more intrigued!!

[Sienasummerrreads]

DNF @ 23% (page 96). This one was tough for me. I started to enjoy it, but then it dipped. I got pulled in again, only to fall flat. The first chapter was strong and set up the story well, leaving me excited to see what would happen but it just didn’t suck me into the connection.

I loved that Sutton, the MMC, was built tall and bulky, with some confidence in the first chapter.

However, watching him turn into a fumbling, nervous man around Lake in the following chapters was a struggle for me. This may be a personal preference, but I wanted a man who stayed confident. I do love how he is a caring person and willing to help those around him.

Lake is enjoyable, but she felt a bit full on. I think this comes across as over the top due to the writing style. The author made me laugh but used quirky words or unusual terms. For example: “Nobody will want to read the one where I get my Hootie Blowfished.” I was shocked by this wording. I was too stunned to speak. It teeters on the line between cringe and funny but still felt off putting.

I wanted to love this, but it just fell a bit flat for me.

Genre/Type: Adult Romance 18+
APK: Kindle ARC
Pages: 405
Rating: DNF
Spice: NA DNF
Series or Standalone: Book Three In The Minnesota Mustangs Series
Tropes or Themes: (NOT COMPLETE as DNF) Sports (Ice Hockey), Friends To Lovers, Black Cat x Golden Retriever, Opposites Attract, Forced Proximity, Teammates Ex, College, Size Difference, Grief, Sexual Content,
Discusses: Loss of Sibling,
Check Triggers ⚠️ 💫

Sienasummerrreads 💕📚
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[Briana Scott]

ARC Review ✨
First I would like to say a big thank you to Celestefor letting me be a part of this ARC Team!
Rate: 4/5⭐️
Spice: 1.5/5🌶️

What to expect when reading ;
-Friends to Lovers
-Teammate's Ex
-College Hockey Romance
-Opposites Attract
-Forced Proximity
-Midsize MMC
-Mutual Healing


This is book three of the Minnesota Mustangs Series! You get to follow Lake and Sutton! Trouble seems to be Lakes middle name, and getting caught in the act of doing something rather funny wasn’t in her game plan. The last thing Sutton expected was to see his teammates ex half dressed scheming. Some would call their situation bad timing but I feel like Sutton would call it more of a meet-cute.

If I could describe Lake in a few words it would be, chaos but in a good way lol Sutton, what a trooper of a man, he just rolled with her rollercoaster. Picking a top golden retriever MMC, I think he would be him hands down. Lake could of kicked him there and he would of told her thank you lol This was such a fun read, I love when I don’t expect the plot, because I definitely wasn’t expecting that drama.

I love when a books message is your never to ouch for the right people. Don’t make yourself small. You may be a disaster to one person, but the perfect storm for someone else.

I’m honestly so excited that if there is another book I have no idea who it could be lol



Side notes:
-Freak by Chri$tian Gate$
-The interview 🥹

Fav Quote:
•”Figure it would be kind of hard to take you on a date if you're stuck in jail.

[Midnights Bookclub]

Lovefool Review 🏒📰

I want to thank Celeste Briars and Love Notes for sending me an ARC for this book!

One of the first things I have to say is how I looooved the spice in this book! Among other things obviously, but the spice between Lake and Sutton made me giggle and blush so much, I was shocked!

Here in this book we have Lake and Sutton. We met Sutton in the previously books of this series, he is the defenseman of the Minesota Mustangs, he is the quiet guy of the team, he is the the good guy, and he isn’t looking for love, but then he met Lake.

Lake is a mess. At least she thinks she is. She is impulsive, she is passionate about the things she believes, she is witty and smart. But she is also lost, lost with guilty, lost with grieve, and when Sutton accepts her the way she is, she starts to believe she deserves to be happy.

These two were attracted to each other since day one, and I liked how they didn’t hide their feelings from one another, they knew what they wanted, and they knew that they found something special together.

Sutton and Lake supported each other, and I think thats what I liked the most about them. Sutton didn’t judge Lake for being passionate about things most people would say is useless. Lake didn’t judge Sutton for how he was worried about his father, and how he wanted bigger things in his life.

As I said before the spice level in this book is a lot of chili peppers, and I absolutely loved it! I loved these two, they were really really special! So it is a obvious 5 ⭐️ read for me. 🏒📰

[thornhillreads]

I was so incredibly happy when I was selected for this ARC, you have no idea! With hockey season back on, this was a perfect read!

I’m already wishing I could reread this story all over again!

Their first meet-cute moment was absolutely amazing and set up Sutton and Lake perfectly. It just summed up their personalities just from their first interaction and you could see a glimpse of who they were from that moment.

I also loved how different Sutton was from every hockey MMC I have read. I’ve read MMC’s that have gone through their dark moments, trauma healing and the most obvious one being the popular cocky ones BUT meeting Sutton, was truly a fresh read. I loved that so much more. He was midsize and insecure about his body who also got super nervous and a rumbling mess around a super hot girl. Like hello?? I don’t think I’ve ever read a MMC like that before.

I just wanted to give this teddy bear of man a hug and never let go. I want him.

And let’s not forget my girl Lake. She adored him no matter how he looked and just loved every part of him. He was perfect for Lake. She reminded a bit of me in certain scenarios and I just wanted to give this girl a hug with how much guilt she carried and tell her it’s okay.

Lake deserves a guy like Sutton and Sutton deserves a girl like Lake. They may have been polar opposites but between them it worked.

Overall, I loved this story and trying to write this review without spoilers was really hard.

Thank you LoveNotes for this opportunity once again! ❤️