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Synopsis
He's my brother's biggest hockey rival… but he's bringing the heat for me.
Nikolai
Hockey is my life, and I need to make this last season count. But when I'm forced to transfer to rival school McKee University for my senior year, I risk pissing off the captain, who happens to be the older brother of Isabelle Callahan: the gorgeous beam of sunshine I messed around with in secret this summer.
Rekindling our fling could risk her brother icing me off the team—not to mention the fact that my scarred past makes having a real relationship impossible—and yet the moment I see Isabelle again, all my wild, burning feelings come rushing back.
Izzy
I have two goals for sophomore year: win back my old volleyball position, and forget I ever knew devilishly handsome hockey defenseman Nikolai Abney-Volkov. As the youngest and only daughter in a family full of athletes, failure isn't an option.
But when Nik crashes back into my life, I can't stay away from his broody charm. I'm determined to guard my heart this time, but between the furtive hookups and the heartfelt conversations, the lines between friends-with-benefits and more begin to blur.
As we fall deeper into a place we can't come back from unscathed, we'll have to make a choice: fight for a future together, or watch it go up in flames.
Filled with swoons, spice, sports, and koalas, Wicked Serve is a don't-miss new adult college sports romance.
Synopsis source: Goodreads
Review
Genre(s): Contemporary Romance, New Adult
HB&W Rating: 2.75 stars, 4 flames
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This book was more than okay, I liked it, but it took me longer than it should have to finish it.
Hockey romances are one of my favorites and it had a lot of great tropes: college romance, brother's rival secret relationship, and he fell first. It was cute, spicy, romantic, without any of the miscommunication / misunderstanding stuff to build angst. What I really loved was the positive mental health representation. There is off-page domestic abuse and I loved that the author normalizes getting therapeutic help for mental health, especially in the realm of professional sports, which seems to still suffer the stigma of toxic masculinity and not asking for help when needed.
I found Izzy to be rather immature at times and juvenile, which yeah, she's young, but it still irked me a little. What I didn't care for was the length of the book. It felt too long with too many scenes that did little to move the plot forward. It was heavy on the spice (4 flames) and light on substance, which was disappointing given that the substance of the plot has real weight to it. The overabundance of these scenes meant I ended up skimming a good portion just to get on with it and made it easily put-downable. It was something to do when I had a few minutes, but I wasn't overly invested in the characters or the plot.
If you're looking for a sweet, easy read with a healthy relationship at the focus and a lot of spice, you'll probably like this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Until next time,
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