Reviews with content warning for Violence - Behind the Net

This was a lovely read with a very sweet romance. Pippa and Jamie were so great together and their relationship was free of miscommunication (except maybe before they get together but that’s more them making their own assumptions rather than specific miscommunication) and unnecessary drama (no third act break-ups here). It was really great to see them overcome some past trauma and heal together. I also loved their dog Daisy

I will admit, though, I was hoping for something a little angstier and with a slower burn. This is fully on me and my reading mood, but this book is marketed as a slow burn and I personally didn’t find it was (but, like spice, this is a very individual threshold so don’t take my word for it). I also didn’t love ‘songbird’ and just generally prefer more traditional terms of endearment (these days I feel that authors are always striving for these unique nicknames and the effectiveness is very hit or miss).

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britwalsh16's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Romance, Music, Hockey, this book weaves together some of my favorite things! I just loved it from page 1! I need to read more hockey romance books! I’ve read other sport romance books but I know nothing about football, and I’m not a genius with Baseball or Basketball. But I LOVE hockey! Blackhawks all the way!!! And this is my first hockey romance book & it just makes me want to read sooo many more hockey books!!! I’ve found a new sub genre I love!!! 💜
As for this story, I love how Pippa & Jamie are there for eachother & once they decided to stop fighting their feelings they didn’t let anything get in between them, they fought for eachother no matter what! I love relationships like that, & that is the kind of relationship I dream of having one day, & reading books with that relationship just make me overjoyed! 🥰😞

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gabs_parr's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

LOVED their friendship and their romance. I loved the slowburn buildup so much that I could even tolerate the miscommunication between them without wanting to bang my head against the wall too badly. Their relationship is one of the healthiest I’ve ever seen portrayed in a romcom novel. I love them. They really felt like a real and genuine couple that you know and admire in real life, like your friends that your not-so-secretly a little jealous of but are so happy for them that they found each other because that’s how good they are together.

The side characters were fun and almost solid enough when they were shown, but they could have been fleshed out more. That was one of my biggest hang ups throughout the book. They didn’t have friends. Either of them. I get that she was coming off a 2-year tour and he was moving back after 10-years of playing somewhere else, but STILL. They grew up in Vancouver. They didn’t have any childhood friends to reconnect with? Pippa’s only friend is her sister who she doesn’t spend much time with? Jamie made no friends while he was away for 10 years? He just had one friend, Rory, and when that friendship spoiled, he never made another friend? Hayden on the team seemed like a promising character, but he never became fleshed out or a real friend, which made me think he was introduced more as a set-up for the 3rd book than anything else. Their lack of friends is a red flag, for both of them. I would have such serious reservations about dating a man without ANY friends. But she didn’t have any either, so idk. It’s weird to not have friends. I’m hoping to see more developed friendships in further installments of this series, especially amongst the players. That’s half the fun of sports romcoms.

My only other critique is more of a personal preference, so it’s not something that impacted my star rating. There were too many smut scenes. Every scene included was incredibly well written. In fact, I was impressed. She’s one of the best romance scene writers I think I’ve ever read. But maybe sticking to 3-4 scenes would have been sufficient. 5 would have been a lot but like, okay, sure, if they’re very good. I lost count of how many this book included but it was a shocking amount and I think I read like 80 romance books last year alone. I’m not new to the genre. Maybe if some of them had at least been shorter, that would have been better. There were definitely several scenes that I when I was reading them I was actively thinking, “This could have been closed door.” Like I said, it’s personal preference, so I can’t knock a star for it, but it was just a lot. 5/5 on the spice scale not because anything was so dirty or scandalous but just because of the sheer endless amounts of it once it starts.

Overall, I would recommend this book to my romance reading friends, especially to anyone looking to enter the hockey romcom world. Just with the warning of full spice (and a lot of very sweet, wholesome love) ahead ⚠️

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kfmcf's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I just want a sports romance with actual sports. And a FMC that is like...more that just milquetoast.

We barely get to see these characters as characters. I read romance expecting that the romance is going to be at the forefront of the book, but this one couldn't decide if it wanted to be a cute romance or an erotica and I think it suffered on both counts. We didn't get to see what actually made them connect emotional and not just sexual chemistry. They have history but only in that they both thought the other was hot in high school. Hm.

Also the thing with his mom was uncomfortable. Not for her having panic disorders or anything like that but how the author handled it and then it was just brushed off at certain points until it was just like "tada she's going to be fine." It felt like drama for drama's sake and a bastardizarion of ptsd.

I wanted more for these characters. This felt very formulaic and the characters 2-dimensional. I'll read the sequel because I like the dynamic between Hazel and Rory more. I recommend this if you just want something spicy and cute with no real stakes or substance beyond that (which is fine, to each their own).
I just need more character development in my romance.

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