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beckyyreadss's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I wanted to read this book because I enjoyed Meghan Quinn’s Cane brothers’ series and was wanting to read more of her work. I love hockey romances and I enjoyed the first book in the series, but the second and third book is just so frustrating and annoying and pissed me off. It was so damn long with little plot.
This book has two points of view. The first is Ollie Owens and she is overworked and under-paid and now it’s getting worst, whilst she was trying to enjoy her night out with her best mate, she runs into her nemesis, and she is sleeping with her ex-boyfriend. Now, Ollie is in a state of sheer panic and reaches for the closest guy at the bar and kissed him, and to her delight he was easily the most attractive man she has ever met. The only problem is when she tried to walk away and carry on with her night, he stops her and says three life-changing words . . . “You owe me.” What did this handsome stranger want? A fake relationship to help keep his ex-girlfriend away from him. What she didn’t know is that the person she kissed was professional hockey player Silas Taters. The second point of view is Silas Taters. He is heartbroken, after his childhood sweetheart has been cheating on him for months. He is quiet and he doesn’t trust anyone anymore or let anyone in. This all changed once Ollie entered his life, they have an arrangement that works for both. The college girl keeps his cheating ex who is now working for the team which he plays on. He helps her with her journalling internship. They become fast friend. It wasn’t until Silas started staying the night at Ollie’s dorm that the rules of the arrangement become complicated. Now feelings are involved and even thought they kissed at the right time, Ollie is worried he’s just waiting for the clock to run out.
Again, as with the first book, I loved the bromance between the boys, and I would die for any of them. I love how they all call out each other’s bullshit and make sure they are responsible for the shit they do especially when they aren’t communicating correctly. I love how the boys came together to help Silas to trust again, and that Ollie was the girl for him. I love Ollie’s best friend and how he got more into hockey that Ollie did. That was about it. I liked the lads.
I hate the cheating trope, there is just no need for it. Both main characters were a bit wishy-washy at time, which made me want to smack them both. For someone who is supposed to be the “young one” Ollie was very old for her age and Silas was a child. I hated the miscommunication, and the third-act conflict wasn’t needed at all. For the whole book being about trust and patience, no one had trust and patience. This book should have been smaller than the first book and I would have preferred that compared to whatever the hell this one. I thought it was weird that Silas wanted to spend so much time in the dorms and the classes instead of trying to get Ollie to hang out with him in his domain.
The boys saved this book, and I would like to hope that Halsey’s book is so much better otherwise I'm about to jump off a cliff. Also, Ollie is my male dog's name, and it was just bizarre reading a main character with the same name as my dog.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cursing, Violence, and Alcohol
Minor: Emotional abuse and Fatphobia
kell_yeah_reads's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
per my spreadsheet:
boy. this one made me cry.
spice 🌶 - a 4 🌶 spicy (romance.io scale)
length - just right
reading speed - read in 1 days
did it make me cry? - yes
boy. this one made me cry.
spice 🌶 - a 4 🌶 spicy (romance.io scale)
length - just right
reading speed - read in 1 days
did it make me cry? - yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Emotional abuse
forgottencupoftea's review
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Emotional abuse
_anu235's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Alcohol
kat7794's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Body shaming
andeng's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
prettynerdy3's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Emotional abuse, Blood, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
bryelle's review
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Very cute hockey nhl romance. Revenge fake dating.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Sexual assault
amanda_reads13's review
funny
lighthearted
fast-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
Ollie, a 21 year old journaist student, is out one night out with her bestie, Ross, when her enemy Candice comes into the bar with Oillies ex. Ollie panics and kisses a random stranger in the bar and pretends he is her bf. Silas, a 31 year old professional hockey player, just happens to be that stranger. After being kissed by Ollie he strikes up a deal with her. They will pretend to date...
This book had so many hilarious moments! Their banter at the beginnings as so funny, especially all the jokes about his age. I thought that Silas and Ollie had explosive physical chemistry and slowly their emotional chemistry caught up. The end of the book felt too rushed to me.
Silas has a hard time trusting. His ex, who was his highschool sweetheart, cheated on him and left him completely devastated. He has held onto his anger and has not been able to work through it, in fact he hasn't even talked to anyone about it. The thought of being hurt again scares home enough that he shuts everyone out. Ollie is the perfect solution to his problem, having a girlfriend will get his friends off his back and hopefully keep his ex away from him. Silas is very attracted to Ollie, but convinces himself that he isn't good enough for her because he is still messed up from his ex. He was very hot and cold will Ollie as he struggled to allow himself to feel his feelings for her. He slowly learns to trust her and let her in and gives himself permission to explore his feelings. once he opens up, we see his soft side and how supportive and possessive he is of Ollie. Two words... Jacob's Ladder.
At first Ollie came off very immature. She is a bit chaotic. I loved that she embraces her sexuality and is direct in asking what she wants, but it got to a point where it became so repetitive (we get it, your ex hated sex and you love giving BJ's). She is frustrated that Silas won't give in to her she focuses her energy on cracking him and pushing him to give into her. She thinks that Silas is playing with her, but once she learns about his past, we see a more mature side of her. She becomes protective of Silas and understanding about his emotional needs. She scarifices so much for him.
As much as I hate miscommunication, I feel like his reaction is pretty understandable. He was crushed by his ex, but allowed himself to trust Ollie. So when he believed she betrayed him, he lashed out and shut down again. That said... He should of had to grovel more.
I really liked Ross and loved that we got to know Ian a bit more. I hope that they get a book!
Tropes: fake dating, age gap, hockey, found family
This book had so many hilarious moments! Their banter at the beginnings as so funny, especially all the jokes about his age. I thought that Silas and Ollie had explosive physical chemistry and slowly their emotional chemistry caught up. The end of the book felt too rushed to me.
Silas has a hard time trusting. His ex, who was his highschool sweetheart, cheated on him and left him completely devastated. He has held onto his anger and has not been able to work through it, in fact he hasn't even talked to anyone about it. The thought of being hurt again scares home enough that he shuts everyone out. Ollie is the perfect solution to his problem, having a girlfriend will get his friends off his back and hopefully keep his ex away from him. Silas is very attracted to Ollie, but convinces himself that he isn't good enough for her because he is still messed up from his ex. He was very hot and cold will Ollie as he struggled to allow himself to feel his feelings for her. He slowly learns to trust her and let her in and gives himself permission to explore his feelings. once he opens up, we see his soft side and how supportive and possessive he is of Ollie. Two words... Jacob's Ladder.
At first Ollie came off very immature. She is a bit chaotic. I loved that she embraces her sexuality and is direct in asking what she wants, but it got to a point where it became so repetitive (we get it, your ex hated sex and you love giving BJ's). She is frustrated that Silas won't give in to her she focuses her energy on cracking him and pushing him to give into her. She thinks that Silas is playing with her, but once she learns about his past, we see a more mature side of her. She becomes protective of Silas and understanding about his emotional needs. She scarifices so much for him.
As much as I hate miscommunication, I feel like his reaction is pretty understandable. He was crushed by his ex, but allowed himself to trust Ollie. So when he believed she betrayed him, he lashed out and shut down again. That said... He should of had to grovel more.
I really liked Ross and loved that we got to know Ian a bit more. I hope that they get a book!
Tropes: fake dating, age gap, hockey, found family
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Grief
bookswith_vivi's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity