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paperbacksandsnacks's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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
A book full of some of your favourite tropes can never go too wrong. This has:
Grumpy x Sunshine
Forced Proximity
He falls first/pines
Also full of microtropes like inexperienced fmc, touch her and die/get hurt vibes, childhood crushes, he gives her a nickname, he splashes the cash and gets her dreamy gifts, etc etc, and tbh all that together makes a pretty swoon worthy package.
I loved the dual POV, especially because they differed so much in terms of perspective (particularly at first) because Pippa believes Jamie’s attitude towards her to be because he hates her when that couldn’t be further from the truth.
The pining in this was delicious, as was Jamie. I’m telling you the way that man is in bed? Dreamy. Speaking of, the spice in this was excellent. Not over the top, and not just constant sex, it felt like more than that. It was a gradual build up and was really well done considering Pippas past, and I just thoroughly enjoyed 😏.
Also this book handled some really tricky topics like depression and anxiety/panic attacks very well. And I think was really positive in terms of normalising those feelings/illnesses. The family relationships in this story too added a nice bit of depth and interest.
I just adored the way Pippa and Jamie’s characters developed. The way they encouraged each other and showed each other the world and their lives could be exactly what they wanted it to be. The support they gave each other was super beautiful and seeing them come out of their shells was great. The singer/songwriter meets hockey player storyline was brill. And I just flew through this book in one sitting.
Plus, this book wins many a bonus point for not having a 3rd act breakup. I’m so excited to read the next one!!
Grumpy x Sunshine
Forced Proximity
He falls first/pines
Also full of microtropes like inexperienced fmc, touch her and die/get hurt vibes, childhood crushes, he gives her a nickname, he splashes the cash and gets her dreamy gifts, etc etc, and tbh all that together makes a pretty swoon worthy package.
I loved the dual POV, especially because they differed so much in terms of perspective (particularly at first) because Pippa believes Jamie’s attitude towards her to be because he hates her when that couldn’t be further from the truth.
The pining in this was delicious, as was Jamie. I’m telling you the way that man is in bed? Dreamy. Speaking of, the spice in this was excellent. Not over the top, and not just constant sex, it felt like more than that. It was a gradual build up and was really well done considering Pippas past, and I just thoroughly enjoyed 😏.
Also this book handled some really tricky topics like depression and anxiety/panic attacks very well. And I think was really positive in terms of normalising those feelings/illnesses. The family relationships in this story too added a nice bit of depth and interest.
I just adored the way Pippa and Jamie’s characters developed. The way they encouraged each other and showed each other the world and their lives could be exactly what they wanted it to be. The support they gave each other was super beautiful and seeing them come out of their shells was great. The singer/songwriter meets hockey player storyline was brill. And I just flew through this book in one sitting.
Plus, this book wins many a bonus point for not having a 3rd act breakup. I’m so excited to read the next one!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol
Minor: Pregnancy
megnut's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Sexual content
Minor: Alcoholism, Car accident, and Death of parent
beer_books_shadowdaddies's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Death of parent
rebakesl's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol
britwalsh16's review against another edition
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! 🥰😞
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! 🥰😞
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Violence, Grief, and Alcohol
lafe's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Car accident, and Death of parent
readwithria's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
4.0
Behind the Net exceeded my expectations! I had a great time reading it, and it has reignited my interest in sports romance
Read if you love
🩵 hockey romance
🩶 forced proximity
🩵 cute dogs
🩶 healing from past relationship trauma
Read if you love
🩵 hockey romance
🩶 forced proximity
🩵 cute dogs
🩶 healing from past relationship trauma
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcoholism, Car accident, and Death of parent
savannahsshelf's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
I really enjoyed this it was a little long and felt a touch repetitive at points but still so good! Cannot wait to read more in this series and from this author
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Death of parent
gabs_parr's review against another edition
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 ⚠️
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 ⚠️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Grief, and Car accident
misswoodhouse24's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Death of parent