A review by troyennhorse
Hard Knocks by Ruby Lang

3.0

As someone who had to stop watching football after I saw Concussion, I really loved that CTE played a role in this story about a neurologist and an okay hockey enforcer. I adored Helen! Her practical way of looking at the world was a nice break from the more emotion-driven heroines that are more popular in contemporary romance. Adam was a great counterpoint and his personal struggle with who he was outside of hockey was interesting. I do wish we'd gotten a more complete character arc for him, but it is realistic for him to still be figuring things out. Their individual arcs were compelling and their personalities fit well together, but the fights between them were hard to sustain and there were a few rushed beats that made it hard to buy in fully to the romance. They've barely started dating, refuse to even call it that, and then they have a massive fight about his future which felt out of place. This conflict is resolved in one conversation where they decide to move in together. I wanted more conversation between the characters about their very real issues before we dove straight for the happy ending. That said, the humor was great and I adored these characters so I plan to re-read it and other books by Ruby Lang in the future.