Light 'em Up by Kelly Jamieson Review

 

* This review is spoiler-free *

4.75/5 ⭐

Tropes

➮ Hockey romance

➮ Enemies to lovers

➮ Matchmaking

➮ One night stand

➮ Brother's rival

➮ Workplace romance

➮ Dual POV

Synopsis

Annie is thrilled to be working in professional hockey since her brothers are all players. Her new role as skating coach to the New York Bears is the perfect fit. Except one of the guys is Logan Coates—the guy who sent her brother to the hospital in a memorable game three seasons ago. She wants nothing to do with him.

Logan doesn't need some tiny figure skater telling him what to do. Although he's a fourth-liner, he wants more ice time. Learning from Annie Bang, who hates his guts. She’s a pint-sized badass, that's sexy as hell.

Best Quote From the Book

“Your cold hands aren't getting anywhere near my beefy baloney"... my man-sized manicotti... zipper sausage? How about love stick? Magic wand?"

My Thoughts

I adored this story for including a badass woman doing better than all of the men around her. Of course she's faster with less effort, that's how queens do it! But seriously, she's a FMC we can all look up to who knows her worth and doesn't take any flack from the boys. I love to see it. While she is a petite woman, she doesn't let that become her whole personality. She is also iconic for standing up for figure skating and getting some skin in the game. Overall she's a fun character who I would love to be friends with.

 

Speaking of iconic, Logan and Ivan are iconic for loving country music. I love seeing two strong men in sports unafraid to show their love for music which is often teased. I adore Ivan, he needs his own series just so he can be his amazing quippy self. Another character I would adore being friends with. This book does a great job of demonstrating a platonic relationship full of trust with physicality purely from the nature of figure skating. We need more really close best friends who really have no feelings for each other.

The only thing I wasn't fully in love with was how there were moments that highly promoted good communication amongst everyone but it felt like it wasn't as fleshed out as it could be. The moment everyone starts talking, it all gets resolved. In reality, I feel like there would be more pushback and would take more time to get there, especially for Logan and his father. 

This book seems to me like it would be fantastic adapted into a movie. I'd especially love to see Annie and Ivan's skating routine to the song Beggin' as I just know it would be incredible. Or all of the cute moments such as Logan's jealousy that I will not spoil despite how much I want to gush about them. 

I will say this book does include open-door spice and a good bit of it. That said, if you don't find that cumbersome, it can be skipped

Overall, this book does a great job with lovable characters with personalities, flaws, and complex character dynamics more indicative of real life than the average romance. It would be fantastic as a movie and was an engaging read from cover to cover.

I received this book as part of a Literary Media Tours arc team. My review is honest and voluntary

Puck Money by Dani Galliaro Review

 

* This review is spoiler-free *

4.25/5 ⭐

Tropes

➮ Hockey romance

➮ Workplace romance

➮ Friends with benefits

➮ LGBTQ+ rep

➮ Spicy lessons

Synopsis

You can be at the top of your game with no game? Nick Oberbeck is the young star goalie for the LA Princes. With money and prestige, he should be able to get anyone he wants. Why can’t the golden boy seem to make the connections he craves? Nick’s path collides with golden girl Annie Markham when they’re both at their friends’ wedding. Lucky for him, Annie’s fresh off a heartbreak involving a coworker. Nick tries his best to bag Annie and succeeds... kind of. They go their separate ways until Annie has a work opportunity in LA: an opportunity to be Nick’s sports agent. Neither of them wants to repeat their mistakes, but Nick asks Annie for a big favor. The catch? No one can know.

Best Quote From the Book

“I was so taken by the beauty of both your scars and your resilience"

LGBTQ+ Representation

5/5 🌈

Both MCs are LGBTQ+. This is discussed in earnest and heavily impacts their characters. Nick has to handle the struggle of being a pansexual hockey player. As a result, he keeps his identity hidden. There is still a lot of discrimination towards LGBTQ+ people in sports so it is often not safe to openly come out without risking your career. He also discusses how his parents had different reactions to him coming out. This book discusses the importance of relationships where a person is supportive of you but still doesn't really understand your identity. There are lots of people in that situation so it is amazing to see it represented with literature.

Annie identifies as bisexual. These experiences with people of various gender identities have shaped who she is today and how she approaches potential relationships. She is generally more open than Nick due to being in a safer situation but she does discuss the struggles of being unsure if/when to mention your identity when meeting new people while being out as a general concept. 

My Thoughts

At first, I truly did not like Annie's character. She continued to stay in a relationship with a married man even after discovering he was married. It was then a struggle to root for her for the first quarter of the book. After that, I started to like her a lot more and that aspect of her character became less irritating. 

I loved the little Scarlett Letter reference. It was the perfect little nod. Not too overt or forced but enough to be widely recognizable. 

These days I am really a sucker for any books at least partially set at a wedding. I'm not sure what it is about that setting that is so appealing right now to me but this book definitely hit the spot. Their blunder of a hookup at the wedding was quite funny and is what got me to start liking the characters more. 

Nick is one of the most pure characters I have seen in a spicy book. He well and truly had no idea how to please a woman and it somehow added to his charm. He was also a FANTASTIC babysitter which was heartwarming to see. Truly Nick is just so much better than Annie. He is such a simp for her I love it! He would change the rotation of the Earth for her if she asked. 

This book is very spicy. It is the plot, not just a big part, it is honestly most of the plot. No, this book is not erotica. If you are not comfortable with a healthy portion of open-door spice, this is not the book for you. I will say I was very happy the spice elements did not read in a pornographic way and truly developed the characters. 

If anything, I feel like this book could've been trimmed down a bit to be shorter. I'm not sure what exactly contributed to the slightly dragged-down feeling. It just felt like I was constantly wanting to fast-forward to the next plot point I suppose. 

A few of the dates Annie and Nick went on were so cute. Such as the Venice Beach-themed date or when they bonded over books. The moments they actually let themselves act like a couple flowed very well. 

Overall, this book was enjoyable if you like a spicy read that isn't dark. The hockey elements came into play at some points. I would've loved to see it be a tad bit shorter and to give Annie a redemption arc earlier on in the story. 

I received this book as an arc through Happily Booked PR. My review is honest and voluntary.