This is such a sweet story! I absolutely adore Lars, Adeline, and baby Mabel. Being Lars’ nanny despite her long time crush on him was not even the slightest bit easy for Adeline. But when baby Mabel is dropped into his lap she wants to help. He is her dad’s teammate and best friend, and her family has become his family too. He is also more than a decade older than her, not that her heart even remotely cares about that.
The close proximity of moving in to care for Mabel destroys any chance Lars had of keeping his distance and not giving in to their firestorm of chemistry no matter the consequences. Adeline feels it too. I love them together so much! I also love how much she loves Mabel. And how he falls so seamlessly into being such a great dad.
Great story, wonderful characters, and a whole lot of love fills up the pages. The steam/spice level is perfect! I really enjoyed this one and can’t wait for the next!

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sweet Thing by Kate Meader

I am obsessed with this book. Yes, it had a bit of a slow start, but once it got going? I was absolutely hooked. The love story between Adeline and Lars melted my heart, so soft, so swoony, so satisfying. And Mabel? She was the sweetest little scene-stealer! I adored her.


This book is basically a dream come true for trope lovers like me: surprise baby, single dad, forced proximity, dad’s best friend, and hockey romance all rolled into one perfect package. Watching Lars go from commitment-phobic bachelor to completely smitten dad and partner was actual magic. His growth felt so real, and the way Mabel was woven into the story never felt forced, she mattered just as much as the romance, and I loved that.


I already can’t wait to dive into the rest of this series. If you love heartfelt, trope-filled romances with just the right amount of spice and sweetness, run to pick this one up. You won’t regret it!
A great love story.
Trademark.

I really enjoyed this first book in the Chicago Rebels series. I'm looking forward to the next one. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy.
#SweetThing #NetGalley

Sweet Thing by Kate Meader
4.5 stars round UP!

I freaking LOVED this!
Age Gap? Check.
Found Family? Check.
Single Dad? CHECK.
Hockey Romance? CHECK

The chemistry between Lars and Addy is chefs kiss. The Kershaw family is just fun and I want to be best friends with all of them.
Reading about Lars falling in love with Mabel makes my damn ovaries feel a certain type of way. I absolutely can not wait for the rest of the books in this series.
I am honestly really disappointed that this is the first Kate Meader book I have ever read, I can assure you that it will certainly NOT be the last. So so good.

Mabel is the star of the show 😍 love her! A forbidden, sports, age gap romance with a baby....what more could you want?
I loved the chemistry between Adeline and Lars. I loved how they pushed each other in different ways and forced each other to acknowlege insecurities while admitting mistakes of their own families did not have to continue with themselves. They both had so much emotional baggage and trauma. The character growth was really inspirational.

I was very graciously chosen by NetGalley to read this book as an ARC. (Advanced readers copy!)

This book was so cute!! From every single baby aspect all the way to the chemistry of the main characters in the sheets. The storyline was so good and I very much enjoyed the book. I loved the whole found family trope and the tight knit community of everyone involved in the story. I highly recommend this book if you are looking for a wholesome, cute, and spicy hockey romance!

3.5 stars.
Thanks to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the ARC of this.
This was cute and fun. Single dad/ Nanny but also best friends daughter. FUN. The dialogue and the characters were fun but it did feel a little too instalove with not enough relationship build up. All characters were fun and the issues weren't dragged out either which I liked!
Character rating - 3.5.
Plot rating - 3.5.
Setting rating - 3.5.

I enjoyed this but I would say I wasn't overly invested in the romance between the MCs. I liked the drama of the epilogue though so will likely pick up the next book

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

This was such a fun surprise! While not the most polished writing, the story had a solid plot, and I really enjoyed Lars as a main character, he was thoughtful, layered, and easy to root for. The romance was well-paced for most of the book, with great tension. The third-act was emotional and believable, and I found myself genuinely invested in seeing their happily ever after.

On the downside, there were too many side characters mentioned who didn’t add much to the story, which made a lot of group scenes feel messy and confusing. Also, the ending felt a bit rushed and underwhelming after such a strong setup. Especially the epilogue, which just felt like promotion for the next book and didn’t actually contribute anything to Lars or Addy’s story.

A new generation of Chicago Rebels. It is nice to see the familiar faces and how the families have grown and matured. Lars gets a surprise when a baby is dumped in his arms - literally. We have the hero who is thrown into the deep end without a life preserver and is so out of his depth it is amusing. Adeline is at loose ends and agrees to help him out. The rest is somewhat predictable but enjoyable. I look forward to the next installment in this series.

This was my first “surprise baby” book & I am shocked by how much I enjoyed it!

I loved the age gap, hockey, nanny elements to the book as well! I feel like Lars’ response to a baby being thrust into his arms & left with him without warning was a bit wild but I still binged this book!

I first want to thank everyone involved in my receipt of this advanced copy.

I want to emphasize how much I wanted to enjoy this book and how excited I was to read it. I am a huge fan of hockey romance novels and was so thrilled to be approved for one. Unfortunately, I could not finish this.

To begin with, I noticed early on that there were an overabundance of named characters. This book, which is part of a new series, seemed to be referencing pre-existing characters and I had the sense that these characters mattered but could not figure out why. I finally checked Goodreads about 1/3 of the way into the book and realized that this author had written an extensive series about the same hockey team and the named characters were coming from there. While I love a good easter egg and cameo, the shear quantity of them here without warning of the prior series, was enough to pull me out of the novel every single time.

While reading, certain speech patterns from the characters read as too formal for casual conversation. While I do want books to have proper grammar and syntax, the dialogue was overly formalized between Adaline (the FMC) and Lars the (MMC).\

Now I know that this was a surprise single dad story, but it seemed like the idea of babies overtook the entirety of this story. Adaline stops college and stays home to basically become the mother of her little sister. nearly every character who is coupled up references wanting more kids after seeing Lars's new child. Rosie makes jokes about Adaline wanting to have Lars's babies. It just became too baby heavy. It seemed like procreation was the only thing on everyone's minds.

Lastly, elements of the book seemed to be needlessly reiterated in a frequent fashion. For instant, The inside joke of "Trademark!" between Adaline and her siblings was explained 3-4 times by the time I DNF'd the book at 60%. It again, took me out of the story.

Once again, I am extremely appreciative of the receipt of this book and I do hope to give Kate Meader another try in the future, but this book just was not for me.

This was... bad. I've given it an extra star because I was able to finish but I was so close to DNFing. It just didn't feel realistic at all with the mother dumping the baby on Lars. It wasn't that bit that felt unrealistic, it was just the fact she did it in a bar and everyone watched and her simply walking out. It was as though it was too easy of a way to start off the book, I guess? Throughout the book, I found myself getting bored and skim reading a lot of it or sometimes skipping chapters and I was easily able to continue reading, which made it feel like I hadn't missed much. Wouldn't recommend.

Loved this ARC! I just recently found Kate's books and I know I should have read others first, but I really loved the sound of this blurb and boy did it not disappoint! Lars and Adeline's story was so good from start to finish and has a little bit of every thing
*Age Gap
*Forbidden Romance
*Secret Baby
*nanny
*lots of Laughs!

Yes yes yes!!!!!!

This book delivered everything I wanted and more! The relationship building between the main characters was lovely to read and had me swooning over them. Definitely a slow burn but that made it even better 🔥

I love the plot of this book, as well as all of the character. I can’t wait to continue this series (Roll on rebel bride)

Just as a side note I loved the little newspaper articles as well!

Ly daddy Lars 🫶🏻🫶🏻

Thank you so much to Kate Meader, NetGalley and victory editing for giving me access to this book, I enjoyed it thoroughly!!

I devoured this hockey romance in one sitting, swept up in the chemistry, tension, and heartfelt moments that made it so hard to put down.

Lars Nyquist, our gruff, broody defenseman for the Chicago Rebels, is blindsided when a one-night stand leaves him with a baby, literally. Mabel is dropped into his arms and into his life, and everything changes. Enter Adeline, daughter of Lars’s teammate Theo, freshly back from a year of soul-searching travels. She needs a job. He needs help. It’s the perfect setup…until emotions complicate everything.

Lars was a standout MMC. He was emotionally guarded yet so full of love for his daughter and so determined not to repeat the mistakes of his own father. Watching him learn to care for Mabel (clumsily, lovingly, fiercely) made my heart melt. But what truly elevated the story was Adeline. She’s battling her own trauma and insecurities, still trying to figure out where she fits in her family and who she is beyond being Theo’s daughter. Her growth felt so real, and her connection with Mabel? Adorable.

The chemistry between Lars and Adeline is palpable from the start, instant attraction mixed with slow-burn tension that builds beautifully. Yes, their romance is forbidden, but it never feels forced. It’s tender, messy, and ultimately healing. There’s family drama, of course, but it’s handled with care, and the resolution is both satisfying and earned. The epilogue? It wrecked me in the best way.

I'm such a sucker for single dad romances! I also loved the age-gape trope and the found family trope. As soon as I saw how much the Kershaw's welcomed Lars into their family I knew immediately it was going to get bumpy when things came to light about Adeline and Lars. But, I was also looking forward to seeing Lars get the big family permanently when it all works out between them. To see him go from such a rough childhood to having no one as an adult... the dream is to see him find the family to fill his heart full. Heck, I want to be a part of the Kershaw's family too! And Adeline... she's 23, young and quiet in a room full of big personalities. In no way did she get lost in the story. I think the author did a great job of showing who she really was. I rooted for her and Lars hard! And you must get the bonus epilogue when you finish reading this book. Oh my heart! It's exactly what I needed to feel fulfilled. Great book and I want to dive into the others in the series!

The chemistry between Lars and Adeline!!!! Obsessed! I love all the family and how close everyone is. Makes me happy.

Lars Nyquist’s life is turned upside down when a one night stand turns up and bundles 7 month old Mabel in his arms then runs off. Without an ounce of knowledge on how to deal with this, Lars turns to his best friend and hockey team mate Theo Kershaw and his wife for help. What he doesn’t expect is the Kershaw’s eldest daughter, 22 year old Adeline to move in and become not only his nanny but his everything. The feelings are reciprocated by Adeline but how will the pair navigate the news when their decision to be together means causing problems with Adeline’s family and the whole hockey team.

This was a cute read, Lars, Adeline and Mabel are the sweetest trio and I really liked the relationships Lars builds with them both, even in the sudden circumstances he found himself in as a father and roommate to his new nanny. There is a huge forbidden aspect to Lars and Adeline with her being his teammate and captains daughter and I thought it was written well how they ended up giving in to their feelings.

I got a little confused at times with the amount of side characters and eventually had to just focus on the main characters and pick up the side characters as and when they appeared. The next book has been set up well and I think it is going to be an interesting series with the found family aspect and how they are all intertwined.

This is a sports romance in that Lars plays hockey but there is very minimal actual discussion surrounding the hockey aspect and is very much focussed on Lars and Adeline’s relationship so don’t go in expecting a lot of hockey play. Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone who likes surprise baby and single dad x nanny tropes.

This is my first book by Kate Meader. I struggled in the beginning with an info dump of other characters. I now know that these characters were in a previous series, so I think it would be helpful to have read that series first. I did get the characters straight as I read more. I ended up enjoying this book. I think both the FMC and MMC had a lot of growth throughout the book. This book had single dad/nanny/age gap/dad’s best friend tropes. Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC. 3.75 stars