This was a really sweet and fuzzy book to read the dynamic between the characters and who doesn’t love a moody hockey player definitely a book I couldn’t put down

Book Review 🏒

I really loved the dynamics between the caracters, is was amazing to see them shift from strangers to friends and lovers. Their forced proximities had developed an undeniable chemistry, and it was just perfect with the vibes of the hockey romance.

This is also an closed door romance, so if you want a hockey romance without the big smut this is for you.

Thank you @authorjpsterling and @netgalley for this amazing ARC! 🔥

The pucker up pact.

Axl needs to fix his reputation to be able to make it to the NHL. Sophie is looking to mend her broken heart after she learns her boyfriend was cheating on her. She is a professional singer, who was dating and NFL star. Now she back on her home to lay low and hide out from the media.

She gets woken up to excessive knocking on her door. When she opens it to find to strange Middle Ages men. The are from the new AHL hockey team The Granite Ice. She figures they are trying to sell her something and tries to close the door. The one man persuades her to give him just a few minutes of her time. The have concocted a scheme to help Axl with his reputation as well as help Sophie’s reputation in the public eyes as her ex is now public with his new girlfriend.
They will fake date for a short period of time to help each other out. They both agree to a no kissing rule. How long till one of them wants to break the rule??
Then the owners of the Hocky team decided that the for dating wasn’t working, so now the my need to have them kiss on Camera. But they had a no kissing pact!! Does Sophie go along with the ruse? What happens when their fake dating doesn’t feel so fake anymore?? You need to pick up a copy of this book to find out!! You won’t be disappointed!!

This was really sweet, a super cute clean romance but with some lovely moments. Perfect for YA readers who don’t want spice but want a cute story

💋📚 Huge thanks for the ARC of The Pucker Up Pact by J.P. Sterling!

This was such a cute + fun read!! 💕

🏒 Axl — minor league hockey hottie chasing that NHL dream
🎤 Sophie — pop star queen with a cheating ex and a PR mess

💥 Solution? FAKE DATING (one of my fave tropes!!) 😍

They even make a no kissing rule… but we all know how that goes 👀💋 When they finally break it, the chemistry is SO SWEET and you can just feel things shift. I loved how Axl’s walls came down so fast — grumpy hockey boy turned soft for his girl 💞

Not gonna lie, Sophie made a few choices that had me like 🤨, but it made their happy ending even better 🥹

Also: WATER GUN FIGHTS?! 💦 A total highlight — loved the playful, summery vibes.

📖 Super quick, feel-good read — perfect for lounging poolside or sneaking in between busy days!

Axl has trouble controlling his temper on the hockey ice.
Sophie finds her NFL boyfriend has been cheating and cancels her concert dates.
The team owner Bill decides Axl needs a fake relationship to get more people in the seats.
Bill manages to convince broken hearted Sophie, to just appear at a hockey game and cheer on Axl.
Axl is so mad when he sees Sophie in a beautiful and distracting green dress. Axl ends up going with Sophie to a big event which didn't turn out well.
Sophie again tries to fix the issues and agrees with Bill to kiss Axl and break their pact.
Axl knows something is up but he kisses Sophie and said he is all in..until Bill tells him the truth.
Axl is so mad at Sophie, but she writes a song and surprises him, and it is enough to win Axl back.

Another fun hockey romance. I loved that it was closed door as most hockey romances I've come across are quite spicy. It was also a very sweet romance and I loved the over protective MMC. However, sometimes it felt like the FMC and the MMC fell for each other too quickly/easily and it was a little unrealistic to me. I loved the fake dating trope but I would have liked a little more build up to their romance turning into something real. Overall this was a sweet romance.

This was a super cute book, but I have to say I was a little disappointed with how short it was! I am not a novella girly and this was just too short for me. I would have loved for the story line to be stretched for longer, and have more side characters introduced, I think we met maybe 5 speaking characters and I just wanted MORE!!

if you like novellas and cute no spice sports romance then you will love The Pucker-up pack

Get ready to pucker up for this sweet, swoony, and hilarious hockey romance! 💋🏒

This book had everything I love in a romcom—
✔️ Fake dating (with a revenge twist!)
✔️ Forced proximity that brings all the tension
✔️ A grumpy hockey player and a sunshine celebrity singer
✔️ Instant chemistry that leaps off the page
✔️ Dual POV so you get both sides of the swoon
✔️ A satisfying happily ever after

It’s book one in a new series and I’m already invested! I adored the pop star meets hockey world dynamic, and the cover? GORGEOUS. 😍

✨If you’re into opposites attract, fake dating, and sports romance with a touch of celebrity glam—this one’s for you.

A big thanks to Victory Editing and NetGalley for sending me this ARC.

Anyone who knows me, knows I am always up for the Fake Dating trope. So I was super excited to get approved for this. I got approved for both the ebook and the audiobook, so I read a bit of it, but mostly listened.

I liked how the characters have similar work ethics and experiences and how the book shows what ways that compatibility and understanding matters. This could have been more nuanced than it was— both character’s “romantic trauma” is being cheated on in past relationships, and both are hardworking to get the fame and money they want.

I didn’t love the repeated emphasis on how money and fame were such an important goal and accomplishment for both of them. Not that success, financial security, and recognition aren’t things everyone strives for, but the over emphasis on excessive wealth and luxury, like private jets, rubbed me the wrong way. The way these things were discussed made both characters, but mostly Axl, seem very centered around material things, more than just in awe of a celebrity lifestyle he was being exposed to for the first time. Maybe I’m just taking this too seriously, but that’s one thing that rubbed me the wrong way, and might others reading it.

I also wish there was more build up for the relationship. I’m not opposed to them both immediately being attracted to each other, but I do wish there was more time dedicated to them getting to actually know each other. As opposed to the time skip toward the end.

Axl also acted rude toward Sophie at the beginning of the arrangement, rather directly, yet none of that is ever acknowledged in Sophie’s point of view. All she thinks about him at that stage is how she finds him attractive. Nothing about their interactions and how he isn’t exactly nice towards her, even though they are supposed to be working together, mostly to help his reputation. If this was acknowledged, rather by making Axl feel bad about his treatment of her at first, Sophie feeling like she is getting mixed signals, or them developing a banter, this would have made the relationship so much more interesting and developed.

While I’m neither a famous musician or athlete, or work in PR, this felt very unrealistic any time it went into any of the professional part of the story, which shouldn’t be a big deal as it’s just the set up, but I still wish it had seemed a little more realistic. Again, not one of my top complaints, and would definitely be something I wouldn’t have cared about as much if I was more invested in the relationship.

Overall, this was a cute read. It was a light Hallmark-este story as promised. Very corny, but again that’s what it was marketed as. It comes in at a little under 200 pages, and 3ish hours on audiobook. I had the story done after listening to a few chapters a day as I did stuff around the house.

There was a lot of untapped potential here, and I think this could have been a higher rated read for me if a little more was put into developing each character and their relationship past clichés. It just fell into eye roll inducing insta-love each time I thought we might go deeper.

Axl and Sophie’s story is entertaining, heartwarming and gripping. Both have reason to be wary of love and relationships. Neither expected their fake relationship to lead to very real feelings. I loved the two characters …the Hockey Pro, Axl and Pop Star, Sophie. The grumpy/sunshine and fake relationship tropes are two of my favourites and this author has handled both rather deftly. Axl is most definitely a grumpy, growly guy, who doesn’t relate well with the fans and prefers to keep his life outside of hockey, private. He doesn’t want the limelight, he just wants to play hockey. The fake relationship with Sophie is supposed to gain him fans and hopefully make him more likeable and approachable. Sophie is comfortable in the limelight, is adored by her fans and is not above getting back at her cheating ex through fake dating handsome, hot hockey player. Her sunshine personality grates on Axel’s nerves until it doesn’t. The attraction between them proves to be irresistible and before they know it the flame is lit and both are in deeper than they planned. Turns out the hot alpha male hockey player has a heart underneath all the grumpy growliness and the sexy, sunshiny Sophie has claimed it. This is not a spicy read, but rather a sweet and romantic one. Enjoy

I am happy to recommend this delightful book.

I’m kind of on the fence about this one. It’s super short—like, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it short—which made it tough to really settle into the story or get to know the characters. That said, it still had the fun, flirty energy you’d expect from a hockey romance. If you’re just looking for something quick and low-commitment, it might hit the spot—but don’t go in expecting much depth.

A cute romance between Axl and Sophie told in their alternating voices. There is a secret that Sophie is keeping that as Axl and Sophie start to get closer threatens any potential they have. The dialogue is friendly between the two although there is a bit of animosity as the book opens. I didn’t warm to Axl or Sophie and so struggled a little to fall in love with their tale. An epilogue is always welcome however I could have done with a bit more oomph to the plot.

Quick and fluffy fake dating trope that involves a hockey player! 😍 Easy read that is perfect if you’re looking for a palate cleanser. My only “complaint” is that the characters could’ve been a little more fleshed out / had more depth and sometimes they read as immature for the age range they were supposed to be.

Childhood best friends Kate and Jake have always been inseparable—laughing at inside jokes, supporting each other through every life twist, and never crossing the line into something more… until a drunken pact made years ago resurfaces: if neither of them is married by thirty, they'll kiss. A simple kiss. No strings. But when the moment actually arrives, it sets off a chain reaction of complicated feelings, secret desires, and the terrifying realization that maybe—just maybe—they've been in love all along.If you're a fan of friends-to-lovers, slow burns, and emotional payoffs that leave you smiling (and maybe tearing up a little), The Pucker-Up Pact is a must-read. It’s cozy, tender, and full of genuine heart—a reminder that sometimes, love is right in front of us all along.

Cute Novella!

Axl and Sophie are really cute together! I especially loved the scenes where her brother Sam was involved. Those moments brought Axl and Sophie closer together.

This book would have been even better as a full length novel! I wish the book would have had more scenes for Axl and Sophie’s feelings to develop more (especially during the fake dating).

One of my favorite quotes from the book is "it changes this whole thing. We can't circle back to a talking stage, and I don't do situ-ationships that neither of us understand. No more faking it.
If you kiss me, you're mine." How cute?!

*No swears. Just kisses. No Blasphemies. * - J.P. Sterling

This review will be posted to StoryGraph and Barnes and Noble.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Pucker-Up Pact is J.P. Sterling’s first book in her new Sweet Hockey Romcom series. It is a fake-dating hockey romance set in Mapleton, Vermont, which was also the setting for another series by this author. The story is told in alternating POV from Sophie and Axl. There are no sex scenes or profanity.

Axl Erikson is a talented hockey player with a short fuse and the inability to keep his thoughts to himself. Shortly after joining the Granite Ice, a brand-new AHL team in Mapleton, Vermont, he mouths off at a referee during a home game and gets into trouble with his team management. They tell him that he has no chance of moving up to the NHL or even staying on their team if he doesn’t get control of his temper and become more engaged with the fans. The team owner concocts a plan for Axl to fake-date a famous singer so that he can be adopted by her fanbase, similar to Taylor Swift boosting attendance at NFL games after she began dating Travis Kelce. Axl has no interest in dating until he meets the beautiful Sophie; he has been 100% focused on his hockey career.

Sophie Summers is a Taylor Swift-esque singer who fought the odds (and naysayers) to be successful. She left her hometown of Mapleton, Vermont for the bright lights. After she catches her boyfriend of one year, Rocco, cheating on her, she runs home to Mapleton to hide from the paparazzi. When the management of the town’s new AHL franchise approaches her about helping them with some publicity, she isn’t interested. They convince her to do it to get revenge on Rocco, who’s also a pro hockey player. She’s very surprised to find herself attracted to Axl, the player who she’s supposed to fake-date.

The Pucker-Up Pact seems like a Hallmark version of a Taylor Swift-hockey player fake-dating relationship. There’s good chemistry and witty banter between Axl and Sophie, and they help each other to become better versions of themselves. It’s a sweet and clean romance perfect for young adults and new adults. Mature readers will be more cynical of the insta-love between Axl and Sophie.

I received an Advance Review Copy (ARC) from NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

🏒ARC review🏒

The pucker-up pact by @authorjpsterling
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Sweet romcom romance for someone do doesn’t want to read spice. This was a good pallet cleaner from all the dark stuff I’ve been reading lately. Revenge fake dating that doesn’t seem to fake. Two people who just want to be loved and active just that. Life looks sweet when you have the love you deserve 💥

Ahhhh-dorable! I enjoyed this one. It was short and sweet and the drama didn't last too long. Plus HOCKEY ROMANCE! Grumpy Sunshine! Hello. Two of the best things.

This was my first hockey romance, and I am not disappointed. This was a witty and charming love story. I am obsessed with Axl and Sophia's story. I love fake dating, and although there could have been more tension, this was great. Axl's relationship with Sophia's brother was so fun and cute. Axl had me swooning the entire time. If you like hockey romance, fake dating, and just an overall good, quick, fun-time read; this is for you.