So, cussing does not bother me. But good grief. It was being thrown around like confetti. It was really annoying to be honest.

I did enjoy the book overall, but I feel like the ending was just very abrupt. Cute story though.

Thank you NetGalley, author, and publisher for the chance to review this book early.

What a great story! Can't wait to read more by this author!
Thanks Netgalley and to the author for the ARC!

First off thank you to NetGalley and Susan Renee for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/4
🌶️🌶️/5

I will say when I first started this book I did not like the writing style and I was struggling. Well once I got about 15% in I was hooked! I finished this book in one sitting and absolutely loved it!

The fact that we started off arguing over lucky charms🍀,was incredible. I also happened to be reading this on St Patrick’s Day which just made it better.

If you like hockey romances, enemies to lovers, and forbidden romances this is for you! I was feeling all types of emotions while reading this book. I laughed, I cried, I giggled which to me is just the absolute best. 🩵

All in all I highly recommend this book and I can wait to get my own hard copy once it’s released! 🏒⛸️

this book was really good.. hockey romance easy to read. would highy reccomend this book when it come out

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this arc.

I’m a sucker for a good hockey romance. But 28% in, the two main characters are still arguing over a box of lucky charms…The next 22% they argue about who is worse and who’s messed up after they share one kiss. I usually find banter amusing. Colby and Carrissa’s banter- annoying. They are both supposed to be adults, 8 years after college graduation, but the banter screams high school/college.

I also hate the nickname Smalls. Just not a book for me.

This was a cute little enemies to lovers hockey romance! I would have liked to see a little more depth and back story for the characters but it was still a nice quick read!

I really enjoyed seeing the characters progress in this story. The story was well paced and well written. I was hooked from the beginning and devoured it in just a few sittings.

This was just what I needed to tie me over until some of the other hockey romances I’m anticipating are coming out. This was a lot of fun and definitely new book partners!

Off Your Game is a hockey romance about NHL player, Colby who has a chance meeting with a woman named Carissa at a grocery store in which there is a verbal altercation over a box of cereal. Carissa has no idea he's a hockey god and needs the cereal as it is part of a superstitious game ritual.

Low and behold they later discover that Carissa is the new marketing employee hired to handle the team's social media accounts. Carissa and Colby are magnetic and drawn to each other leading to the formation of a relationship, despite Carissa's boss warning her not to get involved with the players.

Throughout the story Colby is battling unresolved childhood trauma while Carissa is trying to make up for being taken advantage of by her parents both of which affects their relationship. An incident happens that leads to the leads to them questioning their relationship, and its continuation. However, don't worry this story definitely has a happy ending.

Reading this story left me will warm fuzzy feelings. The pacing at the start of the story was slow to start but picked after the first several chapters. I really appreciated the character development of the FMC and MMC. I felt they were both relatable and their personal issues were realistic. The plot itself was well written for the length of the story and premise.

Colby is prime book boyfriend material, rough on the exterior, but good hearted and swoon worthy. This book has a healthy amount of spice that was well written, and very enjoyable. There was no denying these characters chemistry, and I was rooting for them the entire time.

I also appreciate the accurate representation of mental health needs in this story, and the normalizing of getting help.

I absolutely love a hockey romance!! This grumpy meets sunshine was so emotional! I loved the way both characters had family issues that they were trying to deal with!

Colby is your typical tall dark and grumpy hockey player whereas Carissa is a social media manager taking her first steps into the adult world.

This book was so fast pace! There was a little enemies to lovers but they weren’t enemies for that long! The tropes are enemies to lovers, grumpy x sunshine and work place romance. You can’t go wrong with this hockey romance.

Such a spicy hockey romance! The book had an interesting beginning and I enjoy the enemies to lovers trope. I love seeing the softer side of both of the characters slowly be revealed during the book. I also enjoy the Dual POV, so you can see both sides of the story.

The side characters are funny and many are supportive to the main characters. They added more humor to the story and I like the camaraderie of the teammates.

My little drawback is I just don’t understand how the main FMC filming social media content in the bar with the team is a good idea or how she doesn’t worry about fraternization with the main male character till much later.

Overall, this book is a wonderful read and would recommend! Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the digital copy of this book for review.

Hello spice! I received this ARC from NetGalley and Victory Editing in exchange for my review. To begin, hockey romcoms are my weakness. I will never turn down reading one. I grew up at the local minor league rink with season tickets and will always be a life time hockey fan. Carissa and Colby’s relationship was predictable, although I enjoyed coming along for the ride. I felt their heartbreak and their emotions through out their relationship and I enjoyed how each character had something relatable about them. They both came from different backgrounds, but they worked well together. I really wanted to meet Colby’s mom and dad though. I wish they came to a game, a charity event, or some type of holiday. Colby spoke about his mom and I feel like she was a little character. I will say the ending fell flat though. It actually said “The end”, which seemed very odd for some reason. Overall though, I enjoyed this book as a quick read and would recommend it if you are looking for a spicy hockey book!

🏒Off Your Game🏒

⭐⭐.75
🌶️🌶️🌶️

Thank you to netgalley, page and vine, Susan Renee and Victory Editing Co-op for the review copy!

Okay...the MMC, Colby Nelson, was just not it. He ruined the book for me. From the first page, this bloke was obsessed with Lucky Charms (I get it's a trauma response) but to abuse and act like a dick towards a woman who bought the last box and then continue to be a dick to her for most of the start of the story wasn't necessary. Not sure why it was written in that way. He was also extremely angry for most of the book and verbally abused his friends over stupid shit just grinded my gears the whole way through. For his age which I think is 30? He was so immature and childish.

The FMC was okay, but a total door mat.

Unfortunately this book could have had some potential but failed to hit the mark.

We first meet Colby when he’s in desperate need of a box of Lucky Charms and tries to buy the last box from a woman at the grocery store, in the middle of the night. Not used to being told no, the hockey captain loses his cool on the woman not knowing that she’d be showing up the next day as his team’s new marketing rep.

Carissa didn’t expect to see the man who was rude to her over a box of cereal ever again but she comes face to face with him the next day at the new job she just started. When his teammates start to clue her in that Lucky Charms are a little more than a treat for him, Carissa is determined to win the grumpy hockey captain over.

Tropes
* Enemies to lovers
* Grumpy x sunshine
* Hockey Captain x Marketing Rep
* Workplace Romance

I’m going to be honest, this wasn’t a favorite. The writing is subpar at best. The plot had potential but the “we hate each other” to “we can’t stand to be apart” aspect of the relationship developed way too fast - there was no real transition period where the feelings built up. I also wasn’t a big fan of the ending…I hate when the MMC blindly believes the FMC did something completely out of character, doesn’t listen to reason and then does the bare minimum when groveling.

Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for this ARC in exchange for a honest review.

First off, the meet-cute between Colby and Carissa? I was living for it! It was genuinely hilarious and gave off all the right "OMG, I hate you, but you're kinda hot" vibes. I was totally invested in their potential from that grocery store standoff over a box of cereal, a literal box of cereal! Like, come on, that's gold! It set the stage for some seriously fun tension.

The romance itself? Their chemistry was definitely there. Colby and Carissa had sparks flying whenever they were in the same room and Susan did a great job at writing some steamy scenes. They were fire, I'm not gonna lie. The whole "hate-to-love" thing was working, and I was rooting for them to get together.

However, there were some major things that really took me out of the story and ultimately landed it at a solid 3-star rating for me. Honestly, some of the stuff in this book just didn't sit right with me.

I'm all for a little bit of harmless fun, but the way this book constantly brought up "puck bunnies" was just...ugh. It felt so outdated and just straight up disrespectful to women. Like, there was some mention of girls throwing themselves at hockey players, and it just got super old and made me cringe so hard. It created this whole vibe of women just being objects, and honestly, in this day and age, I expect better.

For a book that tries to be a fun, flirty romance, that whole aspect felt so unnecessary and honestly, kinda icky. Like, couldn't we just focus on Colby and Carissa's connection and the hockey drama without having to constantly demean women?

Overall…I enjoyed it but not the best book ever, It had potential but I unfortunately I didn’t enjoy it that much.

Thank you to Netgalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for giving me an arc for this book!!!

This was a nice read. I enjoyed the characters and the hockey theme, although I know next to nothing about the sport. The love story between Carissa and Colby was sweet and nicely spicey. I will read more words by this author.

I am a sucker a hockey romance, but this one fell short. It wasn’t bad, I just the characters were just flat and it was uneventful, which doesn’t make it stand out in the genre. Colby was favorite due to his secret teddy bear side. Overall, it was cute and heartwarming though.
I need to thank NetGalley and Susan Renee for the early read of this book.

Colby & Carissa
This was an enjoyable read. I always love a good hockey romance.
I enjoyed the banter and definitely laughed out loud a few times and the spice was great.
All was going well reading this until it hit the third act breakup, it really frustrated me as Colby wouldn't even let Carissa speak.
I did feel like Carissa was a bit of a pushover at certain times.
I do wish there had been more about both Colby & Carissas background and the situation with the parents. I do feel alot more could've been brought into the story with this.
I felt for Colby during this read as what he went through was heartbreaking but again could've went into more detail.
Overall it was a good read.
Thank you to the author and Netgalley for the chance to read this ARC.

Sports romance
Forbidden romance
Workplace

Good character chemistry
Heartwarming and funny.

Colby is a hot hockey player. Carissa is starting her new job as the social media manger for Colby’s team the Chicago Redtails.

Their “meet cute” moment is kind of funny. Takes a bit for them to get over it and warm up to each other.

Over all this is a cute hockey romance.

I loved this book!
Colby is the Captain of the Chicago Red Tails and struggling over the loss of his brother 20 years ago.
Carissa is hired as the new marketing rep and just trying to pay back the debt her parents caused her.
After an argument over lucky charms cereal, they can't deny the chemistry between them.
I think the author did a great job building Colby's character. We get to see the trauma he endured as a child losing his older brother who he idolized. It gives us a nice glimpse into why he's so closed off and afraid to care for anyone. And of course it had some of my favorite tropes!
Hockey romance
Enemies to lovers
Found Family
Definitely a book to be added to your tbr!