Pucking Around by Emily Rath review

 

Pucking Around by Emily Rath
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4 stars)
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ (5 spice)

Okay, so this is not the kind of book I usually read, but my friend Sammy loves this style, so I gave it a shot. Honestly, I’m still not sure how I feel, but I did enjoy it more than I expected.

The characters are really well fleshed out. Each one has a distinct personality, which made them easy to tell apart and more fun to read. I appreciated that they didn’t all feel the same or bland. As for our lead, Rachel I liked her overall, though there were moments where she annoyed me a bit. She sometimes felt like a bit of a yo-yo emotionally, which ticked me off, but her slow personal growth by the end was satisfying.

I’m not a sports fan. I know next to nothing about hockey or most sports, really. I grew up watching darts and snooker, but even that’s not something I keep up with now. So I worried that the hockey angle would bore me or go over my head. Surprisingly, it didn’t. The way the book explained games and the team dynamic was easy to follow, and I found myself actually interested in the sport side of things.

Now… the spice. There was so much of it. Like, so much. I swear this book is 40% spice, and I’m shocked it didn’t set itself on fire. The sex scenes were detailed, intense, and varied the kind of spice that leaves your face red and your fan on full blast.

That said, I’m used to books where the story leads and the romance and spice are woven in around that. This one felt flipped more like it was romance and spice first with plot sprinkled in. That threw me off a bit. It’s probably just because I’m not used to reading pure romance books, so my brain kept searching for a central storyline that wasn’t really the main point here. I think I need to read more in the genre to get used to that style.

💖 What I Liked:
Well-developed, distinct characters
The descriptive spice was absolutely off the charts
The romance and different relationship dynamics were interesting
A fun and unexpected look at hockey
A satisfying ending

😕 What Didn’t Work for Me:
Felt like there wasn’t a clear story arc, but that might be because I’m new to this genre
Rachel was a bit emotionally up and down, which got frustrating at times

Would I recommend this book?
Yes, I would definitely recommend it to fans of spicy romance.

Would I reread it?
Not sure yet. Maybe after I read a few more romance-heavy books.

How I’d sum it up:
A burning hot, spice-loaded romance with a fun look into hockey and team dynamics.

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