What’s it about? (from Goodreads):
My name is Rachel Price, and two months ago, I walked away from the perfect man. Sweet and funny, and so hot it should be illegal—we shared one magical night. No names. No strings. I never thought I’d see him again.
I was wrong. It turns out Mr. Perfect is the playboy grinder for the Jacksonville Rays, the NHL’s hottest new hockey team…and I’m his new physical therapist. Oh, and the jerk doesn’t even recognize me!
This fellowship is going to be the longest ten months of my life. Mr. Perfect Mistake will do anything to get back on my good side. Meanwhile, his best friend is the surly new equipment manager always riding my case. Worst of all, I’ve got an uncooperative goalie who thinks I can’t tell he’s hiding an injury!
This is my chance to prove myself, and I’m not risking it for anything. But with one unexpected night, one secret revealed, these men are ready to test all my limits. I can’t fall for a player…let alone three. But if love is a game, these guys are playing to win.
PUCKING AROUND is a spicy ‘why choose’ hockey romance. This book stands alone as the first in a planned series. For a full list of tropes, tags, and CWs, see the author’s website.
Review:
I had seen this book everywhere and if you know anything about me you know I love sports romances. I like them just as much as I like sports anime and that is A LOT. What I also love is polyamorous relationships, and this book has that too. What was there NOT to love?
Emily Rath has a way of writing banter between characters that makes it easy to read, but also fun. I found myself smiling and laughing along with some of the characters. It made it very easy for me to read the seven hundred pages that this book is, which for so many is long. I didn’t mind the book being so long because it meant more time for me to spend in the world that Rath created. I really came to love the Jacksonville hockey team and the wide cast of characters.
I will admit that Rachel was hard for me to love at first. I really was team Caleb from the start though and Jake. Jake was easy to love in the novella that you should read before this book. The novella That One Night sets up everything that will happen in the book. So, I would recommend reading that first.
Jake is an absolute golden retriever boyfriend. He is sweet, funny, and attentive. He’s also the most loyal man you will find in your corner. Also, he’s all those things in the bedroom and you won’t be sad reading about it.
Caleb is a man that has had some trauma, but his heart is golden. I fell in love with him harder than I did with any of the other men. I think that Caleb would be the one I would seriously pursue if I was in this world. He was taken out of hockey by an injury but his passion for the game is never ending. He knows his shit and he will say it how it is when he needs to do so.
Rachel does hold these men together, not only because she is the physical therapist but because she sees the potential in all of them to be great. She wants what is best for them and I think that is why I grew to love her. She never wanted them to hold back who they were and wanted them to find their way into love.
Caleb and Jake as a power couple for example was everything I needed. I love Rachel with each guy but Caleb and Jake PLEASE, I need more of that all day every day.
Mars was the variable for me that I wasn’t sure about at first. I really wanted to stop reading when he came into the picture because I thought at that point that Rachel was being greedy. The poly relationship only works when all parties come to some kind of agreement and Mars didn’t seem to want to accept the poly lifestyle at first and that bothered me. However, I think as the book went on, I saw that he just needed time. Mars grew on me, and I began to see where he would fit into the dynamic. It was in that time that I grew to love him.
What I will say too is that there is SO MUCH SMUT in this book. There is nothing wrong with that but if you aren’t one for graphic smut then this book probably isn’t for you.
This book was probably one of my favorites of the summer. It was entertaining and fun. It was a love story that had its bumps, but I loved every second of it.
Rating: 