2nd Bayard college series.
Ella is trying her best to get out of academic probation, repair her relationship with her best friend Skylar and get her life back on track. It is not easy and Ben is not making it easy. Ben is Skylar's boyfriend's bff, roommate and hockey player and arrogant. They don't like each other and they know it however she will have to be cordial if she wants to repair her relationship with Skylar.
Ben is trying his best to keep away from party girl Ella. If he wants to make it to NHL draft, he needs to focus yet he keeps running into her. He doesn't want trouble and his first impression of her wasn't great and rumor about her isn't helping.
Ella and Ben end up with Skaylar and Jacob skating in the pond and they realize they can get along. From then on they spend time and get to know each other. Both have issues they will need to work out and they can heal each other if they can open up to each other but it won't be easy for both since both are stubborn. Once they let each other in, they are perfect for each other.
This one is more emotional and I enjoyed this one better than the first one. Ella and Ben's chemistry is off the chart and banter are great. If you are into hockey romance, I highly recommend this series.

I really do like sports romances and haven't read a book with a hockey setting for a while. I was looking forward to this book because I have also read several books by Kelly Jamieson.

Unfortunately I couldn't really connect with the character and the story. Ben and Ella were nice characters but didn't find myself really hooked with them. Sexually they had an amazing chemistry but the rest didn't connect for me.

The hockey setting was really nice and it was fun joining the games and Ben's urge to getting drafted to the NHL was a interesting aspect to the story.

All in all the book was a nice read but lacked for me in the romance and character bit.

I’ve been a huge Kelly Jamieson fan for many years and I’ve enjoyed her work immensely, so it was easy for me to jump into her New Adult Banyard series and I’ve been very impressed. Having read the first book, Shut Out, I was well aware of the animosity between the hero and heroine featured in Cross Check. The thing I love about this series, is these characters are young, they make mistakes, sometimes they learn from them, sometimes they don’t, but they do grow, change, and begin to realize the world is bigger than them and being a part of it means accepting responsibility, opening their minds, and learning that respect, friendship, trust, and love can make it all better.

Following an incident that rocked her world, sent her reeling, and had her on the outs with her best friend, Ella went a bit out of control. Refusing to focus on everything bad in her life, Ella chose to numb the pain with alcohol, parties, and sex and it cost her. She begins her 2nd year of college on academic probation, word of her partying ways got back to her older brother who has threatened to tell their parents if she doesn’t change her ways, but more than that Ella realized that what she was doing made her feel empty and she’s determined to be a better student, to repair her relationship with her best friend, and to find peace for herself. What she doesn’t expect is for the hate she feels for Ben Buckingham (her best friend’s boyfriend’s roommate) to morph into something more. Ben is all too perfect; perfect hair, perfect clothes, and a superior attitude to match, but as Ella and Ben get to know one another they begin to see the person behind the façade they show to the world.

I enjoyed watching these two young people both who had not very high opinions of one another begin to realize that they had judged one another unfairly. While it was the heat and intensity between them that brought them together, it was discovering every little thing about one another that grew their friendship into much more. They made misjudgments, they made mistakes, but they were also big enough to admit them when they realized they were wrong which I greatly appreciated. While there was some young adult angst, given everything going on in their lives it was warranted and it wasn’t overly excessive. Ms. Jamieson did a great job of balancing the drama in their lives with the tender, sweet, and intimate moments giving this book an even and realistic feel.

Entertaining but also educational along with a side of romance, Cross Check is a fantastic addition to this exciting new adult hockey series.

This was a decent story and I somewhat enjoyed both the hero and the heroine, Ben and Ella. However, nothing really stood out making it a great book.

This is the second in a college hockey series by this author, and was a book I couldn't get enough of. This can be read alone, but reading all books within the series does enhance the reading experience due to the recurring appearance of previous characters. Ella and Ben are complete opposites, and being in college, you know that means that misunderstandings and relationships come with their own set of challenges. As they learn about each other, there are ups and downs that gave me so many feels throughout the entire book. I love the way Kelly Jamieson writes, and she gives her characters a ton of depth that allows the reader to really feel along with the book. I couldn't put this book down, and look forward to more from this author.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

While I love hockey and sports romance, I could not get into this story. Maybe because it was book two and I had not completed book one? I just felt like something was missing. I could not complete the book at this time but maybe I'll try to read book one first and then try reading this one again.

LOVE this story. Ella was always more than she seemed in the first book, and so was Ben. They are perfect for each other. Also loved the tie-in!

Love a good sports romance. Hot story line. Love this author. Can’t wait to read more from her. Love reading more about characters from other books in the series.

Really awesome book. Loved the integration of the athletes with their romantic interchanges. The book does a great job talking about hockey and allowing you to follow on with the sports verbiage.

The second book in the series and it opens with Ella on academic suspension and besides working towards improving her grades she is also going to counseling. She also wants to repair her friendship with Skylar, what she does not want is to be bothered by Ben who plays hockey and is Skylar’s boyfriend best friend. He is working at wanting to be drafted in the NHL and she is wanting to focus on school, grades. Not to be bothered by some big hockey player. All Ben see’s or believes he sees is a wild girl and as much as he tries to stay away from her he can’t. After he starts to see her for who she really is and begins to get to know her he wants to be with her but she shuts him out because she is working towards getting off probation. Will she come clean to him and finally let him in to her world? Read this good story of friendship, loss and finding one self.

Ben and Ella's story was so freaking good! These two definitely had their work cut out for them from the get-go, but Ms. Jamieson delivered their story in perfect fashion with witty characters navigating their feelings of being lost in the abyss among personal struggles, and impending adulthood. The book is packed with every emotion possible, and a couple who ignites when their eyes meet. Skylar and Jacob's story wow-ed me, Ben and Ella's story floored me. I'm not sure I can take much more from this series. It keeps getting better and better!

Ella and Ben are not who they appear to be, there is more depth underneath it all. Instant hate on both sides until they are thrown together as the BFF are now dating. It's a thin line between love and hate. As the layers of their true personality start to be revealed the deeper they will fall.

Cross Check is the second book in the Bayard Hockey series.

I really liked reading it. It had funny and light scenes, but also touched the darker aspects of life. Also its a enemies-to-lover story, I'm totally down for those. Huge fan. The sparks between Ben and Ella were on point.

Although the big fight that Ella and Ben had near the end was kind of stupid and unnecessary in my opinion, but I get the need for it.

Overall it was a good read and who can hate books about ice hockey and romance. I know I can't. Love me some ice hockey.

Rating: 4 stars

A hockey romance that proves you should never pass judgement. Ella has a reputation and she's ready to make a change, will Ben help her or push her back into her old ways?

A steamy story of love, acceptance and overcoming fears. There is a storyline of mental health and sexual assault that is handled delicately.

If you love a story that has a plot that is fast paced, emotionally satisfying and lots of steamy scenes, one-click now.

An enjoyable read. Ella doesn't care for Bayard's star hockey forward Ben much, she thinks he's a pretty boy snob and his thoughts on Ella are't much better, he thinks she's a slut. At first their meetings are strained but when the story unfolds, the reasons for certain actions are explained, which are heartbreaking and sometimes proves we should never take things we see as face value.
Wonderful character and relationship development. A great story.

Love Ella and Ben's live story filled with sensitive topics that challenges love and life. Ella and Ben are both struggling with their past but once they got together they realized that they can both help each other. Recommended read.

Cross Check is perfect. Hockey, frienemies to lovers and my heart was full. I couldn't get enough of Ella and Ben. Kelly Jamieson did such an amazing job with this story. I can't wait for more from her.

I have found myself reading and reviewing a lot of romance lately. I like them, even though I don’t watch sports. Wait, I lie. Football with my SO in the fall and the occasional hockey game. I was raised in a family where hockey is worshipped. Put it this way, instead of figure skating lessons, my parents had me take hockey lessons. All the way up until high school. I was that girl who could spray up ice when stopping like the best of them. I could also handle a hockey stick with the best of them also. After high school, I stopped skating and stopped watching sports. Which is why I thought it was strange that I like sports romances.

The storyline f the book was good. I say that because I wasn’t expecting the depth of emotions that Cross Check made me feel. To be honest, I thought that it was going to be a book about a party girl banging a hockey player. Instead, I got a book that gave me a pretty good insight on how college is these days. It also gave an honest description about why people fail out of college. Like I said, the book had a depth to it that I haven’t seen in other books of its genre.

I couldn’t get a feel for romance in Cross Check. I did like Ben and Ella but I didn’t feel a spark between them until almost the end of the book. What I got was an “I want to screw her/him until I forget about my worries” vibe. It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy the book, I felt that there was no romantic spark between them. There was definitely a sexual spark but romantic…no.

Ella had a pretty rough year. Her best guy friend had committed suicide. He also did an unthinkable thing to her best girl friend, Skylar. To cope with the fall out from both events, she started to sleep around and drink…a lot. She got a reputation with the guys because she put out. Instead of studying, she partied. When the book starts, she is on academic probation and if she doesn’t bring her grades up, she will fail out of college. Around this same time, her brother, who was a graduate of the same college, called. He told her that she better knock it off or he would tell their parents. Along with the academic probation, it was the kick in the butt that she needed to change her life.

While I felt bad for Ella, I didn’t like her. She rubbed me the wrong way for most of the book. It might have been her immaturity. She also judged on appearance, which we all have been guilty of. I mean, she judged Ben by his choice of clothes. She also disliked him because she thought he didn’t like her. Which kind of made me shake my head because they had crazy chemistry. My dislike of her did ease up a bit when she went to therapy. I loved seeing that and wished that it had happened sooner. The scenes with her therapist were some of the most heart-wrenching scenes that I have read in a while. I also liked that she was trying to mend fences with Skylar. I also liked that therapy helped her see that she was in the wrong to blame Skylar. That she was using what happened to Skylar to project her feelings. LOVED it!!

Ben wasn’t perfect but I did like him. He also was damaged. He lost his father at an early age. Then his mother was forced to take a housekeeping job for a family that looked down on them. But, unlike Ella, he chose to channel his energy into hockey. All that anger turned him into hockey player who was being scouted by the NHL. He knew Ella through Jacob and Skylar. He also knew her through her reputation. He thought she didn’t like him, so he treated her like she treated him. Misunderstandings all over the place.

I mentioned that the sexual spark a few paragraphs up. It was intense. From the moment that they kissed at the party and almost had sex, it was explosive. When they had sex, it was burning. I had to fan myself after reading most of the scenes.

I wish that there was more of a romantic connection between Ella and Ben in the beginning of the book. Other than that small complaint, it was a great book to read.

The end of the book was pretty much what I thought it was going to be. HEA’s all around and misunderstanding cleared up. I do hope that there is a book 3 because I would love to see what happened to Ella and Ben.

4 Stars:

I enjoyed reading Cross Check. It was a fast paced romance novel with steamy hot sex scenes. There wasn’t much of a romantic connection between the main characters. But the sexual connections were off the boat. I liked that the author chose to highlight slut-shaming, suicide, and rape survivors in the book. She did in a realistic way that made you think about them.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Language and sex. No violence

I would like to thank Kelly Jamieson, Loveswept, Random House and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Cross Check.

All opinions expressed in this review of Cross Check are mine and mine alone

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

This is Book 2 in the "Bayard Hockey" Series and i really enjoyed it!!!

I loved the book from the very first page until the end! The romance, the characters, the plot! I liked it all!

Ben is sweet, strong, goal-oriented and sexy.He has overcome a hard childhood. Ella is also a very strong woman that is confused and in pain after something tragic happened.

This enemy to lovers' story was a wonderful read and I really enjoyed it!

I reviewed a copy of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley