Thank you Entangled for this ARC and Leah and Kate Rooper for your story.

This was a cute premise and was fun to read. I really liked the friendship between Alice and Hayden. However, I didn't like the characters themselves. They were both a little offputting. I really wanted to give this story a high rating, because I see the potential for more. To add to that, there were several plot holes. 

I'm giving it three stars, because I did finish it and I might read the next one, but I didn't love it.

Alice and her twin brother Xander are new to Chicago and dreaming of playing hockey for the Chicago Falcons. Tryouts go well and Alice makes the team – until coach realizes she’s a girl and gives her spot to her twin brother, even though Xander didn’t exactly nail the tryout. Conveniently enough, Xander gets injured and needs a stand in until he’s cleared to play. Enter Alice, as a boy, and you get a Comedy of Errors playing out on the ice.
I think the girl-pretending-to-be-a-boy storyline here was nicely played out. Alice, however, is a very unlikeable character. She’s a selfish brat throughout, though she does see some development that made her somewhat redeemable. The fact that she was blind to Xander’s struggles when he cared so much for her made me want to scream. Honestly, how could she not know Xander’s “big” secret? It was obvious to me from the beginning.
Which, of course, is due to the authors’ use of stereotypes when creating Xander’s character. (spoiler alert!) Xander feels more at home on stage with his theater group than on the ice, where he doesn’t exactly excel. Good at theater and not so great at sports? Must be gay! I saw that plot twist coming from the moment we met Xander and I wasn’t a fan. It was especially annoying that Alice could be so oblivious when he brother was going through a rough time. Alice’s (ex) boyfriend threatening to out him? Not cool. But Alice thought it was all about her. Also not cool.
Hayden was a cool character, though. The usual frustration that he didn’t realize Al was Alice was there, but I liked that they built a strong friendship. It was a rocky start with Hayden despising Al, but they patched things up and Hayden’s character development was incredible. It was nice to see him figuring out his emotions and working through his problems. I wish Alice had done more of that.
The best thing about Alice is that she’s a fighter, and I don’t mean physically. She wanted to be on the hockey team so she figured out a way to do it. And then when her charade was up, Alice got herself a spot on the team as herself, not as her twin brother. That made her a character to admire, despite her other shortcomings.
Overall, this book is a great take on Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors (which predates She’s the Man, obviously) and is a perfect read as the weather cools down and hockey season is in full swing.

Alice and her twin brother try out for a hockey team, Alice makes it until the coach finds out she's a girl, then he gives the spot to her brother, Alexander. Alexander ends up breaking his leg and Alice pretends to be her brother in order to be on the team. Of course she meets and falls for the big star of the team, Hayden.

I loved this book, couldn't put it down. The hockey talk and play, the hidden identity, the secrets...I just wanted the story to keep going.

❝ It feels like there are a million things competing in my brain right now, but none of them have a chance. My visual sensory system is overloaded right now, with this guy standing in front of me. He stares down at me, and his eyes are so brown, they’re nearly black. Like his eyes are black holes, and I’m just a pathetic little asteroid, in the path of being crushed by his gravity.❞

I had such a fun time reading this book. It was just really light, funny, and cute. This is the perfect book to read when you’re looking for a cute contemporary YA romance.

Everything pretty much starts when Alice’s twin brother, Xander, gets injured shortly after making the Chicago Falcons hockey team. It’s then that they come up with the plan to have Alice disguise herself and take Xander’s place until he can play again. Of course, things don’t exactly go as planned. Soon, enough Alice’s double life reveals secrets that Xander has been keeping from her and it changes things between them.

Even though I didn’t like what Xander did to protect his secret, I did understand his uncertainty in sharing it. That being said, I was initially very annoyed with him for choosing to protect his own secret and not Alice. I was happy with his character development in that he could admit to himself that hockey was not his true passion.

Alice made for an interesting main character, and she was definitely my favorite. I liked how she was so passionate about hockey and willing to push herself to be better. She didn’t settle for anything other than her best. Yet, she was really neglecting the other parts of her life. It made it so that she was oblivious to her mother and brother’s feelings. Not to mention she always put romance on the very bottom of her list. Her whole life was so invested in hockey that when she was initially turned for the Falcons she didn’t seem to know who she was without it.

❝ I look in the mirror and see Al. I thought I’d feel a little better. A little more certain.

But now, I’m even more lost. I don’t even know who Al is. But the scary part is… in becoming Al, I think I’ve lost Alice too.

I don’t know who I used to be.

And I most certainly don’t know who I am.❞

The other problem that came up because of her duplicity is that it caused a strain between her and Xander. He knew that she was the better player and that when he was better there was no way he’d be able to play at the same level she did. People would notice, and he would probably get kicked off the team because he wasn’t good enough. He was always comparing himself to Alice in hockey and seemed stressed out by the fact he couldn’t improve like he wanted to.

As for Hayden, he was determined to make captain but at the same time, he didn’t really want it. He was always getting himself in trouble and being really self-destructive. He was also really cocky and didn’t work together with his team. It wasn’t until Alice pushed him and they started working together that he started to really focus and put in an effort.

I loved Alice and Hayden’s partnership on the team because they had one another’s backs and it was when we got to see a more positive side to Hayden where he was really loyal and protective. This was when the book really started getting fun for me because I enjoyed watching them help one another. They became best friends and that was something they both needed.

And then there was the romance aspect that wasn’t in your face, but just developed slowly over time. Neither of them really knew how they felt right away. Especially for Alice, she was kind of in denial about it because she wanted to focus on the games. I just really enjoyed the romance because it was so smooth, organic and just adorable. I really loved this book and I’m happy I got to read it ❤

Just One of the Boys was just released on October 2nd, and I highly recommend you go pick up a copy, especially if you like contemporary YA romance!

It was obvious from the blurb that this book was going to give some serious ‘She’s the Man’ vibes and I was completely down with that. 
	I loved that the characters in this book are all very realistic as people. They definitely had their flaws though, Alice was so selfish and annoying for half the book and Hayden was a bit of an entitled dick at first, but in a way that’s what made them feel more human. They deal with their problems in a very authentic way (okay, minus pretending to be your brother to keep playing hockey.)  As the story progresses we begin to understand both characters better, both of them are given some real depth. I was really rooting for them after the first few chapters. I was an absolute sucker for Hayden’s character, once he started opening up a bit, he melted my ice queen heart.
	The budding friendship between Al and Hayden was beyond adorable, I had a ridiculous smile on my face the entire time, watching them both grow as people made me happy. The romance aspects with Alice and Hayden before he found out what had been happening, seemed a little superficial and rushed. They didn’t have much interaction whilst she was Alice and all he ever had to say about her was how hot she is, so I had to suspend disbelief a little with that because there was no reason for him to be as attached to her as he seemingly was.
	I love an ice hockey based YA romance so I may be slightly biased but I think this one gets the balance of sport and romance absolutely spot on. There’s enough hockey mentioned that we understand why Alice and Hayden love it and how good they are at it, but not so much that it’s overwhelming to the story.
	If you’re after a quick, light hearted, romance filled story that while predictable manages to stay entertaining then i’d definitely recommend giving this one a go.

I received an advance eARC copy from Entangled Teen through Netgalley for an honest review. And this will not affect my thoughts or opinion about the book in any way.

Just One of the Boys is just like the movie She's the Man but in a book format. The both have similar premises but Just One of the Boys is way more better.

The story is about Alice Bell who pretended to be her twin brother Xander and later on fell in love with the star of the Falcon Hayden Tremblay.

Alice or Al is such a cute character that you would definitely love and look for in reading contemporary novels. Alice being a twin sister is lovely. She even pretended to be her twin brother just for him not to be eliminated being a Falcon.  

Hayden at the beginning of the story is a mean person and a jerk. But later on, he change when he met Al Bell that he even open up with him.

The story will hooked you up and let you love to play hockey. I enjoyed how the story is being told with two perspective, Alice and Haydens. The characters are well develop in the story. It talks about how brothers and sister will do anything for each other. 

I thought in the beginning that it will be just like the movie She's the Man but no. Cause the book teach me how beautiful friendship is and how you would do anything for your family. The story is a fast paced story that shows cuteness, humor, angst, love and pain. 

I highly recommend it for readers who loves easy reads and romance overload.  

My rating is 5 out of 5 stars.

https://bookishcaramel.wordpress.com/2017/10/24/just-one-of-the-boys/

This is a very cute story that I really enjoyed! It's about a girl named Alice who just wants to play hockey she lives and breathes it but when her twin brother Alexander makes the team and she doesn't she sets out to prove she can be one of the boys. It's a she's the man type tail only with hockey instead of soccer and I loved every minute of it. Al and Tramblay make an amazing team and I enjoyed going on the journey with the characters.

This book has what I want! More like having a Korean drama vibe also some She's the man movie. Do I have to say more? Because this is so sweet, very lovely a strong character and very well written stories.

Alice Bell, she's a very strong character and I love her personality and her strong attitude. Though she sounds like a bit selfish but hey, you want what you and you do need to be selfish a bit there.Anyway, Alice Bell - hockey is her life, hockey what she loves and enjoys doing it. Oh! She is a very strong player there and definitely has some tricks that no other players have. So, when her twin brother has to bail out from playing for the team, she made a decision to replace her brother not as herself but as her brother, Xander. Do you get what I meant, right?

The moment she disguises as her brother in the team not only she can play and shows that she is definitely the best hockey player but she also found love - a boy from the team named, Hayden Tremblay. A hard-headed guy, who is almost his passion to play hockey. Not after, he becomes best friend to Alice (he thought she is he when it is not!). He got closer to Alice and start to play as a team and constantly, winning the game.

I really enjoy the book right from the start. It has different contemporary romance vibe that is what I'm looking for. It is not only about the romance between the two main character but it is also has a story about family. Each of the characters is there and not in out of place kind of character. So, I'm literally satisfied with the book. But if I have to say, sometimes I do feel annoyed with Alice character because she does look very desperate!! Other than that, I love it!

I received an advanced copy for an honest review.

I loved this book! 

Cute story about a girl who doesn’t take no for an answer and doesn’t let anyone get in the way of her dreams, even if it means pretending to be her twin brother. 

Hayden is swoon worthy and equally driven.

I enjoyed the premise of this one.  Alice was great.  I warmed up to Hayden a bit as the book progressed, but overall I had a difficult time connecting with him.  This was a cute and fun read.

Just One of the Boys was a super-cute, super-quick read that if you liked She's the Man, you'll absolutely love. (It's not quite as obviously a retelling of Twelfth Night  as the movie is, but it's the same general idea. With hockey. So really, a win-win.) Like StM's Viola, Alice is told she can't play the sport she loves because of her gender; also like Viola, she takes her twin's place on the team, though for different reasons. All kinds of girl-pretending-to-be-a-boy hijinks ensue, and she develops a crush on the team's (formerly? maybe...) star player--but also becomes his best friend, which complicates things all over the place.

Meanwhile, her twin is hiding a secret, her mom is making extra demands on her time, and did I mention she's got a crush on her new BFF? Not quite everything that isn't right get fully resolved by the end (what is her coach's response to her news???) but the book still leaves you with a happy glow anyway.

Here's hoping the Ms. Ropers have plenty more books in them!

Rating: 4 stars / B+

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

This book was fun and entertaining, I love books from Crush. This book was funny and reminded me of a movie I watched when I was a kid. I can't wait to read more books from Crush.

I received an eARC of this book via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion of this book or the content of my review.

Ok…so here’s the deal. I’m the first one to admit that I don’t like YA contemporary. It’s not my favorite thing to read. HOWEVER every now and then a book crosses my radar that makes me question my dislike. Just One of the Boys by Leah and Kate Rooper is one of those books. It’s such a fun, cute read. Filled with humor, some steamy/angsty scenes, and a cast of characters that tug your heartstrings, Just One of the Boys is one of my favorite reads this year!

Alice Bell, or just Al to her teammates, has moved to the city of Chicago with her mom and twin brother and is so excited to be trying out for a Junior League hockey team. Al lives and breathes hockey, but when the coach passes her over for her brother simply because she’s a girl, she’s a little depressed and a lot angry. I can’t say I blame her there. Then her brother is injured and to keep his spot on the team, Al steps in and pretends to be him. Personally I found this aspect of the story slightly cliche. However it works and makes for a funny read. Al is a stubborn girl and looks enough like her brother to pass off being him. But their plan isn’t flawless. Neither Al nor her brother counted on Al’s attraction to the team’s star player.

Hayden Tremblay is the younger brother to a star NHL player and lives in his shadow. He’s angry and bitter most of the time but he has reason to be. He lost his parents in a car accident not even a year ago. Hayden tugs at my heartstrings almost immediately. He’s a lost boy in a man’s body. Losing a parent is like loosing part of your foundation, but Hayden lost both on one night. It’s like he’s a house built on sand. Hockey is all he has. He lets his aggression out on the ice and keeps himself closed off to everyone. Yet the new rookie breaches his walls and he finds himself with a new friend who understands him better than his own brother.

The story really revolves around Al and Hayden with the chapters alternating POV (which I loved!). It is about the relationship that builds between them and also Al’s deception. The characters are so well written that I fell right into their story and read it in one sitting. I loved reading the growth of the characters as Hayden learned to open up and Al learned that maybe their is more to life than just hockey. And if you are worried about the hockey, don’t be. I don’t watch hockey but found the way it was written into the story exciting. I couldn’t bring myself to set the book down once I started!

Overall, I really loved this book! It’s a sweet, funny read. Al is a fantastic character, even if a bit oblivious as her brother points out numerous times. If you enjoy contemporary YA romance, I highly recommend you grab a copy of this book. It does not disappoint!

This book was everything I wanted it to be!!!!

The book sucked me in right from the stars. A kick ass girl, who outplays lots of dude on the ice during tryouts and makes the team. Only, that she takes of her helmet and people realize that she's a girl and not a dude. GASP!!!! SCANDAL!!!! A GIRL. ON THE ICE. PLAYING HOCKEY. WHAT?????? So, of course. The only logical thing to do as a coach that just welcomend her on the team, is to make her understand he made a mistake and actually meant her twin brother. Who, well...sucked during the tryouts. SHOCKING, a dude who played mediocre got the place instead of a girl who played amazing. I could go on and on about this but I will stop right here...
Back to the story. Xander, Alice's twin brother actually breaks his leg. And Alice is ready to take his place on the team, acting like she's him. YES PLEASE!!!!!
Twin story: check.
Giving me She's The Man feels: CHECK!!!!

I loved the main characters.
Alice, I loved Alice so much. I loved her as Alice, I loved her as Al. She was amazing.
Hayden. Let's be real about him for a second here, I didn't like this dude at all in the beginning. He was just a mean jerk, who I couldn't care less about. Towards the middle it changed. He got more backstory and NO, the tragic things in his past didn't excuse anything, but towards the middle, he became a actual human being for me that I cared for. He was still a jerk from time to time.
Loved the minor characters.
Xander. Man, I loved him in the beginning, hated him in the middle and loved him again in the end. There is a lot going on for him in the story, once again that's no excuse for how he handles some of the things, but still, towards the end he really stole my heart again.
Madison. She showed up and I loved her. She was super supportive, she was just such a great friend to Alice. Ugh. She was amazing.

I got annoyed with the characters a lot of times, they made terrible decisions, the said a lot of awful things to each other. BUT I LOVED THEM.
I loved the story. I loved the writing.
I highly recommend this book.

The idea of a girl pretending to be a boy in order to fulfill some kind of a dream because her gender was being perceived as an obstacle isn’t a new theme but the Roopers managed to still write a fun book with it. There is an 80s movie titled Just One of the Guys, Shakespeare played with gender in 12th Night, Disney did it in Mulan and an Amanda Bynes movie She’s the Man added the sports theme.

Despite how often I’ve come across the ‘girl turns into a boy’ this book still felt exciting to read and I liked the hockey backdrop. Their character Alice is a hockey nut who is being denied access to her passion based on her gender not her ability. Now in 21st America normally this would’ve resulted in a lawsuit, protests and viral videos but that wouldn’t get us a decent story you want to read instead of rolling your eyes at.

They did use the interchangeable twin thing which I found a bit hard to believe because it’s a brother/sister instead of the same gender but they managed to make it work enough it didn’t feel too off particularly when you have the sister pretend to be a boy. Family dynamics were handled well and believably within the story as well as any conflict created between them. 

You get other characters to bounce off of that were given good emotional leverage and felt appropriate for the age level, setting and plot. The Romance angle was sweet and reminded me of many Rom-Coms I’ve seen. I could see with a bit of editing this landing as a Disney Channel movie. The humor and lighthearted moments made this an enjoyable book to read and gave me what I would expect from Entangled Publishing which is a company I can normally count on for good reading material.

When the inevitable discovery gets made that Alice is a girl – let the fun play out. If you’re into Sports-Romances then add this to your Must Read List.

ARC provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley for honest review.

This book was great. It was such a good read that I read it all in one setting (‘cause I mean, who needs sleep anyway? I can live off caffeine and books instead of sleeping).

The story was fun and witty, an easy and nice read; there was romance and friendship, the importance of family and A LOT OF hockey.

But let’s get into a bit more detail.

I loved Al and her sass throughout the book, her enthusiasm for everything and how she would just go for it when pretending to be a boy; that was a lot of fun. Sometimes she was a bit too oblivious and I wanted to shake her but she definitely was a really good character.

I loved the fact there was a dual POV because it helped understand better what both characters were thinking and feeling and it made everything more interesting.

To be fair, the first thing I though when reading the fist chapter with Hayden’s point of view was “ damn, what an asshole” and things didn’t improve right away because he was also painfully cocky. That didn’t last long though, I started to understand him better and he started to change. I think he was the character with the biggest personality growth making him very likeable.

I though it was odd his sudden change towards Al but whatever, the story was great and I loved the characters (although Al’s brother was starting to get a bit on my nerves).

Overall the book was really good, I like the author’s style because it was engaging and descriprive yet not too long with the descriptions.

If you’re looking for a fun, really nice romance sports book, this one is the right pick for you.

Review of "Just One Of The Boys" by Leah and Kate Rooper

ARC kindly provided by publisher on Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute and charming story which will capture the hearts and minds of many teen girls - after all I was one myself once, and this book brought back some sweet, nostalgic memories of devouring all those "Sweet Dreams" romance paperbacks, lying in bed in the afternoon, back home from school.

However, I have to face the facts. I am over 30 years old, and not ALL books written for the teen market, especially romance, may hit all the right buttons for me. 

So, yes... I may recommend this book to perhaps my teenage nieces and their friends, but not to my peers.

A sweet story all around, but not to my taste, but that has everything to do with my age!

Alice AKA "Al" and her twin brother try out for a local hockey team after moving to Chicago.  She wants on this team so bad she will literally do anything.  There she meets Hayden. She is immediately attracted and the sparks fly between them anytime they meet.

Hayden does not want to be interested in his teammates sister.  This is typically taboo behavior among hockey players.  He just cannot help how he feels anytime she his near.

This is an original story with an unusual twist.  Surprises are inside!  I love the characters banter and the heat between the MC's nearly leapt off the pages.  I devoured every page and then wished there were more.


***This early copy was given in exchange for an honest review by Netgalley and the publishers.