This was a good read, quite fast paced, which I enjoyed. Read it on a long plane flight.

I liked the characters, and hockey seems to be very trendy to right romance around these days. I'm learning so much about the sport, ha!

Great chemistry, and I love the addition of the single mom angle.

This is a voluntary review for an arc received.

This story is about Nick Balachov an NHL hockey player, who is suffering through the grief of losing his brother. He meets Jodie, at a party held my his teammate. Nick gets drunk and passes out in Jodie’s room.

Jodie, who is a single mom and part owner of a sex toy business, has just moved from New York to Chicago to run the business with her friend and business partner Kendra.

Kendra and her boyfriend Max, who is also Nick’s teammate, convinces Nick to let Jodie and her daughter move into his coach house.

From there, Nick and Jodie become friends, and Nick starts to interact more with Jodie’s daughter.

After a huge snowstorm, the relationship starts to heat up between the two.

The both confide in each other and eventually fall in love with each other for their HEA.

This book is a stand alone. It was a quick and easy read.

Kelly Jamieson does it again! I could not put this book down.
As I started reading, I was a little skeptical about some of the main characters, but Kelly's brilliant writing style didn't take long to win me over with the main characters. All in all, it is the perfect book to give you all the tingles, all the feels, and make you believe that those with rough exteriors, can truly have the softest interior.

It’s almost hockey season and with that you know Kelly Jameson must be releasing another Aces Hockey book – and it comes just in time for warmups!
Nick Balachov doesn’t want entanglements especially in the form of a beautiful woman and her daughter. So why is he so drawn to them and how did he end up letting them stay in his coach house?
Jodie, being a single mother, is happy with her life, just moving from New York to work closer with her friend Kendra. She is wary of having a relationship and didn’t want anything to hurt her daughter. But when attraction and love strikes, it hits big. With playoffs and the Stanley Cup on the line, will their love survive?

I liked both Jodie and Nick. Nick was a big of a grump but he was never mean or unkind. Jodie was a bit of a ditz, but I think that is just because she was a really busy person and she came across as intelligent, just overwhelmed at times. I felt like they were both well written characters and I liked the growth that both of the characters went through by the end of the book.

I liked getting the small updates about other characters from other books, as well.

This is a fun series as a whole and I can't wait for the next book in the series.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys contemporary romance.

I received an ARC in exchange of my honest review.

Hockey, romance, and Kelly Jamieson...that is the perfect recipe for a bookcation. Hockey season is here and so is your next adventure.

While I have loved this author's previous Aces' Hockey books, Hard Stick did not resonate.with me as I failed to feel the connection between the characters. I do have a promo post scheduled on release day and have copied the link, however.

Nick could just be so charming, “no, we’re not, because it’s not worth it. I have Internet, it works out here, just use it, for Chrissake.” He shook his head." Nick doesn't want other men around his woman, “you want to go out on a date? Fine. I’ll take you out on a date.” He stepped back, crossed his arms, and lifted his chin. “Name the day.” I liked this book, I really loved Nick.

So good! Sexy and so much fun to read! I loved it! I love me some hockey and I love, love, love hockey players! I couldn't resist this book and I'm glad I got it! I want more!

Another fallen hockey hunk! This time we get Nick and Jodie's story. We got introduced to Jodie and her daughter in book 5 when her best friend and business partner, Kendra fell in love with Max.

I'm such a sucker for little kids in romance books that I was hoping for their story. It did not disappoint. I loved Zyana, she was so stinking cute. And there is nothing hotter than a guy with kids. 💕

They had a rocky road ahead of them. Nick has isolated himself and Jodie has already resigned to not finding a forever guy. Despite the obstacles in their path, I enjoyed their journey.

There is hints of the next book and I gotta say, it sounds like we will be getting a hero that is ready to settle down. That makes me excited. I love a hero that goes after what he wants. ARC provided by NetGalley.

This was the first book I've read from this author.
All in all it was a good read. The typical romance book in the respect that the characters hate each other. Then they like each other. Then they "really like" each other.
Jodie's little girl was adorable.

"Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review."

Loved this book very much. It had just enough sweet, sports romance and the storyline was great! I highly recommend!

This is a romance novel festuring a hockey player, Nick, who is afraid of relationships and getting close to people and a single mom, Jodie, who has given up on finding "the one." For the most part, their story follows the typical romance arc: dislike each other, hookup, breakup, makeup. But, I really liked the author's focus on mental health. And, I was impressed by Nick's character development. He showed a lot of growth throughout the novel.

Kelly Jamieson has become my go-to author for Aces hockey. Every book is like a mini reunion as we see characters from the previous stories.

Nick is a mess because it's getting close to the anniversary of a tragic event in his life. He's more gruff and anti-social than usual, but his teammates understand and support him. We were introduced to Jodie in Max and Kendra's story, but in a minor role. She's smart, funny, talkative, a successful business woman.....and a single mom. That's a deal-breaker for most men so she doesn't date much. Nick and Jodie meet at a party and immediately dislike each other: she's too talkative for his taste and he's just an overall jerk for hers. Due to a housing problem for Jodie and her daughter, Zyana, Nick is coaxed by Max into renting his coach house to them. As they spend more time together as landlord and tenant, they get to know each other a little better.
Maybe Nick isn't such a jerk and maybe Jodie's chatter isn't as annoying as it used to be. Sparks will fly and the story will tug at your emotions.

The ending hinted at another story in the series. Can't wait.

Another great sports romance from Kelly Jamieson! Nick plays professional hockey and likes to keep to himself mostly except for his teammates. When he meets Jodie, a single mom, his world is turned upside down. If you like sports romances and second chances you'll love this book!

I am a huge fan of Kelly Jamieson. I love her hockey books.
I was so happy to read this book. I liked it well enough, I didn't love it. I never warmed up to Jodi. She was kind of blah, to me at least. I struggled to like her even a little.

I liked Nick a bit more than Jodi. I knew under the wall he built up, there was more underneath. I was hoping for the same with Jodi.

This was a fun story with some really fun characters. I think I will be making the effort to seek out some of the other previously released novels.

Wow!! I'm so so thankful I was able to get this book!! It was awesome!! I love this series!! This book was just so giid!! It's Nick and Jodie book, Nick is just a broody loner hates kids never wants a family or friends for that matter?! And Jodie actually makes and sells sex toys! She has a beautiful baby girl Zyana love that name! So she ends up moving in nicks carriage house! I just loved seeing nicks walls come down!! It's a truly touching story filled with plenty of laughs and zyana is just so funny and cute!! It's a steamy, heartfelt, funny, loving story! Definitely do not miss out on this book!! Thank you so much penguin random house for sharing, you never let me down and publish some awesome books!! Thank you NetGalley for sharing this book with me and thank you Kelly jamieson for another amazing read!!