A steamy read.
I was surprised with how much I enjoyed it. Jodie makes the best of situations and has a little girl.

She just moves to Chicago and needs a place to live. She moves in to the coach house and Nick is the hockey player who doesn’t do commitment, hook ups only and hockey.

Liked this single mom / hockey player read.

3.5 Determined Stars
* * * 1/2 Spoiler Free
This was a winner for me. It is part of an ongoing Hockey series and I was able to jump right in.

You have a woman who has learned the hard way how life must be managed on her own terms. The foster system was the teacher. She figured out what she wanted and got it her way...a sperm bank daughter. She is happy with her life, devoted to her daughter and career.

He has been a success but the loss of his brother has rocked his world. He is in hidden pain. He thinks being the main guy with his team will be enough until she arrives and infiltrates his life. Never wanted a family of his own, never wanted to belong in a relationship but now that he is seeing her with her daughter and he is enjoying their company, he is having different thoughts...

Both of them are connecting and then they are feeling it.

This is a positive addition to the series.


A gifted copy was provided by author/publisher for an honest review.

I have only read one book out of this series, this is the second. I want to pick the rest of them up. I really love what I have read.

Jodie, you really have to admire her character. Single mother, a foster kid growing up, instead of making drama about it. She is a understanding women. Love her character.

Nick is the one who feels guilty about his brother death. He hasn't come to terms with it. Here comes Jodie who changes his world.

Great book. So filled with emotion!

Good story. Loner, Nick, a NHL player has just been existing and not living after the suicide of his brother fellow NHL player Aleks. Jodi a self sufficient career woman and business partner of Kendra of sex toys is a single mom by choice through sperm donor. Jodi is outspoken, talkative and speaks her mind. Nick is broody and standoffish other than around his team mates. The two have a rocky start but have mutual attraction. Jodi ends up living in Nick's coach house in back of his home with her daughter and all of Nick's thoughts about being alone, not wanting a family and hating kids, change after being around Jody and her two year old Zyana. Quick read.

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.

Omg I loved this book. It was so sweet. I adored all the characters as well as the secondary characters from the previous novels in this series. I finished it this morning and am still thinking about it. I just found myself rooting for a happy ending the entire time I was reading. It was great!

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.

I have been a fan of this series since the first book and this book was just an amazing addition to an already great series of books.
Nick is a loner to the untrained eye...but in reality he’s just a man in emotional pain and doesn’t know how to deal with his brothers suicide. Jodie is strong and very independent...she has to be to have had Zee all by herself without the help from any father figure for Zee. Regardless of having a man in her life Jodie is always first and foremost a mother.

These two were such an unlikely but such a perfect match for one another and it was a joy reading their story. I look forward to reading about the next member of this hockey team.

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.