There's something about hockey players that adds another level of swoon to their hero status. But Nick takes the cake as he is the grumpiest hero I've ever read...AND I LOVE HIM FOR IT! Nick is anti-social, except for his small group of friends, brash but knows when to stay quiet, and prefers the company of his home improvement tools to others, including women. But after a few years of his solitude and the upcoming anniversary of his brother's death, Nick decides to spend more time with friends and to try and socialize. In walks mouthy and sassy Jodie. She talks constantly and he can't help but stare at her perfect mouth. He's annoyed by her....but he kind of likes it. When Jodie needs a place to stay, Nick's friends offer up his coach house. Now Jodie comes with strings in addition to her extrovert attitude....she's also got an adorable daughter. Nick doesn't do well with kids, or so he thought. He needs to dedicate his time to his hockey career and not caring for two new people in his life.

Jodie took a huge leap; she's moved to Chicago to build her sex toy business with her best friend. Out on your own with a new business is had enough but mix in the fact that Jodie is a single mom and this girl is on a POWER TRIP. She mixes both sides of herself perfectly; business mom to the max. But living in the coach house of her best friend's boyfriend's teammate (whew!) isn't a cakewalk. He's grouchy and surly, and frankly he doesn't seem to like her. But he keeps finding reasons to come over and when he does, he stares longingly at her. He's hot and the more time they spend together, the more Nick begins to open up to her.

As Nick reveals more about his past and his personal motivations, Jodie sees a whole new side to the grumpy hockey player who prefers his solicitude. He's laughing and taking care of her and her daughter. Jodie could see a happily ever after happening for them/ But soon the pressure of Nick's career mixed with his pain of his brother's loss become to much to bear and threaten top break them apart. This may be a sports romance but is also a story about finding happiness, love, and family. Its about finding your own self worth and knowing you're worthy of that HEA despite circumstances around you. Its slow burn meets odd friendships in this hot new romance!

I loved this book!Aces player Nick meets single mom Jodie at a birthday party and of course this is only the beginning of a complicated relationship.Ms.Jamieson has a great ability to create a story that pulls you in from the start.Full of emotional,true to life plot made for a great read,can’t wait for the next one!I read this book as an arc and this is my honest opinion.

Nick and jodie meet a his teammates party.. They get off on the wrong foot but they do find each other attractive.. Nick has had a rough life and doesn't want anything to do with marriage or children so he just plays hockey and hooksup. Jodie grew up in foster care and decided she would have a child on her own via insemination, she is blessed with an amazing little girl named Zyana. When Jodie and her 2 year old need a place to live Nick's teammate suggests she stay in his coach house. Nick is reluctant at first but gives in and now she is around constantly and is starting to break down some barriers. when the physical attraction is more than they both can handle will they take the next step or are they both too set in their ways to make it work?

Loved watching their relationship develop and Zyana was such a fun character.

Big Stick is your typical two people who don't want to find love are completely drawn together novel. (these are my favorite) Nick is a professional hockey player who wants nothing more then to play and enjoy his quiet existence. Yet when Jodie rents out his carriage house he finds himself being thrown into situations at every turn to help her. From snowstorms to power outages there is no way for him to avoid her.

Will their connection blossom into love? Pick up a copy to find out!

Opposites really do attract is this heartbreakingly beautiful story.
Nick is a loner who doesn’t believe love and a family is in the cards for him. He likes being alone, until he meets Jodie.
Jodie is as outgoing as they come. Raising her daughter alone was her choice, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t dream of a husband and family someday. They say when you stop looking, that’s when it happens.
How can these two possibly find love together?
5 stars!!

Nick is broody and keeps people at a distance, I mean he hasn't always but since loosing his brother and best friend, that seems to be his motto. Don't get me wrong he likes to spend time with his teammates and he has relationships with them but that is it. The last think he needs is the distraction that comes with relationships, needing to look after some one. He feels he is not good at that and everyone just leaves. He is good at giving the advice but no so good at taking his own advice. He gives in to help his buddy out and might be regretting the distraction on the coach house.

Jodie has uprooted her life and moved across the country to be closer to her best friend and business partner. I love her take things in the moment attitude, don't wait for the right time. She finds herself in need of a home for her and her sweet little girl. Trying hard to get them all set up in this new town is proving to be harder than she expected. When it is looking pretty bleak, renting from her friends teammate seems like a good enough idea. But she is concerned that he seems like a grumpy ass all the time. Feeling like she is in the way she agrees, reluctantly.

The longer she is there and the more Nick comes out of his shell of grumpiness, she realizes he is a nice person. Why does he hide that from everyone? Maybe it won't be so bad after all... Have they crossed a line? Is she just setting herself up for heartache? What about her little girl?

This is a great story of letting go of the past and moving forward, even when you don't always think you deserve. Remember that life is too short and we need to live what we have. Whether it seems fair or not.

*** Advanced copy provided in exchange for an honest review. ***

Nick and Jodie start off on the wrong foot, and every encounter since they first meet gets rockier between them. When circumstances brings them together yet again in the same house during a snowstorm and they have to figure out how to get along in each others space. Nick finds himself wanting to impress Jodie's cute as a button daughter. I've been on a hockey kick lately and this fulfilled my kick.

Great hockey romance! Nick has lost so many people he loved that he convinced himself he didn't want to fall in love, get married or have kids. Well he meets Jodie who is the best friend of hockey player Valley's girlfriend Kendra. He immediately started having fantasies about her. Jodie and Nick are thrown together and begin a relationship. Well it is mostly a sexual relationship and a damn good one at that. Certain events make Nick run, but he soon realizes he made huge mistake. Friendships help him realize he deserves to be happy!

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my open and honest opinion

Each book in this series keeps getting better. Nick was a self proclaimed loner. He lived with a lot of guilt and felt like anyone he cared about he let down. When he meets Jodie, he is attracted to her but she irritates him with how much she talks.
Jodie is a single mom (her decision) to an absolutely adorable two year old little girl. She picked up and moved so she could be closer to her best friend/business partner. She is headstrong and doesn’t really like Nick when she first meets him.
This book was wonderful at expressing feelings of guilt, talking about the affects of depression, forgiveness and how to move past heartache and loss to open yourself up to the possibility of love, even if you don’t think you deserve or want it.

Big Stick is the seventh in the Aces Hockey series, and although it runs somewhat concurrently with book #6, it can easily be read as a standalone. Jamieson is one of my go-to authors for sports (hockey) romance and Big Stick doesn't disappoint.

Jodie is a single mother who is making the move from NYC to Chicago, needs to find a place to live and has a tendency to talk somewhat excessively. Nick has an empty guest house and a penchant for being alone. Put the two together and sparks eventually fly. And boy, do they fly!

I love a good jerk-redemption story, but in reality, Nick wasn't a jerk. He was really just a big, grumpy teddy bear dealing with some heavy emotional baggage. And let’s be honest - there aren't many things quite as sweet as a big, hulking guy interacting with an adorable little kid.

I don't know if there are more books planned in this series, but I certainly hope so!

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

This is my second book by Kelly and I loved this one possibly more than the first. A stick isn’t the only big thing about this book... the characters personalities are a definite contender. Everything from the characters to the storyline were wonderfully written and engaging. I definitely enjoyed it! Can’t wait to read more.

4.5 Stars
I loved this book so much. It was packed with so much emotion. The story itself was beautiful.I really loved Nick and Jodie together. They complimented each other so well. Jodie and Zyana are just so perfect for Nick. They are exactly the people Nick needs in his life. The scenes with Nick and Zyana melted my heart. Nick comes off very gruff in the beginning, but hang in there with him because he will be winning you over in no time. I just gobbled up this book. It literally was hard to put down. It's one you should definitely read because it has the perfect combination of heat, heart, and humor.

Like most people, I have certain tropes that give me the most enjoyable reading time. Single mom is not one of them. But Big Stick had me at hockey. I will read most any trope when it is set in a hockey atmosphere. The single mom aspect was my least favorite part of the story, but it was obviously necessary to drive the plot. It took me a bit to get in to the story. Nick is major broody and I was glad to get his POV, so I could warm up to him and his way of thinking. I really liked the somewhat forced proximity of living on the same property and the snowstorm was a winner to move their relationship along. This is my first Aces Hockey book and I think it might have been even better to know some of the backstory on the team. But, it can be read easily without that knowledge, because I was not lost. The story stood on its own. After finishing the book, I felt satisfied and liked the story. It seemed well thought out with quite a bit of details to keep the reader in the moment. I liked the right amount of dialogue and the heat level of the sexy times. Thank you Netgalley for providing a copy for me to read.

This is the next book in the Chicago Aces hockey and it’s as good as every one that precedes it! Kelly Jamieson has never let me down and she doesn’t this time either!

Combine an independent single mom with a cute two year old and a grumpy but hot hockey player and things happen! Jodie has relocated to the city when her business partner and friend falls in love and marries another player. But she knows that she has to find her own place because the newlyweds need their privacy.

Nick is tired of the puck bunny scene and wants to spend his time remodeling and furnishing the house he bought. He’s not real happy to be asked to let Jodie live in his carriage house but with no reason to say no, he lets her move in. He just wants to make it clear that they need to leave him alone because he doesn’t like kids.

Of course the author delivers the requisite HEA and she does it with style! Loved this one as I have all the ones in the series.

I received an ARC from the publisher for an honest and unbiased review. No compensation was promised or received for this review.

I loved Jodie and Nick! Jodie moves to Chicago to be near her friend and business partner, Kendra. She is staying with them during a party. Nick plays hockey with Max, Kendra’s husband. She ends up moving into his coach house with her two year old daughter, Zyana. Nick does not like people or kids. Will these two change his mind? 4 stars

Nick and Jodie were wonderful together despite their rough start. It was quite entertaining how they met along with the first impressions. They were quite humorous. Jodie's daughter, Zayana, nearly stole the show. She was way too cute! And I loved every interaction she had with Nick.

Nick had vulnerabilities and did not want others to depend on him, but he fell for Jodie. Just as she fell for him. They were so good together and had a ton of things in common. And their sexual chemistry was off the chart. I loved watching Nick's heart heal and him going after what he wanted. He is such a sweet, caring, gentle, and big hearted man under all the gruff.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from the publisher through Netgalley.

Nick is focused on his career as a hockey player first and renovating his home second. He is a loner who keeps his secrets and his pasts buried deep within and doesn’t allow anyone too close. He enjoys his friends, but he has no interest in love or relationships as they only bring pain.

Jodie has never experienced love first hand until she chose to become a single mother by choice and her two year old daughter Zyana is the light of her life. She has recently moved to Chicago to be near her business partner and best friend who happens to be the fiancée of a teammate of Nick’s.

Finding accommodation for her and her daughter is not as easy as she had thought. When her friends arrange for her to stay in Nick’s guesthouse she agrees but only until she can find her own place. Their landlord/tenant relationship becomes complicated when Nick who never wanted a relationship or children and Jodie who thought she would never need anyone but her daughter, start to like having each other around. There is no denying the chemistry between them but are they willing to open up their hearts and let each other in?

This is a hot and heartwarming story as two people find what they didn’t know they were looking for in each other. I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

4.5
Favorite Aces novel to date!
I absolutely adored this romance between Nick and Jodie. There were twists and turns with bumps and bruises, but I saw each character grow in their own way, some more than others, and it was a beautiful thing. This book kept me entertained from page one.
My heart broke for Nick’s situation and it felt very personal, like I was the one living it. The emotion in this book was fantastic.
It had moments that were predictable, and some where I had to go back and reread because I thought I misunderstood something, but overall, this book has definitely been my favorite Aces Novel and I highly recommend it.

4,5 stars

Lately I’m favoring hockey romances a lot! What can I say, I can’t resist a sexy hockey player 😉
Nick is not just sexy; he’s moody and broody. He doesn’t really like people and prefers to be alone (I can relate at the alone part!). He lost his brother 3 years ago and that’s part of the reason he stirs away from others.
Jodie is exactly the opposite. She loves socializing and can chat your ears off. She’s brave and strong and really knows what she wants from her life. I seriously respect her; it’s not an easy fit to decide to have a child alone! Her daughter Zyana steals the spotlight in more than one times! She’s so cute 😍
Even Nick couldn’t resist Zee’s charm. He’s warming to both her and Jodie soon enough. It was really interesting to see a closed off character changing through the book and actually opening his heart to other people!
Jodie and Nick’s attraction is getting stronger with every chapter and their chemistry is explosive! I found hilarious how they managed to made dirty jokes while watching hockey 😅
What this book is really about is not hockey or sports. It’s about moving on from the past, forgiving yourself and opening your heart again!

This was my first read by Kelly Jamieson and it will definitely not be my last. I am a sucker for single parent romances and thrown in a sport I love, hockey, and that was the icing on the cake.

Big Stick, is a standalone in the Aces Hockey series. I have not read any of the other books in the series and was not at all lost or confused while reading this one.

Nick is my kind of book boyfriend! He is alpha, stubborn, and a self proclaimed people hater. Watching him break down for Jodie and Zyana, Jodie’s 2 year old daughter, was extremely swoony and I couldn’t get enough of it. Jodie is strong, independent, and it’s hard for her to lean on someone else. I loved watching Jodie and Nick maneuver around their growing feelings for each other and also deal with things that have happened in their pasts. Sure, they both make mistakes along the way but my favorite part was that they were grown up enough to talk about things without a whole bucket load of extra drama.

If you love romances, single parents, and sports romances, pick this one up!

I will be going back and reading the previous books in the series. I want to know more about Nick’s other teammates that I met in this installment. I will also be checking out the next book in this series, Game On once it releases.

Grateful to have received a complimentary ARC copy to honestly review.