Walk of Shame is book 2 inThe Downside of Dating series by Avery Flynn.
This was such a fun story and the characters were absolutely delightful.
So entertaining and the characters were so unique and kept your interest right up until the end.
This book has everything to make it a perfect rom-com. The characters are relatable and funny, the writing is engaging and Astrid and Cal will keep you laughing.

Thank You NetGalley and Entangled: Amara for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I am brand new to hockey romances but oh my gosh, I loved this one! Astrid is dumped at the altar (though we later find out that the jacka** thought SHE was the one who dumped him ... what a loser!) and swears off all things hockey. Then she hooks up with a sexy guy - Cal - who comes to her 'rescue' at a bar where she's working. Fate steps in and they end up working together to help her ex get his goalie mojo back. All the while, sparks fly between Astrid and Cal, though Astrid insists nothing can come of it.

I loved the plot of WALK OF SHAME - intense attraction but characters who insist that they can't (or shouldn't) be together.

And the ending - just wow! I adored watching Astrid and Cal when they thought it was nothing, then seeing everything start blooming ... but the ending had me nearly in tears. I loved it!

A spin-off series of sorts with a mix of characters from her other series filled with smart comebacks, sexy banter, hockey players and a frumpy old lady. Recovering from her disastrous jilted at the alter via FaceTime experience she bans all hockey anything and everything. Until a stranger playing protector waltzes into work and changes her world. He’s sweet, flirty and very thoughtful, probably an influence of his sisters. Flynn’s style is easy to read with humor and smart characters. It’s completely unnecessary to read the other books before this one, but you’ll definitely want to go back and read afterwards. I got to read and advanced copy and have left this review voluntarily.

This kind of romance book is right up my alley, as evidenced by the fact that I read it in less than 24 hours. The storyline is cute, the characters are believable and well developed, and it was an easy read. There are a few steamy scenes, but not so many that the author forgets to include a plot. Overall, I really enjoyed it.
I received a complimentary copy of this title in exchange for a review.

The perfect fun rom com that is spicy and sports, what more can you ask for. A one night stand, since that is all Astrid will do turns into so much more. It turns out her one night stand, Cal is the new goalie trainer on her dad's hockey team. Astrid is also helping on the hockey team for her dad's last year in the sport. Can she maintain her one night stand, or will the steamy chemistry that they share get the best of her. Loved this story!!

I just love Avery Flynn. Her books are so funny.

This one is no exception. It's book two in the series "Downside to Dating." Now you don't have to read book one to understand this one. (Although book 1 is great, go read it!)

Astrid O'Malley has lived in the hockey world. Her dad is a coach, and she's been engaged (and dumped) by her childhood sweetheart, who's a goalie. So when she hooks up with a handsome guy, she doesn't think anything of it. Except she finds out that he's going to be working with her dad. AND her ex.

Oh gosh, it's so hilarious. They really are close proximity (I'm not going to spoil it here). Like REALLY close proximity. And the ex, oh my gosh. There's a reason this girl has said eff hockey. But she's a really good friend and daughter. And the steam in this book. Whew!

Cal is a good guy, too. He's been handed a lot of bad things when it comes to hockey, so his and Astrid's relationship is very complicated.

Avery also leaves us with the mic drops to end all mic drops with this epilogue! I was like oh how is THIS couple getting together?!

This books starts 5 years before the main story with Astrid getting left at the alter by her fiancé - who is a hockey player on her dad’s team. We then pick up the story and Astrid now hates hockey and all things associated with it. She meets Cal, they hook up and then things are done. But they aren’t, turns out Cal is a former hockey player, who lives upstairs from Astrid, works for her dad and is training her former fiancé.

Walk of Shame was a ton of fun to read. It is the second book in the Downside of Dating series. It can be read as a stand alone - I didn’t read Anger Bang but plan to now. The epilogue was a little confusing to me but I saw a few other reviewers mention that it sets up the next book in this series…which I will be on the look out for. Read this if you enjoy:

🏒 Hockey Romance
🏒 He falls first
🏒 Forced Proximity
🏒 Open Door Romance

Thanks to Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for the digital ARC. All thoughts are my own.

Welcome back to the fantastic world of Avery Flynn.

This is the story of Cal and Astrid.

Astrid has been dealt a nasty blow to both her heart and her self-confidence. But as the years have gone on, she comes back with a vengeance and a take-no-prisoners attitude. 

Cal is fighting back from a career-ending injury and is trying to find a new way to be a part of a sport he loves.

When Astrid and Cal meet, well the sparks fly and what was going to be an explosive one-night stand becomes so much more.

The way that Cal is with Astrid is nothing short of swoony to the nth degree and I could empathize with Astrid's apprehension at the way she is starting to feel for Cal. 

I love seeing past characters make their appearances known and just add more to the story. I want to move to Harbor City and be a part of the world that Ms. Flynn has created!

In the Penalty Box...

Astrid was royally burned when on the day of her wedding to Tig Jones, he dumped her to chase his hockey goals. He chose hockey over her. For five years, Astrid has been avoiding hockey and commitment. One and done. Puck hockey.

After a hot hook up with Cal, she is more embroiled in hockey than ever before. Its hockey everywhere, in the Penalty Box (the bar) reporters, her dad, Cal, the new coach for her ex, Tig. Puck hockey jar, big time. I liked Cal, who is kind of clueless. Astrid is enjoying pucking him, big time.

The chemistry between Cal and Astrid was off the charts! I’m a sucker for a one-night-stand turned forbidden romance. I also loved the support systems they both had. The love and support from their friends and families made everything even more emotional and powerful. Though the ending wasn’t what I expected, it was a pleasant surprise and a change from your average happily ever after.
Side note: The real star for me was Mrs. Duffy. What an iconic side character.

LOTS of spice…with plot! And characters that feel real and are endearing (I am staring over at that very interesting neighbor  ). I will even say that normally I am NOT a fan of sport centric stories and avoid them. I am so glad I did not do that here because this was well worth the time to read.

So how can you go wrong with this read? ANSWER – you cant.

Thank you netgalley and entangled publishing for this Advanced Read Copy for my honest review!

Thank you NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for letting me read this ARC, the below review is my honest opinion.

This was my first ever hockey romance book, I don’t usually read romance but I truly enjoyed this book.

I found that Walk of Shame was the perfect balance between romance, funny moments and a bit of smut.

Astrid is a closed off woman, who is afraid of having her heart broken and has a few set of rules to make sure that does not happen again, until she meets Cal who makes her second guess her own rules. The banter between Astrid and Cal, was perfect, I love that they were witty, funny and flirtatious.

Overall, I found this an easy and a great chick lit read. To me Astrid was relatable and Cal was such a great portrayal of what a book boyfriend should be.

This book sucked me in and I could barely tell I was reading and only book I truly love can do that. I love when I stop noticing any of my surroundings and am just fully in the story!

Cal and Astrid have amazing chemistry but I also love the courting. They start off hooking up and work their way to something more. Cal does the majority of the wooing and I love all the little things he pays attention to that help Astrid fall for him. I also love adding in the complicated workplace romance with Cal coaching Astrid’s ex, it adds a little drama to the story and makes it fun as they both have to figure out their feelings while dealing with him.

This book also had some laugh out loud moments and I just really liked every aspect of this book! Can’t wait to see what comes next!

This book follows the POVs of Astrid and Cal.

Astrid has sworn off all hockey men ever since her ex left her at the altar 5 years ago. However, she’s forced to put that hate aside when her father asks her back for his last year before retirement. Astrid’s father is the coach of her ex’s team. Her ex is losing his touch in the net and can’t block a puck to save his life. Cal just so happens to be hired on to get his head in the game.

Hockey romances will get me every time. Astrid and Cal were made for eachother. Their banter and chemistry were top tier and I ate it up 🤩 this can be read as a stand alone 🤍

I really enjoyed Walk of Shame. It is book 2 of the Downside of Dating series and I haven’t read the first one, but they do stand alone. I enjoyed the characters and the growth they showed during the book. The steamy scenes were good. Will definitely check out more of the authors books.

Y'all, I have been waiting for this book ever since the end of Anger Bang, which was almost a year ago!! This was, dare I say, better than Anger Bang. Which is making me even more excited to meet Avery Flynn at ApollyCon next month! BUT I need to know when the next book is going to be out because I don't know how I feel about that epilogue 🤯

I love Avery Flynn's writing because it perfectly mixes real life, heavy topics with smut and laugh out loud moments. I mean, it's really just a perfect mix for me. In this book, one laugh out loud moment that really stood out to me was Mrs. Duffy and the hallway scene. I was cracking up at her being so devious! I also really liked how Astrid's dad handled things toward the end.

This is part of a series (and I even think some characters from her The Hartigans series show up, but I haven't read that yet, so I can't be sure), but you don't have to read this as part of the series. You do meet one of the characters from the first book, Anger Bang, but you don't really need to know the story to enjoy this one (but Anger Bang is hilarious, so I would read that just for fun).

Obviously, I'm definitely recommending this one! Thank you @averyflynn, @entangled_publishing and @valentine_pr_ for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Astrid is living life after a failed walk down the isle when her newest one night stand, Cal, becomes a more permanent fixture in her life. When the two become coworkers the urge to stay away from each other becomes even harder.

The start of this book was amazing but then it seemed to stall out and I did not really feel the growth of love between the two main characters. For me as a reader I need that "ah-ha" moment of realization that this is the only person the MC must have in their life, and while Astrid and Cal did have something like that moment it was not as big as I feel it should have been.

The connection between the two character is fantastic, i just feel as though there needed to be more of it. The side characters are written really well too and allow for a set up for other books in the series.

Overall this was a good book and the story is there, it would just be an even better book if there was a little more details.

4.5/5 Avery Flynn does it again. A laugh out loud story that grips you.

This story is about the FMC whose name is Astrid. She is left at the alter on her wedding day by her hockey player fiancé and vows off of hockey while also vowing to take a world wide dick tour.

Fast forward to present day and Astrid meets the MMC Cal who is a former hockey player and now a coach to none other than her ex fiancé.

Throughout this book I loved how everyone had their own faults and issues to deal with and everyone still came out on top in the end, including her ex which was a nice change of pace! He deserved his chaotic happy ending just like the main characters.

As always with an A.F. Book, you fall in love with every single character. The banter between everyone is laugh out loud worthy and so fun. The inner monologue for each main character was absolutely hilarious and just made me giggle the whole way through. I quite literally could not put this down.

“That seems like it could result in a violation of the Panty Accords.”

“Especially when he was coming up the stairs with an adorable arthritic dog in his arms? Her panties might as well invent teleportation.”

Thank you to Entangled Publishing and Netgalley for allowing me to opportunity to read and review this book.

Walk of Shame had a promising premise. Hockey romance with a forbidden relationship. However, this one fell flat for me. The couple had a sexual relationship over an emotional one, which I'm not a fan of. I honestly didn't care for either main character and turns out, third person narrative isn't my thing. This one is the second book in the Downside of Dating series, but can be read as a standalone.

“Just leave your window unlocked in case this walk of shame up the fire escape doesn’t work and I have to come back down.”
Walk of Shame is the second book in the Downside of Dating series and just as hilarious as the first book. When Astrid’s fiancé breaks up with her on their wedding day via FaceTime her entire plan changes and the story is all over the news and gossip magazines. Her fiancé was a star goalie in the NHL, her solution? Never consume anything to do with hockey again, even if her father is a NHL coach. One night while working at a bar, a man comes to her rescue and so ensues Astrid’s best one night stand.

Cal is a goalie coach just hired to help the league’s problem goalie, Tig, get over the yips. He has no idea that the woman he had a one night stand with is his new coach’s daughter and Tig’s ex. Oh, and Astrid is back in the hockey world for a final season helping her father. The two are full of complications but simply cannot stay away from each other. Every time is the last time.
“I do a whole walk of absolutely no shame back to my office—yes, we work together—or my apartment, because I feel too damn good.”

Astrid and Cal had the best banter. They tried their hardest to stay away but they were too perfect for each other to fight their attraction. I loved them and all of the side characters. I’m so excited to see what comes next because I was certainly surprised by the epilogue!
Thank you @averyflynn and @netgalley for the ARC!
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🔥: “Getting or already are?”